kodiakblair Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 As a young fella reading Guitarist mag 2 basses stood out for me. 1 was a fretless Tune Bass Maniac and the other was a Vigier. It was the Arpege model but over time I preferred the look of the Passion. Took me 32 or 34 years to track down the Tune fretless and with the big "Five O" fast approaching thought I better start looking for a Passion. Since they rarely come up for sale in the UK I was looking at Europe. Exchange rates and insured shipping add a fair chunk to the cost. Cost was a factor as apart from the house and a works van I've never spent more than £800 on anything. Luckily for me our very own @ped was there to offer advice and links to ones for sale. Cheers Chris A breakdown in communication last week saw me miss out on one in Germany,even though I'd offered the seller 200 euro more than he got on eBay I was still gutted Wednesday saw one appear in the classified and it only took 2 Msgs to sort out the purchase. @pajhartley lives the other end of the country but suggested we meet halfway in Stoke on Trent. Saturday we both set off on our 500 odd mile round trips,. Glad he suggested Saturday as it's a year today since my last bass buying trip to England and that ended badly,car crash A1/write off/broken knee cap/4 month off work And here it is. Well worth the wait 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Result 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyJ Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Lovely! I've been looking at lefties once or twice and played a lovely 5-string Passion, but I can't get over the looks of that big angled Kahler bridge (they installed righty angled bridges on many a lefty bass throughout the years ). I've seen some exceptions with monorails and Schallers, but most looked like this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Glad you like the bass! What’s your serial number? Got any more pics? These are really unique basses with lots of unique features that just work together so nicely to produce something really special. As I said in our PMs, the range of sounds available far exceed what I thought possible with two pickups so close together. And the clarity and even definition of both together sounds really smooth and powerful, like my friend said “like a brick covered in velvet” @LeftyJ you could replace the bridge no problem, the older basses had the excellent Schaller 3D bridge. I’m not actually a fan of the Kahler as I found the saddle position I wanted was always half a turn between the groove being lined up in the string direction (the saddles screw up and down like grub screws) - fine if it works out but awkward if not. In the end I filed the saddle down to taste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Nice colour! It'd be good to see a pic where we can really see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 Have a new camera to try when I get home tonight. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 The operator of new camera (me) is useless. The back of the neck has an almost metallic sheen to it that I can't get in focus . @ped Serial number is 1148 and according to a fella in Germany it was one of 5 builds on 27/11/96 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 Well that does get some of the neck sheen, so I wouldn't worry too much 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 Like it, radical! it's so you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Cracking looking bass. I have one of the newer bolt on Arpeges but I think the old through neck models are truly state of the art and more unique looking. For anyone else looking to get on the Vigier bandwagon there is a rather tasty Excess on sale at Guitar Guitar. Price seems reasonable considering the quality of the bass. I have had an Excess since 2004 and it is still going strong. https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/px180127321592006--vigier-excess-1996-dark-red-burst-pre-owned 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Not a bad price. I prefer the matte black one on here though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 12 minutes ago, ped said: Not a bad price. I prefer the matte black one on here though Me too to be honest. The bass looks better sans scratchplate. That and black is just cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 7 minutes ago, thodrik said: Me too to be honest. The bass looks better sans scratchplate. That and black is just cool. I might be biased though... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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