Through the last 5 decades he has developed a lot of new concepts that we consider standard today. For instance he was responsible for the developing of the first ever Spector bass back in 1977, the Spector NS bass, made along with Stuart Spector. He created his own company Steinberger Instruments and developed some radical ideas such as the use of carbon fiber for musical instruments and headless designs to reduce neck diving and improving tuning stability. He has teamed with Emmet Chapman to develop the NS Stick and created the successful “The Realist” upright bass. Ned sold his Steinberger Instruments company back in 1986 and in 1990 he created NS Design with a very specific goal: create 21st century bowed electric instruments with a unique approach,
This is the NS Design NXT4a model. It is made in the Czech Republic and it represents the middle range just below the top of the line CR Series and the more affordable WAV Series.
It is a 3/4 Electric Upright bass and has the following specs:
- Unlike all other EUB’s, there’s no neck joint here. Instead, it is a continuos neck that starts at the headstock and extends right until after the bridge. This adds a lot of sustain and this is one of the biggest differences with an acoustic or most other electric uprights.
- This design allows for unrestricted access to the upper zone of the fingerboard. Of course you can also use standard thumb technique (capodastro) or just keep the thumb behind the neck like as if you were playing an electric bass.
- Patented Polar pickup system that senses the vibration of the strings both in horizontal and vertical modes. This is essential to get a good pizzicato and arco sound.
- Position dots on the ebony fingerboard make tuning and shifts much easier.
- We love the gorgeous flamed maple top in matt sunburst finish.
- Stock strings are D’Addario NSFW610 for EUB. These are thinner than standard upright strings and have a bright sound with lots of sustain. Depending on your preferences and styles you can of course install just about any sort of standard upright bass strings. Also if you play Latin, Americana or need a deep sound with short sustain you can simply put a piece of foam under the strings next to the bridge and you’ll get that thick sound with fast decay. Cool.
- The included tripod stand allows the bass to stand on its own rather than having to use your left hand and leg as supports. You can even set the bass almost horizontal on its stand and play it like a standard bass guitar. Possibilities are endless.
- Of course the electronics are very well thought. This is an all passive instrument but the signal is strong and completely noise free. Controls are Volume, Tone and Mode switch: Pizz mode is great for a solid all round sound with a nice sustain to it, and Arco for the best bowed sound in the market.
If you have never played double bass, this is a good chance to start on a top quality instrument that will simply put things easier for you, but don’t thing about this bass just as a substitute or alternative to an acoustic bass. That’s just part of the story. The real treat comes when you start to do things you wouldn’t normally be able to do on an acoustic bass due to the instrument’s sheer limitations when it comes to amplifying it.
The instrument comes with a low action but we can set it up to match your playing style and needs. Not only is the bridge height adjustable but there’s a truss rod in the neck so you can set it up for your favorite neck curvature. Cool. This allows every player to set the bass up to their needs in a few minutes.
It comes with a padded gigbag that will hold the bass and the tripod
