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Double Bass NS Design NXT Megathread

#1,281
Persona87 said:
Update: Mark is a great guy, if there was any doubt. I spoke to him and the issue has been taken care of. Still might not recommend the Zyex for this bass, though.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words.

I'd have to agree - based on his experiences, the core of the Zyex may not be up to the stresses of the smaller tuning machine posts. Which is a shame, because I have a feeling that the tone of the strings would suit the bass well.

If you're considering trying them, I'd proceed with great care.
 
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#1,282
I've been getting some buzz on my open D string. I loosened the truss rod, and I'm going to try raising the action a little bit if that doesn't help. I might have to get some fingerboard or nut work done. Has anyone had their luthier work on their NXT? I don't know how similar they are to regular double basses with regards to repair work. Does the nut come out fairly easily? What about the richlite fingerboard? Does it work like wood? Is it dark all the way through, or is the surface dyed?
 
#1,283
To be honest my guess is that this is work for a luthier specialised on bass guitars and/or electric guitars. Apart from the scale length the NXT doesn't have an awful lot of (technical) similarities with a double bass, but quite a lot with a bass guitar. When I looked up Richlite I found that one of the big producers using it is Gibson. So yet another reason why an electric guitar expert might be the right choice.

Might be worth posting on the luthier forums about this.
 
#1,284
I don't believe that to be the case at all. A luthier that specializes in stringed acoustic instruments could look at it and tell you if a fingerboard re-plane will help you. That's certainly not a job for a garden-variety guitar repair dude. As far as i know, you work Richlite (Black Diamond?) just like ebony, with the same injection/inhalation protection protocol.
 
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#1,285
Persona87 said:
I've been getting some buzz on my open D string. I loosened the truss rod, and I'm going to try raising the action a little bit if that doesn't help. I might have to get some fingerboard or nut work done. Has anyone had their luthier work on their NXT? I don't know how similar they are to regular double basses with regards to repair work. Does the nut come out fairly easily? What about the richlite fingerboard? Does it work like wood? Is it dark all the way through, or is the surface dyed?
Click to expand...
I have an older NXT, with the Ebony fingerboard.

It was definitely dyed at the factory. When I levelled my fingerboard it come out a deep, mottled brown- still close to black in the right light, but with a pleasant figure in it. I quite like the look, but I could see it affecting the resale value.
 
#1,287
This question has probably been asked before, so apologies in advance for any thread redundancy.

I recently bought a nearly new NS wav4, and thought I would change the strings out to Obligato's, hopefully to attain a more DB-ish sound, as I've seen this recommended by some folks.

So, the new strings are way too long, and I began trimming the ends to accomplish the recommended 3-4 windings max on the peg-head. Alas, this does not seem to work on the E, because if I leave the taper on, there is still too much length, and if I cut the taper off, the string is too thick to fit in the peg-head.

Is there a work-around for this situation, or am I stuck with a set of unusable $200 strings?
 
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#1,288
Drang22 said:
This question has probably been asked before, so apologies in advance for any thread redundancy.

I recently bought a nearly new NS wav4, and thought I would change the strings out to Obligato's, hopefully to attain a more DB-ish sound, as I've seen this recommended by some folks.

So, the new strings are way too long, and I began trimming the ends to accomplish the recommended 3-4 windings max on the peg-head. Alas, this does not seem to work on the E, because if I leave the taper on, there is still too much length, and if I cut the taper off, the string is too thick to fit in the peg-head.

Is there a work-around for this situation, or am I stuck with a set of unusable $200 strings?
Click to expand...

I've put Obligatos on the stock WAV and NXT basses before. As I recall, I could get the end of the string silk into the hole on the E, but it took effort - and a pair of needlenose pliers. Don't know if the spec on that tuning machine has changed since then.

Just do yourself a big favor, regardless of string - don't let the windings "rub" on the inside surface of the pegbox. That's a surefire recipe for a broken tuning machine, those Chinese-made tuners can't handle the extra stress from the friction.
 
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#1,289
Thanks Mark, for your reply.

I never could get the E into the hole in the tuner once all the tapered part of the string was cut off. I ended up mashing an area at the end of the string with pliers just to make it fit through the slot, and put a sharp bend in the string coming out of the slot before wrapping it 3 times. So far, it seems to be holding.....
 
#1,292
To me the NXT needs 1) a good pre with 10megohm input which you have covered and 2) a good, preferably hi-fi cab (I have used a couple different Bergantinos). Not that familiar with SWR as I did not play for about 20+ years when they came out. I use a Radial pre with the hpf set at 80 into a Tonehammer 500. I adjust the Drive on the TH which is actually an adjustable hpf/lpf and then adjust the Bass on the TH (which is set really low) then the Bass on the Radial (which is set higher) then see if I need to adjust the upper mids to get any piezo honkiness out of it. But it can be different in every room.
 
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#1,293
crocau said:
On my last gig, I had my NXT (with traditionnal strings) plugged into a Fishman Platinum preamp, and then into a SWR Workingman 15. After listening to a live video, I feel like improving my sound, a bit too "fretlessy" for my taste. How do you EQ your NS NXT to get the best tone ?
Click to expand...

If you haven't already, consider bringing up the string action a touch. I mean, don't make it hard to play; but NS Design sets up the WAV4 and NXT basses with VERY low action. A little too low, IMHO. (It probably helps to bolster the confidence of the electric bassists who try the bass when it's on display at your local guitar superstore.)

To get that "big" URB sound, the strings need enough clearance to be plucked with vigor, with real upright bass technique - leaving enough room to "bloom" without buzzing against the fingerboard. I raised the action a little on my personal WAV4, and that alone improved its sound quite a bit, because I could PLAY it more like a real URB.
 
