So, five weeks in...

[NancyJohnson]

So, it's been five weeks since I got the NS NXT, so here's where we're at.

 

To recap, I'd only played an upright twice before getting this for my birthday; I've been playing 15-30 minutes a day, generally along with random (slower) music off Spotify.  (I've only played a fretted bass for one recording session in this period.)

 

While I'm enjoying things, my only negative is with the (supplied) NS tripod stand; it's perfunctory but not ideal, so I would appreciate some input regarding endpins, which I think would better suit how I want to play.  I suppose I also need to factor in whether they would extend far enough (I'm 6'4").

 

Otherwise, all good though.  My wife adores the little Mick Karn mwaahs more than me playing all the right notes, and you know, I think the EUB is actually making regular (fretted) bass playing a bit more effortless.

 

 

[Downunderwonder]

There must be a 'body' attachment to go with end pin to stop it rotating under you. Ought to be enough pin adjustment for 6'4'' or a special order long pin available.

[Silvia Bluejay]

My understanding is that NS supply an endpin if you're not too happy with the (rather ugly!) tripod. I think it has to come from NS because I can't see how you could attach a normal endpin to the upright bass (I've got one right here) without some kind of huge kludge.

 

Although I hate the look of the tripod, I find it immensely comfortable and easy to use. Switching to a 'normal' endpin would look cooler, but also give me trouble in keeping the correct distance from the bass, as it doesn't have a spacing bracket. The advantage of a full-size acoustic DB is that you can't possibly hold it too close to your body and get your plucking elbow and your wrists into trouble by using the wrong technique. That, however, is a risk in a 'stick' upright, and you should keep that in mind at all times.

[petebassist]

2 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

So, it's been five weeks since I got the NS NXT, so here's where we're at.

 

To recap, I'd only played an upright twice before getting this for my birthday; I've been playing 15-30 minutes a day, generally along with random (slower) music off Spotify.  (I've only played a fretted bass for one recording session in this period.)

 

While I'm enjoying things, my only negative is with the (supplied) NS tripod stand; it's perfunctory but not ideal, so I would appreciate some input regarding endpins, which I think would better suit how I want to play.  I suppose I also need to factor in whether they would extend far enough (I'm 6'4").

 

Otherwise, all good though.  My wife adores the little Mick Karn mwaahs more than me playing all the right notes, and you know, I think the EUB is actually making regular (fretted) bass playing a bit more effortless.

 

 

I think the NS end pin fits the NXT - the chinos are optional 😉 

[NancyJohnson]

With the tripod - and despite me just playing at home - I seem the spend a bit if time dancing around the legs...there just doesn't seem to be a best position for it.

 

I'll probably end up with one of their endpins at some point, but then we get into dilemma #2 of how to put it on a stand when you're done (the optional 'stand' brackets do not fit the supplied tripod!).

[Happy Jack]

6 hours ago, petebassist said:

I think the NS end pin fits the NXT - the chinos are optional 😉 

 

And this is why people say bass players are cool ...

 

[Burns-bass]

7 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

With the tripod - and despite me just playing at home - I seem the spend a bit if time dancing around the legs...there just doesn't seem to be a best position for it.

 

I'll probably end up with one of their endpins at some point, but then we get into dilemma #2 of how to put it on a stand when you're done (the optional 'stand' brackets do not fit the supplied tripod!).

When I had an NXT k swapped the cheapo stand for a drum stand which was far sturdier and heavier which meant the legs didn’t need to be spread as widely, and I consequently had more room around the bass. It’s an easy mod that costs about £50

[NancyJohnson]

4 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

When I had an NXT k swapped the cheapo stand for a drum stand which was far sturdier and heavier which meant the legs didn’t need to be spread as widely, and I consequently had more room around the bass. It’s an easy mod that costs about £50

 

Tell more...

[Burns-bass]

I’ve checked back, and I bought a Pearl BC-930 Series Cymbal Boom Stand. I needed some foam insert (which I cut myself) to clasp the connector to the boom stand securely. You can see the feet really widely spaced out in the pic, but I found it was perfectly stable with a much smaller footprint because the stand was super heavy.

 

I needed a new stand as the NS one was broken, and this worked well. I’d suggest finding a stand second hand. I was lucky enough to get one of those cheap (£40 brand new) but they’re about double that now.

 

 

[Burns-bass]

Here’s a picture of the connection.

[Grahambythesea]

I too acquired an NXT last year as a first venture in to uprights. I’m managing the tripod ok but would like to try the endpin alternative which would make one more mobile. The down side seems to be that there’s no way of supporting it when not playing. The CR version has an adapter to fit to the tripod to hold the bass upright when not in use. 
I have put out a wanted ad on here in case anyone did buy one but not get on with it, but so far no takers.

£135 seems quite a lot for one.

[NancyJohnson]

I know NS Design are in business to make money, but the cost of the extraneous hardware is quite prohibitive when you consider what it costs for the two strap systems and the end pin.

 

Concerning the end-pin, surely there should be a simple way of cobbling something together with quick-release clamps (rather than something you need to screw in like on a cymbal stand) for a tenth of the NS Design price.  We all probably have the parts knocking around to facilitate this. 

