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Double Bass NS Design WAV4 megathread part II

#181
fred pratt said:
I'm still agonizing over what to do about tone. Matthijs and SebbyNC, I love the sounds of you're getting and wish I could get something close. What do you use to amplify, Sebby?
Click to expand...

Maybe you have a problem with matching impedance between you Wav4 and your amp.

For recording or amplifying my Wav4, I use the same thing as I use for my electric basses: a Boss ME-50B multieffect. In fact for the recordins you heard, I used the ME-50B simply as a preamp, because it has a 1Mohm input for taking the high impedance output of the Wav4 adequately. Otherwise I let all the settings flat with no EQ, no effect. It's a very nice unit, worth to check out if you use effect stomp boxes or units for your electric bass.

I also put D'Addario Helicore Hybrid medium strings, which improved the sound a lot over the stock strings. Also, I always use the Arco mode, which sounds closer to an upright bass that the Pizzicato mode.

An easy and cheap solution for impedance matching, is to fit a small buffer preamp into the control cavity of the Wav4, for example CafeWalter sells his PZP-1 preamp for about $50 shipped within the US ([Invalid or Expired Link Removed]).

Finally, one thing I don't like very much with the sound of the Wav4 is that it has a very strong attack (you can hear it on the first recording), and I found later that using some compression to lower the transient attack gives a smoother sound. When playing live, I use my ME-50B to tweak the EQ (most PA's tend to emphasize the high end too much, so I EQ my highs down, and I add more mids for more thud) and add some compression. People in the crowd always say they are very impressed with the Wav4 which then sound very close to an amplified acoustic upright.

So, in few words my advice is :
- have good strings
- use the arco mode
- match the in/out impedances (preamp with at least 1Mohm input)
- to further improve: some compression, some EQ to taste
 
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#182
Thanks for the long and thoughtful reply, Sebby.

The input on my amp is 1Mohm, and I also tried using an additional preamp.

But last night after my post I took a modest plunge and bought a Fishman Pro Platinum from Bob, which will give me both more EQ and a bit of compression. I'm also going to try stings like the Helicore Hybrids or Evah Weichs.

We'll see how all that works out. If in the end I'm still frustrated I can always get rid of this stuff.

Thanks again.
 
#187
dbassnut said:
Hi Sebby,

what kind of sound are you getting with the D'addario Hybrid Mediums? I'm trying to get a sound as close as possible to an acoustic.

Thanks, Dbassnut
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Dbassnut, I'm getting a sound closer to an amplified DB with the Helicores than with the stock strings. If you raise a lit bit the strings at the bridge, you get more DB thump also, which helps. I have no experience with other strings though. You can hear a sample of my sound by going to Invalid Link Removed, and skipping the songs in the player to songs #7 and #11. It's short, so if you want longer clips give your email address in PM and I'll send you longer versions.
 
#191
So I put Corellis on in place of the original strings and ran the signal through a Fishman Pro Platinum EQ. I never thought the NS strings were that bad but the Corellis did make some difference.

The WAV sounds killer with a bow in the arco mode, but I just can't get a pizzicato sound I like, in either the pizzicato or arco modes. Of the two toggle settings I prefer pizzicato for playing pizzicato. The arco setting for pizzicato playing gives me a kind of underwater Doppler sound with a really abrupt decay that I don't like at all. The pizzicato setting, of course, is way too trebly, so the tone knob has to be rolled back almost all the way, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me. That setting then gives me a stifled and fuzzy sound, which I can somewhat ameliorate with the settings on the Fishman. But I'm still not satisfied, and it's not much consolation to me that it might sound better to people standing further away. I need to enjoy the sound from where I'm standing.

I wish there were a pill to take when mania over equipment sets in. What got me so psyched was how much I enjoyed playing the WAV acoustically before I even plugged it in, which was way beyond what I expected. But since then I've been chasing after the sound I'm looking for, almost to the point of of it being unhealthy, spending an inordinate amount of time reading posts, traveling the subways to get cheap strings, purchasing the Fishman, playing and tweaking, and generally obssessing.

