# NBD - Brice Defiant 53437



## techjsteele (Nov 29, 2014)

The bass finally arrived today. I ordered the HSC to make sure nothing bad happened to it. Pics below (sorry for the quality, as these were taken on my iPod touch):





























The good:

No cosmetic flaws on the body could be found. The instrument feels very balanced and the neck profile is perfect. The fanned frets were really easy to get used to as well. The natural finish is darker than I expected, but in a good way. The instrument is very acoustically alive and plays fantastic. 






The bad:

The nut on the bass side is a little rough and the wood around it was cut funny:





Also, though I don't have a pic of it, both pickups are literally detached from their base plates. They function, but are loose and I have to be careful when I'm playing it. 

I will let Kurt know about these issues of course, but I plan on keeping it. The pickup issue can be temporarily fixed once I restring the bass and permanently once I swap them out (the pickups were not horrible sounding, but not great sounding). I can also get another nut cut for me (or even do it myself, if I'm brave enough).


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## Fretless (Nov 29, 2014)

Glad to see someone picked one of these up! They look epic!


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## TheEmptyCell (Nov 29, 2014)

What's the center to center string spacing at the bridge? Also, what's the weight?


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## techjsteele (Nov 29, 2014)

Fretless said:


> Glad to see someone picked one of these up! They look epic!



They do! For the price, it was worth the risk. As I almost always mod my instruments in some way (mostly pickup upgrades), the issues I listed above are not such a big deal.


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## techjsteele (Nov 29, 2014)

TheEmptyCell said:


> What's the center to center string spacing at the bridge?



.687 (2.75" divided by 4).



> Also, what's the weight?


 Approximately 10 lbs (I weighed myself without the bass and then with the bass, marking the difference in weight).


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## Konfyouzd (Nov 29, 2014)

GAS


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## Fretless (Nov 29, 2014)

Konfyouzd said:


> GAS



If I played normal basses I would be the same way too.


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## OfArtAndArsenal (Nov 30, 2014)

Bah. Piece of junk. Send it to me and be rid of it...


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## crg123 (Nov 30, 2014)

I dont know if you can tell but are the pickups actually bass pickups or just repurposed Agile ERG pickups? Awesome score, I was happy to see Rondo come out with a Dingwall scale multi-scale bass.


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## notasian (Dec 1, 2014)

awsome bass dude ive never played a 37 inch scale how does it feel? i have small skinny hands so how hard would it be to acually play on the lower end? i already have some trouble playing a standard scale  34inch


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## techjsteele (Dec 1, 2014)

OfArtAndArsenal said:


> Bah. Piece of junk. Send it to me and be rid of it...







crg123 said:


> I dont know if you can tell but are the pickups actually bass pickups or just repurposed Agile ERG pickups? Awesome score, I was happy to see Rondo come out with a Dingwall scale multi-scale bass.



I am not sure about the pickups, though I might be able to verify once I remove them. 



notasian said:


> awsome bass dude ive never played a 37 inch scale how does it feel? i have small skinny hands so how hard would it be to acually play on the lower end? i already have some trouble playing a standard scale  34inch



It is actually very easy to play. The thinner neck profile coupled with the fanned fret setup really works wonders with the 37" scale.


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## Konfyouzd (Dec 1, 2014)

Fretless said:


> If I played normal basses I would be the same way too.



Most of my basses are fretless, but my other guitarist has been writing stuff that I feel like I need a fretted bass for. I don't really like tapping on fretlesses for some reason.


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## Fretless (Dec 1, 2014)

Konfyouzd said:


> Most of my basses are fretless, but my other guitarist has been writing stuff that I feel like I need a fretted bass for. I don't really like tapping on fretlesses for some reason.



I don't blame you. We're there no reason to tap, and we're there not certain sounds fretless instruments couldn't do, I'd play 100% fretless. I was just refer to the fact that I like short scale basses lol. I've two 30" ones now, and I'm designing my third and possibly 4th already.


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## Electric Wizard (Dec 1, 2014)

HNGD! Really excited about this model, I'm not a big bass player but have been wanting a Dingwall. Great that Rondo is finally doing a 37" after they had that 32-35 briefly.


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## DJTanZen (Dec 2, 2014)

What kind of pickups are you thinking of throwing in that beast?


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## Konfyouzd (Dec 2, 2014)

Fretless said:


> I don't blame you. We're there no reason to tap, and we're there not certain sounds fretless instruments couldn't do, I'd play 100% fretless. I was just refer to the fact that I like short scale basses lol. I've two 30" ones now, and I'm designing my third and possibly 4th already.



Oh yea... I forgot about short scale basses...  

My bad.


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## Fretless (Dec 2, 2014)

Konfyouzd said:


> Oh yea... I forgot about short scale basses...
> 
> My bad.



I own a 35" 6 string bass too, so I do have normal basses too, and a 34" fretless 4! I am gaming pretty hard for this though.


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## Partario (Dec 2, 2014)

Ordered one yesterday. Should be in by the end of the week. Now I just need to order a set from Kalium for F#! I'll be sure to do a NBD as well.


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## TheEmptyCell (Dec 2, 2014)

Between the string spacing, and the weight, I'm not really as interested in this as I was when Kurt released their first fanned bass with the 35-32" scale.

That said, if they offer them in fretless; 4 string; or 6 string, my interests would again be piqued.


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## LordCashew (Dec 3, 2014)

These are way too cool. It would be awesome if there was a semi-custom run at some point. 

If Kurt's down, we could all go pump it up at talkbass.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Dec 3, 2014)

Konfyouzd said:


> Most of my basses are fretless, but my other guitarist has been writing stuff that I feel like I need a fretted bass for. I don't really like tapping on fretlesses for some reason.



I'd play my fretlesses exclusively, if slap didn't sound so friggin' weird without frets. I know some bassists manage, but I sure can't get it to sound good .

Plus my band's guitarist prefers when I play fretted, so he can look over at me to see where we are in a song when he gets lost because he was too busy noodling to pay attention to the chord progression .

On topic: I'd really like to try a fanned five or six, but the only options here are supremely expensive, or a gamble because there's no warranty on international orders, as is the case with this Agile. Oh well. Some day my prince will come...


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## Fretless (Dec 3, 2014)

Grand Moff Tim said:


> I'd play my fretlesses exclusively, if slap didn't sound so friggin' weird without frets. I know some bassists manage, but I sure can't get it to sound good .
> 
> Plus my band's guitarist prefers when I play fretted, so he can look over at me to see where we are in a song when he gets lost because he was too busy noodling to pay attention to the chord progression .



Oh so true!!!


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## TemjinStrife (Dec 3, 2014)

Oh man, that's not acceptable with the nut or pickups, and that's heavy but not unmanageable. Too bad, this was looking like a decent backup for my Dingwall.


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