Yesterday I received two sets of calibrated bass strings from Newtone aka http://doubleball.co.uk. One is round core, the other hex. Both are nickel wrapped.
After an initial trial, it appears the round core transpose better than the hex, but neither is acceptable just yet. I will be leaving the round core on this week to "break them in" and re-test throughout the week to insure my tuner readings stay consistent. Right now the E string seems fine, but the A is short (about 20 cents flat when up/down positions are in tune) and the D & G are long (about 20 cents the other way). The following week I'll do the saem with the hex set.
At this point I'm inclined to take Ned up on his previous offer, and will likely send my XLT him. He should be able to measure these strings more precisely and calculate the ideal lengths if possible.
As always will post updates when I have them.
Posted by andyyak 11/29/2003 01:18:35 PM
Here's the latest skinny from MusicYo:
NEWBURGH GM's -> Good news is they are selling well. Bad news is they only built out about 6 of them in the first batch. They didn't want to order too many, in case there were any issues they may have missed. After one week I think they're down to only one more - a white one w/ black binding. More bodies are already on the way, and they should have more for sale in a few weeks. Once that happens, they'll be able to keep a consistent stock. I think these moved a bit quicker than anticipated.
GLB's -> First bodies were delivered Wednesday and are currently being assembled. Could have some up today, though next week is more likely. Same story, a handful of initial production bodies but more could be ordered quickly if demand warrants it. I think these will move quickly too.
XQ BASSES -> As was reported before, the body factory had some issues with the filler material. Was causing discoloration of the translucents. Is fine for the solids, so they are currently building out some black& white 4 & 5 strings. First ones are off to Japan and the rest will start hitting the MY site next week. Correct filler has been ordered and I'd expect them to have trans colors up by the end of the month at the latest. When any go up for sale I'll post here first.
One note - they went with two single battery boxes rather than a dual box on the basses. Was hard to find a decent source for the dual ones (especially on shorter notice) and they had loads of the single ones on hand. That's far better than sticking with a single 9 volt battery, especially on the 5 strings.
SPIRITS -> Plenty of models in stock for the holiday season. The GT-Pros are by far the biggest seller, and they've got lots in stock.
NEW MODELS -> Still hoping to roll-out of the mid-priced line in Q1. Will know more in the new year.
. . .and along with the new instrument rollout will be. . .
NEW STEINBERGER WEBSITE -> After much prodding and poking, Gibson is going to be "fleshing out" the www.steinberger.com website in preparation for the new product launch next year. It'll be focused on existing product from an informational standpoint - rather than historical (which we do) or sales (which MusicYo does). This is very good news. If there's been one glaring hole in the current marketing support approach for the brand it's been the complete absence of a comprehensive website. Especially since they are only sold over the web. That's been one part of their approach I don't get.
Far as I know no work has been done yet on this. Only in the planning stages. Probably won't start until the beginning of the year, likely after NAMM. But you can be assured when the new site is up we'll be notifying everyone.
PARTS -> They should have more of the Korean parts (R-Trems, gearless tuners, etc.) before the end of the year.
And now more somber news. . .
As for the Zen-On/Japanese parts (specifically TransTrems), there's been no forward progress. MY met with representatives and had discussions over in Japan last month, but no decisions have been made. There exists the very real possibility that the last ST and Type2 TT have already been made. I know Ned is already working on the next generation trem, but that could easily take a year to come to fruition. As you know they're already out of TT's, and they could run out of ST's too if sales go well. The new mid-priced line will feature a hard tail, and they will likely use it on the current GM's & GLB's. But if they don't order from Zen-On, it's conceivably they'd be without a trem option for 6 months or more.
Zen-On also supplied the graphite bass bridges & parts. However MY has already started fabricating some of these in Korea. These are admittedly much less of an engineering & production challenge, so getting them made is a fairly straight-forward deal.
Personally I'm hopeful that after a successful holiday season MY will decide to take the plunge and get at least one more order from Zen-On. Even so, lead time is several months. This is one development I'm trying to keep a close watch on.
Stay tuned for the updates on new product availability over the next week.
Posted by andyyak 11/7/2003 09:45:27 AM
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