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Double Bass NS Design WAV4 megathread part I

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#81
I am resident in the UK and I just received my WAV4 today from Thomann in Germany. It cost me £660 (990 euros) which I think is a little more than the US dollar price, but that's nothing new in europe :(

Playing through Korg Pandora PX-3B effects box (just for the tone control) and Gallien-Krueger MBE amp. Its my first upright bass and I have to say I'm pretty impressed. With my electric bass I keep the GK tone controls flat and use the PX-3B for tone adjustment so I've done the same for the EUB and after messing with the settings on the PX-3B I think have a fairly convincing upright sound. I noticed a post suggesting the finger board is dyed, I am pretty sure it is, mine is not exactly even coloured lots of quite light bits in it, it doesn't bother me though, adds to the character.

For a total novice the "fret" marks are a great help, I feel as though I could gig it almost straight away, well on the less taxing stuff anyway!

I also suffered from the dreaded black fingers and they also became quite sticky but after about 6 hours playing and several cleans with Fast Fret it seems to have warn off. I think I will change the strings in the near future, can any one suggest a good replacement for Latin Jazz style?
 
#82
A WAV4 buyer (not my customer) contacted me regarding his stand problems:
After one week I have already stripped one of the adjustment screws in the stand, because it could not support the weight of the instrument without torquing the hell out of the vertical adjustment mechanism. Technically speaking, as I was playing the bass, I noticed that the instrument was getting lower and lower to the ground over time. Every few tunes I had to keep raising the instrument back up into a natural playing position. Well, I had finally had enough and really torqued the adjustment mechanism that maintains veritcal position and stripped the screw.
Click to expand...
I passed it on, and NS Design responded promptly:
Hi Bob-

Thanks for the heads up on this.

We developed the fix to this small clamp issue in the first days of QC...this is one that unfortunately got away! Please understand, both for your customers and others, that anyone that has a defective clamp should contact NS immediately for a replacement. 866.673.3744 or 207.563.7705.

The message that you've copied hits the nail on the head. The clamp doesn't work well, person tightens more...snap. No clamp.
The properly set clamps are an entirely different animal, removing torsional movement and stiffening the whole stand significantly.
Click to expand...

So, if your stand has this symptom, NSD will take care of you.
 
#83
Just had to chime in: the finish on this black beauty is absolutely stunning! The body is impeccable, but the only "flaw" is with the finish on the inside of the headstock, which seems to have been done very hastily, but is in no way immediately noticeable.

This is the 3rd EUB I've owned: my first was a BSX T-5 (gigged with once, recorded with once, then sold), then came an Eminence (never played out with it, sold) . Although the Eminence wins hands down for tone, I actually feel more comfortable with the WAV as I am not primarily an upright player, so I was never able to really justify keeping the Eminence when I just wasn't using it regularly. I feel the WAV was made exactly for a player such as myself, who wants to dabble with the double, but without investing too heavily.

I must add that I think it beats out the BSX in tone, and that I do actually like the strings that came on it, so won't be switching them out anytime soon.

I gotta say, the WAV is here to stay at my house, along with its L-2 older cousin.
 
#84
My WAV arrived yesterday. Just to share a few first thoughts – many are echos of other views already posted I think: -

The glossed amberburst finish lives up to expectations and suits this instrument well IMHO. The sanded finish throughout the working length of the neck’s back seemed odd initially, but the benefit shows when comparing that faster surface to the slightly “sticky” feel of the highly lacquered gloss finish used elsewhere.

The stand seems ok so far too – it feels pretty robust and has a good range of adjustment. I’m 6ft and have the setup pretty high (first “fret” at eye level), but even then remains very stable when you stand away from it. The tripod legs have a bigger spread available than I expected, which makes a lot of difference. No sign of that vertical clamp slipping so far...

The action needed to be raised a bit, but was easy via the two Phillips screws from the back. I fully agree that the black finger stuff is all about the strings, not the fretboard – I get this all the time on my flatwound-equipped EB’s.

