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well designed basses

#21
ac11367 said:
Wow, the Dingwalls use actual screws as saddles. This probably improves sustain, and somewhat cuts cost.

I think Conklin basses are very well designed. Even their mass produced Groove Tools line which are under $1,000.

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Edit: Upon further observation, the saddles on the Dingwalls are not really screws. But they sure look like screws from afar.
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I love that one... It's certainly not a GT though.

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#22
For feel and tone, my fretless Stingray 5 was hard to beat - but it wasn't very sexy. I sold it for a fretless Ken Smith Black Tiger which is a great bass too. But my all time favorite bass, and my #1 is this BSR5EG...

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#25
20db pad said:
The old Steinberger XL-2 boat-paddle bass actually won a design award
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That was the older L-2, the model prior to the XL-2, that won all the design awards: Industrial Designers Excellence Award from the Industrial Designers Society of America (ISDA), Reinforced Plastics/Composite Award from The Society of The Plastics Industry Inc., Time Magazine's Five Best Designs of 1981, Award of Excellence from Materials Engineering Magazine, etc.

Not that there's much difference between an L-2 & an XL-2...
 
#26
I'm not sure what defines "well designed" here. :eyebrow: Anyway....... I would submit my Ibanez Axstar. It's a full 34" scale with a 24 fret neck headless bass. The body is very compact and very easy to play sitting. It's also very light. The tuning system is very well thought out providing intonation adjustment while using standard strings. Mine is active but has the range and HEAT of an active bass :bassist: The neck, fretwork, overall action and playability are amazing!!

axstar1.JPG


axstar1_1.JPG
 
#29
ac11367 said:
Wow, the Dingwalls use actual screws as saddles. This probably improves sustain, and somewhat cuts cost.


Edit: Upon further observation, the saddles on the Dingwalls are not really screws. But they sure look like screws from afar.
Click to expand...

No really, they are. But they're not just standard ol' fashioned screws. But the bridge unit is more than just that. Look at each individual piece, it is mounted to a singular aluminum sub-block that is in turn mounted to the body by bolts from the other side. It gives maximum mass from sustain while strengthening the connection of the bridge with the body.

You may also notice that the strings secure on a pin that holds by way of the hole in the ball end of the string. Completely intuitive and great for solid yet quick changes.
 
#31
Moser, for the most part. Some shapes can be a bit much, but they tend to be very well balanced and not poke like most pointies. Apparently their roundies are awesome too, but I haven't played one.

Can't go wrong with an American Standard Fender, either.
 
#32
BassLab basses are my favorites. I've always admired German engineering - Volkswagen (whose 2000 Passat Wagon is the car I drive), Wusthof (no umlauts on an American keyboard, and I'm too lazy to add them) cutlery (whose Grand Prix 8" chef's knife is my blade of choice), St. Pauli Girl Dark, Hassenpfeffer, Pumpernickel, potato salad made with bacon grease, Bill Lawrence pickups, and Doner kebab.
 
#33
ac11367 said:
Wow, the Dingwalls use actual screws as saddles. This probably improves sustain, and somewhat cuts cost.

Edit: Upon further observation, the saddles on the Dingwalls are not really screws. But they sure look like screws from afar.
Click to expand...

They are allen head set screws (found on all current models, some of the older Dingwalls don't have this design feature). They function as saddles by creating the break point in the string between the two curved halves of each screw. Ingenious really. Not sure if the two screws themselves help with sustain (the 37"-32" scale does that) but maybe others know more [edit, see Burning Skies post above describing the bridge]. Sheldon Dingwall is a truly talented dude.
 
#39
The Dingwall and the LeFay got my vote. Even though the blue Conklin is my dream bass, since I only got the GT5.

Question: Would there be something wrong with me if I look at pictures of these bass with the same fervor as looking at Hustler mags?
 

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