bnt

Ooh - well, the Vintera in Vintage Blonde is what caught my eye: 😎

Is that the new Vintera 50's Precision? I'm strongly considering one of these for flatwounds and a plectrum. However, I also think I would like a two-pickup configuration, and right now the Sandberg-inspired (heh) Harley Benton Enhanced looks very good to me in the Natural finish:

I get the impression that this first run was a test balloon, sent up to gauge the demand before they order more to be built. Which means that positive reports like the above will have an impact on sales under normal conditions. We're not in normal conditions, though: over the next few months I could end up on reduced wages or even lose my job entirely, so any bass purchase is understandably pushed back until I know my income is secure. 😞

From that video you can really see how light the body is - as lowregisterhead said, it's moving around a little under aggressive playing. I can't say that would be a problem for me, being less aggressive than that in general (though there have been exceptions).

Finally - video of the EHB1505MS in action:

Weird - and only on the 5-string, not the 6-string?

They are hitting stores worldwide e.g. this guy has a few videos of himself noodling in a shop in a suburb of Kuala Lumpur.

The Bass Centre in London offers their Elites strings in double ball ends too. But all of those on the market are fixed 34" scale, so multiscale is off the table straight away. If I get one of these, I'll just trim the strings and feel for any sharp points. If I find any, a couple of taps from a screwdriver handle should sort that out.

Yeah, it must be aimed at the Periphery/Nolly fans with the Darkglass rigs, but I hope it’s more versatile than that. The low B on these is 36.25”, meaning detuning is more feasible. I’m considering the 6, just to challenge myself to get more adventurous.

Video of the Gear4Music RedSub Coliseum 6. Definitely looks interesting, though the video doesn't include any clean tones.

Gear4Music have a new Multiscale out soon, the Coliseum, in 5- and 6=string versions. It looks to me like they've done a much better job with the design overall e.g. I think the shape looks wonky on a stand but makes more sense when being played.

New video review of the EHB1005, Standard and Multiscale: has some answers to the question about weight. No numbers, but “freakin’ light” and “the neck weighs more than the body”. It is chambered basswood, so I’m not surprised. The reviewer, once he settles down, plays it through an unspecified but good amp, and it sounds huge, I have to say.

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.