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I own two Vigiers, an Excess and an Arpege 5 string. In terms of downtuned heavy rock/thrash, I actually prefer my Excess to the Arpege. The Excess has a slightly less complex EQ system and is definitely more of an all out rock bass. The Arpege is more of a refined bass and was my bass of choice for doing modern metal/prog stuff. In terms of old school downtuned metal in the High on Fire/Baroness/Mastodon/Saviours/Kylesa stuff, I would pick the Excess over the Arpege or Passion every time. One thing to consider is that the scale length of the Vigiers is slightly under 34 inches, so if you are tuning down to C you might need to use bigger strings than you would if you were using a 35 inch scale bass or a fanned fret alternative like a Dingwall. I don't find the scale length on the Vigier to be an issue, but saying that I love the sound of a downtuned Rickenbacker bass which only has a 33 inch scale. Also be aware that the Vigiers have no trus rod, so you will never ever be able to adjust the amount of relief on the neck. On the plus side, the neck should never move, so the relief on the neck on the day you buy the bass should be the same relief when you pick the bass up again ten years later. I have had the Excess for nearly 14 years now and no neck issues so far. Though saying that I've had an 1974 Gibson EB3 and a 1978/9 (ish) Fender Precision for nearly 20 years and not had any neck stability issues with them either. I don't think that carbon fibre necks are essential. I would really recommend trying as many basses as you can just to see what neck shapes/pickups and EQ systems you prefer.

The support band won't have been mixed by the same engineer, and won't even have been mixed through the same mixing desk. There's so many variables involved in getting a good sound. Taking Brixton as an example - it's a beautiful and storied venue. I was really excited to be mixing in there and ticking it off the list. The advice I got from colleagues that had been through there was that it's a hideous sounding room when it's empty, but more manageable when full, and that the sound at the mix position doesn't reflect how it sounds across most of the rest of the room, especially around the tricky bottom end. So - you're on the back foot with the room before you've started. Then - many venues that size don't have an installed sound system. It's brought in show by show, by the artist or promoter's chosen supplier. The system will depend on the budget, and the headline artist's brand preference. This has to be flown/stacked, configured, time aligned to suit the space. This is largely science with a splash of art, and is a skill set in itself separate from being a mix engineer. A great system tech is a desirable thing. They create the canvas that the FOH has to work with, so is again filled with variables. Soundcheck comes - taking that Brixton gig as an example, the headline band had a closed soundcheck. I didn't even get to walk up to the desk until they were done. They ran an hour over schedule. I raced to FOH with my carefully prepared show file on my USB stick, filled with confidence because I knew I'd prepped the file well and could start quickly. I got to the mix position to find I'd been supplied a completely different desk from the one in the advance, my show file was now useless and I was starting from scratch on am unfamiliar desk over an hour behind schedule. The ten minute rushed soundcheck we had meant I didn't get the opportunity to walk the room enough to get a proper feel for how it sounded away from the mix position, and also meant I didn't have time to do anything but the very quick basics to throw a decent mix together. When it came to show time, I discovered all the little issues that the rushed soundcheck had hidden - like just how over-egged with bass and lacking in mid some of the bass sounds coming from the SansAmp on stage were. Whilst there was plenty of low end, there was next to nothing I could do to dial the clarity back in to the midrange because that detail just wasn't reaching me at the desk. In every song, I had effects changes and constant fader rides to do to suit the arrangement, lift key parts in the important places etc, so trying to firefight sonic imperfections around that. The half our set is over before I know it. Band and management made up with the mix, I know it was ok but would have been much better given more favourable circumstances. [Edit to add: When you're in a full venue, with regular adjustments to make, it's often just not practical to go for a wander to hear how it sounds across the room. In a sold out gig, to get far enough away from the desk to hear the difference, means there's too many people in the way of you getting back quickly to react to something hapening on stage. I don't know many engineer's working directly with a band whose mix stays static throughout a show. If you know the material, you play the mix to suit and it's constantly changing. ] That's a pretty typical day and regular set of challenges on a live show of that scale, and that's barely touching on the amount of things on stage in terms of tone, musical arrangements, performance, stage volume/spill etc that you can't control from behind the FOH desk and just have to deal with as best you can. If it was that easy to make everything sound great in every corner of every venue, anyone could do it. Sometimes it's easy, but sometimes it's really bloody hard. "Turn the kick down" and "tweak the mids" doesn't really cover it!

