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Double Bass NS Design NXT Megathread

#1,001
I'm only on Talkbass once in a blue moon anymore, but have been a long time lurker here in the NXT thread, so I thought I would drop a quick post...

I'm an electric player that has wanted to add upright bass for a long time, but I live in a situation where making noise is frowned upon (super fussy roommate/apartment life), so I recently got a Gollihur edition NXTa. I can get started practicing at home and add an acoustic upright later "for public use" when my playing doesn't sound like a cow being dragged behind a truck. The NXT will also be good for gigs with my main band (14-piece "Vegas variety show" gig) where stage real estate is at a premium.

Mark G. is a pleasure to deal with and had some good advice, and the NXT is a blast to play! Lots of work and practice ahead of course, but I have a teacher lined up and am looking forward to the challenge.

Regarding getting it to sound more like an upright... I agree that the Traditionals seem to make a difference. I briefly played a friend's NXT with the stock Contemporary strings a while back, and I remember that one sounding more "fretless bass." An electric upright won't match the resonance of an acoustic of course, but I've also had some good luck adding just a light touch of Detune and Reverb to liven up the tone... light enough that you might not even know they're there until you turn them off.

5sg.

NXT_collage_1.jpg
 
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#1,004
fivestringgecko said:
Regarding getting it to sound more like an upright... I

NXT_collage_1.jpg
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Welcome to the thread. All who have done business with him agree that Mark is a great resource for DB and EUB. I've referred quite a few there with questions as to amps, pre's and strings.

My experience with the NXT has shown me that a preamp with a high Z 10megohm input is important as is a good speaker cabinet. The NS Designs literature does not explain this and actually plays down the need for the right pre. When I enable the high Z on my Radial it makes a huge difference. If you haven't invested in a pre yet you should investigate the FDeck, very affordable and alot of love for that around. When I got my NXT I made a determined effort to switch to it asap and I gigged with it in a little less than two months but that was really hard!
 
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#1,005
jthisdell said:
My experience with the NXT has shown me that a preamp with a high Z 10megohm input is important as is a good speaker cabinet. The NS Designs literature does not explain this and actually plays down the need for the right pre. When I enable the high Z on my Radial it makes a huge difference. If you haven't invested in a pre yet you should investigate the FDeck, very affordable and alot of love for that around. When I got my NXT I made a determined effort to switch to it asap and I gigged with it in a little less than two months but that was really hard!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the post @jthisdell, some good info. I'll check into the FDeck, and I've also considered the newer Fishman Platinum EQ. Mine's the NXTa with the active circuit though, so I'm kind of crossing fingers that I won't need to buy yet another preamp, and one specifically for the NXT. I've been going through my Zoom B3 at home and so far they seem to be getting along pretty well... sounds pretty awesome, actually! Disclaimer though, haven't tried it in the wild or with a bow... I've heard things can react differently with arco.

5sg.
 
#1,007
I bought a used NXT-5 last week. I'm switching it from B-G tuning to E-C because that works better for my playing situation. I have a K&K Pure preamp that I bought from Bob Gollihur years ago for my Meisel E-fusion bass with the Gage Realist pickup. The preamp works great as an interface to my Ampeg SVT-CL preamp. I'm getting a nice upright sound except that the player needs a lot of work. :)

I should mention that the B string tuner slipped once already so I'm taking the advice of others here and ordering a set of Hipshot tuners.

Rick B.
 
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#1,008
RickBlair said:
I should mention that the B string tuner slipped once already so I'm taking the advice of others here and ordering a set of Hipshot tuners.
Click to expand...

Good idea! You'll be impressed with the improvement in both stability and reliability, especially if you get the US-made ones. You want the ones with the 3/8" posts - and if you want, I've put together a tip sheet for installation, email me and I'll send you a PDF copy of it.
 
#1,009
Mark Gollihur said:
Good idea! You'll be impressed with the improvement in both stability and reliability, especially if you get the US-made ones. You want the ones with the 3/8" posts - and if you want, I've put together a tip sheet for installation, email me and I'll send you a PDF copy of it.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mark. I have seen from various ads that the licensed tuners are not reversible so I am going to buy the USA tuners. I put a set of them on a 5-string Mosrite clone that I built and have been very happy with them. I'll send an email to get the PDF.

