Double Bass NS Design NXT Megathread

[fivestringgecko]

What is your sound chain to get the best sound out of your NSD ??

NXTa > Line 6 Stomp with some light compression and 3Sigma Prescott IR > Shuttle 6 with a Berg CN112 (or two). Mmmmmmmmm.

Lots of positive feedback from fellow bandmates. Side benefit: TONS of fun effect-y stuff you can do with the Stomp!

5sg.

 

[Zbysek]

What is your sound chain to get the best sound out of your NSD ??

NXT - HPF Pre II (DIY) - EBS MicroBass II - amp (MB, GB or TE Elf) - cab (most often Berg CN112, sometimes Epi, Hartke, Genz,..)

 

[Hendricks97]

NXT5 into Fishman platinum to Korg pitchblack pro to Markbass Compressore to MXR bass di to EHX bass clone to EHX Cathedral to Markbass little mark 3 to Markbass 2x10

 

[thumbslapper]

for smaller jazzish/acoustic gigs:
NXT5a --> turbo tuner --> phil jones double 4 (great little portable amp)

for playing with band (Musique De Mars, pretty experimental):
NXT5a --> Mooer Radar (modified 3 Sigma german bass IR) --> TC resonator (pizz) --> Bass guitar rig thru a Bigshot I/O.

Bass guitar rig is:
Ditto X2 Looper --> Sub'n'up --> mosquito effects loop which has (Future Impact --> FMeron --> QF2 --> Xerograph Delux all controlled by a Source Audio Reflex), then TC chorus/PM/flanger --> Darkglass Alpha Omicron --> TC Flashback2 (or TC Hall of Fame 2) --> FEA DE-DC --> Broughton Messenger --> Volume --> Bass amp

Bass amp is either
Mesa Boogie 400+ --> Aguilar 4x10 (studio)
or
Alembic F1X --> Halfer power amp --> Bag End ELF --> Bag End 1x18 ELF & Bag End 2x10

To tell the truth tho playing thru the bass rig i'm mainly clean, but bowing thru the Xerograph Delux with distortion sounds pretty frippin evil.

The Mooer Radar can really give your NXT a much more uprighty sound if setup right, but takes a bit of work & some good IR's to do so.

 

[Jakemo]

well I just bought a well I just bought a Yamaha Silent bass 200... after all my deliberation

 

[Peter van Brucken]

Hey all, just bought an NXT5 to replace my very heavily modified Palatino. Anyway, I decided to put a 10M ohm Schatten micro preamp onboard so I'd have no issues going into any kind of bass amp. All good, and the testing proved it was a good idea. In the final install, ran the output direct into the preamp and replaced the 1 M ohm pot on the original, with a 50K on the preamp output. Should be a good idea, but there's something about that phase swapping switch that's stopped the output. Anyone got a wiring diagram?

 

[equill]

Hey all, just bought an NXT5 to replace my very heavily modified Palatino. Anyway, I decided to put a 10M ohm Schatten micro preamp onboard so I'd have no issues going into any kind of bass amp. All good, and the testing proved it was a good idea.

Cool! That's one of the options I considered for my WAV4, so it's good to know it was a viable option.

 

[Drang22]

Hey all, just bought an NXT5 to replace my very heavily modified Palatino. Anyway, I decided to put a 10M ohm Schatten micro preamp onboard so I'd have no issues going into any kind of bass amp. All good, and the testing proved it was a good idea. In the final install, ran the output direct into the preamp and replaced the 1 M ohm pot on the original, with a 50K on the preamp output. Should be a good idea, but there's something about that phase swapping switch that's stopped the output. Anyone got a wiring diagram?

Unfortunately, I cannot help with a diagram. I am interested in how this works out for you though, as I am considering the same modification on my WAV4. Good luck, and please keep us posted!

 

[5string_phunk]

Greetings all!

I just picked up a used passive NXT and I'm curious what preamp/DI you'd recommend to pair with it. Eventually I would like to have a small board with a tuner, reverb and a preamp/DI.

Thanks! Looking forward to getting this bad boy next week and get rolling in the EUB world!

 

[jthisdell]

Look for a pre with a high 10megohm input. I use a Radial Bassbone OD, other good options would include the fdeck and Broughton has a new one coming out with a variable impedance selector on it.

 

[equill]

Look for a pre with a high 10megohm input. I use a Radial Bassbone OD, other good options would include the fdeck and Broughton has a new one coming out with a variable impedance selector on it.

What he said. I'm another happy Bassbone OD user.
I also just found out about this, which looks like a solid rival to the Bassbone: EBS MicroBass 3 - Professional Outboard Preamp |

 

[5string_phunk]

Thanks all! I'll have to check into both of those!

I'm curious about this pre as well. Seems like it meets the 10Mohm criteria and I'm also a huge fan of Nordstrand products.

StarLifter Bass Preamp/DI - Pre-Order

 

[5string_phunk]

Also, how much does the input impedance affect the overall output/sound of the piezo pup's? I see some input/DI's have 1Mohm and some have 10Mohm. I also see something like the Tech21 Q/strip has a 4.7 Mohm input, which they claim is 'perfect' for piezo p'ups. However, I also read the threads that say 10 Mohm or bust for uprights.

