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NBD! I lost my head - NS Design CR5 Radius

#21
Well, that is just Awesome! Since I told you about my Spector that got stolen from me all I've been able to think about is getting another Spector and you just went and did it. Looks and sounds great! Oh, and thank you for pulling me out of my Fender hole ($3600 later), because of you reminding me about my old Spector I now have a new one on the way. Keep being Awesome!
 
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#22
ficelles said:
For day 1 of fretless ownership that was pretty darn good! And glad to hear that you're not afraid of going up the fingerboard. Isn't there a tb fretless club somewhere?
Click to expand...
If there isnt, you should make one :)

monsterthompson said:
Have you named it yet?
Click to expand...
Nooo :(

subtlestew said:
I, too, am a big fan of Ned's instruments and have been since I was a teenager. Indeed, I still have the XL2 I bought new while I was in college in 1988. I have also owned one of his electric uprights, and it was great - only got rid of it when my son gave up taking bass lessons (since he, not I, was the real upright player.) My one hesitation in playing Ned's instruments has always been string choice availability. I'm addicted to Thomastik-Infeld products, and they don't make double-ball strings for my XL2. I have the adapter that allows for non double-ball, but the construction of TI flats is such that they fall apart under the Allen wrench tension and don't stay in tune. I've been told that I'd have similar problems with the CR5's system. Does anyone know if TI Rounds might work instead? I need to try them on my XL2 some day, and they would sound fantastic on your bass, I bet.

One of the nice things about the double-ball situation, though, is the ease with which string changes can be made, and while I can't use my favorite strings, I keep several types of strings available for my bass, including the LaBella black tapewounds like you have. They sound awesome on the XL2, just like they do on your bass.

You've really got me thinking - I love unlined fretless basses, and I don't currently have a 5-string available. Thanks so much for this great post about this bass which is one I have had my eye on for some time. My GAS level (which is always high) just jumped up substantially!
Click to expand...
This one has a clamp and works with any string as long as its long scale, I believe. Super easy to swap strings
 
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#24
Love the documented adventure for grabbing a new instrument!

If I'm being perfectly honest, that is 100% a bass I would never, ever buy for myself. But it has clearly ticked a ton of boxes for your needs, and it does indeed sound really nice.

Assuming that you're like me, and would be way too gassed about the new bass to sleep after getting home from the mammoth day trip!
 
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#27
Katoosie said:
Heyyyyyyyyyyyyy once more!

So I do not really know where to start, except by stating the most obvious thing - I blame @monsterthompson for making this entire thing a reality. MonsterThompson got a small bass from a custom builder and it kind of fired off my want for a fretless bass, since that builder was making fretless or fretted, I thought to myself that I would slowly save up for a small fretless 6 string bass but it never happened because I saw this bass for sale... and I just got it yesterday.

View attachment 4395452

Thing is, the bass was on the complete opposite side of the country... so I took a train at 3am and spent an entire night and day just... traveling. 500km one way, that is 300 miles. And then the same distance back. I was so sleepy at the end of it all.

Road trip! :)
But the journey was nice and comfy, so there is that.

Finally, I got to my destination and I bought the bass from a very kind man, both me and him were happy with the transaction. He has some more high end basses to sell, so he will be working towards that :)

But, here is the case with the bass at the train station.
View attachment 4395454

And the bass itself.
More info soon.
View attachment 4395455
I played it at the train station thru my mobile rig, then I took it outside and played it on a bench until my train came to take me back home.

Fast forward to the next day - I'm at home with the whole thing.
View attachment 4395456
It came with a gigbag, NS branded one... some tools and a manual. Nothing great, nothing bad - just good enough with good material quality. Nice.
View attachment 4395457

I have had a small talk with @ficelles about the string choice for a fretless (since ficeless is all about the fretless) and I decided on some Daddario Nylon Tapewounds after doing some small amount of research, I think they're quite fancy and feel great. I feel like it was a good choice. My idea was to get something more of a typical, classical and upright tone out of this bass and it worked out quite well in the end.

Some more pics!
View attachment 4395458
Okay so lets talk about the meat of this bass. It has some custom made EMGs that follow the design of the body (yeah, the pickups are curved) and a piezo pickup. The knobs are volume, blend between the EMGs and piezo, bass cut/boost, treble cut/boost and the switches are bridge/both/neck as well as the piezo low/mid/high.

So, as you can guess... along with different playing techniques, positions and options, this bass is crazy versatile. I mean you can make it sound mellow but also clanky as hell if you want to, it is very responsive to changes and I am surprised of how well its voiced. Definitely liking it.

As you can probably imagine, being a headless bass make it just a machine of total musical destruction - it's lightweight, ergonomic, balances perfectly and feels just as good. No sharp edges anywhere, it just feels like someone put a lot of thought into the design of the whole instrument, and it feels (and shows). If you take a peak at the manual, you will see this:
View attachment 4395464

All of this just comes together so well, and I definitely appreciate it. Just look at that!

Oh and btw, for some reason all my basses are made by the Chech - funny how this works out.
View attachment 4395469

Unlined ebony fretboard.
View attachment 4395470

View attachment 4395474

Matching maple neck.
View attachment 4395475
"Headstock" which accepts single ball end strings, tapered, preferably.
View attachment 4395476
View attachment 4395477
View attachment 4395478

Time to clean her up and put the strings on.
View attachment 4395479
View attachment 4395480

Damn. Those stainless steel strings definitely made some short work of that ebony fretboard. Need to clean it up and put some oil on.
View attachment 4395481
View attachment 4395482
View attachment 4395483
View attachment 4395485
And done!
View attachment 4395486
Just gonna make sure the intonation is spot on and then I'm off to playing her :)
Have a wonderful day, TB!
Click to expand...

