DeArmond Ashbory

DeArmond Ashbory (Black). Just purchased, and only used in practice. First use in gig in April 2005. Active electronics and much improved tuners from DeArmond/Fender. Fretless very short scale, with fret markers. No real additional 'features'. Production year unknown at this time, however DeArmond Ashbory's I believe first appeared around 1997? Piezo pick-up built into bridge, agathis neck-through body. VERY light, approx. 2-3 lbs.

Incredible sound, through my Peavey TNT 115 w/additional speaker cab. Amazing bottom end. Sound similar to upright. Sounds can be modified with EQ on amp and by adjustments to active bass and treble controls on bass. Sound fits well on 'ballads', etc. Music style:Classic Rock, some 'newer' country and originals

Great finish - agathis body, neck through. Action tricky with rubber strings - need to use talc. My bass has no finish flaws. Will take getting used to holding, very light and small (18" scale neck)

Have not used in live gig, but will in April. Rubber strings need re-tuning more often, but should settle down once stretched enough. No adjustable truss rod. Very well made gig-bag included.

No 'service' needed at this point.

Been playing bass since the 60's. Own a headless Steinberger and Dean Playmate. If stolen or lost, I would replace with another, but am always looking for 'something else'. I love the unparalleled sound from such a compact instrument, as well as the 'novelty'. Dislike the strap-button positions, but don't want to drill a hole in it yet. Will provide great sound in the right songs.

Ashbory -- moon blue. Purchased from Musicians Friend in 2000. The standard $300 model with Piezo pickup for a bridge. Far as I know, this is the only model for the reissue, available in four(?) colors.

Fretless, but has markers, which are convenient, especially considering the short neck length.

I've had people kid me about my "Lego Bass," "Buzz Lightyear," etc. Kids seem to be especially curious about it when they hear it played.

Sound depends a great deal on how well it's amplified. I've been trying it through a GK with a 12" speaker, and haven't liked it much. I think maybe it needs a bigger box, like an Ampeg with a 15" bottom. It seems to really drive a speaker... maybe that's the active electronics. The sound ranges from fat and twangy to thin and twangy. I've not had much luck removing the twanginess without killing the presence.

I think this bass could've been improved with at least some solid wood parts. Seems like the whole thing is made of plastic. It's like they weren't really serious about making a fine instrument. There are definite advantages (try fitting any other bass into an airplane overhead compartment). Maybe they should come out with another, more upscale model that actually used some wood.

I never could tell a lot of difference in using talc or not. I couldn't get a very good slide either way with the rubber strings. It would be nice if they could make strings with some kind of wrapping instead of just bare silicon like you had just squeezed it out of a caulking gun.

The G string breaks without provocation. I just open up the case and there it is. Has happened to me three times now. I wish I could order just a package of G strings. (No jokes here, please.) I might gig with it if I had just changed the strings, but then I'd be tuning it constantly.

Small, wooden bass with silicone strings and 18" scale. Inexpensive hardware and a non-adjustable bridge combined with an active preamp with bass and treble controls.

The sound is pretty amazing for the price range. The sound is kinda a cross between an electric upright and a flatwound electric bass with little sustain. The tone is very "bassy" without much treble (which makes the instrument noisy due to the piezo pickups). The active preamp does offer some sound modification, but not much. You will either like the tone or hate it. I find the tone a nice addition to my fretted and fretless Fender jazz basses - but it does have limited use and appeal.

The fit and finish of the instrument was better than I had anticipated. For this price range, I had expected workmanship similar to the Fender mexican made instruments (which suck) and was pleasantly suprised. I think the tuners could be a little more substantial, but they seem to do the job. I do wish that the bridge was angled to help the intonation on the E string.

Seems to be pretty durable except for the tuners (time will tell).

I initially purchased the bass to take with me on travel and have been finding alot more uses for it. The tone and workmanship were much better than expected as is the "fun factor". The instrument is just plain fun to play. However, the bass cannot be slapped, tapped, chorded very easily or musically. The size makes the instrument great to take to band rehearsals to run through the PA. Although the instrument is a "one tone" bass, the price makes this a fun addition.