Forgive my ignorance, but I'm pretty clueless about these types of things, so any info, input, experiences are much appreciated!

 

[jthisdell]

There is a very noticeable increase in bottom end and full end when I engage the high z input on my Radial. I don't know where the cutoff is, I believe the input is 1megohm without the high z. The radial od has a weird feature where the high z switch has to be engaged on one channel and have something plugged into the other channel in order for the high z to work (this is due to another feature). Had many occasions where I forgot this and then I am wondering "why does this sound like crap?" Occasionally I have used my Tonehammer head without the radial and was very surprised how good the NXT sounded without the high z of the radial. I don't know what the input of the TH is, I'm guessing it may be like 4-5megohm. I've seen other DB users post that they like a 4-5 megohm input and prefer that over the 10.

That may be my entire knowledge of the need for high z on piezos.

 

[equill]

Also, how much does the input impedance affect the overall output/sound of the piezo pup's? I see some input/DI's have 1Mohm and some have 10Mohm. I also see something like the Tech21 Q/strip has a 4.7 Mohm input, which they claim is 'perfect' for piezo p'ups. However, I also read the threads that say 10 Mohm or bust for uprights.

Forgive my ignorance, but I'm pretty clueless about these types of things, so any info, input, experiences are much appreciated!

All is forgiven; it might seem like an odd discussion if you haven't run into it.

The input impedance is critical. Piezos developed a reputation for sounding terrible, particularly "quacky" from people plugging them straight into bass amps and wondering why all the low frequencies seemed to be missing.

1Mohm is plenty for a magnetic pickup, which is why that's a common upper limit on preamps - 220K can be enough for those. On that note, the Bassbone OD features a "drag" control on the B channel, for tuning the input impedance to the needs of a passive bass.

Piezos just need a lot more; 4.7M would be sufficient, and it may sound "just right" to some ears, but 10M sounds better to most.

 

[5string_phunk]

Thanks for the education! I ordered a Fishman Platinum stage preamp (10Mohm) this morning and may try out a Tech21 Qstrip (4.7Mohm) as well just to see the difference. I'm looking into making a small pedal board for the NXT with a Preamp/DI, tuner and maybe a subtle reverb to give it some depth.

I know pedal placement is somewhat subjective, but given my ignorance on the topic of input impedance, what order would you recommend putting these pedals?

Pre/DI > Tuner > Reverb?
Tuner > Pre/DI > Reverb?
Tuner > Reverb > Pre/DI?

Or some other combo?

Again, I appreciate any and all suggestions, recommendations and experiences!

 

[jthisdell]

You want the pre first in line so that the impedance from the NXT out put matches the impedance on the pre input

 

[donotfret]

The windings on the height adjustment knob of my tripod stand have practically vanished, making the stand unusable. To be honest not only did I think this was a thing of the past (I bought my NXT new less than a year ago), but I'm also really miffed because these instruments are not exactly cheap.

I've now bought a bolt from a hardware store and use a spanner for fixing it. At least that will last - it has to, because the windings are properly cut into the metal, not added as a soft layer of mystery material as on the knob that came with the stand.

I contacted NS with the same problem, and they had a new bolt headed my way the next day. After that happened, I had some Backstage Points built up at Musicians Friend, so I used that credit and ordered the upgraded stand that comes with the CR upright, which is essentially a beefy cymbal stand modified with a NS upright mount. Absolutely worth the purchase... I wish the NXTs would just come with that stand, it would be worth the extra $ with the initial purchase IMO. I'm 100% happy I got it... It's much more gig sturdy, don't need a bolt stripping in the middle of a gig!

I've just unpacked my new CR stand and I'm absolutely amazed. Every single detail of it looks so much sturdier. Now I feel silly for not having bought it earlier.

As for the broken bolt of my NXT stand, turns out my bass store had a broken NXT stand with the bolt intact, so they just gave me that bolt. Interestingly in their experience other parts seem to break more often.

 

[DanielW]

Hello, new NXT Upright owner here. I am forever grateful for the info on impedance and piezos, will get a proper preamp as soon as I can afford it. Until then, my EBS-1 with 1 mOhm will have to do (and the bass already sounds lovely).

It would be cool to try playing with a bow. I have zero experience with bows, so any input would be appreciated. I have asked my local dealer, i e the shop in Stockholm that sells orchestral equipment (and actually sold the very NXT upright I have now to its previous owner), and they recommend a bow that is probably great, but also pretty expensive.

 

[delta7fred]

Hello, new NXT Upright owner here. I am forever grateful for the info on impedance and piezos, will get a proper preamp as soon as I can afford it. Until then, my EBS-1 with 1 mOhm will have to do (and the bass already sounds lovely).

It would be cool to try playing with a bow. I have zero experience with bows, so any input would be appreciated. I have asked my local dealer, i e the shop in Stockholm that sells orchestral equipment (and actually sold the very NXT upright I have now to its previous owner), and they recommend a bow that is probably great, but also pretty expensive.

It cannot be over-stressed the importance of the correct high impedance preamp, too low and the sound will lack bass and sound "quacky" (like a duck).

I would look at the Chinese carbon fibre bows, they get a good write up by some of the DB pros who you would expect would not touch them!

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