Last January I posted here that for my quest in a lightweight 5 string bass I was ordering an Emerald 5 string bass from Emerald in Ireland. I have owned several brands of basses and my current gigging bass is an M-2500 Tribute and a fine one it is. It weighs 10 lbs and is getting a bit heavy for a guy my age. I was looking for a bass in the 7 lb range. This is the only Tribute than I own from my 18 G&Ls and I love it. As some of you may recall, I bought a Maple neck from the G&L store last winter and finished it in a transparent clear so I would have a Maple fretboard. It has been my all time favorite bass.
The order for my Emerald was placed January 14 of this year and expected a 4 month wait. In May I was informed that they wanted to build a new mould and incorporate some significant changes if I were willing to wait. I jumped at the opportunity even though I was really getting eager to get it. Fast forward to October and it arrived a week ago, a 10 month wait and well worth it by the way. It weighs a just a tad over 7 lbs and is very well balanced. I will gig it this coming weekend. It was to come in a gig bag but showed up in a Hiscox case, which is a fantastic case. I believe that was to compensate for the extra time. Thanks Emerald! Any way, the workmanship is outstanding and it is a one piece carbon fiber carbon construction with EMG-X pickups, Gotoh tuners and Stainless steel frets. Here are the photos of my guitar that were supplied by Emerald. -- Darwin
Amazing!! Congrats...Thats gonna deliver some tight bass...no matter the weather!
I love that continuous weave...it looks like it's ready for space travel.
Elwood, that is an interesting bass. I wonder what it weighs? One of the problems in making a bass light is to maintain the balance. If you have a wood instrument and have a very light body, it will usually be neck heavy. Probably why there is no 5 string Asat bass. -- Darwin
John O, you mentioned the string alignment as being perfect. Everything about this bass has been perfect so far. I sent Alistair (owner of Emerald and most likely built by him) the set up specs that I wanted and it arrived perfect. The humidity has dropped like a bomb here and all my guitars have changed neck relief and tuning a bunch in two weeks. This thing has not changed a bit in the week it has been here and most likely will not change as it isn't affected by humidity. -- Darwin
Jamie, I did gig it this weekend and it is definitely my main now. Hardly noticed I was holding a bass even using a 2 " strap. I usually use a 4 " strap. I do believe the Hiscox case saved it during shipment. There was a hard hit on the bottom end that bent the aluminum band. The case was easily repairable. Thanks Jamie. -- Darwin
Last edited by darwinohm on Wed Oct 28, 2015 6:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
Elwood, I know there were a few made but no longer available. I have a 4 string Asat and it is a bit neck heavy. I suspect a 5 string would even be worse as the neck would be heavier.
Haven't even thought about gig pics. I was busy getting to know her! -- Darwin
I guess Emerald could do quite a few different colors by adding it to the resins they use. Nice score!
Fianoman, they do Amber,Red,Blue,Green and natural Black. The colors are somewhat subtle unless hit by light. In low lighting, they all look black.-- Darwin
darwinohm wrote: Haven't even thought about gig pics. I was busy getting to know her! -- Darwin
I hear ya.( I just want to see ya more )
I know us bassist are usually the multitaskers in the band...maybe attach a selfie stick to a pedal?
I'm happy to hear it's so lightwieght and comfortable.
that's sweet Will !! ...... I just got my Ovation out Saturday for the first time in about a year or so ..... love the neck , it didn't take 5 seconds to get used to it , so close to the 1# on a G&L it's amazing
Good to hear from you Will, been a while. Cool Ovation and I like how you have plugged the sound holes! I have an Adamas 12 fret and a high end Ovation nylon. they are spectacular. My daughter has a 2007 collector Koa that she plays in our band. I put a clear plastic cover on the inside over the sound holes to prevent feedback.
The Emerald Bass is great, by far the best bass I've have owned and I am less than a month into it. Interesting that you are ramping up again. There are some interesting leftys out there. Alf Astutzmann recently bought a Teye, a cool looking rig. Maybe he will jump in and post another pic. --Darwin
Jerry of Jerry's Lefty Guitars, told me he has a customer who has over 100 lefty high end guitars, many over $10,000. He has a Teye Apache model that he says is the best guitar he's ever owned.
Late on the congrats, that is a sweet looking bass!
Was curious about the control knobs, 4, so I went on their web page and saw one is ABCX (active balance control) What is your impression? The "blend as well?
For the rest of the controls and those not familiar with Flow controls, here are specs from their site. EMG BQC system (volume, blend, mid stack, bass/treble stack) with added ABCX (active balance control)
Sam, you have this figured out. The balance is a blend. I like it. The two tone controls were confusing until I was told what they are and you have described it perfectly. They are the first EMGs I have owned and they seem fine. I will be gigging again this weekend. Each time gets me more familiar with what these will do.---Darwin
I thought I would check in as I have been gigging this bass for almost 2 months. It is a keeper, the best I have had for me. It came with D'Addario rounds, the same as on the G&LS. I decided to change the top 4 strings last week to D'Addario half rounds as I had a new 4 strung set I hadn't used. I like the feel of those and we will see how they work. This will be a lifetime bass and the odds of me seeing it become a vintage are slim to none. Never the less it will be well broken in. The weight has made a huge difference and the balance is superb. I do miss the tone of the M2500 a bit as this has more of a Jazz bass tone but I can still get the sound that I like. -- Darwin
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