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Double Bass Stagg EUB megathread

#62
Hi to all

I've been following this thread for a while and finally bought a Stagg - in honey - through my LGS who got close to the online prices. It is my first upright bass of any kind, as I never learnt acoustic. I had previously tried a Wav4 at the Bass Centre in London, and found it hard work on the left hand due to not having a "body" to pull against, and thought the extensions on the Stagg looked a great idea.

Well I unboxed it, tuned it up, and found it surprisingly playable. The action was very high but easily adjusted, it's now about 8mm at the end of the board. I can see that the curvature of the bridge is greater than that of the fingerboard, which causes uneven string height (A and D are higher) which I might get my local luthier to look at, and the nut could do with being cut a tad deeper. But I expected to need to pay attention to setup. The hip brace extension does exactly what I hoped it would do.

However I have another problem - hum. It hums quite loudly when plugged into my amp - its not the lead or amp (Acoustic Image Coda 2R series III - which I use with all my bass guitars). If I touch the body of one of the 1/4" jack plugs on the lead (I have Neutrik plugs with metal bodies) or one of the 3.5mm jack sockets on the EQ panel on the Stagg, grounding it, the hum stops.

Has anyone else had this problem? Do you think it means a return, or is it likely to just need sorting out the ground connection internally?

Any suggestions as to why it hums (and don't say "cos it doesn't know the words...")

Cheers
Nigel
 
#63
gurzil said:
I got to try one out today. The biggest oddity to me was the materials. It felt like plasticized wood of some kind. The neck and fingerboard appear to be all one piece of material. Playingwise it seemed alright pizz. There were some buzzes, which made me wonder what you would find if you started sanding on the fingerboard.
Click to expand...

Gurzil brings up an interesting matter. Because of wear or other issues, sooner or later you'd probably have to sand the finbergoard back to a playable shape.
Has anyone had to do that? Or maybe accidentally someone has scraped it and discovered something underneath that plastic-like surface? What is it made of?
Do you think it can be reshaped several times, or maybe, planed off and substituted by an ebony fb?
Thanks.
 
#64
Nigel, I don't have any hum problems with mine. Maybe you should test another one at the LGS, or check the eletronics with your luthier.

To finish with the buzz of the strings, I just needed a quick adjustment.

Jazzint, I heard that the fingerboard is maple, but the cover I don't know. I scratched a smal part of i and I could see the wood. i'll try to take a picture. TO cover the scratch, I used a black pen marker, and it's ok now.
 
#66
I picked up a used sunburst 2007 Stagg EUB for $250 from my local GC; it had the carrying bag but neither of the optional shaped-form attachments. It sounded nice and played decently, although with high action.

I dropped the action down pretty low when I got it home and it developed a "quack" when findering B on the A string. After swapping some old strings onto it, I decided (hoped!) that the A string was just bad. Ordered a set of D'addario hybrid mediums, and they made a big difference. I adjusted the relief in the neck (there's a truss rod) and got it set up with a nice low action -- faster than my DB (which has a low action, too: 6mm to 4.5 mm, E to G). But no buzzes or other strange noises.

Unike some others' comments on this thread, the position markers seem to be pretty accurately placed. The tone controls are pretty basic, volume and a bass boost. I run it through my pedal board, so can adjust tones that way. It has a less "woody" sound than my DB plugged in (and recorded), but does not sound like a fretless EB -- at least, not my fretless EB.

The bridge sucks, because of the curve it has. I started to file the slots a little and discovered that the parts are maple hardwood, with some kind of resin/epoxy paint. I'm guessing all the black parts are all the same, including the neck and fingerboard. Any way, I bought a couple blocks of ebony and will carve a replacement bridge to get it closer to an accurate bass bridge shape. Bowing it seems a little more difficult than on my DB, but I don't bow much anyhow and probably have poor technique.

As for "what use is it": well, it's fun. No, it will never be my number 1 bass, but I have several basses that will never be my number 1 bass. I take my DB on acoustic gigs, and can take the EUB to play electric gigs when it might suit the tone or temper of a song better than the jazz. And of course, there's the novelty factor, as was alluded to in another thread. But considering the price was the same as I spent for an Ashbory -- well, I've found it to be more useful than that. At least it stays in tune throughout the night and doesn't require cornstarch on my fingers . . .
 
#68
Just bought the bass, like it so far! But where is the serial number? It does have one right? I can't find it anywhere. Please help, I may need it for insuranse.

Has anyone flown with an eub this length? Is it at all possible to take it in the cabin without paying an extra seat? Does it survive beeing sent as special luggage without more protection than the softbag?

