bnt

For any folks interested in Neil's books, Audible has made the audiobook versions free for this month. The list is here, though the Clockwork Angels books are not included. If you're going to try one, I'd recommend Ghost Rider.

If you were willing to have two pickups, Ibanez has the new Mezzo model that doesn't cost a lot.

Thanks. I did look at Maruszczyk (e.g. Paddock 5a looks nice), but the price is well out of mid-range. Ormsby looks interesting, but once you factor in the cost of a case and shipping from Australia, a bit pricey if they make them again. I looked at the ESP LTDs: interesting, but (it seems to me) very expensive for what you get, compared to Ibanez or Schecter. I should have mentioned Mayones and Kiesel too, but that's getting in to expensive custom territory. I see Warwick has just announced a new multiscale RockBass Corvette, around the £1000 mark. Bolt-on, 34-35.5" scale.

I thought I ought to start a thread to see if we can summarise the available options, with their good and bad points. I don't have one, am in the market for a 5- or 6-string this year. I have a wish-list of what I would like to see, which I know I could get from a custom builder, but I don't have that kind of money to drop. Neck-through construction, through-body stringing, small (or no) headstock, at least 35.5" on the low B and less than 34" on the high G. I'm less fussy about electronics because I know I could upgrade that myself if needed. Thomann did one a few years ago, the 5B DLX in this video, but stopped for some reason. It was a single-cut 5-bolt with extended cutaway and 2x humbuckers. Scale length was 33-35". On sevenstring.org, someone asked Thomann if it's coming back, and got the reply "never", but with the recent movements in the market I think they might be tempted to try again. If they made a multiscale version of their BZ-5000 or BZ-6000, that would be very attractive in the low end. Gear4Music have sold their INF5 Fan Fret for about a year now, but apart from their own short video, I can't find any useful reviews online. I didn't really like the geometry or the sound from that short video. So it's interesting to see that they have just added two new "Coliseum" models in 5-string and 6-string, £280 and £300 respectively. Low B is 36.25" on both, they say, with a 34" High C on the 6. 7-bolt single cutaway construction. They seem to be doing the Dingwall NG two-pickups-close-together thing, which I don't really get, especially here where the pickups appear to be identical. Apart from that the design looks pretty original, not a clone. I'll think about it with a view to upgrading the electronics to a P/J soapbar set from someone like EMG. In the mid-range, Ibanez has the existing SRMS 805 and 806 models, which I have been considering, but the new EHB MS models look more interesting since they're lighter and headless. There's a recent thread on those. I have looked at the Cort A5 Plus SCMS, which is kinda funny-looking but gets good reviews. Neck-through, 34-35.5" scale, Bartolini pups and EQ. After the new Ibanez, the most interesting is the Schecter Stiletto Studio-5 FF, which ticks nearly all the boxes for me. 34-36" scale, neck-through, EMG pups and electronics. The "neutral" or perpendicular fret is 11 or 12, which makes for quite a steep fan angle at the low end and less steep on the upper frets. Are there any more low- to mid-range multiscales I've missed? I might also look into a direct order, such as the impossible@bass from Taiwan via reverb.com, despite that awful name. 🤨

I posted about my MIK TWB-43 before, here, with pictures. It’s still my main bass, though I have long term plans to defret it after I go to a 5-string again. It has a kind-of “average” sound that I think would work as a fretless. It wasn’t expensive and I have no qualms about using it as my test bed bass. I had trouble getting it set up the way I like it and ended up sinking the bridge in to the body, which was interesting Combine that with some truss rod adjustment, it’s much closer now. I won’t be selling it, it’s not really worth it.

Thomann has this on sale for €379 or £322. At that kind of price, it's going up against the EBS Microbass 3, which has a similar spec and layout, but also has headphone out and aux in for quiet practicing. The EBS doesn't have separate clean/dirty channels, but it does offer separate inputs (for Rick-O-Sound fans), and the option of stereo FX return to stereo DI outs.

And here's a video of the EHB1505, standard scale with Nords and a ramp:

re string spacing, remember that it's adjustable, about 1.5mm each way. On the 5-string (18mm default), this will mean that if we leave the 3rd string centred, move 2 & 4 out by 0.75, and 1 & 5 out by 1.5mm, then you've increased the 1-5 spacing by 3mm and each string's spacing by 0.75mm. In other words, the string spacing is variable from 17.25 - 18.75mm.