I was thinking about getting a guitar guy to rewire it to my liking, with an on-board preamp. But there's no guarantee I'd be satisfied and the infatuation would continue. Maybe a CRM 4 is the answer. Could be, but right now I think I need to put all this NS stuff as far out of my mind as possible for a while.
 
#192
NickyBass said:
There seems to be a bit of doubt about the tuners on these basses. Is this only with certain strings? Do you guys think that the stock tuners are fine with Obligatos or Helicore Hybrids?
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I have mine strung with Obligatos. While they seem to be holding up fine, I had the folks at Gollihur string em on to be on the safe side.

...In looking at the new NXT basses, I like the look of the satin finishes. However, seeing that they used the same undersized tuners of the WAV would've been the real dealbreaker for me. While the build quality may be better, I get the sensation they will sounds verry similar to WAVs, and (coupled with the same tuners) doesn't justify the upped price.

Just my $.02, because I'm loving my WAV, and it's really been helping me in my classical lessons with position shifts.

:bassist: <-- I use this because of the irony of it all ^_^
 
#193
I strung mine up with Obligatos. I only had a chance to play it acoustically (kids are in bed and once they wake up, they are up for the rest of the night.) It seems like it will be a vast improvement over the stock strings. We'll see tomorrow. I used Obligatos on my upright for a few months, so I've had some experience with them.

As to the tuners---yeah, it's a bit scary. They look like they will work out, but we'll see.
 
#194
looking to buy one like in the next day or 2. I kinda look at EUBs relative to Acoustic guitars (bare with me) and Electric guitars...they are cousins but rarely sound the same...I will always play both and i'm not looking to replace my Double Bass just shake things up a bit (which my bad does anyway)

That said...

do you think a key board case would work well? the 76 key cases are big enough (like 53-53"), only cost lilke 170.00 and the flight cases i have seen cost 1/2 of the bass price....i just want a hard shell case...
 
#196
The obligatos sound a million times better than the stock strings--and arco sounds pretty good through the amp. I'm surprised by how good it sounds bowed. When played pizz in the 'arco' piezo position, the notes seem very compressed. It is a very undesirable effect. In 'pizz' mode, it sounds alot better, but then I lose the thump. I am going to raise the bridge and see how that works.

btw, I have the tone knob rolled all the way off. Otherwise, I can't find a tone that I dig. Does anyone else roll off the tone??

The instrument sounds pretty good with alot of extreme eq/electronic settings.
 
#198
NickyBass said:
The obligatos sound a million times better than the stock strings--and arco sounds pretty good through the amp. I'm surprised by how good it sounds bowed. When played pizz in the 'arco' piezo position, the notes seem very compressed. It is a very undesirable effect. In 'pizz' mode, it sounds alot better, but then I lose the thump. I am going to raise the bridge and see how that works.

btw, I have the tone knob rolled all the way off. Otherwise, I can't find a tone that I dig. Does anyone else roll off the tone??

The instrument sounds pretty good with alot of extreme eq/electronic settings.
Click to expand...

Exactly! I took the bass out again last night to show a friend and it didn't sound half bad. It sounds surprisingly good with the bow. Unlike some others here though, I hate the sound of I get playing pizz on the arco setting; I like the pizz setting much better, but then I have to roll off the treble practically all the way, and of course you lose something when you do that. I don't think I lose thump so much as overtones I'd like to hear and a general feeling of air.

I've been running it through my EA Micro 300 and Wizzy 10. Last night I set those tone controls pretty flat. I have Corellis on but they may be less than ideal.

I'm once again thinking about doing some rewiring, putting in a 9V preamp, getting a warmer tone, and making the treble control mean something.
 
#200
Ok. from the forum it looks like I should either get obligatos or D'Addario Helicores Hybrids (medium) for the Wav. Now my question would be, what is the average lifespan or durability of the strings? I'm currently using Helicore Hybrids on my acoustic & they're about 2 years old & going strong. Was thinking of getting the obligatos but am not sure on how long they'd last.
 

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