Double Bass NS Design WAV4 megathread part I

[frede]

Anyone make a better bridge for the Wav 4? I'd like to raise my
strings a little bit higher.

 

[BassBus]

How's the Sansamp BDDI do as a preamp for the Wav? Any recommended settings?

Lonnybass

I use the Sansamp BDDI with my double bass and get a great sound. It seems to cut the mids which I like. My settings are Level: 1 o'clock, Blend: full on, Treble: 9 o'clock, Bass: 9 o'clock, Drive 1 o'clock, Presence: 10 o'clock.

 

[wxfloyd]

can anyone post pictures of their WAV with replacement DB strings on it? I'm curious to see how they look strung from those slots on the back control plate. I'm also interested how they look at the headstock. If I get a WAV I will probably immediately replace the strings and want to make sure I don't do something stupid (and waste the 100+ bucks). I'm thinking I'll probably go with the Obligatos as well since I will be doing anything from Latin to Bluegrass music. mccartneyman, you said you couldn't get your strings into the holes on the tuners and you just put them through the slits instead. have they held up ok? I'd be greatly appreciative if you personally could post pics (or email some) of your WAV with the new strings since I'm anticipating a very similar, if not identical, choice of strings to go on the WAV when I purchase one. thanks!!

 

[Bob Gollihur]

Anyone make a better bridge for the Wav 4? I'd like to raise my
strings a little bit higher.

Have you already raised the bridge to maximum height??

 

[cairomike]

After yet another problem with the stand I've finally given up on it and ordered a CR series stand, with at least two gigs a week I just can't afford to have it fail. Its not cheap at £120 though. The final straw came last Thursday when the thumb screw that tightens the tripod legs to the centre tube failed, with the plastic grip spinning round on the thread I had to resort to undoing it with a pair of pliers.

So far I've had the top casting snap, the split pins fall out, the bottom screws come loose and now this. To give NS their due, when the casting snapped, they did act quickly to replace the stand. But, they are hiding their heads in the sand if they think there isn't a problem with it. I know of at least one other case where the casting has snapped in exactly the same place as my original, and that’s serious. These stands are cheap and not worthy of the quality of the instrument.

 

[*fenderbass*]

I have used a Sansamp Bass Driver DI direct to the PA with my WAV.

With the WAV set to pizz, and the PA EQ set flat, I found I needed to crank the bass up to about 3 o'clock, bring the treble down to 9-10 o'clock, and the presence at about 12 o'clock, and mixed in a little of the tube modeling. I got a nice fat punchy sound.

I also have used a Yamaha Magicstomp (funny name but nice pedal) direct to the PA. I have been able to get a more acoustic tone with some of the microphone and acoustic amp modeling effects.

 

[smakbass]

Has anyone taken the finish off the back of the neck??? any comments or thoughts?

 

[Murf]

After yet another problem with the stand I've finally given up on it and ordered a CR series stand, with at least two gigs a week I just can't afford to have it fail. Its not cheap at £120 though. The final straw came last Thursday when the thumb screw that tightens the tripod legs to the centre tube failed, with the plastic grip spinning round on the thread I had to resort to undoing it with a pair of pliers.

So far I've had the top casting snap, the split pins fall out, the bottom screws come loose and now this. To give NS their due, when the casting snapped, they did act quickly to replace the stand. But, they are hiding their heads in the sand if they think there isn't a problem with it. I know of at least one other case where the casting has snapped in exactly the same place as my original, and that’s serious. These stands are cheap and not worthy of the quality of the instrument.

Sorry to hear this, so far I've been lucky as my stand is holding up well...however, I am totally paranoid about it as this particular problem seems to be re-surfacing a lot. I must confess although my stand is holding up ok it does "feel" quite flimsy...I'm seriously considering getting an end-pin stand but then I'm faced with the problem of how do I store my wav between sets? (I use both my WAV and Cirrus in every gig and the supplied stand is great..as a stand)..I know there is an end-pin stand conversion kit which will allow you to use the end-pin stand and then store it on the regular stand...however I read somewhere (here probably) that the conversion kit dosent work with the WAV series stands..is this true? and if so is there a workaround or do I need to purchase the CR series stand?

any thoughts would be much appreciated


cheers
Murf

 

[endorka]

...I'm seriously considering getting an end-pin stand but then I'm faced with the problem of how do I store my wav between sets?

I worried about this, especially as I travel light and carrying 2 stands + conversion kit is not really an option, but it turns out not to be a problem, I just lie the wav down on the floor with the endpin and the two "prongs" of the "right bout" touching the floor.

Jennifer

 

[funkybassplayer]

your right murf, the end-pin stand won't work with the conversion kit on the WAV stand. i have had many of the same problems with my WAV stand and they have been quite prompt about sending me replacement parts to get back up and running. I ended up getting an endpin stand and absolutly love it. the lower right bout really comes in handy with "feeling" the upright against you while playing

 

[wxfloyd]

for those of you using the endpin stand, how is the balance of the WAV? just from observing pics of the stand in use (via Bob Gollihur's NS page) it seems that the WAV would be very top heavy and not balance well. do any of you seem to have issues with making runs along the fingerboard? also still hoping anyone with a WAV that has replaced the stock strings with new standard 3/4 DB strings could post or send me pics of the strings run through the slots on the rear cavity plate and of how they ran the strings through the tuners. thanks

 

[cairomike]

also still hoping anyone with a WAV that has replaced the stock strings with new standard 3/4 DB strings could post or send me pics of the strings run through the slots on the rear cavity plate and of how they ran the strings through the tuners. thanks

Here are a couple of shots. The strings are Pirastro Obligatos.

