Very Cool demo Dave! I'm having a lot of back issues lately and think one of these would be great to cut down on a lot of the wear and tear from my regular basses.
Hey Jason, love your channel and I hope your back issues get better soon. These are fun little basses that don't weigh anything at all. Adjusting to the really small scale was my only hurdle.
Sounds pretty good for a piezo/rubber string bass even if it doesn’t sound much like an upright bass to my ears. If is an improvement over most uke basses I’ve heard. But that ‘ticka-tacka’ click it seems to get on the note attack gets annoying after awhile.
Great review Dave. You mentioned physical limitations, which leads to my question. I currently play a Kala fretted U-Bass. I'm interested in adding this Goldtone fretless bass. But my particular limitation is that due to finger joint issues I need to play with a pick (thin picks sound fine on my Kala fretted U Bass, I think). Any idea if playing with a pick will work on a fretless bass? If I could find a fretless bas sin a shop near my I'd give it a try but alas it's hard to find any of these short scale rubbery-stringed basses near me. I guess there may be two components to my question, the first being whether you can get clean sounding notes when plucking strings with a pick; I'm thinking in the absence of a fret there might be too much 'flop' when the string is attacked with a pick. If picking does produce clean notes, the second part of the question is whether playing a fretless with a pick somehow defeats the whole purpose of playing a fretless bass. Maybe with that pick in the player's right hand it's not possible to use some of the playing techniques a fretless provides to bass players? The longer scale of the Gold Tones is appealing because I do find that intonation on my Kala fretted are not great. I think my Kala has a 20" scale Thnaks Dave or anyone else who can provide helpful comments.
Harold, thanks for your comment. Yes, you can play the fretless Goldtone with the rubber/polymer strings with a pick. I just tested and it sounded great, actually! The lack of frets didn't affect my playing technique and as long as your not picking really, really hard, there isn't an issue with the strings being too floppy. I did another video review of the longer scale GoldTone fretless, which is what I just tested. Thanks for watching and good luck with the fretless version!
@@DavePorterBandThanks very much for the reply, and a quick one at that! I'm seriously considering buying a Gold Tone even though I really like my Kala U-Bass.
I have the fretted version, love it. I play with a ukulele group. However, I stood up one day and the front strap pin went zing (popped right out) and I almost dropped the instrument! (@#$%). The screw was really, really wimpy. I had a luthier replace both screws with longer, more substantial ones. I suggest you check yours! 😮 I'm currently trying to figure how to replace the 9 volt battery with a rechargeable and a jack to charge it. I don't relish being caught with a low battery and taking out those four tiny screws is a pain. Any ideas? What device are you using to alter that tone to sound like a regular bass, is it a stomp box of some kind? I hadn't played a bass since HS. Remember those darn Beatles? Yep, I'm 75 and back in senior music scene. 😊 Thanks for the review. Got to my PC and see the 3Sigma link! I've also got the hollow body GT which is nice and light (built in tuner). It uses two CR2032 batteries in a tiny plugin holder.... I keep several in my case ready! Both are so nice to play with my old, soft fingers. Didn't learn the two finger method and now I use my thumb. I just love playing bass!
wondering if the clicking/smacking is coming thropugh in the amp or is that only in the room , would be nice to hear a board mix not the ambient to discern the tone for a live show
Thanks for the question. A lot of that is probably being picked up from my lav microphone from the room. Although, the polymer strings and short scale make the strings very loose and do create a clicking sound, similar to the smack of an upright string against the fretboard. Easy to EQ out if preferred.
Dave, nice video, thanks for posting it. I am considering getting one of these (fretted version), but I have a couple of questions after watching your video. When you started playing on the upper frets at 5:26-to-5:28 in the video, (I think it was a Lou Reed bass line you were playing, with double stops), the intonation sounded pretty bad. Did you have to do any adjustments to get the intonation right? Also, I noticed a lot of finger noise when you plucked the strings. I don't know how much this would amplify, or be heard if one was playing in a band, but I am wondering if you noticed more finger plucking noise than with a typical electric bass guitar.
Hi John, thanks for watching. I'm sure any intonation issues are due to the fact I'm playing a tiny scale fretless and just not hitting the notes spot on. There's probably a bit more string noise than a standard electric because of the polymer strings.