I have virtually no prior UB or fretless experience, but was surprised how playable the instrument was from the outset – including getting some reasonable intonation. The dot markers are welcomed by this novice!

Only had time for a brief trial so far, but to my uninformed ear initial impressions are of a tone range somewhere between fretless EB and AUB. With “passive” (3.9MOhm) input selected on my Ashdown ABM there is plenty of signal strength available in either pickup mode – in fact I found myself rolling back the instrument volume on a few occasions. Lots more experimenting to be done with pickup, amp and Korg fx settings…

Cairomike, you mentioned that you are running your WAV through a PX3B – I’d be very interested to know any info on what settings you found worked well – thanks for your help.

I’ve not had the privilege of trying a CR model, but considering they start at over twice the price of the WAV I think the WAV must represent good value - at least as a transition EUB.

Hope this might be of some interest.
 
#85
I would be interested in hearing from anyone running their WAV direct to the PA. Mine sounds fine through a amp, but I go direct with my EB in church (no amp) using a Radial Bassbone. I haven't taken the WAV to church et until I get used to the scale, I'm considering getting a preamp after reading URBBob's suggestions because the Bone impedance doesn't match. I'm limited to one channel at church, so if the occasion rises to double, I would like to use the WAV with preamp through Channel 2 of the Bone, keeping Channel 1 reserved for the EB. Incidentally, although I have been playing EB for 40+ years, I picked up "My First Simandl" just to acquaint myself with fingerings. Since I read music already, it should really help the transition.
 
#86
mccartneyman said:
I would be interested in hearing from anyone running their WAV direct to the PA. Mine sounds fine through a amp, but I go direct with my EB in church (no amp) using a Radial Bassbone. I haven't taken the WAV to church et until I get used to the scale, I'm considering getting a preamp after reading URBBob's suggestions because the Bone impedance doesn't match. I'm limited to one channel at church, so if the occasion rises to double, I would like to use the WAV with preamp through Channel 2 of the Bone, keeping Channel 1 reserved for the EB. Incidentally, although I have been playing EB for 40+ years, I picked up "My First Simandl" just to acquaint myself with fingerings. Since I read music already, it should really help the transition.
Click to expand...

That's how I configure my rig when I double. URB-K&Kpreamp-Bassbone; EB-Bassbone.
 
#87
mccartneyman said:
I would be interested in hearing from anyone running their WAV direct to the PA. Mine sounds fine through a amp, but I go direct with my EB in church (no amp) using a Radial Bassbone. I haven't taken the WAV to church et until I get used to the scale, I'm considering getting a preamp after reading URBBob's suggestions because the Bone impedance doesn't match. I'm limited to one channel at church, so if the occasion rises to double, I would like to use the WAV with preamp through Channel 2 of the Bone, keeping Channel 1 reserved for the EB. Incidentally, although I have been playing EB for 40+ years, I picked up "My First Simandl" just to acquaint myself with fingerings. Since I read music already, it should really help the transition.
Click to expand...



i go direct in board using radial bassbobe plug the ns crt and my smith and sounds really great i also played in church and i love direct in board
 
#88
Jeffn said:
My WAV arrived yesterday. Just to share a few first thoughts – many are echos of other views already posted I think: -

The glossed amberburst finish lives up to expectations and suits this instrument well IMHO. The sanded finish throughout the working length of the neck’s back seemed odd initially, but the benefit shows when comparing that faster surface to the slightly “sticky” feel of the highly lacquered gloss finish used elsewhere.

The stand seems ok so far too – it feels pretty robust and has a good range of adjustment. I’m 6ft and have the setup pretty high (first “fret” at eye level), but even then remains very stable when you stand away from it. The tripod legs have a bigger spread available than I expected, which makes a lot of difference. No sign of that vertical clamp slipping so far...

