NS Designs Radius thread

Tim de Martino

Tim de Martino

May 12, 2011
398
549
5,191
Melbourne, Australia
#1
When I was researching the purchase of a NS Radius CR5, there was some info around but mostly, as is often the case, it was the same info over and over recycled from the promo and technical data supplied by NS.

As these instruments are a bit rare and quite different, I thought a thread bringing together user experience, technical info and general thoughts would be handy. There are very very few parts on these basses that are off the shelf or common to other makes, so tips and tricks around it's idiosyncrasies are hard to come by.

I'll start with a few things that I have found...

- It's friggin amazing!
- Despite the promo material, it won't take all strings. I have found that the outer windings on some nickels are too soft and get stripped by the tuning mechanism, rendering them useless. At the mo I have the recommended D'addarios but will do some testing for something lighter - maybe Fodera's, they are niiice.
- The treble piezo setting is pretty sharp on its own but mixed with the EMGs it can give a zing that magnetics can't. For me, most of the most useful tones come from mixing the mags and various piezo settings.
- The preamp has internal treble switches same as the EMG BQC. They don't do a lot for my ear but through a different rig, they may be more useful. Critical though, is balancing the mags and piezo with the internal trimmer.
- It is not super light, but with the chambering and great balance, it's pretty easy to wear for 3 sets.
- I'm not a huge fan of the 3 way pickup switch. I would prefer a blend (normally I like individual volumes) maybe I can mod it in the future...

Any other info or experiences would be great. In fact anything other than crickets chirping would be welcome!

Cheers to all.

Tim
 
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#2
I picked up this beauty around three weeks ago. Still very much in the learning process, so many tones you can get from it.

First thing I noticed is how well this bass is built. All the features and contours are beautifully executed. And the bridge/tuning system is truly an engineering marvel. Took minutes to change the strings! And talk about perfectly balanced!

The fit and finish is flawless and the ebony fretless fretboard is perfectly level. Out of the box the action was ridiculous low, with very minimal string buzz. But too low for me, had to raise it up a bit. The stock D'Addario strings (45-130) were minty fresh too. I did change out the B string for a 125, which I prefer.

The bass has great mwahh and growl to it. As I mentioned, still learning all you can do with blending and soloing the EMG pickups and piezo pickup.

Overall very happy with the bass. My only two grips, and they are small ones. The bottom edge of the fretboard could have been more rounded off to give it a broken in feel. With my small hands, I can certainly feel that edge. Also the dots on front of the fretboard are not well placed, at least on the five string. They look cool from the front, but you kind of have to look at the neck at the right angle to see them while playing. For the most part I don't need them, but I like to see them when playing/soloing past the 12th fret.

View attachment 3035393
 
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#4
I have a wav4. It no cr5 but close. It definitely has a unique tone to bring with the piezo and mag pickup. I would sell it for a cr5 if i could justify that much on a bass. Ergonomics are great. I love the contoured body and headless system
 
#5
ClassicJazz said:
I picked up this beauty around three weeks ago. Still very much in the learning process, so many tones you can get from it.

First thing I noticed is how well this bass is built. All the features and contours are beautifully executed. And the bridge/tuning system is truly an engineering marvel. Took minutes to change the strings! And talk about perfectly balanced!

The fit and finish is flawless and the ebony fretless fretboard is perfectly level. Out of the box the action was ridiculous low, with very minimal string buzz. But too low for me, had to raise it up a bit. The stock D'Addario strings (45-130) were minty fresh too. I did change out the B string for a 125, which I prefer.

The bass has great mwahh and growl to it. As I mentioned, still learning all you can do with blending and soloing the EMG pickups and piezo pickup.

Overall very happy with the bass. My only two grips, and they are small ones. The bottom edge of the fretboard could have been more rounded off to give it a broken in feel. With my small hands, I can certainly feel that edge. Also the dots on front of the fretboard are not well placed, at least on the five string. They look cool from the front, but you kind of have to look at the neck at the right angle to see them while playing. For the most part I don't need them, but I like to see them when playing/soloing past the 12th fret.

View attachment 3035393
Click to expand...

Awesome! The fretless 5 was my first choice too but it was the fretted that came up semi-affordably first. One of the criteria for my forever bass was lack of future fretwork, but figured I can yank them later if necessary.

The fingerboard edge is a good point. It wouldn't be too hard to reshape them on the fretless... Ned is a big time tinkerer, surely these instruments could be held to the same ethic.
 
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#8
I'm a long time P bass and Stingray 4 user and while surfing for something different, I stumbled upon a Radius CR4. I was looking for something that is ergonomic and easy on my back and shoulder, as well as something that sits well in a live mix. This bass is even more comfy than my Pedulla Buzz basses, it's my new go to bass.
I'm not a big fan of DA XL's so I installed a set of Dunlop Nickel Brites, which seem to work well with the CR4. I'd like to try a modern sounding set of flats on this bass, I installed a lightly used set of Fender flats but 3 of the strings slipped in the clamping mechanism of the bridge. I favor EB Slinky flats, DA Chromes and TI Jazz flats, Just not sure they will work with the tuning assy because of their silk wraps.
I'm hoping to find a used CR5 fretless soon.
41695150_10214525523150377_5353453426229379072_n.jpg
 
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#10
59jazz said:
I'm a long time P bass and Stingray 4 user and while surfing for something different, I stumbled upon a Radius CR4. I was looking for something that is ergonomic and easy on my back and shoulder, as well as something that sits well in a live mix. This bass is even more comfy than my Pedulla Buzz basses, it's my new go to bass.
I'm not a big fan of DA XL's so I installed a set of Dunlop Nickel Brites, which seem to work well with the CR4. I'd like to try a modern sounding set of flats on this bass, I installed a lightly used set of Fender flats but 3 of the strings slipped in the clamping mechanism of the bridge. I favor EB Slinky flats, DA Chromes and TI Jazz flats, Just not sure they will work with the tuning assy because of their silk wraps.
I'm hoping to find a used CR5 fretless soon.
View attachment 3197818
Click to expand...