 

 

[Grahambythesea]

I’ve got a walking pole which has a wooden top piece which unscrews to reveal a screw onto which you can put your camera thus turning it into a monopod. I suspect that it might do the job but I’m not about to start drilling holes in my NXT to find out 🥴

[Burns-bass]

On 12/01/2022 at 10:18, NancyJohnson said:

I know NS Design are in business to make money, but the cost of the extraneous hardware is quite prohibitive when you consider what it costs for the two strap systems and the end pin.

 

Concerning the end-pin, surely there should be a simple way of cobbling something together with quick-release clamps (rather than something you need to screw in like on a cymbal stand) for a tenth of the NS Design price.  We all probably have the parts knocking around to facilitate this. 

 

 

We got an end pin built by a local metal worker for my old Ormston Burns Bass a few years back. Cost about £20 and was beautifully engineered and built, far better than the cheap rubbish most manufacturers sell you.

[Grahambythesea]

Bluegrass bass player Reed Jones seems to cope well with moving the NS bass in and out to add his vocals using the NS Endpin.

 

[NancyJohnson]

Just concerning the tripod stand, I was rooting around in my garage yesterday and found a powered speaker stand I'd bought a couple of years ago (don't ask).  It's very light and appears a way more sturdier compared to the NS stand; most importantly it has a pretty small footprint.  The uppermost pole though (which would normally go into a hole in the base of a powered speaker) is 35mm, so way bigger that the top part of the NS stand that has the mechanism to attach the EUB.

 

So now I'm on the hunt for a step-down adaptor; I figure there has to be something on the market that will allow me to simply take the top part of the NS stand (whatever the diameter of that is) and marry it with a 35mm hole.

 

[Downunderwonder]

I am not familiar with your NS bass attachment. Mine only has a harness mount but I could have had a tripod if I had ordered one. At the bass it is basically a friction swivel with a screw that loosens itself off at times.

 

From the look of the Burns Bass cymbal stand adaption it appears the bass has the same mount point as mine. You are very unlikely to find any single off the shelf part to latch on to your tripod and give adjustment to the tilt.

 

If you post a pic of exactly what hardware you have on the bass it would help figure out the 'kludge' solution.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Downunderwonder

[Downunderwonder]

I think I figured it out. Can you remove the extension pole from the stand? Then you could get a shop to spin you up an alloy collet for the top of it that your NS tripod extension tube fits into.

 

What you don't want is for it to get stuck on your NS pole or in the stand. I can think of a couple of ways to skin the cat.

[Downunderwonder]

Cat got your tongue?

 

3'' of 1.5'' round alloy stock.

 

Put in lathe and take down 1.5'' to the diameter of the speaker pole.

 

Drill through to the NS pole diameter.

 

Put in vice and sawcut a slot longitudinally so it will never get too stuck anywhere.

[NancyJohnson]

6 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

Cat got your tongue?

 

Haha.  Sorry, I have quite an intense day job and I'm not monitoring Basschat 24/7.

 

OK, to follow on here, the pole in the speaker stand is 35mm, the lower part of the NS stand is 30mm and the top part (where the attachment mechanism is) is 25mm.   As you'll see from this image, the 25m post is crimped and the attachment mechanism is either compression-pressed on or joined by an (invisible) weld, irrespective, there doesn't appear to be any easy way of pulling it off or unscrewing it.

 

Now then.  I've done a few searches already to see whether there's any off the shelf parts to facilitate a step down sizing thing from 35mm to 25mm; there is something called a top-hat converter made by a company called FBT in the UK, that might do the trick (similar things seem available).  This fits over the top of a 35mm pole and has a 25mm top, that said, I'd still need to attach the NS attachment to it somehow.

 

   

 

[NancyJohnson]

OK, moving along, the attachment mechanism is held in place by a split spring roll dowel pin like the one pictured below.  It passes through the main pole and the bracket that holds the mechanism.  I'm not even certain how I'd get it out, to be honest.

 

I've gone back to Barry the Bass Centre to ask whether they carry spares.  They're only a couple of miles from me, so we'll see what they have.

 

[Downunderwonder]

7 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

I'd still need to attach the NS attachment to it somehow.

Puts you back in the workshop. If the NS pole comes out of the tripod base I'd be going with my earlier suggestion.

[3below]

6 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

OK, moving along, the attachment mechanism is held in place by a split spring roll dowel pin like the one pictured below.  It passes through the main pole and the bracket that holds the mechanism.  I'm not even certain how I'd get it out, to be honest.

 

I've gone back to Barry the Bass Centre to ask whether they carry spares.  They're only a couple of miles from me, so we'll see what they have.

 

 

'Sellock roll pins'  will yield results on *bay or your local engineering factors.  Drive it out with a hammer and a piece of round bar the same diameter as the hole.   It should go back in OK as well.  This thread is really useful since I am also pondering the same issues with my Clifton EUB.

Edited February 17, 2022 by 3below

[Downunderwonder]

There are advantages to using the suggested reducing 'passive collet'.

 

It is passive. Ie it uses the stand's tightening system as is, rather than the usual tapered collet.

 

It doesn't require a doodad to grip both your NS top and found reducing pole top adapter.

 

Said doodad provides two extra places for it to be wobbly whereas the collet should be 1 and done solid.

 

Requires no modification of your NS hardware.

Edited February 18, 2022 by Downunderwonder

[Downunderwonder]

Another thought. If you prise the end cap off the top of the speaker stand there's probably a hole that you can feed in the NS stand. A few wraps of duct tape top and bottom would take up the slack.