travelling practice bass

[Bass-ic]

Does anyone know if a simple travel/practice bass is currently available. Im thinking of something like one of those stick guitar type things if that make sense.
Maybe a short scale, single pick up (?), compact sized bass etc

Cheers
Matt

[Stylon Pilson]

You, sir, need an Aria Sinsonido.

S.P.

[derrenleepoole]

Aria Sinsonido
Traveler Escape Bass
Ministar Bass
T-Bone
Rees...

All available from [url="http://www.playawayguitars.com/play_away_guitars_shop.php?itemID=547"]Playaway Guitars[/url] - they have a used section too

Edited February 4, 2010 by derrenleepoole

[Earbrass]

[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='734937' date='Feb 4 2010, 12:18 PM']All available from [url="http://www.playawayguitars.com/play_away_guitars_shop.php?itemID=547"]Playaway Guitars[/url] - they have a used section too [/quote]

Really like the look of the F-Light bass....but way too pricey for my taste.

[thisnameistaken]

You could always look for one of the old Hohner Steinberger-licensed basses. That's about as small as a (34" scale) bass is going to get, and they're good basses.

Edited February 4, 2010 by thisnameistaken

[neepheid]

Wasn't Prosebass making some ultra portable, short scale thingies a while back?

The Tanglewood Elfin? [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=49584"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=49584[/url]

[martthebass]

Well I would say Status Streamline........

So good it doubles up as my main bass ^_^

[franzbassist]

How about one of these bad boys!

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4tozjpRL0c"]Kala U Bass[/url]

[Happy Jack]

The Aria Sinsonido is really rather nice - I quite regret selling mine now. The Traveler (one 'L' is intentional) is a great idea but spoiled by that silly stethoscope thing which is both of limited use and bloody uncomfortable.

Paul Rose (Prosebass) makes some uber-lightweight picobasses which make a perfectly viable alternative, plus they can be tailored to your requirements. You'd need a separate headphone amp, though.

[Bass-ic]

Ah, Ok, there's more out there than I thought!
cheers
Matt

[arsenic]

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='734982' date='Feb 4 2010, 01:05 PM']Paul Rose (Prosebass) makes some uber-lightweight picobasses which make a perfectly viable alternative, plus they can be tailored to your requirements. You'd need a separate headphone amp, though.[/quote]

Pauls (Prosebass) stuff is great.

I currently have this

[attachment=41827:014.jpg]

It weighs in at just over 6lb and is only about 36" long.

He does do a headless versions as well, which would obviously be smaller - and he is currently making a fretless version for me.

[acidbass]

I've always had a soft spot for the Ashbory basses - they're supposed to sound cracking too despite being so small. Another one to add to the list?

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='acidbass' post='735396' date='Feb 4 2010, 06:51 PM']I've always had a soft spot for the Ashbory basses - they're supposed to sound cracking too despite being so small. Another one to add to the list?[/quote]

Oof! NO!

They're great fun, and they're good at what they do, but what they do is NOTHING like playing a "real" bass.

By all means use one as a travel bass so that you can practise ... erm ... playing an Ashbory, but nowt else.

[Stag]

If you can pick up a Musicmaster secondhand they are great for practices. Light but sounds very nice through a big rig (should your practice place be equipped with one)

[Count Bassy]

I've got an old Westone Quantum for this very same purpose, although it's so good that I'm tempted to us it for gigs as well.

It's a bit like the hohner cricket bat, but:

Passive, 32" scale, Headless (but takes single ball end strings), 38" overall length. Two pickups with a tremendous sound. The body is more sculpted than the Hohner and (IMO) looks much nicer.

Pictures and a bit of info here:

[url="http://www.westone.info/quantum.html"]http://www.westone.info/quantum.html[/url]

I've got the black one which I think looks a lot nicer than the red.

Should pick one up on E-bay for £150 ish.

Edited February 4, 2010 by Count Bassy

[Count Bassy]

[quote name='walbassist' post='734977' date='Feb 4 2010, 01:03 PM']How about one of these bad boys!

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4tozjpRL0c"]Kala U Bass[/url][/quote]

I want one! (but there's almost 400 reasons why I can't)

[Lady Kayri]

I've got 2 Ministar Basstars - a 4 string fretted & 5 string fretless. Light weight, decent if not great tone, easy to set up, and pretty solidly made. Ghu knows I've smacked the headstock several times into cement brick walls, stairs, even a ceiling fan, & both still play fine; & the tuners keep in tune pretty well, too. Paid about $170 US for the 4er and $200 for the 5er (may be off a tad, got them over a year ago & don't remember exact prices) so they weren't terribly pricy.

[redstriper]

[quote name='acidbass' post='735396' date='Feb 4 2010, 06:51 PM']I've always had a soft spot for the Ashbory basses - they're supposed to sound cracking too despite being so small. Another one to add to the list?[/quote]

I've gigged with one many times, it weighs next to nothing and sounds great for what I do.
All the tracks [url="http://myspace.com/redstriper"]here[/url] were recorded with one.

[Bass-ic]

Blimey, I must have beensearching incorrectly. loads of stuff to now look at.
Am liking the prosebass stuff tho.!
Of course, a lot of this is price dependant!
cheers everyone
Matt

[Bassman]

why not a Steinberger? Synapse

[Tech]

i was thinkin about building something like this out of a half-finished GCSE D&T project...

mosly for the purposes of slinging it on my back and hopping on the motorbike. the more i think about it, the more I think I may aswell just buy one of those fancy things without an actual body. hmmm.

how is the sound?

[Bass-ic]

[quote name='Tech' post='736180' date='Feb 5 2010, 01:52 PM']i was thinkin about building something like this out of a half-finished GCSE D&T project...

mosly for the purposes of slinging it on my back and hopping on the motorbike. the more i think about it, the more I think I may aswell just buy one of those fancy things without an actual body. hmmm.

how is the sound?[/quote]


This was my plan. get a small enough and good enough sound to be able to put it all on a bike. Small hard case for small bass, small but loudish amp etc. I was definitely thinking about a headless type thing for strength etc.

[Bass-ic]

[quote name='Bassman' post='736051' date='Feb 5 2010, 12:28 PM']why not a Steinberger? Synapse[/quote]
Thats sort of nearly where i was thinking off. but probably a bit more low tech.
cheers for the heads up.
Matt

[Happy Jack]

[quote]How is the sound?[/quote]

The Aria Sinsonido has a mahogany body (to the extent that it [i]has [/i]a body) but it sounds pretty hi-fi, not at all woody.

Definitely a bass sound, and I'd be happy to play one on stage, but if you're normally a Fender P sort of person then it will have limited appeal.

The Traveler I had was a maple body and the sound was pretty brittle, especially through the stethoscope. Bear in mind that there have been at least three 'generations' of Traveler bass, so mine will not be typical of all of them.

My Prosebass Picobass is an oak top on a mahogany body, single pickup. It sounds mainly like a Jazz with the bridge pickup rolled off slightly. If you're having one made by Paul, though, then obviously you can go for a chosen sound to some extent.

Edited February 6, 2010 by Happy Jack

[lanark]

Try making your own:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y4_2odvHUk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y4_2odvHUk[/url]

It actually looks a pretty cool instrument and sounds surprisingly good.