ped

Sorry it's taken a few days but I've just done the draw! Winners: Sarah Thomas John Elliot (via FB) Well done guys - PMs being sent now! Thanks for playing everyone, look out for more competitions soon! ped

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1347183982' post='1797676'] Fixed [/quote] Took me ages to find a ball gag

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1347050115' post='1796561'] Dude, triple post funnybusiness goin on... [/quote] Argh my internet is being really weird tonight... that's it, I'm spanking the router

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1346936913' post='1795023'] Pedster, how's progress with the shop updates...I 'need' another t-shirt soon mate [/quote] Hi mate thanks in just waiting for the lanyards to arrive. Should be here any day now.

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1346936913' post='1795023'] Pedster, how's progress with the shop updates...I 'need' another t-shirt soon mate [/quote] Hi mate thanks in just waiting for the lanyards to arrive. Should be here any day now.

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1346936913' post='1795023'] Pedster, how's progress with the shop updates...I 'need' another t-shirt soon mate [/quote] Hi mate thanks in just waiting for the lanyards to arrive. Should be here any day now.

Hi everyone. I've been pretty ill these last couple of days and have loads to catch up on so I'll do the draw and get the addresses of the winners ASAP, over the next couple of days. Remember you only had to say hello to enter and it's a draw from a hat, so good luck!

[quote name='thunderbass1' timestamp='1346584756' post='1790764'] Here is my 1984 Passion, currently up for commision sale at Bass Direct. [/quote] Hmm very nice. Unusual to see a passion with pickups in those positions. This has the brass laminate under the fingerboard yeah?

Ben had a play with some settings so should be ok now, thanks

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1345994536' post='1783888'] ...which is a posh way of saying that there's probably a datacentre out there that's had builders in today and one of them unplugged a router to make room for his drill... [/quote] Thank god for this paragraph!!

[quote name='dc2009' timestamp='1345994633' post='1783889'] Where's the shop gone? [/quote] Lol, I'm waiting for some new gear to be ready so sort of halfway through creating the code in the shop!

Yeah, me too. I'm away at the moment so I hope kiwi and Ben can help in my absence

Hmm I have some pictures somewhere showing some views of the different types of bass, I'll see if I can find some. I also hope to visit Vigier for the BC blog at some point, so I may be able to tell you more about the story and hopefully take some 'behind the scenes' pictures.

Glad to be of service. You might be surprised what you can find on the used market. I paid £500 for my series 2 'shell' before adding the electronics. Check out French bass forum 'onlybass' as sometimes they come up for sale, and here of course. Cheers

Hi guys!! Well, I know a little.. I've had three in total and played a few more. You're right; it's not an easy bass to try out, which is a real shame. Bass Direct have some Series 4 models but if you're looking for some older ones it's very difficult to get your hands on one!! OK so... Series Series 1. Wood neck and body, with brass laminate under the fingerboard. There are some even earlier ones with no laminate but very few indeed. The laminate acts as a neck stiffening device and apparently was massively successful. The hardest part was bonding the wood to the brass, but once it was figured out it worked well. Series 2. All carbon neck thru. Very straight neck, little to no neck relief. No truss rod. Around 1984 onwards. Series 3. 10/90 neck (10% carbon, two T shaped rods of very dense carbon with little resin, 90% maple). As rigid as the full carbon neck but with a more traditional sound and a 'textbook' amount of neck relief. Super stable and again, no truss rod. I think these were introduced in 1989. Series 4. Introduced most recently (2008). A 10/90 neck but a bolt on design. Different electronics and new finishes. The basses are easier to make (apparently the old rigs for making the neck thru's were getting too old and needed replacement). The basses are cheaper when new than the other basses due to this. The necks are just as stable and the sound is largely the same, some say more punchy. Ergonomically they are preferred by some people. Electronics This has changed over time and it's difficult to pinpoint what happened when. Essentially, early basses have two single coil Benedetti pickups and a pre of some sort, ranging from 3eq to passive arrangements with tone controls on the rear pickup only! More recently, Vigier use Delano pickups with an excellent Glockenklang pre-amp with a 3 band EQ. If I'm honest I think the electronics are the weakness in the early designs - the pickups could be quite noisy and they weren't especially powerful. However in the right environment they sounded superb. The most recent system is extremely tidy and sounds fantastic, so it's an improvement. I had Benedetti pickups in my fretless which I mated to an East U-Retro pre which improved it no end and really let the pickups sing. My fretted 5 was all standard and my fretted 4 1988 series II is a real frankenbass with Basstec pickups and a Marleaux pre-amp and a GK system. Passion/Arpege Quite different beasts. Both share similar construction but the electronics vary in that the Arpege has more traditional spacing similar to a Jazz Bass and the Passion has both very near the bridge. The Arpege has seen a great deal of experimentation in the electronics department, probably due to the extra flexibility offered by the pickup placement. Features like a ROM memory unit for saving presets were introduced at different times. Ergonomically they are very similar and the necks identical. The Arpege has a slightly different body shape which I find feels basically the same in practice. Nice and thin, too. Conclusions I honestly don't think you'll find a better bass than a Series 2 Passion/Arpege; the neck/body combination is just magical - resonant soft body wood with a rigid, flat and tonally rich neck - Kiwi described mine as a 'velvet brick'. The sound is surprisingly flexible and also quite individual. That said, I think you'll want to experiment with different electronics and/or pickups. Mind you, that's like buying a Rolls and changing the tyres. Depending on your style you might prefer a particular type of bass (for example I like super low silky action so love the 'flat' series 2) and the pickup placement is up to you. I hope this helps a bit. Price-wise I think you will find the series 4 basses quite expensive new and used as they are relatively recent, made in very small numbers and very different in manufacture than anything else out there. You can pick up earlier basses more cheaply sometimes but you might find them in varying condition. Like I say though, the basic 'chassis' of the bass is where it's at. I wouldn't worry about finding a mint one, as most have been played as intended by those lucky enough to have tried one. Let us know if you have a try. Cheers ped EDIT: Do'h, beaten to it!

