I'm sure many of you already know these pics (Andy has already shown them in the Steinberger World Yahoo Group). So why do I show them again?
Well, I've got some interesting information from Jon Kelsey, who has built these prototypes for Ned and is going to build the USA custom models as well. New (at least to me): the announcement of a 6 string model. Thanks, Jon, please keep us updated :-)
NS Design US 5 Bass
News
News regarding Steinberger instruments may be a rare event, but sometimes they happen… :-)
“I am building the custom models of the new NS Design bass guitar, the NS US 5. For now we are building a 5 string model either fretted or fretless. The new design is amazing, it combines a somewhat traditional body shape with the most advanced and lightweight headless tuning system yet. This clamping system allows the player to use regular single ball strings and change them with ease and speed.
Ned and I have been prototyping this instrument for over a year making sure that it balances perfectly so that the player does not need to hold up the neck, fighting gravity. The body is chambered so that we can control the weight. Another important part of the instrument is the neck design. We have hollowed out the neck and filled it with carbon fiber to eliminate "dead frets" and give it amazing stability.
There will be a 6 string model and a 4 string model following the release of the 5's. The six string is especially exciting because of the lightweight tuner system, it should be one of the lightest six string basses available because Ned has eliminated the tuning machines and the headstock that make traditional 6 strings neck heavy.
The electronics have been developed by Ned and EMG, and consist of two magnetic pickups and a newly designed piezo bridge. The mags are arched with the same radius as the strings so that the relation between the magnets and the strings stays the same all the way across the pickup.”
Cheers,
Jon Kelsey