The action needed to be raised a bit, but was easy via the two Phillips screws from the back. I fully agree that the black finger stuff is all about the strings, not the fretboard – I get this all the time on my flatwound-equipped EB’s.

I have virtually no prior UB or fretless experience, but was surprised how playable the instrument was from the outset – including getting some reasonable intonation. The dot markers are welcomed by this novice!

Only had time for a brief trial so far, but to my uninformed ear initial impressions are of a tone range somewhere between fretless EB and AUB. With “passive” (3.9MOhm) input selected on my Ashdown ABM there is plenty of signal strength available in either pickup mode – in fact I found myself rolling back the instrument volume on a few occasions. Lots more experimenting to be done with pickup, amp and Korg fx settings…

Cairomike, you mentioned that you are running your WAV through a PX3B – I’d be very interested to know any info on what settings you found worked well – thanks for your help.

I’ve not had the privilege of trying a CR model, but considering they start at over twice the price of the WAV I think the WAV must represent good value - at least as a transition EUB.

Hope this might be of some interest.
Click to expand...

Hi Jeffn

I have the PX3B set as follows:
Dynamics - Off
Amp: Tube 1 level 9
EQ: LOW=0, MID=+3, HIGH=-8 and PRESN=-10
Mod: off
Reverb: off, but have tried GARA2 at level 10 to give a sort of body reverb, like you tend to get on acoustic instruments.
NR: 1
LEVEL: 30
Contrary to my earlier post I have now decided that the GK amp eq is best with the Parametric Hi-Mid set at a frequency of 6.2k (fully c/w) and the level at minimum, the Lo-Mid controls are at center position as are the Treble, Bass and Boost controls, this seems to me to tame the slightly metallic sound from the pickup. I guess it seems odd to boost the mid on the PX3B and roll it of on the amp but it works for me.

I have to say that, much to the annoyance of the kids, I haven't stopped playing since I got it, it's just brilliant, working through our set list to decide what I can and can't play.

One think though, I am totally new to the URB thing and would like advice about the playing position. I have seen comments that the eye line should be at 'first fret' but when I look at professionals they seem to play with the bass positioned quite a bit higher. I suppose in the end its what you are comfortable with.
 
#90
cairomike said:
One thing I forgot to mention before.

The volume and tone controls on the bass are both set fully c/w. I find the volume control affects the tone, as you turn it down you loose treble. So I control the volume with the PX3B.
Click to expand...

========
Thanks very much CM for noting this down and all in your earlier post. I'll try some experiments over the hols through my Ashdown rig and PX3B and post some feedback on how I get on with the WAV.

Ref. your earlier question on EUB height - speaking only as a complete UB novice, so far I'm finding that the "eye line at 'fret' 1" setup works very well for me with the WAV. Pizz plucking position is comfortable just below the fingerboard, which gives more space to dig in I find. I tried a higher position but found the low-register f/b stuff less comfortable to do.

Some shots of EUB players that I've seen show them in a bit of a hunched posture. Despite appearing to play with the EUB set higher, and I do wonder if the relative height of their EUB would be similar to mine when they are standing up straight.

Thanks again for all the info. Have a great New Year everybody.
 
#97
cairomike said:
I am resident in the UK and I just received my WAV4 today from Thomann in Germany.
Click to expand...

Mike, I'm also a resident in the UK and have been thinking seriously (read: struggling to let economics trump emotion) about getting one of those for some time. The Thomann deal seems pretty good. It would be interesting to hear how you are getting on with the WAV, and indeed any sound samples. My goal would be to get as close to an acoustic upright bass sound as possible, although like yourself I am also interested to exploring the possibilities of the applicability of the instrument to latin jazz, which I believe has requirements all of its own.

As things stand at the moment, with the mostly good reviews coming in, I'd likely buy one ASAP, but the unanswered question of the possibility of a 5 string version is making me hold back.

Jennifer
 
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