The usual- very small scale, tiny body, rubber strings, active electronics-- you know the drill.

The bass DOES get pretty close to an upright sound-- however, the lack of sustain ultimately made me decide to part with it to fund other gear. I know upright basses don't have much sustain either, but the Ashbory is much more attack-oriented, even though you can dial out the treble to minimize that. There isn't the richness/variety of tone that an upright gives, and you can't really manipulate the sound of the bass once the note is plucked, as is possible on a steel-string fretless. If you really are looking for a fretless steel-string bass "growl and mawrh" sound, the Ashbory doesn't really do that. The sound really doesn't have much character in itself, but in an ensemble it seems to do a pretty good job of imitating an upright bass. Plenty of low-end thump, but you won't get the subtleties that steel-strings provide. Playing the rubber strings made me realize how much of my "style" is based on the ability to touch the strings in different ways, and the rubber strings seemed very limited in that regard for me, but at this price, maybe YOU can afford to have more novelties in your life-- I only keep gear that is essential for the sounds I want, and the Ashbory didn't meet that criteria for me.

As noted by others, it can take a couple weeks for the strings to stretch enough to stay in tune. The talcum powder is necessary, as the strings become tacky after played awhile. It seems that after the initial applications, the talc somewhat soaks into the strings, so subsequent applications wouldn't need to be done as often after the initial break-in period. Overall no problems with the bass.

A big problem for me with the Ashbory is the neck-heavyness of it. Granted, it's very light to begin with anyway, but the neck is much heavier than the body, so a strap is necessary standing or sitting, if you don't want the bother of having to hold it up in the playing position (I like to concentrate on playing only). I considered adding weights to the body to create better balance. The tuners are made of plastic, and while they seem reliable, you really have to crank these suckers hard, even just to micro-tune the string. If you want to tune the string a step or more, you may want to cancel any appointments for that day. I'd suggest a string winder for this bass.

I'm sure if anything went wrong, DeArmond would treat me to dinner and a fabulous vacation getaway. Or maybe not.

I really should have tried one out first, but it wasn't possible. On occasion, I buy a piece of gear strictly out of reading others' opinions, and that was the case here. I have a fretted and fretless bass, and to be honest, I could get pretty much the same "upright" sound on my fretless. It's all in how you phrase the basslines and how the strings are attacked and manipulated that really gives an upright sound, in my opinion. I used the Ashbory on some recordings, alternating with my fretless, and based strictly on that, I couldn't justify the redundancy of having the Ashbory when my fretless covers that territory anyway. I strongly recommend trying one out from a place that accepts returns, since it is a pretty unusual instrument.

Ok-this is a 2000 DeArmond Ashbory in Moon Blue-i've now had it for about a year so i thought i'd post a review. It's Y2k MIK [made in Korea] according to the serial number there were fewer than 75,000 made before mine. Heres the specs/features that you might be wondering about:
It's fretless 18" Scale
Rubber Strings
Controls are Bass, Treb. Vol.
P/Us: Peizo bridge [you can't see it]
Active electronics has a battery easily accessible once you take off the back control plate.
The whole body & neck are Agathis [type of pine i beleive]
Finish: Moon Blue a.k.a. Midnight Blue, Cobalt Blue, need any more FMIC colors?
I ordered it from a Fender/DeArmond/Guild/Squeir [FMIC] dealer-i saw them take it outta the shipping box for the first time so i know they didn't take anything-besides they said it took 6months to sell the 1 they stocked. It came with a case & the strings there were on it-no manuals or anything. However if you need info email me or search web for DeArmond Ashbory

The sound is as i describe it an Upright on Steroids and Acid. Close to upright but distinctly different. I use this bass for latin sorta stuff where i need the upright sounds [other bass is a Jazz then soon 2 be Pilot + 5] . I'm playing this bass through 3 amps-Ampeg Fliptop SS amp from 70s-sounds sweet, nice bottomy, a Fender BXR 15 [mine] still sounds good-not as much bottom, & a Peavey 3 way cab-sound nice.
It makes pretty much the uprightish tone then a few variations but nothing substantial.
Whatever you do though-don't use this as an only bass, i use my jazz 95% of the time & this 5% @ max-my styles are changing.

