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NS Design NXT4a Radius Bass Guitar - Black Demo

4-string Bass Guitar with Maple Body, Maple Top, Maple Neck, Ebony Fretboard, and 2 Active Humbucking Pickups - Black
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$1,599.00
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New for $2,249.00

Condition Notes:

There is a spot of discoloration on the back of the center body. There is a dent with a chip on the back of the body, at the edge of the treble side waist cut. There are tactile scratches at the bottom of the body, at the bass side, near the bottom strap button. There are also fine scratches on various parts of the guitar that are not photographed. These scratches do not show well in photos, if at all. This guitar still comes with the specified allen wrenches.

This item was thoroughly inspected by our factory-authorized service team and is backed by Sweetwater's exclusive 2-year warranty. These images are of the exact item advertised, and provide as accurate a representation of its condition as possible. If you need further information, please call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700.

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This article was Written By

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A Forward-thinking Bass Guitar

The NS Design NXT4a is one of the most forward-thinking bass guitars on the planet. Its innovative Diradial body boasts a concave back, radiused front, and wedge-shaped body that supply unprecedented playing comfort. Its balanced NXTa Radius maple neck eschews a headstock with heavy tuners to give you a balanced, lightweight instrument. Add to that an easy-playing ebony fretboard, and you have a bass that's hard to put down. As for the sound — the NXT4a's NS/EMG-designed pickups capture every ounce of its natural tone, while Dual Mode Output Electronics deliver a wide palette of sonic textures. Complete with an ultra-stable self-clamping tuning system, the NXT4a is meticulously crafted in the Czech Republic.

Innovative body and neck design redefine the modern bass

We love innovation at Sweetwater, and the NXT4a Radius is pushing the boundaries of bass guitar design. Never one to rest on his past creations, Ned Steinberger has pushed the realm of instrument design with his latest bass creation. The NXT4a's Diradial body shape sports a maple body with a maple top. Its concave back profile is extremely comfortable, while its tightly radiused front and wedge-shaped body create a comfortable orientation to the right hand. Beyond that, this bass's NXTa Radius neck features string slots in an aluminum headplate, which eliminate the need for a headstock with heavy tuners. The result is a balanced, lightweight instrument that's a joy to play.

Dual Mode Output Electronics with NS/EMG pickups

The NXT4a Radius comes loaded with a set of custom NS/EMG-designed magnetic pickups. These pickups boast a radiused top and magnetic structure that capture every nuance of your playing. A familiar Volume/Volume/Tone knob layout makes the NXT4a Radius easy to dial in. But that's not all — this bass's push-pull Tone knob toggles between passive and active output modes, unlocking a plethora of thunderous tones. Best of all, the active mode's innovative battery-free design features supercapacitor-based circuitry that charges in 60 seconds via the included AC adapter to supply active output for up to 16 hours.

The latest Steinberger masterpiece

Ned Steinberger breathed new vision and life into stringed instruments when he introduced the L2 bass at Summer NAMM in 1979. Innovatively designed without headstocks, the L2s astonished the music world and prototypes were quickly sold to such esteemed players as John Entwistle of The Who, Tony Levin of King Crimson, and Andy West of The Dregs. Since then, Steinberger basses and guitars have continued to impress musicians the world over. Their cutting-edge self-clamping tuning systems make way for stability never thought possible, while their Diradial bodies, Radius necks, and EMG humbucking pickup systems allow for an extensive range of tonal possibilities.

NS Design NXT4a Radius 4-string Bass Features:

  • Solid straight-grain maple body with maple top
  • Innovative Diradial body design has a comfortable concave back
  • Balanced NXTa Radius maple neck eschews a headstock with heavy tuners
  • Easy-playing ebony fretboard with 15" radius
  • Dual Mode Output Electronics with passive and battery-free active modes
  • Pickup system designed by NS Design and EMG
  • Self-clamping tuning system is ultra-stable and easy to use
  • Meticulously crafted in the Czech Republic

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.

