Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2014 21:51:54 GMT
Just got myself one of these from Bass Direct. Been GAS'ing for some sort of bass for a while now, and was tempted by an acoustic guitar bass. However, after seeing demos of this together with an acoustic bass guitar and a uke bass, I thought I would take the plunge:
As you see it comes in a very nifty gig bag. Once out you are presented with a fairly well made Chinese made instrument but designed by Aquilla strings in Italy.
The most striking feature is its red strings. These are similar to the huge plastic ones you get for uke basses, but these have extra copper in them that must give them their red colour. Have no idea what the copper is supposed to do- so far my finger tips haven't turned green!
The bass is quite a bit longer than a uke bass. In fact here it is up against my 660mm scale Tavy:
They both have the same scale length surprisingly enough. The body is a bit smaller and not as deep. Reminds me of a Brook little silver in body shape- quite attractive really. The top seems to be solid cedar, and the back and sides mahogany, but I may well be wrong. Abalone rosette and a really nice logo at the headstock:
The tuners seem to be like gotohs, but I would say not as well made. I don't know what ratio they are but it takes a LOT of turns of them to get the pitch to move even a fraction of a tone, one of the few things I dislike about this instrument.
The whole instrument is satin finished, and it even comes with a pickup, that seems to be k&k type affair, and actually sounds quite excellent through my headway eb2 and Acus one 8 amp. One of the nicest double bass type tones I've heard in an acoustic bass (did I also say its fretless?) That extends to its totally acoustic sound as well. This bass is loud. There is a video of it playing with a loud of ukes acoustically and it can be clearly heard.
I bought this because I cannot justify the cost of a full blown acoustic bass. I only wanted one to be able to work out bass parts, and actually I have written quite a few cello parts for my pieces that never got recorded, so this gives me a chance to see what my arrangements might sound like. Its easy to transport, got a good acoustic sound, and I can plug it in. Its also relatively cheap and works better than a uke bass.
But....there are some niggles which mean I may not actually keep this instrument. Firstly, the strings. They constantly go out of tune, and those tuners make a very laboursome job of tuning it. The A string has been very poorly fitted so that the excess strings starts to wrap around the post for a 2nd time, thus creating a very poor break angle at the nut. Its this string that is a devil to tune. At £40 a set I cannot afford to replace the strings just yet. The saddle is crude to say the least. No attempt at compensation, and for this reason I find the intonation to be a bit off, definitely not what you want for a fretless, but I guess at least you can compensate for it. The manufacturer also say that they have cured a criticism levelled at other instruments with these types of strings, that of the strings twisting under pressure. I would say that they have only partly fixed this. They still feel very flabby and are libel to twist. The bottom string is also very easy to slap against the fingerboard- great if you are playing rockabilly I suppose!
For all that this is a fun instrument. I can't wait to try it out in jams with my guitar playing friends. It is also well built. The bracing and struts inside are very well executed. I also like the concept of the instrument. A very good size for a bass. I can imagine that a luthier built instrument would be awesome. It will be interesting to see if other makers make something similar. I forgot to say that I also find it the only bass I have been able to play properly with long nails!
Robbie
As you see it comes in a very nifty gig bag. Once out you are presented with a fairly well made Chinese made instrument but designed by Aquilla strings in Italy.
The most striking feature is its red strings. These are similar to the huge plastic ones you get for uke basses, but these have extra copper in them that must give them their red colour. Have no idea what the copper is supposed to do- so far my finger tips haven't turned green!
The bass is quite a bit longer than a uke bass. In fact here it is up against my 660mm scale Tavy:
They both have the same scale length surprisingly enough. The body is a bit smaller and not as deep. Reminds me of a Brook little silver in body shape- quite attractive really. The top seems to be solid cedar, and the back and sides mahogany, but I may well be wrong. Abalone rosette and a really nice logo at the headstock:
The tuners seem to be like gotohs, but I would say not as well made. I don't know what ratio they are but it takes a LOT of turns of them to get the pitch to move even a fraction of a tone, one of the few things I dislike about this instrument.
The whole instrument is satin finished, and it even comes with a pickup, that seems to be k&k type affair, and actually sounds quite excellent through my headway eb2 and Acus one 8 amp. One of the nicest double bass type tones I've heard in an acoustic bass (did I also say its fretless?) That extends to its totally acoustic sound as well. This bass is loud. There is a video of it playing with a loud of ukes acoustically and it can be clearly heard.
I bought this because I cannot justify the cost of a full blown acoustic bass. I only wanted one to be able to work out bass parts, and actually I have written quite a few cello parts for my pieces that never got recorded, so this gives me a chance to see what my arrangements might sound like. Its easy to transport, got a good acoustic sound, and I can plug it in. Its also relatively cheap and works better than a uke bass.
But....there are some niggles which mean I may not actually keep this instrument. Firstly, the strings. They constantly go out of tune, and those tuners make a very laboursome job of tuning it. The A string has been very poorly fitted so that the excess strings starts to wrap around the post for a 2nd time, thus creating a very poor break angle at the nut. Its this string that is a devil to tune. At £40 a set I cannot afford to replace the strings just yet. The saddle is crude to say the least. No attempt at compensation, and for this reason I find the intonation to be a bit off, definitely not what you want for a fretless, but I guess at least you can compensate for it. The manufacturer also say that they have cured a criticism levelled at other instruments with these types of strings, that of the strings twisting under pressure. I would say that they have only partly fixed this. They still feel very flabby and are libel to twist. The bottom string is also very easy to slap against the fingerboard- great if you are playing rockabilly I suppose!
For all that this is a fun instrument. I can't wait to try it out in jams with my guitar playing friends. It is also well built. The bracing and struts inside are very well executed. I also like the concept of the instrument. A very good size for a bass. I can imagine that a luthier built instrument would be awesome. It will be interesting to see if other makers make something similar. I forgot to say that I also find it the only bass I have been able to play properly with long nails!
Robbie
. Only joking what a pain that looked like a really fun instrument. 
Jo whoever he is.
