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Double Bass YAMAHA EUB Megathread

#23
Dear C: thanks, but if I´d been smokin something, I think I would know about it. Doesn´t mean that I wouln´t like to have been...
I think by the time I wrote it I just had returned home from a bar gig, playin´ crappy arrs of stupid christmas songs to the audience who really thought we played Jazz...
By the way, I will do that today again ( seems like there are lots of that kind of gigs around these days...) and propably I´ll come back with similar ideas.
Merry Christmas to You too ;-)

PS. Out of reasons yet unknown to myself, my trumpet player actually wants to try the Silent horn.


 
#24
While he's at it, tell him to check out Yamaha's "Silent Heckler" line of EAC's in the electronic audience control series. According to the specs, these puppies can yell over 400 clever phrases such as "FREE BIRD" and "PLAY SOMETHING YOU KNOW!" at a whopping 140db into a set of foam covered, H-rated earphones in the middle of the night without waking the neighbors.....
 
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#25
Originally posted by C.Veltman


IMHO these EUB are just to uggly. Never would
such a creature cross my doorstep as the world is
full of "nice girls" (read real upright bases).

Kind regards,
CV
don´t kill me ;-))
Click to expand...

UGGLY - HELL NO - they are BUTT UGGLY. Look like a skeleton that has been stored in some biology lab closet for 60 years.

I'm with you EDWARD, sorry I missed this one also.

Mark
 
#26
I tried one of the newer Yamaha silent double basses in the shop yesterday, and was offered quite a low price for it, i was wondering if anybody had any knowledge of these... I am interested in it purely for the ease of transport, and for big band tours.... Obviously as natural a sound as possible is a key factor...
 
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#27
I have played one several times, only because I think they look really cool.

I am sure they could be set up to play really well. However, I think the tone is pretty sterile. Far from "as natural a sound as possible." IMO of course.

I think you would find other EUBs out there with a sound the more closely resembles a DB.
 
#30
I had high hopes for the Yamaha when it came out, but after playing one through amplification was very disappointed. I guess I just don't care for sound of peizo pickups. Not long after that, I bought my Clevinger...with a mag pickup in addition to Martin's standard bridge system. It was spendy, but worth it IMO - it seriously rocks. :cool:
 
#33
Looks like they've updated their website to show the SLB-200. Looks kinda like the alter-ego. Poking around, seems like the price came down a little bit too. European websites are selling it for around 2000 euros. I guess it can now compete with all the Eminence's, Azola, what-have-you. Not sure if it was available before, but it seems that they've now added an optional knee rest. I played an Eminence for the first time last night and found it very unsatisfying. Not having a knee rest like the real thang made a big difference. It also felt kinda chincy and weird compared to my "big momma".

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#34
The winter issue of Double Bass magazine had a blurb on the SLB-200. The blurb indicated that the SLB-200 was targeted to jazz and modern music, whereas the 100 was targeted to classical. This seems counter to what I would expect given the semi-acoustic nature of the 200, but perhaps it's all marketing baloney.
 
#35
It's true that the SLB 100 was targeted to the classical player and apparently it didn't occur to them at first that there was a market for travelling jazz and otherwise players who wanted a scaled down easy-to-travel with bass. The 200 is much better and actually feels quite nice to play. It folds up quite small but has virtual shoulders which really help with the illusion. Also, they have optional extensions to make the shoulders wider like the real thing and a lower part for those who sit or just like to rest the leg on the back. And, the price has come down. The pickup system is way better sounding, but I caution anyone who is trying one out to try to get one for a few days at least if possible. There are several movable parts (like the bridge and tailpiece) which need to be just so in order to get the best feel and sound (sounds kinda familiar...) and the two I tried at first where in need of some tweaking. After that, though, I really started to like it. It's not my old French beauty, but then that's not really likely to be easy to match. I have actually been enjoying it quite a bit and would way rather take it on the road than deal with airports these days. Also, it looks kinda cool...like a fossil bass.... or a crossbow. It almost fits in a golf case. If anybody knows who might be able to modify one of those plastic cases to be a bit longer, we could travel with a stealth bass. :ninja:
 
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#36
At the International Bluegrass Music Association Trade Show and Awards yamaha had a boot set up two years ago with this bass and I tried it, depending on the amp used it sounded okay.

Found the neck to be too thick and hard on the hands and the price was scary.......

Last year they returned with an updated model with some eq etc. but had done nothing to slim the neck thickness. Priced the same and sound was only slightly better than before.

I suspect running it through a Gallien Krueger MB 150 would have made it sound even better but the thick neck needs work along with lowering the price.

I tried quite a few EUB including the eminence at the show, ended up with an Ergo. $3100 less than the Eminence......... pretty much the same sound and playability just couldn't justify the price difference.
 
#39
I played the silent bass a while back when i hadn't decided whether to make my main instrument an electric upright or stick with the acoustic.

The silent bass decided for me.
It's awful.

However the SV is fairly new and as far as i know was designed to address the shortcomings of the original silent.
I haven't played one though.

Have you looked at The NS series of electric uprights?
 
#40
Hey, don't diss the whole EUB community because of a crappy Yamaha EUB-ish instrument. They're not uprights, but they are a type of bass instrument in their own right, much like the electric bass is a very different beast than an upright. Not bad (IMHO), just different. If you want to make a real informed decision, try the Eminences, Clevingers, Ramirez's and the Azolas before you make a blanket dismissal of the entire family of instruments.
 

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