UPDATE!!!
Congratulations to Adrian on the birth of his daughter Sasha Leigh, born September 29, 2015!
Adrian still had the time to record his Wing Bass with a couple of octave pedals and chorus… use headphones!
Technically it’s not a NBD as I received my WingBass last Monday, but I wanted to spend some time with this little beauty before writing up my thoughts and impressions. First off, it’s lightweight and tiny…
When I placed my order there were no photos or videos that could really visualize just how small this bass is. Opening the well packaged shipping box and seeing this little guy for the first time put a huge grin on my face!
Next, it’s very well constructed. Very well! I’ve looked over this bass with a fine tooth comb and can’t find any flaws or imperfections. After a quick tuning, it was ready to play right out of the box. The neck is slim and it’s got the lowest action of any bass I’ve ever played. The bass has got THE mwah sound that I’ve been searching for!
Andy Brown originally designed this bass as something he could easily take with him during his travels and he definitely met those objectives. The WingBass easily fits into a 21 inch backpack and weighs next to nothing. My bass shipped with this “camo” backpack and hat.
I can fit the bass, a strap, 3 instrument cables, my Ditto looper, an iPhone mic stand holder, a water bottle, and some additional goodies with no problems at all. I believe Andy is working on producing a dedicated WingBass gig bag which I may purchase in the future. In the meantime however, this backpack is perfect for navigating the subway and streets of Japan.
I was interested in this bass obviously because of the size, but not necessarily because of the ease of travel. I have nerve damage and arthritis in my left shoulder/upper back which makes the reach required for playing a 34 inch scale difficult and painful. Playing the WingBass feels comfortable and with a lot less pain.
The WingBass is advertised as a travel/practice bass and while many may purchase one for those reasons, I will be using this as my main bass.
Specs:
- Body Wood: Black Limba
- Fingerboard: Fretless Rosewood
- Pickup: Bartolini X4 Bass Soapbar
- Electronics: Passive: Volume, Tone
- Scale: 16″
- String Spacing: 17.5mm
- Tuners: Hipshot Headless System
- Height: 20-1/4″]
- Width: 10-7/8″
- Thickness: 1-7/16″
- Weight: 5 pounds
Carl
Hello Adrian. Thanks for the quick review and great pics. I’ve got a fretted 4 string on order and I cannot wait for it to arrive here in the UK – hopefully in a few weeks – the 8 week lead time is a killer but it is hand made after-all. The low action you note is great to know. Good luck with it.