This is a short review of my two week old Nordstrand NX5. The 23 months of configuring ordering and receiving it are documented in
THIS THREAD. 
Nordstrand NX5 (
http://www.nordstrandguitars.com )
Five string set neck, NX body style
34.5" scale
Soft maple body
Maple neck
Ebony fretboard
Banjo Frets
Gloss black finish (finished neck)
Hipshot A bridge & Hipshot tuners
Nordstrand Dual Coil Pickups with ebony covers
Aguilar OBP3 preamp
Electronics config (from neck to bridge): Volume (pull passive), Blend, Passive Tone (pull coil tap), Treble Boost/Cut, Mid Boost/Cut, Bass Boost/Cut
In my 2 years or so of seriously trying to play bass, I've been lucky enough to own quite a few instruments: MIM Jazz, several Ibanez Ergodynes, Warwick Thumb 5 NT, KSD Fretless 5, a homebrew P Bass, and a few others. The thumb came closest to having my "ideal" sound and feel. Hopefully, this will give you a bit of perspective on my comments concerning the NX.
Fit and FinishThe finish on this bass is flawless. The inky black is absolutely opaque and there are no issues with the gloss coat. It's going to be hard to keep it fingerprint-free, but it's exactly what I asked for. I was a little concerned about the ebony looking brownish, especially when butted up against the black paint, but in normal sunlight, it still looks black. The exposed polepieces push through perfectly sized openings in the polished ebony pickup covers. Overall, it's a badass-looking bass.
Ergonomics/PlayabilityThis body shape totally works for me. Carey Nordstrand has explained that he designed it to utilize the advantages of a singlecut with more of a doublecut look. I'm not sure about the impact of the increased neck/body contact area, but what I can attest to is its absolute immobility on a strap. I would use the word "balance", but that implies some sort of teetering fulcrum. This bass, when slung over the shoulder, does not move of its own volition whatsoever. Of course, with the strap pin sitting over the 11th fret, one would expect stability.
Because of the absolute lack of neck dive, the considerable weight of this bass is not an issue.
I was concerned about the finish on the neck. I've played a few Les Pauls that were a bit sticky, but this neck is like glass. Even after a bit of playing and the finish gets warm, it's still slick. The neck joint (or lack thereof), combined with the severe lower cutaway makes it easy to play the upper registers. In fact, the wide, flat neck makes me sort of wish I had ordered a 6 "just in case"
.
The severe difference in humidity between the West Coast and Midwest necessitated a pretty significant truss rod tweak, but now that the neck has had time to settle, it plays like a dream. I may still give a bit more relief (or raise the saddles a bit), but that is more of a stylistic preference. I thought I preferred the lowest action possible, but Carey has given new meaning to "low, playable action". Nut and bridge spacing are fairly standard, and the B string makes a nice thumbrest for the 99.9% of the time it's not being utilized.
Overall, it's exactly what I thought this bass should be. That is not some sort of backhanded compliment...after playing some of Carey's basses at NAMM and having some time with my teacher's NX7, I expected user interface perfection, and that's exactly what I got.
ToneI have DR Black Beauties on this bass, and I've auditioned it through my Bass Pod Pro XT running through headphones, my studio monitoring rig (M-Audio BX8s plus a sub), and through a power amp/Acme Low B1. I also ran it through a Mackie preamp and an Avalon 737.
First let me just say that I am the opposite of a "keep it all passive and flat" kind of guy. There are almost zero factory patches left on my synths, and I don't have a single factory preset on my Pod or Bass Pod. I like to tweak, tweak, tweak. I certainly am not against the "P Bass with flats through an Acoustic" vibe, but that ain't me.
The OBP3 was a puzzle at first. I had heard raves about this preamp, but it seemed to only have a small window of usability on each band before it got to be too much. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's going to take some subtle knob turning to dial in my favorite tone...
...or so I thought until I pulled out the volume knob and got the passive sound.
My goodness. I wasn't quite prepared for the authority and growl that these Dual Coils put out in passive mode. It sounds nearly IDENTICAL to the Thumb NT to my ears. Plenty of low mids and upper end bite (which is easily tamed by the passive tone control). I usually favor the bridge pickup on just about any bass I play because I find most pickups need more top end, but this one has that sound with the blend on the center detent.
It occurred to me at that point that Carey had listened to my concerns and hopes, and he had made that the default sound on this bass. The preamp and coil tap are there for versatility, but just about everything I need comes from Passive and Flat. "Passive and Flat" - sounds like an unaggressive law firm.
I am actually recording a 30 second spot for a Flash site this evening, so I will put up clips tomorrow.
OverallDespite my blind and somewhat fanatical trust in Carey Nordstrand, I was taken aback by just how much this bass reflects my (self-perceived) personality. For me, it was an education in craftsmanship and commissioned artwork. In this day and age, it's startling to experience truly individualized attention.
This bass is simply the best stringed instrument I have ever played. It was comfortable from the get go and sounds ballsy and aggressive. Although I haven't utilized the coil tap or the active eq yet, they seem to span the range of usable tones. I will definitely mess with them as I record clips.
Carey has a new line of Jazz Bass clones that, by all accounts, are incredible and have a huge range of options considering that they are his "production" line. He had stopped taking orders for his NJ, SC, and NX basses earlier in the year, but I believe that there is exactly one build slot left for a custom.
I am a thoroughly satisfied Nordstrand customer. The wait was excruciating, but it was worth it.
I'd like to publicly thank Dr. Sweet Willie and Scott Pazera for letting me mess with their Nordstrands (and Adrian, too, although he wasn't present at the time), and many thanks for Jay at Blueberry Hill Bass for facilitating this transaction.
Oh, and since it isn't real without a grainy, out of focus picture, here's the NegatiV in its new home (closet) amongst its brethren.
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