Action/setup is almost void on this-the strings are rubber, the action depends on how you wind the strings on the headstock. Everything was great right outta the box. Haven't even replaced the battery yet.

Ok-i have 1 chip on the headstock from where it fell off of a ledge & hit the concrete. Everything else seems solid-no truss rod & with this bass it'd be a waste of money. Keep a replacement battery & you won't have to do anything except replace strings [takes a few Gs to get them broken in]

Fender-i'm gonna warn you ahead of time my family has been playing fender basses ever since they've been made. Every time somethings gone wrong Fender or a local Dealer fixed it quickly & did the job right. E.g. my truss rod got stripped on my jazz & needed fretwork along with a new set of strings-were there for about 1-2hrs-they only charged me for the strings. [on my jazz]. With this if it ever gets to the point where it needs work theres a dealer pretty close that stocks Ashbory parts so if anything happens i'll get it fixed. Warranty i dunno about the length or if there is one-never asked & don't really care for htis bass.

Ok-i've been playing bass for 4 years now, played everything from Funk to Country to Speed/Death Metal. The other gear i own is relatively cheap-Fender MIM Jazz, Fender BXR 15 amp-all the places i play supply adequate power. If this bass was stolen i'd probably not buy another one-would opt for the MIM Fretless Jazz cause this bass is a one trick pony & that trick isn't always a good one. The thing that i love about it is also what i hate-it has a good imitation upright sound.

Comes with a gig bag
Very small bass (scale 18"), I bought it to have a light-weight bass for travelling. Active electronics, Piezo pickup, very fat silicon strings (e-string: diameter 8 mm).

Sound is great, once one gets acustomed to the thick, soft strings. Active electronics are almost noiseless, but the piezo picks up clicking sounds very easily (especially with high treble setting). Warm, fat sound. Somewhat similar to upright bass.

The bass comes with no manual or information at all! On the other hand,it is absolutely crucial to know how to deal with the strings to keep them staying tuned (search internet for information). The concept is great, but this is actually a cheaply built instrument. The tuners do not work too well, and their sharp edges damage the strings. The nut is cheap plastic, and the string pressure cannot be adjusted (the open string sound is MUCH better upon pressing down the strings behind the nut!). Balance is very bad, it is almost impossible to play this thing using the strap buttons as they are. I built a device to play it upright (also to make it look even more funny: a very small instrument played like a double bass).

Hardware is cheap, and I do not trust it too much. I fear that the strings need to be replaced often, because of the cheap hardware. Getting the strings in tune keeps relatively long, so the job isn't done by just changing one and continue playing. Thus, I would never use it on a gig without a backup.

The judgement ist just an estimate: If the support is comparable to the product information, it is close to zero. Anyway, I never played a Fender/DeArmond instrument before, so perhaps I judge to hard. But: I even was not able to find a service e-mail address on the DeArmond homepage. Thus, I feel that they do not care too much about service inquiries.

IMO this instrument can only be an add-on to a "real" bass. I play a "Human Base" 4-string fretless, and this Ashbory is a nice baby to generate a very deep, warm sound with a tiny instrument. I love playing it. What makes me angry is that it could be much, much better with only very slight changes of the construction. This instrument just gives an impression how interesting and innovative the concept is; and I wish that sometime a REAL instrument builder picks it up to make a REAL instrument (and not an expensive toy)!!! To honour the innovative aspect, I give it a "5".

