NS Design Announces the NS WAV Omni Bass

NS Design WAV Omni Bass Body Bodies

NS Design’s WAV series got a little bigger this year with the addition of the NS WAV Omni bass, which debuted at the 2017 Summer NAMM show. The new model brings the Omni design, which has an upright bass design with the 34-inch scale of an electric bass, to the company’s most affordable WAV series.

Available in four and five-string versions, the basses are built with a maple neck and body matched with a TransRadius fingerboard. “Asymmetrical relief for easy playability, even in the highest positions,” NS writes. “The fingerboard radius at the nut is 9¼ inches for a more familiar feel for the bass guitarist. For ease of bowing, the radius at the bridge end of the fingerboard is tighter, 2 inches.”

For electronics, it has the NS Polar Pickup system, which is a passive piezo that responds to either vertical vibration for plucked sound or lateral vibration for dynamic bowing. It operates without a battery and has a switch for toggling between pizzicato and arco settings.

Other features include an adjustable bridge, two-way truss rod, and the Boomerang strap system. It can also be mounted on a tripod.

The NS Design WAV Omni bass will be available soon with MSRP’s of $1,299 for the four-string and $1,499 for the five-string.

NS Design WAV Omni Bass Specs:

Weight:WAV4 - 3.2 kg (7 lbs.); WAV5 – 3.23 kg (7.2 lbs.)
Scale Length:86 cm (34″)
Strings:4 string EADG; 5 string BEADG or EADGC. Fifths tuning available
Body/Neck:Solid, straight grain maple neck and body. Flame maple face on all colors: Amberburst, Trans Red, and Trans Black
Fingerboard:Hand-graduated, asymmetric. Intonation referenced with cascading dot markers & side dots.
TransRadius Profile:The fingerboard radius at the nut is 9¼ inches. At the end of the fingerboard near the bridge, the radius is 2 inches
Truss Rod:Two-way truss rod, accessible at nut
Tuning Hardware:12:1 ratio, fully encased worm gear tuners, black finish
Bridge Pickup:The Polar directional piezo pickup system responds selectively to either vertical vibration (for the sustained plucked sound, like an electric bass guitar), or lateral vibration (for dynamic bowing, and a percussive plucked sound)
Electronics & Controls:Passive circuit with high impedance output, no batteries required. Volume control, tone control (treble roll off) and a switch to select between Arco and Pizzicato mode.

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