BigRedX Posted May 19, 2008 Author Share Posted May 19, 2008 More basses from France - [url="http://www.kopo.fr/"]Kopo[/url] The semi-acoustic Glaz and the semi fretless Lina But for me the star of the site is the Arobasse 3 octave maple neck attached to a carbon fibre or stainless steel 'body' These also feature the [url="http://www.optomik.fr/"]Optomik[/url] bridge/pickup which seems similar in concept to the Lightwave system but also includes the 13-pin out to drive a MIDI interface. No prices listed on the site... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 25, 2008 Author Share Posted May 25, 2008 More mysterious basses this time from [url="http://www.mubass.co.kr/"]MUBass[/url] in Korea. Pierrot Lunaire MU-1 F Custom Citadel Doubleneck I don't know much about these as the site is completely in Korean and auto-translation makes even less sense than usual... However they do seem to be big fans of Q-Tuner pickups and there's some cool design details on all the basses - I particularly like the bridge on the Pierrot Lunaire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted May 25, 2008 Share Posted May 25, 2008 Those MU basses look quite good fun - and I think there is a Kopo bass on eBay right now? I would make a post about the new Vigiers but I haven't actually seen one yet so all I know are the specs and so forth which are on the website. I was hoping to get one to review but might have to wait a while... Cheers ped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 25, 2008 Author Share Posted May 25, 2008 The Kopo that's on eBay was what prompted me to do that post. I'd emailed him about the Arobasse a while back but hadn't heard anything... I'll look forward to the Vigier feature just as soon as you and the basses are ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted May 26, 2008 Share Posted May 26, 2008 Look what I found: [attachment=9049:0006open.jpg] [url="http://www.musicgadgets.net/2006/12/27/scott-french-travel-guitar/"]http://www.musicgadgets.net/2006/12/27/sco...-travel-guitar/[/url] Looks a lot like the Status Streamliner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 26, 2008 Author Share Posted May 26, 2008 I like that a lot! I just had a good look around on the Scott French site and there's some very cool and different guitars - the basses with the exception of the one you've shown not quite so interesting. The Status Streamliner is one bass I've still looking forward to trying. I guess that a trip to Status is the only way to do this at the moment? Also I'm never sure about how well I'll get on with single-cut basses. I love the looks of most of them but my poor "guitarist's" technique menas most are difficult for to play above the 12th fret... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted May 26, 2008 Share Posted May 26, 2008 [quote name='BigRedX' post='206251' date='May 25 2008, 10:57 PM']More mysterious basses this time from [url="http://www.mubass.co.kr/"]MUBass[/url] in Korea. Pierrot Lunaire [/quote] Blimey! That's probably got more glue than wood in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted June 3, 2008 Author Share Posted June 3, 2008 Time for some more metal madness - this time from [url="http://www.beckguitarworks.com/"]Beck Guitarworks[/url] in the USA Here the appropriately named Battle Bass The head and body are mirror-finish stainless steel and the neck carbon-fibre re-enforced maple with a fretless ebony fingerboard. The Beck instruments are ones that definitely look better in action than just sitting on their stands. Dwayne Becknell has also been designing slightly more conventional instruments for [url="http://www.bcrich.com/draco.html"]BC Rich[/url]. At the moment, the Battle Bass is a one off and is currently on loan to Victor Wooten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Victor Wooten... Lol not exactly the kinda bass im used to seeing him playing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Oh man!! This thread is my kinda town!! I'm all excited Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Holy Jeezus, I want one of those Spalt Magmas now. Seriously thinking of taking a saw and a sander to my Jack bass now, just so it looks a bit like one .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Hi silddx, glad you found something you liked! I'm stilling GASing for a Spalt Hybrid myself. One day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellrazor Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 [url="http://www.altguitarbass.com/weird/"]http://www.altguitarbass.com/weird/[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 [quote name='BigRedX' post='214966' date='Jun 8 2008, 04:39 PM']Hi silddx, glad you found something you liked! I'm stilling GASing for a Spalt Hybrid myself. One day...