Travel bass with a twist

[BassApprentice]

Instagram just threw up this: 

 Looks good right? What if I told you these start at $400?

OK what if I told you they do another model called the Airborne is available in 30",  27", 25.5" and 22.75" , 18" scale length and the necks are interchangable. This model is obviously more expensive but a bass that can from sofa/hotel practice to gig ready sounds pretty cool...have a look 

https://www.mauriziouberbasses.com/mubgx3m

[CameronJ]

Looks like a cool concept. Prices start at $1400 though, not $400!

[BassApprentice]

Yeah the Airborne one with interchangable necks is far more expensive but the wingbass style ones start at $400 for a 4 string. 

[CameronJ]

Ohhh. My bad, sorry man! That’s a great price. I paid way more than that for my custom Wingbass. Prices are in $ but where are the basses made?

Edited March 14, 2020 by CameronJ

[tomthebass]

Friend of mine has two basses custom made by Maurizio, outstanding quality so this looks like a steal!

[BassApprentice]

8 hours ago, CameronJ said:

Prices are in $ but where are the basses made?

Think he is based in Malaysia from what I can gather from his Instagram. 

Could be tempted by a very basic one just to have as a practice tool. Is that what you find using yours for mostly Cam? 

[itu]

Six strings and such a short scale... aren't these called something like, erm, guitars, maybe?

[Grahambythesea]

4 string and that short is surely a piccolo bass?

[CameronJ]

25 minutes ago, itu said:

Six strings and such a short scale... aren't these called something like, erm, guitars, maybe?

Nope. They sound like you’ve put a capo at the 12th fret of your full-scale 6 string bass. Still sounds like a bass!

[CameronJ]

37 minutes ago, BassApprentice said:

Could be tempted by a very basic one just to have as a practice tool. Is that what you find using yours for mostly Cam? 

Actually, I bought it to use with my synthy effects board. I was planning to get Jon Shuker to install an Aguilar Octamizer pedal into the control cavity of mine but I didn’t do it in the end as it’s just as easy keeping the pedal on my board along with my other octavers/filters/fuzzes etc.

Also, it’s small enough to fly with and carry on as hand luggage (once all this Corona bollocks dies down!) 

[BassApprentice]

So I've been keeping my eye on these as I think they could be a great tool. I've asked if they think they could put in an octave circuit so when plugged in you could have it sounding like a normal bass, they said it could be done.

But now Kemp Strings have gotten involved. They did some very fancy research about lumping and make the best sounding strings, and he has made a set of strings that sound at normal pitch on a 16" scale. The E is 210... Haven't seen a video but if they say it works, it will probably work! 

[therealting]

Interesting!

[BassApprentice]

And here you go. It works. I'm not sure how, but that sounds like a bass to me. Headphones recommended. 

 

Edit: the bass is also in drop D. 

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by BassApprentice

[ahpook]

For $1400, Isn't it cheaper to just buy a bass when you get there ?

Edited August 24, 2020 by ahpook

[BassApprentice]

Well yes, but these can be had cheaper than $1400. But even if these $200 you could get a normal bass for cheaper. I just find the technology and design going into these wee basses interesting and fun! 😁

[ped]

Interesting! I’ve been playing mine a lot with my Future Impact pedal which sounds great with it due to so many patches being ‘octaved’ - I’m sure those fat strings are cool but I like the flexible feel of the normal gauge. 

Actually I’ve got standard gauge EADGC strings on mine but dropped to ADADG so even lighter than normal but it feels great to play. 

[BassApprentice]

Yeah, 210 is very thick - but I appreciate the tech that makes it possible. If I got one I would definitely investigate an octave circuit built in as I can definitely see that being useful for noodling, especially since it could have a built in headphone amp.

 

[ped]

18 minutes ago, BassApprentice said:

Yeah, 210 is very thick - but I appreciate the tech that makes it possible. If I got one I would definitely investigate an octave circuit built in as I can definitely see that being useful for noodling, especially since it could have a built in headphone amp.

 

It still sounds like a bass and sounds great playing along with stuff. So don’t fall into the trap of thinking it’s substituting a bass, it’s a different bass that’s all. Still sounds ‘bassy’ and fat. An octaver adds options, one of which is normal bass range, but even with a polyphonic octaver with perfect tracking it’s not what these are all about imo. They’re simply great fun and hugely flexible/inspiring and of course amazing for synths!