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#1,295
I may need a second opinion other than my own on this question.

I’m this close to pulling the trigger on getting an NXT4a radius bass, I currently own the WAV series bass and would like to know a good comparison on whether I should hold onto my pocket change and save up for the CR series.

Thanks in advance guys! Love NS Design basses!!
 
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#1,296
sonojono said:
I may need a second opinion other than my own on this question.

I’m this close to pulling the trigger on getting an NXT4a radius bass, I currently own the WAV series bass and would like to know a good comparison on whether I should hold onto my pocket change and save up for the CR series.

Thanks in advance guys! Love NS Design basses!!
Click to expand...

Hang on - are you referring to the bass guitars? This is the thread about the NXT double bass (there is a separate one for the omnibass too), so you might have more luck starting a thread in the bass forum of the bass guitar section.

Like others here I play the NXT double bass and have no experience with the radius series. So I can only work under the assumption that the general WAV / NXT / CR distinction is always the same for all instruments.

The WAV basses are made in China, whereas the NXT and I think also the CR are made in the Czech Republic. NXT is by most standards already professional grade quality. There are only a few things that are lower quality, mainly the tuners (no name on NXT, Schaller on CR). That won't be a big issue on a bass guitar, but can be when trying to use standard double bass strings on an electric upright. Other than that the CR has better electronics and a few more features.

So extrapolating from this my guess is you will be absolutely fine with an NXT, unless the CR has any features you absolutely need (I doubt it).
 
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#1,297
donotfret said:
Hang on - are you referring to the bass guitars? This is the thread about the NXT double bass (there is a separate one for the omnibass too), so you might have more luck starting a thread in the bass forum of the bass guitar section.

Like others here I play the NXT double bass and have no experience with the radius series. So I can only work under the assumption that the general WAV / NXT / CR distinction is always the same for all instruments.

The WAV basses are made in China, whereas the NXT and I think also the CR are made in the Czech Republic. NXT is by most standards already professional grade quality. There are only a few things that are lower quality, mainly the tuners (no name on NXT, Schaller on CR). That won't be a big issue on a bass guitar, but can be when trying to use standard double bass strings on an electric upright. Other than that the CR has better electronics and a few more features.

So extrapolating from this my guess is you will be absolutely fine with an NXT, unless the CR has any features you absolutely need (I doubt it).
Click to expand...

The Radius basses are differentiated a little bit differently than the EUBs. The NXT Radius does NOT have piezos in the bridge. So if you want those, you'll need the CR (or the WAV). They made the conscious decision to make the NXT a more "traditional" electric bass guitar. So it does not have the bridge with piezos.

The NXT and CR versions - like the EUBs - are made in the same dedicated facility in the Czech Republic. The fit and finish of the CR, naturally, is considerably nicer than the NXT, as would be appropriate for the difference in price point.

Hope that helps.
 
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#1,299
Not sure if anyone in this thread has talked about IRs with the NXT yet, but for those that haven't seen it, 3Sigma Audio has some upright bass IRs. (Special thanks to @Chace90 for cluing me in and sending the link). I just bought all three, but have only had the chance to test out my [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] (NS Traditional strings) with the Hawk model, which I loaded into my Line 6 Stomp.

Upright Basses Archives - 3 Sigma Audio

I was previously using a smidge of delay (15ms with a 35% mix) to get closer to an acoustic sound and was fairly happy with the sound and was getting positive comments at gigs. Replacing the delay with the IR made a significant difference in the "acoustic-ness" of the sound. The use of the delay sounded decent, but the IR sounds waaaaay better.

You owe it to yourself to check these out if you're looking to get your NXT closer to an upright sound. Each IR package comes with models for 5 different mics, each with 3 different EQ curves. Strings will make a difference of course... the direct sound of my NXT with the Traditionals sounds better than (what appears to be) a stock NXT in the video (which have NS Contemporary strings).

I haven't had a chance to do any audio samples yet, but will try and get one or two put together in the next couple days. Can't wait to try it out at an upcoming gig!

5sg.





3Sigma has a little bit more in this video about two of the specific basses used for the IRs.
The Prescott @ 1:39
The Hawk @ 5:23
 
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#1,300
fivestringgecko said:
Not sure if anyone in this thread has talked about IRs with the NXT yet, but for those that haven't seen it, 3Sigma Audio has some upright bass IRs. (Special thanks to @Chace90 for cluing me in and sending the link). I just bought all three, but have only had the chance to test out my [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] (NS Traditional strings) with the Hawk model, which I loaded into my Line 6 Stomp.

Upright Basses Archives - 3 Sigma Audio

I was previously using a smidge of delay (15ms with a 35% mix) to get closer to an acoustic sound and was fairly happy with the sound and was getting positive comments at gigs. Replacing the delay with the IR made a significant difference in the "acoustic-ness" of the sound. The use of the delay sounded decent, but the IR sounds waaaaay better.

You owe it to yourself to check these out if you're looking to get your NXT closer to an upright sound. Each IR package comes with models for 5 different mics, each with 3 different EQ curves. Strings will make a difference of course... the direct sound of my NXT with the Traditionals sounds better than (what appears to be) a stock NXT in the video (which have NS Contemporary strings).

I haven't had a chance to do any audio samples yet, but will try and get one or two put together in the next couple days. Can't wait to try it out at an upcoming gig!

5sg.





3Sigma has a little bit more in this video about two of the specific basses used for the IRs.
The Prescott @ 1:39
The Hawk @ 5:23
Click to expand...


What does the "IRs" stand for? I found tens of possible meanings on online dictionary. Do I understand correctly that it is some kind of software? How can I use it for live shows? Sorry for my ignorance...this is new to me...
 

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