Thanks,

Rick B.
 
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#1,010
RickBlair said:
Thanks Mark. I have seen from various ads that the licensed tuners are not reversible so I am going to buy the USA tuners. I put a set of them on a 5-string Mosrite clone that I built and have been very happy with them. I'll send an email to get the PDF.
Click to expand...

I've got several basses with them - my Karl Hoyt six-banger, my WAV4, and my 12-string among them. Hipshot was very kind to custom-modify a set of them to fit the 12-string's tight headstock (along with the locking guitar tuners I also got from them.) They provided 3 of the guitar tuners with flat screws and flattened screwholes, and then cut notches in three of the bass tuners so they could overlap. Worked like a charm, and they hold tune extremely well (and on a bass like this, that's saying something.)

In the back of the headstock photo below, you can see the ones that overlap - 2/3 and 5/6 on the left side, and 3/4 on the right.

Can't say enough about how pleased I am with the company. And okay, you got me - I just wanted to share pictures of my wacky bass. :-)

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#1,012
crocau said:
Hello, I've been unsuccessfully trying to find the answer in the last 51 pages... :)

I need some new strings that will bow better than my GHS Crossover.
The D'Addario Orchestra seem a good option.
Are the NS Traditional strings that same as the Orchestra or as the Hybrid ??
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They are the same as the Orchestra. The Orchestra strings work well, too - I had them on my WAV4 before the traditional strings were released.
 
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#1,014
So my NS Traditional C string arrived yesterday. I started moving the strings over and the D string broke as soon as I started to loosen it. Never seen that happen before. Since the G string had already been replaced with one of unknown origin by the previous owner I decided to go ahead and order a new set of Traditional strings from Mark. Another tuner slipped while I was changing strings so I also ordered Hipshot tuners. I couldn't find a single source that sold the 5 tuners for a good price so I had to use 2 vendors. Hopefully in a week or so the bass will be good to go.

Rick B.
 
#1,015
I have Contemporaries on my bass now, but I tried a friends NXT and he had Traditionals. They're night and day different - and pretty much reaffirmed that I was better off with the cut that Contemps provide, and for some reason, the pizz intonation of the Ab on the E string was vague just like my bass was before I switched to Contemporary.

Is there something about the location of the Ab on the fingerboard that causes it to have intonation issues with Trads or other brands of traditional DB strings? Years ago, I remember the Ab on my school-owned DB had issues, too.
 
#1,017
crocau said:
Is is just me or the 5 string is hard to bow ? With the radius if the bridge, it can be really hard to bow the E, A or D string without touching the next strings.
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It isn't just you, this is the case on any five string, NXT or not. The overall arch is roughly the same, and when you add another string, now you are dividing the angle by five instead of four. It's simple mathematics; it's harder to play arco on a five string. It can be done, it just takes practice - there is just less room for error.
 
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#1,018
Mark Gollihur said:
It isn't just you, this is the case on any five string, NXT or not. The overall arch is roughly the same, and when you add another string, now you are dividing the angle by five instead of four. It's simple mathematics; it's harder to play arco on a five string. It can be done, it just takes practice - there is just less room for error.
Click to expand...
Thanks. As much as I love the low B and had ideas with a high C (I used to play cello), I'll stick with 4 strings.
Maybe a Hipshot d-tuner would work ?
 
#1,019
Ob an EUB the curvature of the fingerboard could be larger, but then you have to adapt to the lower curvature of an acoustic 5-string double bass. Also the fingerboard needs to be thicker or the side edges will shrink to a line.
But that would be a custom job and probably not possible on a NS Design EUB (and neither on an Ergo EUB).
 
#1,020
crocau said:
Thanks. As much as I love the low B and had ideas with a high C (I used to play cello), I'll stick with 4 strings.
Maybe a Hipshot d-tuner would work ?
Click to expand...

I spoke to someone who put a Hipshot detuner on an NXT; he said it worked, but he had to swap where he strung the E and the A in the pegbox. So you install the detuner on the current "A" string machine, and then when you restring, you string the E to the A machine and vice-versa. This ensures that there is enough room on the side of the pegbox for the detuner to operate.

This is second-hand info, though, YMMV - I haven't done it myself.
 

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