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NS Design CR6 Radius Fretless Bass Guitar - Zebrawood - Sweetwater USA Exclusive

6-string Electric Bass, Fretless, with Maple Body, Zebrawood Top, Maple Neck, Ebony Fingerboard, 2 Active Humbucking Pickups, and Piezo Pickup System - Zebrawood
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NS Design CR6 Radius Fretless Bass Guitar - Zebrawood - Sweetwater USA Exclusive
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A Balanced Fretless Bass with Unbelievable Sustain

Grab ahold of the innovative NS Design CR6 Radius fretless bass guitar and prepare to be stunned by this powerhouse instrument's optimized feel and exquisite tone. It all starts with a spritely and punchy maple body topped with eye-popping zebrawood, elevating your playing to near-transcendent levels thanks to its otherworldly definition and sustain. Sweetwater players can't get enough of the CR6 Radius' maple fusion neck, allowing for the fingers to slide up and down this 6-string's ebony fingerboard with unprecedented ease. You'll be positively captivated by the amount of dynamic headroom provided by the CR6 Radius' state-of-the-art pickups and active electronics, with a pair of EMG humbuckers delivering booming tones in complete clarity and NS Design's Polar pickup system extending this instrument's sonic spectrum into the stratosphere. When professional feel and sonic excellence are critical, enlist the NS Design CR6 Radius fretless bass guitar and take your playing to new heights!

Fusion neck provides stability, definition, and sustain

The CR6 Radius employs a 1-piece bolt-on maple neck; however, its embedded continuous carbon-fiber core creates an ultra-stable platform for your fingers to work their magic. Even though the CR6 Radius' neck may feel like wood, its sustain and note definition are spellbinding. The neck's 34-inch scale length and ebony fingerboard further enhance this bass guitar's sustain and definition.

NS Diradial body delivers tone, balance, and playability

With its maple body and zebrawood top, the CR6 Radius produces a tone with an articulate bite and tremendous sustain. The instrument's shape is balanced to perfection with no downward dip of its neck. The resulting amount of free movement your fretting hand is permitted is exceptional. You'll find the CR6 Radius remarkably stable and amazingly comfortable to play, due to its concave back radius and tightly radiused front.

NS tuning system allows for quick string changing and balanced playability

Instead of utilizing a traditional headstock with heavy conventional tuning machines, the CR6 Radius utilizes a self-clamping, precision tuning system that is built into the instrument's body. This system — originally created for the NS violin — is quick, simple, and accepts any standard single-ball-end, full-scale bass guitar strings. To string the CR6 Radius, you simply cut the string to length, feed it through a slot, and tune it by winding a knob. Although the CR6 Radius's ultra-light headstock may take some time to get used to, your hands will soon realize how much freedom they're enjoying when they no longer must compensate for an unbalanced instrument.

NS/EMG pickup system delivers an extensive, rich spectrum of tones

In collaboration with EMG, NS Design developed the CR6's integrated piezo and magnetic pickup system. Featuring an 18-volt active preamp, the CR6 provides you with an astounding amount of dynamic headroom. Additionally, the combination of piezo and magnetic pickups produces a rich and versatile spectrum of tones. Master volume, active treble cut/boost, active bass cut/boost, and magnetic/piezo pickup blend knobs — in addition to a 3-position magnetic pickup selector switch and 3-position piezo EQ switch — provide you with even more opportunities for tone tweaking.

NS Design CR6 Radius Fretless Bass Guitar Features:

  • 6-string fretless bass guitar delivering incredible playability and balance
  • Fusion maple neck with carbon-fiber core provides stability, definition, and sustain
  • NS Diradial body capped with delectable zebrawood produces remarkable tone, balance, and playability
  • NS tuning system allows for enhanced balance and quick string changing
  • NS/EMG pickup system offers active humbucking and piezo tones for wide-spanning sonic possibilities
  • Master volume, active treble cut/boost, active bass cut/boost, and magnetic/piezo pickup blend knobs deliver complete tonal control
  • Aluminum 1-piece bridge and saddle assembly allows action adjustment and tone tweaking

Why Buy Your Guitar from Sweetwater?

See how Sweetwater goes to great lengths to give you the very best online guitar buying experience. From our online Guitar Gallery that allows you to see and select the exact instrument you want to our 55-point Inspection process and our in-house guitar techs, we take the guesswork out of buying your next guitar online.

