Bassassin Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 And boom - just like that: [url="http://www.steamingaudio.myzen.co.uk/gear_pages/vtb_4bs.shtml"]Mania bass[/url] Knackered after all that mental effort. I need a lie down... J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 That's a Grind shape but doesn't seem to have the scoop. It's all so complicated... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 (edited) I googled reviews of the Mania basses, and the reviews look very good. E.g. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/69517-mania-basses/"]http://basschat.co.u...7-mania-basses/[/url] They remind me of the Korean Tobias Toby Pro basses, e.g: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/36123-for-sale-tobias-toby-pro-5b-custom-sold/ But all of them are highly inspired by Aria Pro 2 SB1000s (and similar models). Were the Arias the original of that style of bass? Edited October 8, 2015 by Annoying Twit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 [quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1443992811' post='2879365'] Those pickups surrounds are ghastly. [/quote] +1. I feel nauseous just looking at them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 [quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1444325079' post='2882300'] But all of them are highly inspired by Aria Pro 2 SB1000s (and similar models). Were the Arias the original of that style of bass? [/quote] I suppose the whole stripy wood through-neck thing started with Alembic's "Hippy Sandwich" designs in the early 70s. Aria probably did the most to popularise the style by making it somewhat more affordable, and obviously pretty much every other Japanese factory followed suit. As far as through-necks in general go, the original Rick 4000 launched in 1957 - not sure if it was the first, but I don't know of any earlier ones. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted October 10, 2015 Author Share Posted October 10, 2015 (edited) I had a look at pictures of the Alembic 'hippy sandwich'. There's definitely influence in terms of the stripey through-neck. However, the body shape and pickups are very different. If we compare an Aria SB900 (for the double pickups). with the Mania basses (and many other basses) There is more similarity than just the stripey through neck, or even the double humbuckers and wood grain top, as the Alembic had. The body shape is the same, and this IMHO makes it more of a copy (though not exact) than an 'inspired by' as in the Alembic. Are there earlier instruments that were a more direct inspiration than the Alembic. Edited October 10, 2015 by Annoying Twit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 [quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1444476544' post='2883521'] I had a look at pictures of the Alembic 'hippy sandwich'. There's definitely influence in terms of the stripey through-neck. However, the body shape and pickups are very different. If we compare an Aria SB900 (for the double pickups). with the Mania basses (and many other basses) There is more similarity than just the stripey through neck, or even the double humbuckers and wood grain top, as the Alembic had. The body shape is the same, and this IMHO makes it more of a copy (though not exact) than an 'inspired by' as in the Alembic. Are there earlier instruments that were a more direct inspiration than the Alembic. [/quote] The body shape isn't that close - the Aria is as close to a Fender Jazz as it is to a Zephyr or Grind shape. The Zephyr/Grind/Mania top horn is much slimmed down in comparison, and the Mania and Zephyr have symmetrical bottoms rather than the forward slant of the Aria, Jazz, and Grind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Just seen this pop up in "Basses for Sale": [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/257487-peavey-cirrus-usa-4-string-through-neck-price-dropped-again-l550/"]http://basschat.co.u...ped-again-l550/[/url] Which is a timely reminder that the Zephyrs were intended to be affordable versions of Peavey's high-end US made Cirrus models. And apart from the electronics, they're pretty damn close I would say (body shape/styles aside) the popularity of the through-neck design undoubtedly starts with Alembic but it's likely not as straightforward as Aria just knocking off the through-neck method for the SB basses. As far as Aria are concerned, I do know their through-neck PE guitars pre-date the SB basses by a year or so - apart from the construction they're Les Paul derived designs, but it would make sense that Aria decided to build a range of basses with a method they were already using on guitars. Over-thinking a bit further, it would seem likely that the high-end PE guitars were directly influenced by, and intended as direct competition with Yamaha's through-neck SG2000, which dates (I think) from 1976. These were designed in collaboration with Carlos Santana, who like the set-neck Yammy SGs but wanted something denser & with more sustain.... So we can blame Alembic and Santana equally for the glut of stripy guitars in the early 80s, and for the Peavey Zephyr. Probably. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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