What the press is saying about
Fichter Electric Upright Basses
Excerpts from Bass Player Magazine.
Bob McCaskey tested a total of 16 electric uprights and rated
the Fichter Electric Upright among the very best.
"This German EUB comes in 4- and 5 string versions;
I tested a 4-string. It's the simplest of the basses tested,
consisting of a full-length maple-and-mahogany neck/body
with an ebony fingerboard. The string length is 41".
The bass is very clean in appearance, and it sports a
Highlander pickup on an adjustable bridge with an internal
9-v preamp.
There are no volume or tone adjustments onboard.
At 13 pounds, the Fichter is remarkably light; I was tempted to
mount a strap and try playing it horizontally.
The pizz sound coming from the Highlander is absolutely tops;
it packs a very strong punch and great sustain, allowing you to
inject long vibrato into your creative experience...
This one is a winner if you want a light, portable bass with tons
of punch and you prefer to play without a bow.
Thomas Fichter himself
played the bass on Frank Zappa's
„Dog Breath Variations" [The
Yellow Shark,
Barking Pumpkin].
...the Fichter is by far the smallest and the lightest, and it has
an exceptionally punchy sound... (12/96)
Excerpt from the German bass magazine "Gitarre & Bass"
... the total length of the instrument's neck and body is less
than four inches longer than the average longscale e-bass and has a
much smaller body volume. The actual contrabass size and feel is
achieved through the addition of a metal ring on the backside of the
body attatched by two screws and the height-adjustable endpin which is
inserted into the underside of the body. This electric contrabass, with
its specially customized gigbag is only minimally larger than an
electric bass guitar and fits in the back seat of a mid-sized car ...
... the playing position of the Fichter electric upright bass is, as
the result of its backside three dimensional ring construction
completely comparable to that of a traditional contrabass ...
... Overall, the playability in the high positions is childsplay when
compared to the 'normal' contrabass ...
... Along with the impressive long sustain, the powerful lower string
bass sound is convincing and makes bass playing fundamentally enjoyable
...
... the fichter electric upright bass should be of most interest to
those well-known 'working' and 'self-transporting' musicians, who
demand an excellent contrabass sound without the usual amplification
problems, but do not wish to have to charter a small bus for each gig.
Thanks to the well thought-out, three dimensional Fichter concept, this
instrument is very playable and easy to get accustomed to, and
well-suited to electric bassists who wish to incorporate new sounds and
forms of expression into their playing.
(Test by Matthias van Hulst, 8-95)