this is a reissue of a product that was originally out for a short period of time in the late 80's. i remember trying one at a local shop back then. i was sceptically impressed. the tone was amazing, but the tuning was dubvious and i beleived at the time that the thing was made of plastic. when i found out they were reissuing, i did some web research. ( just look up 'ashbory' ) a friend who owed me money offered his 'musicians friend' card as payment and i decided to be an adventurous fool and go for it. this is the little bass with silicone rubber strings. it's about 30 inches long with an 18 inch scale length. it's made of wood but it's light.( about 2 lbs. )active electronics with indented bass and treble controls. no on/off switch. just a little red lite on the front to tell you when it's dead.(?) i haven't tried taking the battery out to see if it still works in passive mode, we'll see. the electronics feed a single plastic bridge/peizo pickup. the tuners are open backed and very small with a specially made large string post to hold the surprisingly fat strings. it's shaped like a large dog bone. the neck is fretless with painted markers and a faux binding that looks pretty cool.( because it's so small )

this is an instrument your're going to feel the possibilities of immediately or just plain hate, hate, hate! for me, this thing is addictive. i would describe it's general sound as upright bass like, but this thing keeps surprising me with strange textures/tones. tony levin has been using one for years and i can see why. the active tone controls are incredibly useful. at 1 the tones are still valid, giving a dry acoustic sound. adding more bass will round out the sound to an almost sub sonic boom at louder settings. the treble control adds definition,andon higher settings,a defined clacking. imagine a super low end fretless. or a clacky thin upright. maybe a synthy sounding rubber band/wash tub bboom. hell, i plan to use this thing! its alot of fun for the buck. i keep finding cool combinations of playing technique and tone settings. it doesn't sound like a p-bass. if you want that sound, don't buy this.

the bass came out of its box with no manual, set up instructions ect. hey fender guys! ( ...fender owns guild/de armond ) wats up slackers? you got a unique product that noone's gonna know how to set up when they get it! i jumped on the net and got a reprint of the original manual and trust me it helps. the strings take a while to stretch out, but once they do, they stay in pretty good tune. guess what? if the strings arent up to pitch, this thing sounds like butt. ( fender folks take note...if your customers take this out of the box and aren,t warned, they are gonna think this bass won't stay in tune and most likely will be sending it back to your uncaring hands! i found out( from the net..) that it,s recomended to dust the strings lightly with talc to reduce friction on the silicon strings and improve their tone and playability. ( wow, another important fact fender folks! ) the pickup is a peizo in the bridge and will pick up knocks and bumps if you hit it. i didnt find that a big problem. the bass looks well built. once the strings are stretched out and powdered, it plays and sounds real good. i'm gonna give this catagory a 3 because without the quite necessary instructions and setup, this bass just dont work right.

once you get used to the string tension/texture,tiny size and eq possibilities, i don't see a reason why this bass wouldn't work live. it's not gonna replace that alembic masterpeice as your main giging instrument. it's definitely got it's own thing going on and your're going to want to share that. it's absolutely pro sounding but it's not a very macho looking peice. the tuners are small open backed gears , but supposedly made by shaller. the bridge system and nut are plastic, but we're talking rubber strings here. it seems like it will hold up. since there are still die hard ashbory users from the 80's out there plugging this thing on the web, i guess it will stand up over time.
the reason i'm giving this catagory a 7 is because the parts on the bass are so unique, ( and being unimpressed with fender's common sense so far.. ) i have to think that any problem with any of the components could lead to some serious frustration. we,ll have to see...

see above... oh yeh...no warranty card! my bitching continues..... there is a possibility that musicians friend just didnt send the support liturature with the bass...but i don,t think so. info should be together in the gig bag with the bass in the box!!! its just my inate kindness that gets a 2

this is a bass that will definitely grow on you. its almost an entirely different instrument that has a relation to the bass. it won't do everthing a bassist would desire ( slapping, chord work ) but it's just plain fun and downright inspirational. it takes some dedication to get the feel of the ashbory. technique is needed to get the most out of it. this is why some people will hate it. i found that with a couple of days of tweaking/playing, i was getting usable, unique sounds, very convincing upright country tones and tony levin fretless warbles. my fear is that with the poor support/info from de armond( guild/fender...) the ashbory will fade away once again,and i will be sweeping the net for strings and spare parts.