[/quote] I keep saying that about a perversely coloured BassLab L-bow... One Day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 No new basses but an update on the Lace Helix. I managed to get one of the new 5-string fretless models from the US -serial number 2 no less! And I wrote a review which you can read [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=21194"]here[/url]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 [quote name='Hellrazor' post='215048' date='Jun 8 2008, 07:22 PM'][url="http://www.altguitarbass.com/weird/"]http://www.altguitarbass.com/weird/[/url] [/quote] Thanks for the link Hellrazor, although I think it's been posted in this thread before... There's some interesting instruments there, some of which I've covered before and some which I hope to cover in future posts. There were also some Wishbasses... What I don't like about sites like that is that there is no information given other than some rather poor quality pictures, a lot of which appear to have been grabbed from eBay auctions. There's a couple of instruments on there that I'd be interested in finding out more about, but all we have is the pictures. It also does give the impression that they don't take the weird basses particularly seriously when there's some quality instruments mixed in there amongst the home-butchered body shapes, 'custom' paint jobs of questionable taste and the products of Mr Wishnevsky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 [quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='215069' date='Jun 8 2008, 07:49 PM']I keep saying that about a perversely coloured BassLab L-bow... One Day![/quote] You do know that for the cost of shipping a bass to you and back to Basslab again they'll let you try out one of their demo models for a week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted June 22, 2008 Author Share Posted June 22, 2008 Time for some more basses. Today's are from ESP. "I know all about ESP" I hear you say, "Souped up versions of traditional designs played by Americans with beards and tattoos, available in any colour so long as it's black". Well if you're looking [url="http://www.espguitars.com/index.html"]here[/url] you'd be mostly right. However all the interesting stuff is on the [url="http://www.espguitars.co.jp/index2.html"]Japanese ESP site[/url]. What is most impressive is that there is a massive range of custom shop designs that are available to anyone with a spare ¥440,000 (around £2000) to spend on a bass. Here are 4 of my favouites: Metalbird Acho RM380DA Bandit 6 and my favourite of the more conventional designs in a custom finish ESP Forest currently for sale on Ishibashi's U-box TBH the basses are somewhat overshadowed by the guitar designs. If I was looking for a seriously glam guitar this would be one of my first choice sites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 That Bandit 6 is pretty darn cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 It's also going to cost you around £3500 plus shipping and import.... :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 ESP could do with a UK name checker though... This is the Halibut and, fnaaar, fnaaar, The Bottom Bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 9, 2008 Author Share Posted July 9, 2008 I've left this much too long and it's more than time for a new bass (or two) From Italy this is [url="http://www.manne.com/"]Manne[/url] You've probably already seen the Malt Whisky instruments - 2 guitars and a bass made from Lagavulin oak casks but just in casr you haven't... Not an entirely original idea but well executed - the bass in particular seems to have been made with some very 'characterful' pieces of wood. The Manne range comprises two basic shapes - a rather ordinary F-derived design and their original Moab series: The Trea The Soulmover and the Acoustibass As the Malt Whisky bass shows, Manne aren't adverse to trying something even more different to normal. Here's a very short scale piccolo bass with a very deep and dark sound for what is essentially a four-string guitar. This is now part of my bass collection and currently I'm finding it very useful for creating faux 8-string bass parts with a twist where the 'octave' instrument changes to doubling or harmonising with the bass part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Blimey, what an unusual instrument to have. Ickle, ickle bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 9, 2008 Author Share Posted July 9, 2008 It's a fun instrument although it definitely helps being a guitar player too, to get your head round how to use it. It's 26" scale which make sit just a touch longer than a normal guitar and currently strung with some quite heavy strings. The electronics are quite 'guitar-like' volume, tone with a pull coil tap, pickup selector and fairly hot humbucking pickups, but the tone is very bassy even with the tone on full treble! Since I bought it, I've been revisiting some of my Peter Hook-style bass lines that I always thought would sound good with an 8-string and reworking them for a mixture of octave and unison. It allows me to play the main bass in a more bassy octave and then add the top end on the piccolo bass. I've been getting some interesting effects by swapping between the two lines being an octave apart and then going to unison and occasionally dropping a 5th between them. Here's full photo of the Manne piccolo bass (It's called a Mandobass on the site) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Very cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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