Electric Upright Basses - Getting an NS Design Bass to Sound More Like a "Real" Upright Bass
As you probably know, Ned Steinberger wasn't necessarily intending for your NS Design bass to be a "replacement" for a real upright. Ever the innovator, his concept is usually to create a new instrument -- in this case, one that bridged the gap between the upright and electric bass; a sort of "hybrid" or "crossover" bass.
Depending on the age of your bass (and whether acquired new or used), it may have had different strings put on it, so we don’t know exactly what our starting point is. But the current "factory" strings are as follows:
NS Electric Strings for NS Design Electric Upright Basses are made in two different variants: The Contemporary set and the Traditional set. They are designed and manufactured by D'Addario, specifically to fit the NS Design Basses. This includes the WAV series, NXT/NXTa series, the CR/CRM/CRT, and the very special EU models.
Here are a few things you might want to know about them, as well as why you might choose one set over the other:
They are specifically designed for the NS Design electric uprights (WAV, NXTa, CR, EU models) and generally won't fit any other basses, as their overall length is specifically tailored to the unique string length of those instruments. They definitely will NOT fit a regular upright bass.
What's different about them? They are a full 3/4-scale, but the length from the ball end to the beginning of the playable string (usually called the "afterlength") is substantially shortened, since the bottom of the NS Basses doesn't have a long afterlength like a full size bass. This shortening is why they won't fit a "regular" bass - or even a different brand of EUB.
The STOCK strings that come on almost every new NS Bass are the "Contemporary" set. They are made similarly to flatwound electric bass guitar strings and have the sort of tone you'd expect; a clear, detailed tone with enhanced sustain... they can really get that "mwah" sound that you might associate with modern fretless electric bass sounds. But that's not really an authentic upright bass tone, it's more of a modern fretless bass guitar kind of vibe. Which works for many players, of course - but that's not what we're after here, in this guide.
The other set, which is exclusively offered as the stock set on the Special Edition Gollihur Traditional NXTa Bass, is the "Traditional" set. These are, essentially, a set of D'Addario Helicore Orchestra strings that have been shortened (as described above) to fit the NS Design basses. They provide a more "traditional" upright tone, since they have the increased depth and damping that is used on orchestral-style strings. This set gives the solid-body EUB a more "authentic" sort of tonal vibe, with darker tone, less detail, and shorter sustain -- and greatly improves arco play.
Tip: Since both the Traditional and Contemporary strings have the same ball-end silk pattern (gold stripes on blue), the easy way to tell them apart, to see what set you have, is to look at the ball ends. The Contemporary set has a small, bass-guitar-style ball end, with a hole through the middle. The Traditional has a larger, solid (no hole) "slug" style ball, like you'd see on upright strings.
My most common recommendation to make the NS Design EUB sound more “authentic” is to swap to the Traditional set. They’re affordable and solid, and work well. Another very good string option which brings an even more “organic” vibe (more “gut string like”) is the Pirastro Obligato set. They (like other "full length" upright strings) can be installed on the bass by pulling the ball ends up the back of the bass and securing them into the keyhole slots on the back metal panel on the bass (that’s what those are for – they take up the extra “silked” length.)
Beyond strings: The bass is still a solid-body bass, so its sustain characteristic is noticeably different than a “real” upright. The use of a mute can help alter that sustain to make it a lot more “real” sounding. Check out the NinoMute page for more details on the INSTANT improvement a NinoMute can make for the tone of the NXTa bass. And check out the YouTube video, below, for a 30 second demo that shows the difference. Providing a timbre and decay character that sounds more like a "real" upright bass, it's an indispensable tool to get traditional sound from your EUB.