Ergo Instruments EUB4

It's a very basic instrument. It's basically a single shaped piece of wood with a notch in it. A piezo pickup is placed in the notch and then a small piece of wood is placed on top of the pickup to function as a bridge. 4 double bass strings are strapped to it and held in place with Gotoh tuners. On the back of the instrument is a 1/4" output jack and the stand mount. I do wish it had a volume knob on the side, but I solved this by adding an external piezo buffer with a volume control, which I have velcro'd to the stand. The dot markers are great! I was worried about making the transition from fretted to fretless, but the markers make it very simple. That is a major plus.

The Ergo is truly amazing! It is not logical that this kind of sound comes out of an instrument that looks like this. It's small and skinny, but the sound that comes out it is big warm and woody. This bass is equally at home in the studio or on the stage. Jesse Blue (the Ergo founder) attributes the tone to the all wood construction. In any case, it sounds far more like a true upright than most of the more expensive EUBs on the market.

There are no frills here; the finish is very basic. Jesse offers these basses in 2 finishes: classic (dark) and natural (light). Mine is the classic finish. The wood tone is a beautiful dark brown with a very slight red tint. Mine has 2 thin spots where the stain was not evenly distributed and there are several visible flaws in the surface of the wood. Don't get me wrong... I am still very happy with the instrument, but don't expect a high end finish... this is a no frills instrument. The bridge of the instrument is very sensitive. If you move it a few millimeters, it will completely change the sound of the instrument. When mine showed up, it sounded terrible. I emailed Jesse and he told me to fiddle with the bridge until I found an even sound. I spent about an hour messing with it and I found the sweet spot. Once you find the spot it sounds great!

The bass itself is very sturdy, but (as mentioned above) the bridge is very sensitive. Finding a case for this sucker is a little tricky, but Jesse recommended that I look at bow and arrow cases since recurve bows are similar in length. He was absolutely right! I found a recurve bow case that fits the bass perfects and a takedown bow case that fits the stand perfectly. They look nice too. There is really nothing to go wrong with it, so I'm sure it will last for years to come.

This is where the bass shines! Jesse Blue is the owner/operator of Ergo instruments and he is great to work with. I have exchanged dozens of emails with him and all have been returned in a day or less (many within the hour). You will not get this kind of service from Washburn or Peavey... only the small guys provide this kind of service.

This is your basic EUB, no special features, no fancy finished... just great upright tone for a great price. Since I've bought the Ergo, I've looked at/played several more expensive EUB's and they my look cooler... but none of them sound better. If you want to get into EUB, this is THE option.

I got my bass from Jesse in April of 2006. He makes them in Tennessee I believe. Its the 4-string version of the Ergo electric upright bass and its got the classic finish. One pickup placed under the bridge and nice, small Gotoh tuners. It came with what is basically a cymbal stand, which you attach the bass to the top of and you are good to go.

This thing is really amazing. Now let me say first that I am a bass guitarist who has purchased the Ergo as my first step into the world of the upright. That being said, this thing sounds MUCH MORE like an acoustic upright in my opinion than one of those rediculously expensive other brands. I've heard NS Designs stuff sound like crap and its about $2000 more than the ERGO. I play through a Mesa Boogie M-Pulse 600 and an SWR Henry the 8x8 cabinet. I play a custom Warmoth Jazz with active emg-j pickups. The Ergo sounds so much like an acoustic its rediculous. BUT, the Ergo is capable of much more! I have hooked up stereo chorus, envelope filter and even analog delay to the Ergo and have gotten some incredible tones. I don't even have a bow yet! I just played a gig last week (I play heavy math rock, and not the nasty new metal stuff, the good stuff, no 5-string, no drop D, we're a 3-peice and both I and the guitar player sing) where the opener had an Engelhardt acoustic upright and my Ergo sounded just as good and mine is about 1/10 the size and weight. Sure it doesn't sound EXACTLY like an acoustic, but an electric guitar doesn't sound like an acoustic guitar either. ITS A DIFFERENT ANIMAL PEOPLE. And now thanks to Jesse maybe we all can see what can be done with it. I don't think the acoustic would respond very well to an analog delay bouncing around its interior. Try playing Hendrix on an acoustic guitar, it can be done, but its been castrated.

The set up is perfect. It just plays effortlessly. Its got plenty of volume and everything just feels great. There are VERY minor flaws here and there, but really nothing to worry about. The finish feels great and really works great with my playing style.

I've played out with this thing twice in the last month and its been easy to set up and take down, sounded great, stayed in tune as solid as a rock, been easy to carry and has been an interesting conversation piece for the audience to gawk over. (the thing looks kinda odd)

I can't tell you how many times I emailed Jesse about my bass. Over the course of several months while I got my money together I probably emailed him thirty times and he always got back to me within 48 hours and was always helpful. Best customer service I've had with any company hands down. Only thing that came close was Mesa/Boogie and thats only because I live 1/2 hour from their factory.

I've been playing bass for 3 years and before that I played guitar for ten years. I play bass no less than 3 hours a day, 6 days a week, and sometimes as many as seven hours a day. I recommend this bass to anyone reguardless of their practicing schedule. I have absolute faith in the construction, sound and playability of this bass and in Ergo Instruments as a company. If it was stolen, I'd get another one ASAP. I have only had this thing for 2 months and it has already become an indispensible part of my sound. You can't even come close to beating it for the price. You should get one.