Might be I just missed it and you already mentioned, though I believe I actually read though the whole OP as well as the rest of this thread up till now, but what scale length is it and how do you have it tuned?

In any case it looks great! :thumbsup:

Congratulations. :bassist::hyper:
 
Last edited:
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#30
subtlestew said:
I, too, am a big fan of Ned's instruments and have been since I was a teenager. Indeed, I still have the XL2 I bought new while I was in college in 1988. I have also owned one of his electric uprights, and it was great - only got rid of it when my son gave up taking bass lessons (since he, not I, was the real upright player.) My one hesitation in playing Ned's instruments has always been string choice availability. I'm addicted to Thomastik-Infeld products, and they don't make double-ball strings for my XL2. I have the adapter that allows for non double-ball, but the construction of TI flats is such that they fall apart under the Allen wrench tension and don't stay in tune. I've been told that I'd have similar problems with the CR5's system. Does anyone know if TI Rounds might work instead? I need to try them on my XL2 some day, and they would sound fantastic on your bass, I bet.

One of the nice things about the double-ball situation, though, is the ease with which string changes can be made, and while I can't use my favorite strings, I keep several types of strings available for my bass, including the LaBella black tapewounds like you have. They sound awesome on the XL2, just like they do on your bass.

You've really got me thinking - I love unlined fretless basses, and I don't currently have a 5-string available. Thanks so much for this great post about this bass which is one I have had my eye on for some time. My GAS level (which is always high) just jumped up substantially!
Click to expand...

I know there was issues in the past with the bridges for certain string selections but I think Ned had corrected that in the later 2018 builds.
 
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#31
Gorgeous instrument! And I believe that the piezo and combination of standard pickups make this an ideal bass for fretless. I've already given my opinion, you saw in the club thread, but one other thing I really like about these is that it's not a standard headless bass. Some manufacturers just cut the neck off at the end and slap a metal cap over it. This is designed in such a way that it allows for a volute making the end on the neck feel the same as any other traditional bass.

Now get to woodshedding! :D
 
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#33
Inspired by recent events...
20210905_123054.jpg


My Sepctor GAS was inspired by recent events as well, but I'm too poor for that.
 
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#37
Katoosie said:
Heyyyyyyyyyyyyy once more!

So I do not really know where to start, except by stating the most obvious thing - I blame @monsterthompson for making this entire thing a reality. MonsterThompson got a small bass from a custom builder and it kind of fired off my want for a fretless bass, since that builder was making fretless or fretted, I thought to myself that I would slowly save up for a small fretless 6 string bass but it never happened because I saw this bass for sale... and I just got it yesterday.

View attachment 4395452

Thing is, the bass was on the complete opposite side of the country... so I took a train at 3am and spent an entire night and day just... traveling. 500km one way, that is 300 miles. And then the same distance back. I was so sleepy at the end of it all.

Road trip! :)
But the journey was nice and comfy, so there is that.

Finally, I got to my destination and I bought the bass from a very kind man, both me and him were happy with the transaction. He has some more high end basses to sell, so he will be working towards that :)

But, here is the case with the bass at the train station.
View attachment 4395454

And the bass itself.
More info soon.
View attachment 4395455
I played it at the train station thru my mobile rig, then I took it outside and played it on a bench until my train came to take me back home.

Fast forward to the next day - I'm at home with the whole thing.
View attachment 4395456
It came with a gigbag, NS branded one... some tools and a manual. Nothing great, nothing bad - just good enough with good material quality. Nice.
View attachment 4395457

I have had a small talk with @ficelles about the string choice for a fretless (since ficeless is all about the fretless) and I decided on some Daddario Nylon Tapewounds after doing some small amount of research, I think they're quite fancy and feel great. I feel like it was a good choice. My idea was to get something more of a typical, classical and upright tone out of this bass and it worked out quite well in the end.

Some more pics!
View attachment 4395458
Okay so lets talk about the meat of this bass. It has some custom made EMGs that follow the design of the body (yeah, the pickups are curved) and a piezo pickup. The knobs are volume, blend between the EMGs and piezo, bass cut/boost, treble cut/boost and the switches are bridge/both/neck as well as the piezo low/mid/high.

So, as you can guess... along with different playing techniques, positions and options, this bass is crazy versatile. I mean you can make it sound mellow but also clanky as hell if you want to, it is very responsive to changes and I am surprised of how well its voiced. Definitely liking it.

As you can probably imagine, being a headless bass make it just a machine of total musical destruction - it's lightweight, ergonomic, balances perfectly and feels just as good. No sharp edges anywhere, it just feels like someone put a lot of thought into the design of the whole instrument, and it feels (and shows). If you take a peak at the manual, you will see this:
View attachment 4395464

All of this just comes together so well, and I definitely appreciate it. Just look at that!

Oh and btw, for some reason all my basses are made by the Chech - funny how this works out.
View attachment 4395469

Unlined ebony fretboard.
View attachment 4395470

View attachment 4395474

Matching maple neck.
View attachment 4395475
"Headstock" which accepts single ball end strings, tapered, preferably.
View attachment 4395476
View attachment 4395477
View attachment 4395478

Time to clean her up and put the strings on.
View attachment 4395479
View attachment 4395480

Damn. Those stainless steel strings definitely made some short work of that ebony fretboard. Need to clean it up and put some oil on.
View attachment 4395481
View attachment 4395482
View attachment 4395483
View attachment 4395485
And done!
View attachment 4395486
Just gonna make sure the intonation is spot on and then I'm off to playing her :)
Have a wonderful day, TB!
Click to expand...

I had one of these briefly. Every headless needs that "headstock" and bridge loading system...sooooo easy, instead of those unnecessary locking bolts like most others.
 
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