The spam filter is removing my comment with a link, but if seems that Ashbory are making a new version of their bass today. I haven't found any reviews or clips of it anywhere though. I'll post a link to the product page in the replies, but it will probably get auto-removed, so I'll just say here, google "bass centre Ashbory" to find it.
i love the sound, i guess its more a combo of your playing and some effects and the backing track than the instrument itself, at least when it comes to my following question: how would you compare it to the acoustic version? ofc excluding the acoustic part - takling about the pickup output only is it esencially the same thing? could you get a (nearly) identical sound with it? only thing that comes to my mind when comparing the 2 body types is sustain however due to the type of strings, i dont think sustain is a major thing with these basses. anyway any input would be nice, i want to get one but not sure which - im leaning towards acoustic mostly due to somewhat lower price but also 2 inches longer which helps with easier playing in key when it comes to fretless edit: you actually compare a bit at 7:40 watched all these vids a few times last days so dont know where i get all my info from exactly
Thanks for watching! Yes, I think the piezo pickup is probably the same on both the acoustic and solid body version with the main difference (besides the 25" being acoustic) being the scale. Typically you'd get more sustain from solid body and more bloom from acoustic. It would be fun to test both, side by side, for a real comparison. I think I'd like the longer scale better. Stay tuned for an upcoming comparison video...
omg , I wonder if the fretted version sound as good as this one, I need a portable bass because i have to travel a lot. Any opinion on that is much appreciated, excellent video!!!!
Thanks for watching! Yes, I think the fretted version would sound awesome and still have some of that upright quality. Here's a link to the fretted version: goldtonemusicgroup.com/goldtone/instruments/me-bass
Certainly not in the traditional sense but those polymer strings are so floppy you really have to play light or back toward the bridge so they don't slap against the fretboard. I guess you could develop a technique around that but it wouldn't be like slapping on an upright where you're really hitting hard with your palm! : ) I'm getting ready to review it's bigger (25 inch scale acoustic fretless) brother and I'll try to do some slap.
Bonjour, oui j'en suis tombée amoureuse mais un problème a été décisif. J'ai testé la fretless et la corde de sol a un problème. A partir du do il manque quasi 1/4 de ton. Je n'ai pas lâché prise et j'ai tester avec fret. Le problème est encore plus catastrophique. Je pense qu'il est important de faire passer l'info au constructeur. De mon côté cela semble difficile pour Vous les TH-camrs n'hésitez pas à faire passer l'info car le son de cette basse est vraiment super top. Merci par avance.
Great work Dave! Very in-depth and we appreciate your kind remarks. We truly think this is a revolutionary instruments for bassists!
Thanks for making great instruments and for watching! 🙏
Very Cool demo Dave! I'm having a lot of back issues lately and think one of these would be great to cut down on a lot of the wear and tear from my regular basses.
Hey Jason, love your channel and I hope your back issues get better soon. These are fun little basses that don't weigh anything at all. Adjusting to the really small scale was my only hurdle.
Sounds awesome, I would love to have something like this.
You deserve much more attention
Thanks!
It's such a cute little Bass.
Sounds pretty good for a piezo/rubber string bass even if it doesn’t sound much like an upright bass to my ears. If is an improvement over most uke basses I’ve heard. But that ‘ticka-tacka’ click it seems to get on the note attack gets annoying after awhile.
Dave Porter
Silver Backs by LaBella would be kinda cool.
Great review Dave. You mentioned physical limitations, which leads to my question. I currently play a Kala fretted U-Bass. I'm interested in adding this Goldtone fretless bass. But my particular limitation is that due to finger joint issues I need to play with a pick (thin picks sound fine on my Kala fretted U Bass, I think). Any idea if playing with a pick will work on a fretless bass? If I could find a fretless bas sin a shop near my I'd give it a try but alas it's hard to find any of these short scale rubbery-stringed basses near me.
I guess there may be two components to my question, the first being whether you can get clean sounding notes when plucking strings with a pick; I'm thinking in the absence of a fret there might be too much 'flop' when the string is attacked with a pick. If picking does produce clean notes, the second part of the question is whether playing a fretless with a pick somehow defeats the whole purpose of playing a fretless bass. Maybe with that pick in the player's right hand it's not possible to use some of the playing techniques a fretless provides to bass players?
The longer scale of the Gold Tones is appealing because I do find that intonation on my Kala fretted are not great. I think my Kala has a 20" scale
Thnaks Dave or anyone else who can provide helpful comments.
Harold, thanks for your comment. Yes, you can play the fretless Goldtone with the rubber/polymer strings with a pick. I just tested and it sounded great, actually! The lack of frets didn't affect my playing technique and as long as your not picking really, really hard, there isn't an issue with the strings being too floppy. I did another video review of the longer scale GoldTone fretless, which is what I just tested. Thanks for watching and good luck with the fretless version!
@@DavePorterBandThanks very much for the reply, and a quick one at that! I'm seriously considering buying a Gold Tone even though I really like my Kala U-Bass.
I have the fretted version, love it. I play with a ukulele group. However, I stood up one day and the front strap pin went zing (popped right out) and I almost dropped the instrument! (@#$%). The screw was really, really wimpy. I had a luthier replace both screws with longer, more substantial ones. I suggest you check yours! 😮
I'm currently trying to figure how to replace the 9 volt battery with a rechargeable and a jack to charge it. I don't relish being caught with a low battery and taking out those four tiny screws is a pain. Any ideas? What device are you using to alter that tone to sound like a regular bass, is it a stomp box of some kind? I hadn't played a bass since HS. Remember those darn Beatles? Yep, I'm 75 and back in senior music scene. 😊 Thanks for the review.
