New Travel Bass

[benson_murrensun]

My bass-playin' wife just received her new travel bass, a Journey Instruments "Overhead". It's made entirely out of carbon fiber, and the neck comes right off with one large screw (wing nut-style, no tools required) and a release button. The strings stay attached on both ends. It has a 27" scale. The neck and body then fit into a backpack made for the job, and it all fits into the "Overhead" storage compartment on planes. This is the first of these basses to be imported into the U.S. It's shown here with other small-but-mighty gear. Here's a link in case you're interested: http://www.journeyinstruments.com/product/carbon-fiber-bass-ob660/ They make guitars, too.

[sonicus]

Interesting . How is the string tension  ?

     Wolf

[benson_murrensun]

As you would imagine, a 27" scale has relatively low tension. But it has a big sound... Really,
it's not too floppy.

[sonicus]

Cool , It would be fun to try out . How about the selection of strings that would work ?

  Wolf

[StephenR]

From the companies web site...

"Strings:
TBD"

Not sure of the intended market for one of these. Can't imagine a touring musician playing one, it would be a fun bass to take on a vacation but with a MSRP of $1,495 it certainly is not cheap.

I saw someone playing a carbon fiber cello when I was in New Mexico recently. It was a full sized instrument and I had never seen one made of carbon fiber before so I asked about it as the band was breaking down. The guy who owned it played it for me unamplified and it sounded surprisingly good, big rich tone. It was made by a company out of Boston and also quite expensive but definitely seemed "tour worthy."

[benson_murrensun]

It came with some type of round wounds but Sheila plays flats. The company recommended D'Addario Chromes short scale, which have been installed.

[sonicus]

It's a good thing that you can use easily obtainable
 strings .Cool !

  Wolf