Has Anyone disassembled it, taking the neck from the body? It seems to be quite easy. If it is possible, I could probably have it in the cabin anyway.

Thanks, Håkon
 
#69
Hi All,

Apart from all the problems people has already talk about I found the nut at the top is made of the same plastic as the bridge. It bloody broke today as I was about to go to a rehearsal. Does anybody know what to do? Being an eub the nut is not that common.

Thanks
 
#71
Hi everyone,

I have the same problem as Nigel in post #62 - my Stagg EDB hums! If i touch the jack or the CD / MP3 inputs on the EQ plate the hum stops. If I use the same lead and amp on my electric bass guitar there's no hum at all.

Anyone else had this problem? Is this just a loose ground wire somewhere in the electronics? Would a local luthier be able to sort this out for me? I rather avoid having to send it to the manufacturer if possible.

Thanks,

Andy
 
#73
I have the same problem as Nigel in post #62 - my Stagg EDB hums! If i touch the jack or the CD / MP3 inputs on the EQ plate the hum stops. If I use the same lead and amp on my electric bass guitar there's no hum at all.

Anyone else had this problem? Is this just a loose ground wire somewhere in the electronics? Would a local luthier be able to sort this out for me? I rather avoid having to send it to the manufacturer if possible.
Click to expand...

I was just in the local music store today and tried out one of these EUB's and it has the identical hum symptom you describe. There has to be a design or production problem for so many to have the same issue.

Don
 
#75
Francois Blais said:
With all due respect, what do you guys expect from cheap instruments ?
It's the same thing when you read the Palatino megathread.

You get what you pay for.

best regards,
François
Click to expand...

+1. Agreed. This could easily be sorted though by using insulating copper foil. Open up the area housing the controls, and insulate the instrument against interference as you would any other electrical bass etc. There are loads of topics on TB that cover this very well.
 
#76
Francois Blais said:
With all due respect, what do you guys expect from cheap instruments ?
It's the same thing when you read the Palatino megathread.

You get what you pay for.

best regards,
François
Click to expand...

For some of us, our love for playing bass and trying something new far exceeds the depth of our pockets and fatness of our wallets ... with all due respect, of course.

My mortgage, son's daycare, and son's health insurance swallow the cost of a very nice EUB every month.
 
#79
I am very impressed, got it mail order so never tried it in shop (a first for me) It sounds very good acoustically, which is a good sign. High action. I personally love the look, but I come from fretless bass background. The pickup sound is fine, it does sound like a double bass. I think I will mic the strings though to capture the finger noise etc.

Major bummer is the fact that the 1/4 inch jack is not connecting properly. Have to get a better unit.

My bass player has a Dean Pace and whilst it is good, it sounds like a fretless. I have played it and the Stagg is much better. But the Stagg is harder to play as the Pace has a flat and slim neck profile, but worth the effort. In fact after playing for 4 hours yesterday, I was knackered, I picked up my telecaster and it felt like I could snap the neck in two.

I have two bass players friends who have NS uprights, they also sound like a fretless.

You can slap the Stagg, but I am going to lower my action so that might affect that. It is your own personal technique that makes the bass sound good as it is with any instrument. Just off to record it in the studio to see wether my playing can pass muster.

By the way don't tell the audience it only cost £300 quid, most punters think these things cost thousands!
 
#80
I've had a Stagg EDB 3/4 for about a month and after visiting my local luthier, the action is fantastic. Let me qualify that statement by saying that I'm a bass guitarist first and foremost and always found my standard double bass despite trips to the luthier and new bridge, to have too high an action to play as quickly as I play fretless. This Stagg was a cheap experiment (£284 including shipping) and I have to say I'm absolutely delighted.

The luthier recut the plastic nut so the strings lie almost on top of the fretboard at the head end, and sanded the underneath of the wooden bridge saddle where it sits on the thumb wheels so I could lower the action to something more comfortable. It is amazing how low it will go and testament to the trueness of the fingerboard. I've actually had to raise it a little from it's lowest setting so that I can play the G-string with a bit more force. Even my luthier, who has done a few double basses in his time, was shocked at how low it went. The current action has the E string 4mm above the end of the fretboard and the G string at 2.5mm. It means for me that I can use my left hand in a manner to which I am accustomed from fretless playing and much less effort is required to press the strings down. No quacking and no hum from the electrics, so maybe I got a good one.

The next thing for this eub is a 5 string conversion, my luthier doesn't foresee any problems in doing it and once the smaller footprint Hipshot machine heads have arrived, he'll be undertaking that job. A 5 string EUB for less than £500? If anyone's interested, I'll get some photos taken of the process.
 

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