marcblum

.

I must admit, I really had a ball during last rehearsal. So easy to play, so good band sound.

Finally got my Titan back with the power unit update. Only 4 hours before rehearsal.
Tested it within my punk rock / dirt rock band. And we're loud. 😎
Cabs are two 2x12" SAD with respectively 1000W and 600W. Load is 2 Ohm.
Before the update it only took 10-20s for the amp to go into protection mode. 🤮
Now, full power ahead for 90 minutes.
NO FLAWS!💪

Soundwise this amp is something special. There is a big boomy bottom which really fills the room and pillows the band. Midrange is somewhat scooped, so you have to work on the mids eq-wise, and highs are open, clear, without any bite. What really flabbergasted me were dynamics. This amp projects everything I play without upper bounds, without any power unit compression. Any accent stands out clearly. But without that clinical harshness that some silicon amps deliver. The Titan's basic voicing leaves much space for the guitarist's sound, so we immediately found our band sounding better than ever. EQing was only needed for optimization.

Altough I rated the overdrive as too sweet and soft while checking out at home, it really worked well with the band. You can dial in a good scoop of dirt without sacrificing your attack. Sorrily it too boosts the bass frequencies too much, so I ended up setting one channel for a clean sound and the other channel for a more raunchy, aggressive sound. The concept of switching clean/overdrive within one channel did not work well.

What comes into play handy is the solo switch. I use it for that occasional slight +3db-push when we go to 11. Or when I go for slapping as this technique tends to get lost when everybody goes berserk.

Compared to my Thunderfunk TFB750, which is a swiss army knife due to its elaborated eq, and which has plenty of clean power, I can say: the Mesa Titan V12 has a lot more character, it has a character of its own, and it delivers superfast 16th notes at silly volumes without any compromise. When the Thunderfunk starts mumbling and you hardly can't tell whether there are distinct notes or just one long sound, the Titan nails one note after the other.
Apparently more is better. I like big power amp units. F*** for weight.

Compared to my Mesa Bass Strategy 8:88, the tube monster has much more mid range character, it is more of a giant guitar amp, while the Titan delivers more deep bass and embraces the band. Both take no prisoners.

Patrice Vigier suggests going for Glockenklang. I did that with an Arpege and it worked very well.

Depends on your soldering skills. But I doubt there's any chance to purchase this quirky 20 years old electronics.
I simply don't understand the value of "original", if "original" did not stand the test of time. It was something that Vigier did for some time and then abandoned it for a reason.

But, hey, each one to his likes.

a) I really disliked the quirky mid sweep electronics. Unusable on stage as specific sounds are hardly reproducible on stage, sound differences and impact on volume could be horrible when accidentially moving some knobs. Furthermore it compresses dynamics, even with18V. There's a reason, why Vigier switched to normal electronics. I sold the board to a collector.
b) you're correct. This manual belongs to another bass I sold recently. Well, I think it doesn't hurt.

Tonewise I would keep it.

But I'm a sixstring man and each time I go for 4, I realize again and again, that it does not work for me.

Warwick AL Bootsy Collins Spacebass

NOW 1000€

Made in China

Neck: Maple/Rosewood
Body: Mahagony
Electronics: vol, pan, active/passive, +/- bass/treble
super sturdy flightcase (custom, ordered by pre-owner)
according shoulder strap
frets professionally reworked
strap pin relocatd

really lightweight instrument, easy to play,
sits very well in totally different band contexts, changed the I think about mahagony body instruments
punchy and well defined
currently strung with Warwick Red Label

new: 1229€
pick up price: 1000€ incl. case (net after currency conversion and banking fees)
shipping cost depends on destination

no trades

location: Aachen, Germany

Cort Curbow 6 (Bass, Sechssaiter)

Luthite body
curved Bartolini pickup
Active electronics
3-band-EQ
"deep" switch
lightweight (4,2kg)

location: Aachen, Germany
price: 400€ (net, after currency conversion and banking fees)
shipping cost depends on destination

no trades

SOLD

------------------------------------------------------------------

Vigier Passion III 6 (Bass, sixstring)

with original electronics
new saddle (clear width spacing)

Specs
Type Passion
Strings 6
Serial Number 011
Date 15. March 1991
Neck Wood 10/90 Carbon/Maple
Fingerboard Phenowood Fingerboard™
Frets 21
Nut zero fret
Neck construction neck trough
Body Maple
Weight 4,5kg
Surface orange
Pickups 2 Benedetti singlecoil pickups
Electronics: active, 18V, panorama, volume, mid notch/boost toggle, mid frequency
Tuners Schaller

Sounds: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/y3p9dgfsus27u1p/AAB59I_QpzTOmti7dhSTKaXQa?dl=0

including case
several repaired lacquer damages (Vigier's finish was not that great in the 90s)

Location: Aachen, Germany
Price: 1800€
Shipping cost depends on destination

No trades.

I don't recognize any significant tonal differences between bridge(Humbucker), bridge(Single), bridge+neck.

For everything funky or pop this seems to be great bass, Fusion too.

19 hours ago, Abjatar said:

Hi Guys, i have some stuff hanging around, including my most recently acquired Arpege III 6.

 

Not long ago the Vigier Arpege 6 bass was mine. I bought it from a guy in Spain. Played it for two years and replaced the Vigier electronics by a Glockenklang 2-band-eq. Btw I'm located in Germany. Then decided to reduce my weaponary and to stay with my other Arpege 6. This one moved to Romania and apparently very quick to ...where?

Extended to 12-April

Come on guys, last opportunity to catch this real cool bass before GB undocks the continent to vanish in the Atlantic ocean.

nice.

now 2200 EUR / 1900 GBP

(depends on daily exchange rates)

Rainger Dr. Freakenstein DrFB

now 2300 EUR / 2076 GBP

Well, I have to send the amp to Mesa Tech Support partner in Italy. They will extract the power unit, send it to Mesa HQ for some changes, and back. Rather costly.

Now I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either do the expensive update or find a buyer who does not need full power at 2 Ohm.

sigh

I must admit that I'm perfectly happy with the luthier I work with.

Interesting thought. Never considered doing that. Maybe it's one of the few basses I have/had, which appears so well rounded in it's configuration (the other one is my Kost Sujet Standard 6) that I prefer to leave it untouched.

Thinking further, I might say that Wenge is not the preferred fingerboard wood for fretless. Never heard of such.

With respect to:

https://reverb.com/item/6870382-beautiful-handmade-6-string-fretless-bass

Anyone ever heard of this luthier?

now 2400 EUR or 2166 GBP

trade offers welcome, only 6, fretless preferred

Sorrily going for power unit upgrade. Check on proceedings with Mesa HQ ongoing.

Big fat tone. I wish Yamaha would issue a 6er of these.