I just got a new Musiciansfriend catalog in the mail yesterday, and I noticed these new buggers. www.deanguitars.com/pacebass.htm I am so tempted, since the 5 string is only $799 at The Friend. I know they're not the size of a full sized upright, but they look like they'd be a ton of fun to fool around on. Anyone ever play one? Comments? Mike
Looks cool, but how well does it play witha bow? I would be interested in hearing what people have to say about this as well.
I've heard about those things. They really look like a fretless bass guitar neck without the body. The fingerboard radius looks like it is closer to an electric than an upright. It also dosn't look like it would be very versitile, since it only has a volume control for the piezos. Either way, I am curious. I've thought about getting an upright or an EUB for a while, and these are probably the only ones that I will be able to afford for a long time.
the 35" scale is definitely more like a guitar. the 6" radius on the fingerboard is more like an upright. could be a lot of fun. robb.
35 scale is too short for an EUB. Cool pics and awesome price. I'd be willing to pay $1,000 for a version in a 42" scale. My bass guitar is 36" scale. Check out this one: http://members.aol.com/lincinc/impression.html
since they do not have an arched bridge or fingerboard the are unbowable and therfore only suitable for bassists that want to play pizzicato. a waste of money in my estimation.
they look good...lately ive been really interested in the dean basses, brian bromberg in particular.... in one of the bass players magazine dean say that this EUB is intended for the electric bassist who wants to mess around with EUB's without having to spend the big bucks and completely swap instruments..personally i like it...looks like it might be good for rockabilly slap to me...and the singular volume is cool....thats why you have an EQ on your amp, or at that price you could buy an agular outboard preamp for it or something....IMO id rather one of these than a NS design
Check out this thread from over in the dark side. http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124545 For less money you can get an Ergo electric upright which is 42" and has the right radius fingerboard. For the same amount you get a 5 string.
As Nick said... Why bother buying something that is neither an electric bass guitar or a double bass ? Looks ? it may be electric and it may be vertical instead of horizontal but it isn;t an electric double bass. Double basses can be bowed and this cannot. Unless or course you only want to bow the E or G strings....
Don, they claim it has a 6" radius on the FB. How does that compare to a URB? In looking at this pic on the Dean website, it looks like they may be jacking the string height on the A and D strings to make it bow friendly. Not enough info, though. Now, if they re-designed this as a tapping instrument...
its designs as an EUB for electric bassists...some people can play electric but not upright but want to have an upright....thats where this comes in....its more portable than something like an ergo....not all of us are interested in bowing...personally im not...im more pizzicato..and if i want to bow, ill use an ebow...and don...have you played it? how can you comment that it cant be bowed if you havent played it?
Thats a standard bass bridge, I know Ive seen it on other basses but I forgot who makes it. I doubt you can jack up the saddles enough. In addition, thats just a four string fretless mounted upright. You can do that with any bass by sticking a pole in on the end.
How can i say that ? Have you been listening ? IT DOESN"T HAVE AN ARCHED BRIDGE OR FINGERBOARD. Get a hold of a double bass, play it, and then play the Dean. I mean if you only wanna play pizz on an upright then drill a hole in the bottom of your bg and stick an endpin in it and you'll get the same result.
But is is a bad one and I think it does a disservice to the uninitiated who desire to play the double bass be it acoustic or electric... I;ve owned two Ergos, a 5 and a 4 and you can pizz all day on them and if you ever have the desire to play arco then you can do that as well.
You know, when I heard they were making these, I thought... wow maybe now I can afford to get something to try out and see if I like it, I definitely want to try my hand at bowing... Oh wait, it doesn't look like it could be bowed, bah... Dissapointed. Still wouldn't mind one of their 10 string octavers... Troll
Don, I'm LOL over here! edit: simply refering to watching worlds collide. OK, an upright electric fretless for those who only play pizz. Uber niche market. I agree, it *says* 6" radius, but man I'm here to tell ya, that board's flat. Personaly, I think the Pace looks terrible, but different strokes. I think I could bang one out for the price of the hardware and smoke the $650 MF tag. And mine would have some style! edit: not trying to solicate, mods Ok, maybe not smoke it, I just did some math.
I think what's holding this back from being more upright-y is the standard BG style bridge. What they should do is arch the fingerboard and body and use monorail style bridges to deal with the curvature. Then you got yourself a nice 35" challenger to the NS bass.