What is Demo Gear?

At Sweetwater, we're so picky that what we call a "demo" is actually better than what most music retailers sell as "new" gear! Our gear hasn't endured hundreds of people a week plunking away at all the keyboards, fumbling through Stairway to Heaven on every guitar or playing with every fader and knob on a mixer or control surface.

What demo means to us is that we've had it out of the box, or maybe it was in a customer's hands for a few days and isn't "factory fresh" as a result. Every demo item we sell has Sweetwater's 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ warranty, and has been tested and verified up to "new" specs by our factory-authorized technicians to make sure it's in perfect working order before we ship it to you.

When you buy a Demo item at Sweetwater, you get:
  • 2-year Total Confidence Coverage Warranty™!
  • Products inspected and tested by our factory-authorized techs, guaranteed to function like new (or better)!
  • FREE shipping on most items
  • Equipment that will MEET or EXCEED your expectations!

Click HERE to browse our current inventory of Demo equipment. Purchasing demo gear from Sweetwater is a smart and safe way to save!

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Warranty Info

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Tech Specs

  • Number of Strings: 4
  • Left-/Right-handed: Right-handed
  • Body Shape: Diradial
  • Body Material: Solid, Straight Grain Maple
  • Body Finish: Satin
  • Color: Black
  • Neck Material: Maple
  • Neck Shape: NXTa Radius
  • Neck Joint: Bolt-on
  • Radius: 15"
  • Fingerboard Material: Richlite
  • Fingerboard Inlay: Dots
  • Number of Frets: 24
  • Scale Length: 34"
  • Nut Width: 1.6"
  • Bridge/Tailpiece: Aluminum 1-piece
  • Tuners: NS Self-clamping
  • Neck Pickup: EMG Custom Radius Humbucker
  • Bridge Pickup: EMG Custom Radius Humbucker
  • Controls: 2 x volume, 1 x tone (push/pull active, passive modes)
  • Strings: D'Addario EXL170, .045-.100
  • Case/Gig Bag: Gig Bag
  • Manufacturer Part Number: NXT4a-BG-BK

What Makes Our Sales Engineers Great?

Sweetwater Sales Engineers are a world-class team of experts dedicated to you. Hand selected from across the globe, each brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the world of music gear to provide you with unparalleled service completely free of charge. Friendly relationships, real trust, and the right gear are only a call or a click away!

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Customer Reviews

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Rated 5/5

Superb playability, top notch comfortability, great sound!

Just want to start the review by saying this is my first official NS design bass. I do own two other NS shaped Spectors, which are very comfortable to play. This bass particularly feels more comfortable than both of my spectors. The ease of lowering the action and changing strings blew me away. I brought the action down for faster playing and this thing is a monster! I've read past reviews about this not giving you a hardy tone but from personal experience this is probably the best sounding bass I've ever played and it beats out my two spectors with active EMGs. After playing this for nearly 2 weeks, my only gripe is The push pull tone pot feels very cheap, and the tone knobs could have been a bit more high-end. Touching back on the first review, I updated the strap buttons to the D'Addario elliptical pins, and I have no issues with my strap. Great inexpensive investment for this bass. If you're on the fence about buying a NS design bass, just go for it. I love this bass and don't regret it one bit!
Rated 4/5

The perfect workingman's bass

It's a light, well-balanced, good feeling, great playing bass. No worry of batteries, and changing a string and tuning it to pitch takes less than a minute. Wired VOL / VOL / Tone. Chunky, comfortable, no-dive neck. The fret-board is a composite that sounds like maple and ebony had rosewood's lovechild.

Don't expect too much "sparkle" from the pre-amp as this is not that kid of bass. The tone is meat and potatoes yet huge, which gives your pedalboard a firm foundation and strong signal to start with, though just by itself should be good enough for most.

I took a star off because of the seemingly narrow strap buttons. Definitely something you'd want to keep in mind, especially if you run your cord through your strap.
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