Home Up Gypsy Jazz JazzTours 2009 Dinner Jazz Jazz Festivals Jazz Artistry JazzInstruments Masterclasses Youth in Jazz Le Jazz Femme

CONCERT JAZZ Events -
Chiltern Hundreds Area


Electric Upright Bass

Steinberger NS "...the NS comes out on top... this bass is simply the best." Bass Player Magazine Ned Steinberger has done it again! His 5-string entry into the electric upright market has several technological breakthroughs that should make this instrument an important player in the higher-priced arena. The body of the bass is made of rock maple laminated with graphite fibers and has a top layer of reddish-brown, highly figured maple. The neck is sleek, smooth, and wide enough to provide ample access to all five strings. It's also curved inward at the back to provide a pocket for your thumb; this shape is distracting at first, but it quickly becomes an asset when you play fast passages. The fingerboard and nut are made of black phenolic. The tripod stand is solid; in one operating mode; it lets the instrument move with the player - which makes me warm up to the idea of mounting a bass on a tripod. (I imagine you could also pluck this bass horizontally on a strap.) There are both piezo and magnetic pickups; the low-impedance, hum-cancelling EMG magnetics sport individually adjustable coils and neodymium magnets, while the piezo bridge pickup is bipolar and directional, allowing you to accentuate the different vibrations inherent in arco and pizz and select between them. An active EQ and mixer by HAZ Labs provides the final balance and tone adjustments. The end result, sound-wise, is a bass that has it all: sweet arco, contemporary-jazz pizz, thumping Latin, rocking punch, and a mammoth low B that was more than any amp in my shop could handle - and all of this from an instrument that's guaranteed for life and fits in an airplane's overhead bin. You can hear the NS bass on Tony Levin's solo album, World Diary [Papa Bear]. Bob Macaskey Bass Player Magazine, December 1996

Reviews

"The NS Upright has been an inspiration, both recording and in concert with Crimson and Gabriel. The arco response, in particular, is so good it's got me playing rock with a bow." -Tony Levin

Aria EUB



Send mail to jazzmaster@jazzeddie.f2s.com with questions or comments about the design only of this web site.
Last modified: 18/02/2012