The EHB1506MS was kind-of leaked a few weeks ago by bassist Benjamin J Shepherd, on Instagram. He has a few short performance videos on there. He doesn't seem to have any trouble with chords on that one ... 😘

It's SBE strings with clamps: you can see the strings poking out the ends a little. Hopefully it's clamp before cut, so no risk of them unwinding on you. They're shipped with D'Addario EXL165 (nickel), they say. It's BH2s on the 1000 range and Nords on the more expensive 1500 range. I don't know what the SRs used to have, but some of the current SR lineup has the same BH2s

The numbers of guitarists picking up Strandberg and Kiesel does make me think they're coming around again. We've also seen Chris from Muse wielding a vintage Status headless live, though his main bass is a custom Status with headstock. Ergonomics and balance have become a big thing too.

Yep, you can see all the models behind the link I included up top.

We can compare the stated neck dimensions with the previous multiscale model using the information on the website: SRMS805: Scale : 901.7mm/35.5" - 864.0mm/34.0" a : Width 45mm at NUT b : Width 68mm at 24F c : Thickness 19.5mm at 1F d : Thickness 23mmat 12F Radius : 305mmR EHB1505MS: Scale : 889mm - 838mm a : Width 45mm at NUT b : Width 74mm at 24F c : Thickness 19.5mm at 1F d : Thickness 21.5mm at 12F Radius : 500mmR The new 5-string neck is the same at the nut, but higher up it's wider, thinner and has a flatter radius.

I don't think so: shorter scales, headless, more Strandberg-like. Best I can tell, the Nordstrands are slightly wider than the BH2 shape: 1.27" (32.2 mm) vs 1.15" (29.2mm) = 3mm difference.

I've lusted after a Spector for a long time, and got to play one at the London Bass Show a few months ago. I like the story of how it was created: Stuart Spector happened to share workshop space with a young industrial designer named Ned Steinberger, who had zero experience with musical instruments but was willing to have a a go at designing one, and the result was the NS-2. Steinberger clearly picked up the bass bug, considering what he did next. 😎

You'd call it "multiscale" rather than "fanned fret", I suppose. I've noticed a trend of the former being used for basses and the latter for guitars. That's what Thomann does now, for example.

Thomann aren't wasting any time either, they already have a video up with the new models Ibanez released today, including the EHB1005MS. (The caption says EHB1000MS, and it's a white model, but it is a 5-string.)

Andertons has them listed for order, from £899 for the 4-string to £1499 for the 6-string multiscale.

I've been hearing rumours about these for a while, and the embargo was lifted today, it appears. The details are on their EHB page. These are going up against Strandberg, Kiesel & others of that ilk, at what I guesstimate will be about half the price for the top range (1500 series), less for the 1000 range. The multiscale 6-string looks particularly nice to me, though its 32.5 - 35 inch scale won't satisfy folks looking at drop tunings below B, I think. The 5-string is 33 - 35 inch scale.

I'm sure I remember reading that the 4001CS was slimmer and lighter than standard, since it was a replica of Chris Squire's own bass that had been sanded down and refinished several times over the years. I'm interested in that sound, but not at that price ..!

Since I’m in Ireland, I looked for local custom builders and found Chris’ instruments some time ago. My budget never allowed for getting one myself, and still doesn’t at the moment sadly. There’s one on sale here at the moment at a reasonable price, if anyone’s interested. (County Wicklow is fairly close to Dublin, if anyone’s visiting by ferry.)

FYI - there is a Mayones Comodous Classic 6 for sale in central Dublin, details here. I'm in Dublin too but don't have €1,700 to play with. I can't see whether the owner would ship it, but I imagine the cost won't be much less than a return flight on Ryanair, even with the €50 extra they charge for instruments.

Sheldon Dingwall was there, showing off his basses on the Bass Direct stand. Apart from that the only celeb I recognised was Nick Beggs, who had a wander around after his set. I thought it it was OK but really difficult conditions e.g. I got the chance to play a Spector through the new GK head & 4x10”, but couldn’t hear what the controls were doing. No headphones on most stands.

Been at the show about 1/2 an hour, and the main thing I've learned is that I really need my compressor.

Re John Patitucci: I was just on Reddit and saw that his old Ken Smith 6-string bass has resurfaced and is for sale by the widow of its last owner, including a letter from John. Someone might ask John if he wants it back.