The biggest problem was fitting the E into the machine head. The string is far too thick to push into the hole so I had to ease it carefully into the slot and I only managed 2 turns. Be prepared to spend some time getting the E string secure. Once fitted though the sound is much better than the stock strings.

Mike

 

[wxfloyd]

Thanks for the pics Mike. much appreciated!! so just so I'm clear, the only string you really had trouble with was the E string, and even then all you did was carefully pushed it through the slot, and wound it to tension? The A, D, and G strings had no trouble getting into the tuning peghole? also with the couple of hard corners you had to wrap the strings around from the backplate, you haven't had any issues with string malfunction at those points (windings coming unraveled, cores busting, etc.)? those were my biggest concerns with putting on 3/4 size strings.

 

[Bob Gollihur]

FYI, if I recall correctly I was able to just barely get the E string into the hole (I did trim the string length). It was a very tight fit and I didn't think at first that I'd get it in.

Due to the compact size of both the headstock and machines, a pair of long nose pliers were my friend when inserting all the strings into the machines-- fat fingers need not apply.

 

[cairomike]

Thanks for the pics Mike. much appreciated!! so just so I'm clear, the only string you really had trouble with was the E string, and even then all you did was carefully pushed it through the slot, and wound it to tension? The A, D, and G strings had no trouble getting into the tuning peghole? also with the couple of hard corners you had to wrap the strings around from the backplate, you haven't had any issues with string malfunction at those points (windings coming unraveled, cores busting, etc.)? those were my biggest concerns with putting on 3/4 size strings.

That's right. The E had to be pulled quite firmly around the machine head by hand before, putting it into the slot. My biggest concern was that the string might jump out of the slot and thus unwind, but I think the tension of the string is effectively clamping the string in the slot. Also, the Obligatos have a synthetic core and stretch like hell (once fitted they took about 3 weeks to fully stabilise), it took me several attempts to get the string stretched sufficiently so as not to have too much around the peg, the diameter of the E string means you can only get a couple of turns otherwise it will start to push the string out of the slot. The A and D are no trouble, the G has quite a lot of the metal part of the string around the peg, but it's thin enough and doesn't seem to be a problem.

As far as sharp angles go, so far I haven't found them to be a problem, there's no evidence of any unravelling, but I do keep the stock strings in my gig bag in case of trouble, they are lighter but will do in an emergency, as soon as I can afford it I'll buy a spare set of Obligatos.

Another thing though, I tried a set of Thomastik Spirocores and there was no way they would fit. It seems the not all 3/4 strings are the same length. See one of my earlier posts.

Mike

 

[mccartneyman]

cmccartneyman, you said you couldn't get your strings into the holes on the tuners and you just put them through the slits instead. have they held up ok? I'd be greatly appreciative if you personally could post pics (or email some) of your WAV with the new strings since I'm anticipating a very similar, if not identical, choice of strings to go on the WAV when I purchase one. thanks!!

Strings are holding up fine. The end of the Obligatos (the string being nylon core) are rather, um, wimpy. They don't bend like the stock NS strings, which are metal core. Make sure you have enough leader on the string to wrap quite a few times around the post, thus keeping pressure on the end that's struck through the slit. I'll try to post pics today.

 

[wxfloyd]

thanks guys. your replies are much appreciated!

 

[endorka]

for those of you using the endpin stand, how is the balance of the WAV? just from observing pics of the stand in use (via Bob Gollihur's NS page) it seems that the WAV would be very top heavy and not balance well.

The balance is perfect - the endpin stand is very well designed in this regard. The fact that it is quite heavy in itself, much heavier than the supplied tripod stand, may help with this. It is stable enough that you can do the "look no hands" thing with it, useful for turning pages in music etc.

do any of you seem to have issues with making runs along the fingerboard?

Seems fine to me.

Jennifer

 

[ziv]

Hi, I'm new to this forum. I have been playing EB for 5/6 years now (fretted and fretless) and I would like to try EUB (acoustic uprights are just too big). The WAV4 seems to be a good instrument for that. I'm just a bit concerned about the reliability of the stand...

However, in France, where I live, they are a bit more expensive than in the US (the list price is 1290€ ~ 1730$). There is always the possibility of ordering them in Germany (at Thomann, they are listed at 990€ with 3 years repair guarantee and 30-day money-back guarantee if I do not like it, that's better) but I would not have a free setup service as when I buy it in a store. On the other hand, the shops that sell them here are more specialized in EB so I'm not sure they are really experienced in EUBs...

Moreover, WAV4s seem to be temporarily out of stock (success ?). Even Thomann says that the Amberburst model will be available at mid-July... Only the black model seems to be more or less available. I also saw on Thomann site that the next WAV instrument is supposed to be a violin.

What do you think ? Buy it in a store ? Buy it in Germany (and, for the price difference, find here a luthier to set it up, if necessary) ?

 

[endorka]

What do you think ? Buy it in a store ? Buy it in Germany (and, for the price difference, find here a luthier to set it up, if necessary) ?

Ultimately it is of course your call, but I bought mine from Thomann and found them to my satisfaction. I did not need a luthier to set it up at first, I guess in this regard EUBs are different from DBs, which I believe will always need a setup to start with. Tinkering with the height of the bridge is easy, for example.

Subsequently I asked a luthier to reduce the height of the nut, but he could only remove a very small amount, which I would say is indicative of a good setup out the box.

Jennifer