Hello you all, In my search for a bass wich can be used for small periods of time while being abroad (I think that was British for being out of the country, but I'm not sure), I found something which is called a Fernandes Nomad bass. It's quite small and has a built in speaker. They're relatively cheap. That sounds nice, but I've also heard that the tone it produces (piezo) is so annoyingly bad that you won't like playing bass anymore. If the tone is okay (maybe with flatwounds - less clicking noise), it might be a good alternative for my other alternative: Wooden Steinberger with a Dean headphone amp. Any ideas? I would appreciate them!
I would have to vote going the Steinberger route. However, if finances allow, I would look for a used XL-2. They can be had for around 1K and you end up having a very versatile bass that will work very well in almost any playing environment. Additionally, since they are an all composite instrument, climate changes that are inherent with travelling won't affect the bass. Best Wishes, Bones
I would snatch up an Ashbory & use a headphone amp (might not even need one/could go straight to headphones?)...sounds AWESOME & it does not get much smaller than that. www.ashbory.com
For travel, I got one of the wooden steinberger spirit 5 strings from musicyo.com, and a Korg Bass Pandora to play it through. Never a problem taking it as a carry-on, and it fit in the overhead compartment of the small commuter shuttles as well as the big aircraft.
You need some type of amplifier with the Ashbory. The signal's pretty weak in the headphones without some type of boost. Yeah, you can hear a signal, just not very practical. With a unit such as Dean's 'Bass in a Box' it rocks! Maybe not the perfect travel bass, but definitely cool in it's own way! -robert
Thanks for the helpful replies! Is there also someone around who happens to have tried the Nomad bass? I'm still a bit curious about that one. And about the ashbory...playing a normal fretless is hard enough for me, and I don't know how the strings will adjust to climate change... But still something to consider, And still a disease, that when I stop playing for two weeks I get depressed/irritated. But lets keep the topic on the instrument, not on my severe lack of internal psychological cohesion, or so.
I've never played the Nomad Bass, but I had a friend who had a Fenandes Guitar that had the built in speaker. It was horrible, the built in amp sounded horrible, and was useless. I'd suggest just getting a Steinberger or Ashbory and getting a headphone amp.
Okay, I could fit "horrible" nicely under "strong opinions for letting me decide not to get the Nomad bass". Thanks Bert! So, I think I'll decide on the Steinberger. There's a new Steinberger-like bass made by Cort, from non-wood stuff only, and I thought the hohner headless basses were nice as well. (but cheap is what matters more here, being for travelling purposes and all...)