Got to my PC and see the 3Sigma link! I've also got the hollow body GT which is nice and light (built in tuner). It uses two CR2032 batteries in a tiny plugin holder.... I keep several in my case ready! Both are so nice to play with my old, soft fingers. Didn't learn the two finger method and now I use my thumb. I just love playing bass!
wondering if the clicking/smacking is coming thropugh in the amp or is that only in the room , would be nice to hear a board mix not the ambient to discern the tone for a live show
Thanks for the question. A lot of that is probably being picked up from my lav microphone from the room. Although, the polymer strings and short scale make the strings very loose and do create a clicking sound, similar to the smack of an upright string against the fretboard. Easy to EQ out if preferred.
Dave, nice video, thanks for posting it. I am considering getting one of these (fretted version), but I have a couple of questions after watching your video. When you started playing on the upper frets at 5:26-to-5:28 in the video, (I think it was a Lou Reed bass line you were playing, with double stops), the intonation sounded pretty bad. Did you have to do any adjustments to get the intonation right? Also, I noticed a lot of finger noise when you plucked the strings. I don't know how much this would amplify, or be heard if one was playing in a band, but I am wondering if you noticed more finger plucking noise than with a typical electric bass guitar.
Hi John, thanks for watching. I'm sure any intonation issues are due to the fact I'm playing a tiny scale fretless and just not hitting the notes spot on. There's probably a bit more string noise than a standard electric because of the polymer strings.
@@DavePorterBand Thanks for the reply, Dave, that is helpful.
Can I kick it?
Sounds great, Dave! I think I saw one of these at the Fret Mill downtown.
Thanks, Billy! And yes, you can kick it.
The spam filter is removing my comment with a link, but if seems that Ashbory are making a new version of their bass today. I haven't found any reviews or clips of it anywhere though.
I'll post a link to the product page in the replies, but it will probably get auto-removed, so I'll just say here, google "bass centre Ashbory" to find it.
Cool! Does it come with a gigbag?
Yes, mine came in a really good quality padded gig bag.
i love the sound, i guess its more a combo of your playing and some effects and the backing track than the instrument itself, at least when it comes to my following question: how would you compare it to the acoustic version? ofc excluding the acoustic part - takling about the pickup output only
is it esencially the same thing? could you get a (nearly) identical sound with it? only thing that comes to my mind when comparing the 2 body types is sustain however due to the type of strings, i dont think sustain is a major thing with these basses.
anyway any input would be nice, i want to get one but not sure which - im leaning towards acoustic mostly due to somewhat lower price but also 2 inches longer which helps with easier playing in key when it comes to fretless
edit: you actually compare a bit at 7:40 watched all these vids a few times last days so dont know where i get all my info from exactly
Thanks for watching! Yes, I think the piezo pickup is probably the same on both the acoustic and solid body version with the main difference (besides the 25" being acoustic) being the scale. Typically you'd get more sustain from solid body and more bloom from acoustic. It would be fun to test both, side by side, for a real comparison. I think I'd like the longer scale better. Stay tuned for an upcoming comparison video...
@@DavePorterBand thanks, i just ordered the 25 fretless, still would be interesting to compare and hear what you think, hope i dont regret it!
Can you make it sound like an Ampeg Babybass?
omg , I wonder if the fretted version sound as good as this one, I need a portable bass because i have to travel a lot. Any opinion on that is much appreciated, excellent video!!!!
Thanks for watching! Yes, I think the fretted version would sound awesome and still have some of that upright quality. Here's a link to the fretted version: goldtonemusicgroup.com/goldtone/instruments/me-bass
@@DavePorterBand thanks!!!
Think it can handle some rockabilly slap?
Certainly not in the traditional sense but those polymer strings are so floppy you really have to play light or back toward the bridge so they don't slap against the fretboard. I guess you could develop a technique around that but it wouldn't be like slapping on an upright where you're really hitting hard with your palm! : ) I'm getting ready to review it's bigger (25 inch scale acoustic fretless) brother and I'll try to do some slap.
@@DavePorterBand So it does NOT have an upright bass tone.
Bonjour, oui j'en suis tombée amoureuse mais un problème a été décisif. J'ai testé la fretless et la corde de sol a un problème. A partir du do il manque quasi 1/4 de ton. Je n'ai pas lâché prise et j'ai tester avec fret. Le problème est encore plus catastrophique. Je pense qu'il est important de faire passer l'info au constructeur. De mon côté cela semble difficile pour Vous les TH-camrs n'hésitez pas à faire passer l'info car le son de cette basse est vraiment super top. Merci par avance.
Merci d'avoir regardé et je vais transmettre le problème que vous avez eu avec la basse. Salutations!