Nice bass!

I tried TI flats but again, the clamps tore through the windings. These were used strings, so I'm starting to wonder whether it would happen with a new set but I'm not willing to drop $150 to find out...
 
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#15
Awesome thread folks - Im a headless appreciator with two in the line up now.
I spotted these a couple of weeks ago and somehow keep gravitating back to the web page.
I do not NEED another headless bass. I do not NEED another headless bass.
Greg.
 
#16
Gilmourisgod said:
I’d love to try any of the NS basses, they just don’t exist in any shop, anywhere near me.
Click to expand...

It's a bit like a Chapman Stick, there are normally none around nearby to try out so it's a matter of saving up the cash and taking a punt.... after lots of research. Being far away in Oz, that's what I had to do for both instruments. The only shop in the state that stocks NS never has one in, maybe they are hard to get hold of?

Prob more worthwhile used, as you can make your money back if it's not for you. Also Check the NS website - they are now selling B stock directly.
 
#18
I posted this in the headless club. Thought I should post it here too.

Here's a photo of my NS Design Radius WAV.

View attachment 3682548

I got it mainly because of its piezo pickup tone, which is uniquely different from other piezo pickups I've heard in the past. It has beefy and full lows, and the acoustic-vibe doesn't sound gratingly noisy with excessive shrillness and finger noise (but it can sound that way if you play it through colored amps like the Fender Rumble 25, which makes it sound unpleasant. Through the Phil Jones Flightcase BG-150 it sounds far more natural and pleasing).

The magnetic pickup sounds fine. I would categorize it as modern and neutral, without a distinct characteristic,. When I roll the piezo pickup's tone knob all the way off, it sounds kinda similar to the magnetic pickup with the tone wide open. Blending the two gets you a magnetic pickup sound with the acoustic sheen mixed in, with the piezo pickup dominating the overall sonic character at 50% blend.

I'm not a fan of glossy painted necks in general because it doesn't feel as nice on the hand, although it does make the bass look more uniform to the body. It's a hard choice to make--between having a painted neck that matches the body, or a satin or tung oil finish that feels nicer to the touch, but don't look as cohesive with a solid color painted body.

The headless design of the Radius series has a much longer "head" than typical headless designs--about an extra fret length, which I don't particularly like, because it adds unnecessary length when the whole point of headless for me is to have a lot less material at the head that will bash into stuff.

I'm a headless fan because I hate bashing the headstock into stuff, knocking the strings out of tune, neck-dive, and heavy weight. As much as I like some headstock designs visually, I'm overall a pretty pragmatic guy, so headless is my favored design, and I'll likely be swapping out all of my basses to headless ones eventually, although some don't have headless counterparts available (such as my NS Design Omni CR5 and Ibanez SRH500F fretless). I might swap my Ibanez SR650 and Dingwall NG-2 5-string out with the upcoming Ibanez headless EHB series. That leaves just my Ibanez Mikro, which is short/light weight enough that I don't really feel the need to swap it out with a headless short scale, although it does have neck-dive. But I only play it while sitting in bed, and I have a string attaching the strap to the headstock for better balance, so it's not a big deal. However, if I get a short scale headless at some point, the Mikro will become redundant.

Currently on my headless G.A.S list are:

Kiesel Vader 30" scale
Wing Bass 30
Cazpar 4A Headless
The upcoming Ibanez Ibanez EHB series

I did have severe G.A.S for the Strandberg Boden for a while, but I've decided I prefer normal frets over fanned frets.

I also considered a Brice headless short scale at one point, but I just couldn't get over the lazy body design that used the same body as the multi-scale version, which then left a huge useless empty space below the bridge.
 
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#19
I’ve got a black Radius CR5 fretted, it’s an amazing instrument. The bass has this unique upright futurebass vibe about it, especially with the DR Black Beauties that are on it. Just abut the craziest bass sound I’ve ever heard to be honest! You don’t even have to plug it in to know what I’m talking about. It’s terrifying.

I got it in a multi instrument trade with a good friend, he had the idea to put Black Beauties on it. I also bought a jetglo 4003 right around then. Good stuff! They’re VERY different, lol.
 
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#20
rawrOOO said:
I’ve got a black Radius CR5 fretted, it’s an amazing instrument. The bass has this unique upright futurebass vibe about it, especially with the DR Black Beauties that are on it. Just abut the craziest bass sound I’ve ever heard to be honest! You don’t even have to plug it in to know what I’m talking about. It’s terrifying.

I got it in a multi instrument trade with a good friend, he had the idea to put Black Beauties on it. I also bought a jetglo 4003 right around then. Good stuff! They’re VERY different, lol.
Click to expand...

Are you going to make a video to demonstrate the sound? What pickups/blend are you using to get that "craziest" sound? Both the EMG and the piezo?
 
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