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Tech Specs

  • Number of Strings: 6
  • Left-/Right-handed: Right-handed
  • Body Shape: CR Radius
  • Color: Natural
  • Body Material: Solid Maple body, Zebrawood top
  • Body Finish: Satin
  • Neck Material: Maple
  • Neck Joint: Bolt-on
  • Radius: 15"
  • Fingerboard Material: Ebony
  • Fingerboard Inlay: Simulated Pearl
  • Number of Frets: Fretless
  • Scale Length: 34"
  • Nut Width: 2.09"
  • Nut Material: Aluminum
  • Bridge/Tailpiece: Aluminum 1-piece Bridge/Saddle, NS Piezo
  • Tuners: NS Tuning System, 50:1
  • Neck Pickup: EMG Humbucker
  • Middle Pickup: EMG Humbucker
  • Bridge Pickup: NS Piezo
  • Controls: 1 x volume, 2-band active EQ, 1 x pickup blend, 3-way pickup switch, 3-way Piezo EQ
  • Strings: D'Addario, .031-.130
  • Case/Gig Bag: Gig Bag
  • Manufacturer Part Number: CR6-BG-ZF-F

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Customer Reviews

Write your review
Rated 4.5/5

99% perfect

Ive been a Steinberger fan since the 80s but couldnt afford one back then, so it sat in my "dream bass" catagory for the last 40 years. I still followed his designs all along and was very excited when the new NS Design company started making uprights. I eventually picked one of those up. A gorgeous 5 string Gollihur edition. Its been on stage and in the studio with me for the majority of my work.
My first Gearfest, I was finally able to play one of the Radius basses and I fell in love immediately. I didnt have the money for one at the time and it was years before I saw one again in person. The second time I played one, I loved it even more than the first time.
Finally, last month, I saw that Sweetwater had one at Demo pricing and I just so happened to be heading that direction. I went in to the store and plugged it into an Ashdown Geezer head with a Trace Elliot 4x10 cab. I set every knob of the amp at noon and started playing after inspecting the body. It balanced perfectly in my lap. The curve of the back of the body put it in exactly the right spot. The curve of the top of the body ensured that my forearm was completely comfortable no matter how I played. The volute at the top of the neck made sure that I never lost the feel of playing a "normal" bass when in first position. The string spacing and nut width was slightly narrower than I was used to, but it played so effortlessly that I now prefer it to my other 6 string necks
I started with the bass set to piezo only and was amazed at the versatility it offered even by itself. I then switched to the magnetic EMGs only and found nothing but useable tones. Here is the only remotely negative that I found. I really wished that the EMG pickup selector was a knob instead of a switch, but even with just having the three options, they all sounded amazing. The amount of range that the EQ contains is perfect. Once I started blending in the piezo to the EMGs, I found that there wasnt a tone that I couldnt access easily.It had to come home with me.
At home, I was able to better examine the gigbag (after playing the bass for quite awhile). Its deceptively small and fits the bass perfectly. Im used to bringing a dual Mono bag to most gigs so this bag made me feel like a flute player with its small size and light weight. The shoulder straps feel very secure, the handle is comfortable and the accessory pocket is large enough to hold a strap, cable, extra strings, and tools with some room left over. It seems sturdy enough to last for quite awhile.
The first thing I did was to change the strings. Im a DR guy, so the stock strings had to go. Even for a first time, that was the fastest and easiest string change Ive ever done. The bridge system is flawless and the way the string ends come through the body is genius.
The next step was getting it setup the way I like it. The neck was perfectly straight so I loosened the truss rod to give it just a touch of relief. Its accessed easily without a cover and without having to go art a weird angle like many of my other basses, just a straight shot in. I like my fretlesses with very low action and was able to achieve that with ease. The separate bridge/tailpiece design was easy to adjust for height and I didnt even need to adjust for intonation. It was right on already. The tuning knobs turn easily and I had no issue with them being in the way of each other. The bass holds its intonation well so Ive barely had to even use them anyway.
I went into this purchase assuming that since it is a fretless, that it would be played about 25-30% of the time, but the tonal versatility of the instrument has made it more like 60-70%. It gets played everyday and I couldnt be happier with it. Im even looking into getting another fretted one as soon as possible
Music background: professional bassist
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