Getting A Good EUB Sound With An NS WAV4

[Stompbox]

Well Hello !!

Just thought I would share my experience with you- it may be of interest, or help -or may kick off a debate,

I play an NS WAV4 that I've had for about 18 months now, and it is strung with the manufacturers NS flatwound steels

It has an integral piezo pickup built in with no preamp, just a passive volume & tone control, and a toggle switch to give two pre-set emphasised sounds - One for Arco & the other for Pizz playing.

I tried it straight in to my "Electric Bass Guitar" setup - an Ashdown Mag400 with its own 2 x 10" Speakers & horn, plus a 15" Ashdown extension cabinet fitted with a Fane Sovereign 425 watt speaker chassis .

That was sort of OK, but not the sound I had in my head - so I tried using my trusty Sansamp Bass Driver box. Now this is a great bit of kit as far as bass guitars go - I 've had it from new for some years & it [i]always[/i] gives a great "improved" sound to my ears.

Well I played about with the settings on the Sansamp on and off and kept thinking "Hey - that's better", but it wasn't really what I was after - or what I felt should be coming out of the speakers.

What I've wound up with is simply a Boss Compressor/Sustainer CS-3 set slightly in the "limit" mode to keep the output of the louder bottom three strings down & a Boss Bass Graphic Equaliser GEB-7 pedal set to give the G a chance to shine a little, to cut the bottom E a little, and to give a bit of overall boost.

I'm pretty happy with it, and the setup does transfer to other amps & speaker combinations, so it's not just for the Ashdown. It's also nice & portable, so it will go in the WAV4's gig bag.

Does anyone else have a WAV4 & what do you use?

Stompbox.

[yorks5stringer]

I play a Stagg and had resigned myself to the fact it doesn't "look or certainly sound like a Golf"!

However a respected local DB player asked if he could use it at a Jazz jam we were at and to my ears it sounded just like him playing his DB.
.
The point I'm making is I guess quite a lot is down to good DB technique and having decent strings ( not that mine were!).

I'm sure others will comment further

Edited April 26, 2012 by yorks5stringer

[bremen]

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1335465563' post='1631724']
I play a Stagg and had resigned myself to the fact it doesn't "look or certainly sound like a Golf"!

However a respected local DB player asked if he could use it at a Jazz jam we were at and to my ears it sounded just like him playing his DB.
.
The point I'm making is I guess quite a lot is down to good DB technique and having decent strings ( not that mine were!).

I'm sure others will comment further
[/quote]

That's very good news for me, novice eub player and stagg owner. Thanks! :-)

[Happy Jack]

Stompbox, have you tried using the sort of external preamp that you would normally use with a DB, e.g. a Fishman Platinum Pro or similar?

It might be worth borrowing one just to see how it works (or doesn't work!) with the piezo pickups.

[endorka]

I use the preamp that came with my Ehrlund double bass pickup. It seems to fatten up the sound, make it generally a bit better, and give a little boost to the volume.

Jennifer

[Ibanez09]

Hi there, im brand new to this site today!!!, ive got a ned steinberger 4 string black gloss wav bass and just recently upgraded so ITS FOR SALE for around £600ovno with the tripod and stand and all in great condition.


I use this through a hartke bass attack pre amp di box and can split the signal to 2 separate hartke amps and cabs to set 2 different frequencies through the 4x10 cab and 1x15 cab. This sounds awesome and occasionally pick or bow through a tap delay rack unit such as the rack behringer bass v amp all sounds brill in studio or live to me.... by the way any interested parties interested in the WAV for sale ??

Also got a wicked CARLSBRO (headline series ) 1x 18" 700 watt rms sub bass cab (frequency down to 30 htz!!!!!!) surplus to requirements in mint condition going for £300 ovno if anyone interested and a Ibanez sdgr sr 1306 six string Ibanez bass for sale Padouak finish... lovely woods, bought in 1993 ... collectors item now i beleive, not many of them around. rob 0750 803 9232

[Bluepigbass]

I have the Fishman Platinum Pro which I use on acoustic gigs with my WAV EUB and Kala U Bass. The Fishman features a graphic eq, compressor and a phase setting which eliminates feedback (very useful). Great quality and I really like the sound I get, it is very flexible so most people should be able to get the tone they want. It is also a DI box and sends a nice balanced signal to the desk. I did try my sans amp which I use occasionally with my bass guitars, which this excellent piece of equipment is great for guitars I could not get a sound I was happy with from my EUB.

Hope this helps

Stu

[NDH]

I have also had an NXT 4, which is the same as the WAV, for about 18 months. I use it mainly with a three piece in small venues - no drums. I have it strung with Obligatos, as is my DB. I go straight into my Markbass mini 12inch combo and, with tweaking for the venue, I generally get a sound a I like very much. It's not a DB sound, but it is popular. I get more compliments about the sound than I ever do with EB, and the band prefer it - my DB playing isn't good enough for compliments of any sort!

I use a Bassmax straight into the same amp for DB but have had more difficulty getting a sound I enjoy - partly my rough technique. The NXT is versatile, easy to transport, and provides an enjoyable playing experience.

Nigel

Edited June 10, 2012 by NDH

[Stompbox]

Interesting to hear all of the different solutions & suggestions.

I also play a 4/4 double bass fitted with a Fishman BP 100 piezo pickup. This is OK straight into an amplifier, but I find it sounds well if I run it through the Sans Amp bass drlver preamp.

The other "input device" I have is a Bose T1 Tonematch - which I use with my Bose L1 system - this has specific presets which does include Electric Uprights, and an Acoustic Bass fitted with fishman pickup, so quite a handy set of tones which you can, of course, tweak.


Regards,


Stompbox

[TheG]

I have an NS CRT 4. Over the years I have tried various things to get a better sound.

One thing that seemed to help was to raise the action.

Another thing that transformed the sound for me was the use of a Tube PreAmp (Art). The SansAmp has Tube Amplifier Emulation circuitry so i guess it does a similar thing.

[EssentialTension]

When I had a WAV4 I used it through a K&K Pure Sound preamp and a Radial Bassbone too.