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NS Omni Bass fretted


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Until about 2-mins ago I had no idea this existed, but now I do, it seems the worst of both Worlds; a fretted bass that's gonna be way harder to play than a standard EB and probably not sound anything like as good, and an upright bass that doesn;t do any of the magic that a standard upright or even EUB can do on account of having no frets. Sorry if that wasn't much help

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Add two strings, strip the frets above the 7th one.Ā  ......

Ā 

and no I can't play it; too many instruments, not enough time.Ā  And the tuning is weird...and the clef even weirder.

Ā 

IMG_20240724_085601.thumb.jpg.749a44e7c15d910b16c782e421e365ef.jpg

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I love these instruments @NickA, thanks for showing us yours.

Ā 

There are 7 different Viole di Gambe, literally Legs Violins, but their tuning is quite consistent as it's fourth fourth fourth third fourth fourth and the clef goes from F to G passing by (the 3 different) Ut (C) clef.

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The higher register model can sometimes only have 5 strings and the bass register model can sometimes have a 7th string, often tuned lower.

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They were only partly fretted, because there was no use of higher registers at the time (XV's century !!!) for a solo instrument and with 7 different sizes covering all the available register, these instruments were often used as a whole "orchestra", or played within a "chamber orchestra", especially in the beginning, or played solo without all the modern stunts.

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Try to tune it and play it, and you can use a modern tuning in fourth if it's easier as there's no strict rule about it. šŸ˜‰

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I have some history with viols.. " early music" was a "thing" when I was at primary school and we got to play recorders along with a viol consort.Ā  My next school had a cupboard full of cornetti and crum horns, a recorder consort ( praetorius, holborn, Byrd etc)Ā  and a chamber orchestra for Bach and Vivaldi.Ā  Since I inherited my dad's bass de viol (a student six string) I've been chatting with the doyenne of UK viol playing, Alison Crum, who turns out to know some people I know and several my brother has played with.Ā Ā  I have all the background and none of the ability! šŸ˜‚.Ā 

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Roll on retirement and I'll spend a morning a week on viol (a day on cello, a day on classical double bass, a day on jazz double bass and a day on electric..half on fretted, half on fretless) and get back to grips with the old alto block flute... not enough days in the week sadly.

Ā 

Neither cello nor viol have been played in weeks.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 22/07/2024 at 19:20, Bonin-in-the boneyard said:

I've been looking at the fretted Omni BassĀ 

But there isn't much out there regards to reviews I was wondering if anyone on here has one or played oneĀ 

Any input would be much appreciated šŸ‘Ā 

I have owned one. I sold it, cos I NEEDED something else. We all know how it is. I really enjoyed it. I would probably not sell it if I still owned it. Tone wise, it sounds like a bass guitar. As a DB player, what I hugely enjoyed was the right hand articulation. There is something about my hand falling in that way which feels very much like home. Would I buy another? Possibly yes, but the prices are significant. But then the prices for anything new are significant by now.Ā I remember all this when it was fields.

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On 12/08/2024 at 19:49, Owen said:

I have owned one. I sold it, cos I NEEDED something else. We all know how it is. I really enjoyed it. I would probably not sell it if I still owned it. Tone wise, it sounds like a bass guitar. As a DB player, what I hugely enjoyed was the right hand articulation. There is something about my hand falling in that way which feels very much like home. Would I buy another? Possibly yes, but the prices are significant. But then the prices for anything new are significant by now.Ā I remember all this when it was fields.

Thanks for the info I'm definitely thinking about getting oneĀ 

But would be a custom order as I'm a leftyĀ 

Ā 

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13 hours ago, Bonin-in-the boneyard said:

as I'm a leftyĀ 

Are they handed?Ā  The symmetry suggests you could play it either way.Ā  Tho I guess the strings would be back to front for you, so the nut and bridge would need adapting .. but not too hard to do?

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14 hours ago, Bonin-in-the boneyard said:

Thanks for the info I'm definitely thinking about getting oneĀ 

But would be a custom order as I'm a leftyĀ 

Ā 

You could get a bog standard WAV one 2nd hand and get it fretted. My fretted one was full fat. My present fretless is a WAV one. If there is a difference then it is minimal.

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  • 5 weeks later...
On 15/08/2024 at 21:51, NickA said:

Are they handed?Ā  The symmetry suggests you could play it either way.Ā  Tho I guess the strings would be back to front for you, so the nut and bridge would need adapting .. but not too hard to do?

I think it's the neck profile that's different as well but would probably work okay šŸ‘Ā 

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On 15/08/2024 at 22:11, Owen said:

You could get a bog standard WAV one 2nd hand and get it fretted. My fretted one was full fat. My present fretless is a WAV one. If there is a difference then it is minimal.

Shame they don't make the wav in lefty

I do have a Omni bass just started using it in my Jazz bandĀ 

It's an amazing bassĀ 

Just thought it would be nice to try a fretted but it seems they aren't very popularĀ 

Thanks for the suggestion šŸ‘

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