The gig was good like it always is in the place we were playing, but there is no stage, so you are in a corner of a pub, so the microphone is always being knocked, the lights are always being tripped over and a couple of drunk women feel that it is good to stand between you and the singer dancing facing out like it is their stage. And then turn round to glare at you once they headbut the end of your bass. Sorry - my bass belongs here, your head doesn't!

Let’s not

Fender Elite Jazz Bass for $121.38. Wow bargain......I bought 10!!!

I'll be eating those words tomorrow!

£25 you were robbed.....🤑😃🤪😝😃😅

Template made and sanded...... Blank all cut and set out ready to glue up a bit later...... Here’s the top.... And here’s the back (it’s not quite centered but it’s just a rough guide)....

Hi all, Tomm Stanley from Stonefield music here. I always like hearing comments from the bass community and you'll find me popping in on other sites to engage discussion around our instruments, so thanks go out to Brook_fan for initiating the thread. While the Stinger is tuned the same as a guitar and the voice is totally different. You simply can't get this voice, typically found in the second octave of a six string bass, on a guitar. As noted by Sibob, Wing have been doing a short scale six-stringer for some time now but we extended the scale length so it's application is not primarily a travel instrument and the facility for playing chords is much greater. The price point is what it is ... very little build cost changes re the build just because 14 inches of neck is removed. The 'controversy' over our external jack plate always makes me chuckle. It does have the look of an upside down Strat plate but it's not. We designed the plate and have them machined from billet aluminium. They are an integral part of the instrument's electrical shielding, though that's not where the inspiration came from: the placement is a totally ergonomic choice. Stand with your bass on a strap, hold the cable in your right hand (left for lefty players) and bring your hand to the lower corner of your bass; that's where you find our input jack. No feeling around trying to find the jack, no need to lift the bass and look for the jack, no need to be scratching up the side of the instrument as you blindly poke for the jack. Finally, when you put the instrument in a stand, you can leave it plugged in without the protruding cable getting in the way of the stand support. Some ask me if it gets in the way of the control knobs. Nope; I can reach down without even looking and by touching the cable immediately know if I'm going for the tone (closest to the bridge) or one of the volume controls. Such a simple design, so many benefits, so much controversy For more on the Stinger and it's application check out these vids from our stand at NAMM18 in Anaheim: And feel free to hit me with any other questions or comments. All the Best, Tomm

Well this thread was in the back of my mind when I was looking for a new P bass. Found one online, emailed the guys, got a great deal and after a chat over the phone pulled the trigger on a '73 p in mocha finish. Apparently it's a shop fave and they're sad to see it go, which sounds great to me. Even got lots of pics and a sound clip with one of the guys playing it. Great customer service and yeah a 3 year warranty and servicing, outstanding. I will be visiting next time I'm down south. Long live the humble but brilliant music shops👊🏻

Forgetting that the last time you packed up your gear you were drunk and now it's a big spaghetti mess of leads inside a flight case.

Have any of you seen Toyah on her recent acoustic tour? She is 3 weeks of being 60, she looks amazing and sounds fabulous. All the hits plus some rarities done with 2 acoustic 6 strings and a bass (fretless and double). Musically outstanding which is remarkable because one of the regular guitarists was rushed to hospital earlier in the week to have his appendix removed so a dep was used. Not that you would have known if we hd not been told!! Toyah is doing some gigs with a full electric band in November and on the strength of last night I have booked my tickets. I recommend you do the same. N PS I have no connection to Toyah or members of the band.

