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If there isnt, you should make one
I'm too busy scanning eBay and Reverb for a Radius CR5 FL...
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NBD! I lost my head - NS Design CR5 Radius
- Thread starter Katoosie
- Start date
I'm too busy scanning eBay and Reverb for a Radius CR5 FL...
Very Nice, congratulations!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!
The ones in the photos! They are Daddario ETB 92 set, 5 string nylon tapewounds.
It is 35 inch and standard BEADGMight 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!
Congratulations.
I would say so, even if you know your stuff. It's not a big book but its full of exercises and play alongs.
It was the Swedish west coast. It seems like my set is fine, no roughness. Thank you!
Last edited:
Keep the packaging. In my case - I complained to D'Addario and wanted a replacement A-string (when I felt that roughness) and they asked if I have the packaging and there was that number they used to generate a player's circle perk and they sent me extra sets. I kept on playing the bass though because the rough patch was somewhere I do not pluck all the time, but it eventually broke. All is good now,
We seem to have some tastes in common, and I'm jealous on this one.
I've got a Steinberger XL2A that I've had for a long, long time. It got me hooked on headlessness and graphite structures. I've got an NS Designs EUB that I bought almost on a whim but which I just love. I have gotten very close to buying an NS Radius CR on several occasions. Always black, like yours, but I'd have gone for fretted, given that I've got the EUB and a vintage Music Man 4-string fretless as well. But that's a real beauty that you've got there. Play the hell out of it!
I've got a Steinberger XL2A that I've had for a long, long time. It got me hooked on headlessness and graphite structures. I've got an NS Designs EUB that I bought almost on a whim but which I just love. I have gotten very close to buying an NS Radius CR on several occasions. Always black, like yours, but I'd have gone for fretted, given that I've got the EUB and a vintage Music Man 4-string fretless as well. But that's a real beauty that you've got there. Play the hell out of it!
I used a solder station to heat up the frets before I worked them out with precision side cutters. Minimal chipping. The Kapton tape is to keep flux off the board.
I'll widen the slots and fill with maple strips, plane it, and finish with the Stew Mac fretboard hardener.
It's a 2001 Squier Std Jazz with truss rod issues, so ya'll can calm down.
I might start a thread on the mod/build, sorry to derail this thread as much as I did already.
Congrats!600 miles in day for a bass is true gas
Reminds me how I drove close to a war zone to get a preamp pedal.
Reminds me how I drove close to a war zone to get a preamp pedal.
Love the bass, and a great, detailed write up.
Thank you for sharing!
My new NXT5a custom finish won’t be ready until Jan/Feb. Until then I’ll keep playing my Sunburst.
The fretless sound great with effects as well.
I’m covering everything from Johnny Cash to AC/DC with mine (D’darrio XL Chrome flats).
Love it!
Thank you for sharing!
My new NXT5a custom finish won’t be ready until Jan/Feb. Until then I’ll keep playing my Sunburst.
The fretless sound great with effects as well.
I’m covering everything from Johnny Cash to AC/DC with mine (D’darrio XL Chrome flats).
Love it!
Congrats Katoosie that is a beautiful fretless, I came close to scooping up one of these used about a year ago myself but it didn't happen. Enjoy!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!
Whoa! That thing is gorgeous. Congratulations!!! I've never heard of this builder before, but now, thanks to this post...I want one!!! Interesting choice with the tape wound strings. I've always gone with round wound on my fretlesses, but I do like tape wounds as well.
A couple of quick questions, if I may. That is a very interesting dot pattern happening there. Do you find it confusing in any way, or has it been a quick adjustment and beneficial with intonation?
Also, how is the piezo pick-up? Can you get a lot of growl out of it, or is the configuration more designed for that stand up type of sound?
Congratulations again. That is one beautiful instrument.
A couple of quick questions, if I may. That is a very interesting dot pattern happening there. Do you find it confusing in any way, or has it been a quick adjustment and beneficial with intonation?
Also, how is the piezo pick-up? Can you get a lot of growl out of it, or is the configuration more designed for that stand up type of sound?
Congratulations again. That is one beautiful instrument.
Congrats!600 miles in day for a bass is true gas
Reminds me how I drove close to a war zone to get a preamp pedal.
That is dedication!
Come over to the NS Club Thread and I'll fill you in some more! I'm an owner also and these basses have so many amazing design features.
Last edited:
Owning a 5 string fretless violin/viola crossover instrument by NS Design, I can safely say that you own one of the best, if not the best, fretless electric instruments available today.
I'm loving what they did with that instrument, taking their ingenuity from their bowed instruments and putting it back into the vastly different guitar style instruments....
very very cool!
I'm extremely envious!
I'm loving what they did with that instrument, taking their ingenuity from their bowed instruments and putting it back into the vastly different guitar style instruments....
very very cool!
I'm extremely envious!
Very nice story with lots of nice pictures. BTW: What that cool bench in the first pictures ?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!
I would love to hear some sound samples from your fretless CR5 Radius. I've got the CR5 fretted version but are considering to remove the frets.
The thinkns web store often lists b-stock, closeouts and prototypes, warranted by NS and sometimes at better prices than third-party used. If I was in the market for a new bass right now, I'd be checking it regularly because ever since I tried a WAV4 I've been certain a fretless CR4 would be pretty great to have.