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1345486148' post='1778071'] Sounds good! Will you be at the South East Bass Bash and maybe take some of the merch with you for us to buy there and then? [/quote] Everything is drop shipped apart from the lanyards so I won't be able to bring any stock. Could bring some lanyards though!

I've almost finished the new shop code for the new items. There's T shirts with our logo plus T shirts with technical drawings of some famous bass types. Long/short sleeve, mens/womens, a range of colours. Also you'll be able to buy a BC lanyard for gigs and events. I've also made the buttons say 'add to cart' so you can more easily buy a couple of things at once. Should be LIVE as soon as the lanyards arrive. I'll announce on the blog when ready. For now, the shop has been taken offline whilst it all gets changed about. Cheers

[quote name='ash' timestamp='1345158475' post='1774555'] I can't from the iPad, for some reason when you attempt to start a new PM it won't show the reply button - its off the page! You can reply to a received PM however. I've noticed a few forum users have mentioned this. [/quote] Ah I see. Apparently you can use a different browser which may work, or use the mobile version (change by choosing the option at the bottom of the page)

[quote name='ash' timestamp='1345157371' post='1774540'] Ok but he just sent a new PM and I can't reply to it.....hmmmm, [/quote] So reply as a new PM, should be fine

[quote name='ash' timestamp='1345155555' post='1774516'] Not an ad but I have a load of Fender head stocks in a repeated pattern at the top of my page which do a fine job in obscuring my message notifications. I'm also getting a 'deleted' notification next to a conversation even though the poor guy is still trying to communicate with me I can't reply to his PM the 'normal' way as theoretically it doesn't exist! So if he's reading this sorry I can't start a new conversation on my iPad. [/quote] I think that's because he's deleted the thread so you'll need to start a fresh PM thread with the recipient.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1345127945' post='1773952'] @Bert... Please take the tablets; they're for your own good. You shouldn't go about waving that, either. You'll catch cold. Now get back into bed and wait for the nurse's visit. Yes, we'll take you for a walk around the park later, if you'll keep your pyjamas on this time... [/quote]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1345048350' post='1772868'] one that's a great price The sharp edge being the edge radius on the body - fenders tend to have a reasonably large one, sadowskys have the more 'modern' looking sharper on. This is a bass I once had with sharper edges - just prefer a little less - but thats just me and not a biggie! [/quote] Ah I see! I once had a slab body Jazz and it hurt my forearm as the whole body was like that. Sounded nice though.

[quote name='BassBod' timestamp='1345045214' post='1772805'] Looks good, even though I'm not an EMG Expander enthusiast. My first thoughts are...does a mahogany body add much weight..is there any sonic benefit over alder/poplar....love the truss rod adjuster. [/quote] It's not the lightest Jazz I've tried... I'll try and weigh it for you, unless Jeff knows the weight?

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1345029966' post='1772488'] We must hang out at the same sites... The swinging scene is not what it once was. [/quote] It's too close to Jazz

Anyone else have some Vigier porn to excite us all