Saw this on another site. https://www.stevesmusic.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index It's a hack of a Canadian shop. Since one was reported recently thought I'd let folks ken.

Carefull or the HPF police will be making a visit!!! 😂 I once tried out the ABM 1x15 which was a bit honky so tried out the ‘shelf ported’ Klystron Neo 1x15 - Cleaner, weightier bottom end. More even tone right up to the glassy top end and surprisingly fast so I made a purchase...

Kings X certainly made waves way back when and definitely influenced many bands.

Words fail me 😢

Unless the Strandberg basses are being made by Ola himself (unlikely) or in one of the custom shops, I wouldn't bother. I had a Strandberg Boden OS7 guitar and it was nice but it was the absolute top end of what I'd pay for an Asian instrument. The stuff coming out of the WMI factory is good but the prices for them now have gone up significantly since then and I just don't think it's worth it. Same with the Dingwalls, the Asian stuff is ok but personally I'd hold out for a real deal Canadian one.

Not really. Most of my recordings have been done on my Precision or a Sadowsky Metro rather than the Vigier. Also most of my recordings are in less heavy genres unfortunately. Never really managed to get a truly heavy band going and when did get to the demoing stage I recorded it on an old Precision! https://khydra.bandcamp.com/ This crap demo below done in 2005 is about the only slightly heavy recording I have of the Vigier Excess. We were all drunk at the time. Think it is tuned to C sharp: https://myspace.com/nythsco Did some alt rock demos with my old band in drop D, back when I couldn’t grow a beard but had a full head of hair: Might have something recorded later this year though with my new (to me) band, Electric Mother. Heavy rock in drop C for the most part. Not decided what bass to use for recording purposes yet. Might end up being the Excess. https://m.facebook.com/electricmotherband/?locale2=en_GB Sorry for spamming in advance!

You'll all feel pretty stupid - I've just seen it says "100% authentic" so there's nothing to worry about after all

Lol, there is no way thats legit. Love the bit that states ‘we started in 2014’, yet the website copyright says ‘2012’ . Time travelers as well as scammers.

Thanks @kodiakblair I hadn’t spotted that. That actually works out quite well, as I was planning on replacing the BBOT on my J&D Jazz with a Hi-Mass; in that case I’ll just swap the two of them round. Result!

The AKG D5 is my regular go-to. Better off axis rejection than a 58 and nicer response around the high mids to my ears. Suits most vocalists I point it at. Occasionally find a voice that doesn't suit them that well, at which point I tend to reach for a Beta 58a or a Beta 57a. The Sennheiser stuff is also great, and I'm more than happy to use it when provided, but I've got five D5 in my personal kit now.

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Limelite would be something like this then - classic late 50s/early 60s family saloon, heavy relic, no pick up covers 😀

I used a white Fablon type film,bought from LIDL, on both my PB-50 and Dano Wildthing scratchplates. Cost £3.99 and reckon it'll do about 5.

Style over Content

@BrunoBass There's a good chance you'll find the strings and pole pieces don't align perfectly. From the start of 2018 the factory swapped from an 80mm BBOT bridge to a 86mm Hi Mass job. The Hi Mass saddles are a bit wider too. That little change had me puzzled on Friday when PB-50 #5 arrived.

I suppose the relic job would have to be faked too, maybe cars belonging to cash for cash 'victims'?

Guys - this is just an AMAZING resource! (And I can't believe it's taken me so long to find this thread ). Really recommend supporting / making a donation to Christophe's venture; 1000+ pages of transcriptions available. Wonderful. Thanks very much Christophe.

Korean Samick, nice basses. Mine were bought and sold for around £100 so you got an absolute steal. Couldn't really fault them - nice hardware, well built, lightweight and sound great.

'More efficient use of time' - I like that! I am up in Leicester about once a month at the moment, but we cram as much as we can into each rehearsal, so if I do make a BB in the area, it will be a short stop at the end of the day. Hopefully, that will work out some time though.

