Cosmo Valdemar

Any updates?

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1472056485' post='3118093'] Quite the reverse - he's great! Super helpful and knows his stuff [/quote] Thank gawd for that! I'll proceed with confidence! Thanks for the good advice.

[quote name='ped' timestamp='1472032614' post='3117785'] Should be with me in a week or so. I've been after one for a long time now but they are very uncommon with the full graphite neck. It'll make a great match for my similar age Passion bass (below) It's a Vigier Arpege from 1986, number 93. Walnut body, apparently, which will sound fantastic. It's slightly different from the Passion model in that it has a larger body, pickups are further parart and it has some very interesting electronics going on. Nick (doctor of the bass) owns a beautiful blue one and gave me the rundown of the controls: Volume control with pull out "boost" feature, I think it is a 35dB boost, very handy for solos! Parametric Level control - activated by pulling out - this offers cut and boost for the selected frequency Parametric Frequency control - goes from deep bass, all your mids and treble freqs - works only when you have the Level control activated! Passive Treble control. Large 3 way toggle for pickup selection Mini toggle = pickup phase Output on the front bypasses the electronics/studio mode. Side output is post pre-amp. I'll post a full NBD topic when it arrives and it's had a good clean! [/quote] Looks amazing! I've always wanted to try a Vigier bass, particularly these older Arpege models - Geezer Butler used to play them and got a wonderful tone out of them. We've discussed Vigiers at length on Talkbass several years ago, Ped. I was after an Excess but nothing came of it.

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1472051363' post='3118031'] Is his name Danny by any chance? I'd probably use PayPal for the best level of protection. [/quote] Uh oh... Alarm bells? 😂

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1472042699' post='3117930'] Cosmo, sort of. Bruce loosely endorsed Aria in the early 80s. He was pictured in their literature playing an SB1000. [/quote] Hmm... Still a bit cheeky of the Gallery to suggest it's a signature model.

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1472047279' post='3117990'] They have various help and assistance options if you are careful with payment. Using PayPal gives a lot of buyer protection. Sellers are a mixed bag. A lot of them are retailers which 'ought' to add a bit of confidence. Biggest issue for me is that so much of their inventory sits in the US so you've got all the usual import duties to pay for on top of both sales price and the shipping charges. [/quote] Thank you. I'm thinking of buying from a retailer on there, based in Japan but an English chap so comms haven't been an issue. I'm prepared for the fees! My main concern was if it all goes horribly wrong, am I protected like with eBay.

Anyone?

[quote name='goingdownslow' timestamp='1472034191' post='3117820'] It says in the info for the Aria is has 4 strings, I can only see 3. [/quote] Yeah, a bit shoddy, that.

Was there a Jack Bruce signature Aria?

What does it do?!

If it was bass-only Greg I'd be in like a shot... 😯

Good luck! I love these old Soundgears - a ubiquitous bass throughout my teenage metal years! Sadly they are just too slight of form for a gentleman of my stature!

[quote name='Fionn' timestamp='1471980439' post='3117465'] Don't you just hate it when you sell a bass and, only a few days later, notice it for sale somewhere else for £550 more than you sold it for. Very recently sold a bass on here for £1100, and now seeing it for £1650 in Bass Direct ... The bass I just sold, unmistakably ... [url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Wick_Streamer_1987.html"]http://www.bassdirec...eamer_1987.html[/url] Is this common practice around here? [/quote] If it's being sold through the shop there won't be a massive profit after commision. Perhaps the buyer just didn't like it and couldn't be bothered with selling it themselves. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with buying cheaply and selling for profit, but it does go against the BC community spirit somewhat. Edit: It would give me the hump too.

Anyone had any experiences buying through Reverb? Does it offer similar buyer protection to eBay?

The Tech 21 character series does the whole 'pushed valve amp' wonderfully well. They are very strong tonally however and don't have a blend so will tend to make you sound like which amp the pedal is emulating... Could be good or bad. Luckily I leave mine on all the time - I use it as a preamp - so it's not an issue for me.

The body made me think Carvin. The headstock didn't.

[quote name='police squad' timestamp='1471858239' post='3116339'] Last night, my band, Live n Kickin supported Wishbone Ash, in a pub. They were awesome. What a great night out. Just thought I'd share [/quote] Was it the Martin Turner WA or Andy Powell WA?

[quote name='fleabag' timestamp='1471744060' post='3115533'] And if anyone has forgotten what JW used to look like back in the day..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AEFJmhigdI [/quote] That's not JW...

Whenever this happens, one of us pay extra to cover the missing member's contribution. Next practice they return the favour.

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1471466525' post='3113315'] And yes, Wetton-era KC is hard to beat. Red is just the best album ever by anyone! [/quote] Bravo sir.

Wetton with KC - the tone of God. That driven, resonant P bass roar... And anybody playing such material deserves the highest respect. The first Asia album has a wonderful Rick tone but I've always struggled with the material (unkind version - it's horrible). Very much a hired gun, and very versatile. I just think his work with KC was a stars in alignment kind of thing.

He always reminded me of Crispin Glover...

Bit further out (Dartford) and probably a bit OTT but I have 2 Ashdown 2x10s if you're stuck.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1470745707' post='3108076'] Well an update to this - it`s going back. The new version doesn`t have that really full-on depth to it of the original, pretty much like my experience with the Para Driver. So it looks like the original is staying. [/quote] Oh dear!