Thanks to everyone who was helpful, with minimum time it was no trouble in the end. The key bits were fine, the twiddles I just made up as I went along and it went great. Without going into detail it was a big thing for my mate and he was more than pleased. So collective thanks to Basschat for making someone’s night. Thanks all.

A few of my Thunderbirds...

Not sure if I posted this here or on TB, but here’s my 76 Thunderbird

I'm sure he said something that sounded quite like that at the time.

Alan, from ACG has just updated his profile and the bass in question caused me to have stirring that I haven't experienced in a long time.

Charlie Harper from The UK Subs is a big inspiration for me now. I was never really into the band, liked them, but not a major fan or anything. But having been on the same bill as them a good few times, seeing how much he is into the music at - 73 now I think - and how much time he has for audience members wanting to chat/have autographs/pics taken with him, after doing it for 40 years, well it shows me the way a real musician conducts themselves. His love for it is evident, and apparently he still tries to write a new song every day. That to me is someone who is doing it for the right reasons. Whenever he is at gigs he literally isn`t left alone the whole time through people wanting those pics/chats/autographs yet never has a bad word to say about anyone, always has a smile on his face.

Ah, "Drastic Plastic" "Axe Vicitim" (which had a brilliant cover - well, I thought it was.... back in the day) Re BN's Red Noise - I used to think the video to "Do you dream In colour" was the wackiest thing I'd ever seen! You can look up loads of Bill Nelson on YouTube - A Firestick was the best thing I ever bought (non-bass related, that is) For some inexplicable reason, I sold quite a bit of vinyl years back.... One of the albums I'm really sorry I sold, was "Atmospheres for dreaming" - which came as a bonus 12" disc with another LP (I think that was "Quit dreaming and get on the beam"? - please correct me if I'm wrong) But I'd taped "Atmospheres" and probably needed cash..... I haven't found a copy on CD, and really wish I could Anyhow, as soon as Duarte said your track sounded like BN - I Immediately thought the same, as it reminded me of "Atmospheres" I played the track again earlier... and I'll play it again later. Let me know when your CD is released!

That's un oeuf of that... sorry

Don't be a pain, Douglas. Woe there! Bilingual puns ... what is this site coming to?

If that doesn't do the biz, then it may well be simply a dirty pot or two. Dead easy fix, unplug from the mains and undo every screw you can see until the head comes loose from the box. It will come out either forwards or backwards, be aware. Pull it out just far enough to access the back of the pots on the panel and spray a good contact cleaner via the straw into each slot on each pot casing while you turn the knob left and right. As for making a cab more bassy, I've had excellent accidental success more than once with a port tube from eBay. I'm the first to admit it is more than a science to get the formula right for speaker size, internal cab volume, port length, size etc but I've transformed a Fender Rumble 15 1 X 8" with a 4" rear port, a Stagg 40w 2 X 10" with two 3" rear ports and a Hartke B20 1 X 8" with two 2" front ports into incredible huge sounding little beggars for about five quid and half hour with an electric jigsaw. Basically, anywhere in the rear panel is good but I found either dead centre or one (or two) of the corners works a treat. I only put two in the Hartke cos there were already two 2" holes there. In a bigger cab, why not have a go with four 3" one in each corner?

I was hoping you'd found a switch I could fit to my wife. Sounds like it may be dry solder somewhere. If you don't know what to look for, then it may be worth getting someone who can give you a quote.

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Nice job, I see you have a Herrick pickup, I have the alnico version on mine and found it quite 'bassy' so changed the stock HB capacitor to a 0.2 from Monstertone along with a treble bleed kit too. I stopped at the new capacitor however, as it gave the highs quite a lift. I also got a lightly used set of La Bella Deep Talkin flats and prefer them to the Fender flats on my real Telebass. My HB weighs in at 9.47lbs, and here's a picture of mine

No problem - to you, £750.

Because that's the same thing. Obviously.