White Cloud

Everything is subjective, but for me the Vigier Passion (graphite through neck - ex Hue and Cry) just ticked all of my boxes; feel, tonal options, weight, balance and looks. Killer bass! The Wal was my dream bass and beautifully built, and the tone was sublime - but after a while I just couldn't live with the weight and quirky neck profile (quite an acquired taste). In the end I actually realised that I just found it difficult to play. The Alembic was also heavy, the filter pre-amp was sweet..but it just didn't work in my band and somehow felt out of place.

I had them all at one point. In my personal experience they ranked; Vigier Wal Alembic

They all sound like a P bass (oddly enough) but the 77 sounds distinctly better to my ears.

Lovely instrument, great looks and killer tone. Oh, nice playing too! Sweet!

Not really my cup of tea at all, but it'd be boring if we all liked the same things. Interesting instruments though

Oh wow...well all I can say is that it was certainly worth the wait.

That looks fantastic...congrats! If you don't mind me asking why was there an 8 month wait?

That looks killer!

Super nice combination of woods!

Good result!

I'll nail my colours to the mast on this one - I have always upgraded my Fender stock bridges to Badass. My latest Fender has an Omega which is essentially the same thing. To my ears it enhances the high end, alters the dynamic on the over-tone and slightly enhances the stability and sustain...and just makes a distinct improvement to the overall sound of the instrument. Detractors may insist that this is a confirmation bias on my part...but to me I like what I like and I like what I hear and that is good enough!

I agree with this - but can also tap into and relate to the original query made by the OP. In my opinion I generally think that its much less relevant that a bass has exceptional sustain properties as opposed to those of our six string cousins...but it could still be a boon dependent on the musical circumstance.

I am surprised at this - Ibanez are usually very consistent in their production. It is a real shame that this has happened to you.

Forget the strings...what really matter here is that you are a great boyfriend and a thoroughly decent human being. A very kind and thoughtful act led to a fantastic gift and nice surprise. Everybody likes those!

This, with one exception...Ampeg stack madatory!

Very sad news, condolences to his family and friends...

Flats. Used them briefly during the 80's - hated them. Put them on my P bass during 2017 after reading lots of BC'es waxing lyrical about them here - hated them. I just like the bright "Zing" of rounds too much.

I know a chap that has one of these - he's owned it since new since the 70's! Awesome.

Sounds great, and lovely playing too!

Totally agree...without wishing to deviate from the topic too much this is my major bugbear and deal breaker

I do like gold hardware - but only on the right bass.

I think that a standard flat sawn Ash will on average tend to be heavier than both a standard flat sawn Mahogany and a flat sawn Alder. Swamp Ash tends to be much lighter. You will however always get quite a bit of variation in different cuts of the same species of wood...every piece will be different. Oddly enough some of my heaviest basses have tended to sound really good. I owned a Lakland 44-01 which weighed almost as much as my car - it was extremely resonant and sounded fantastic but obviously became very uncomfortable very quickly when gigging. Its hard to be too critical of the weight of the Sires at this price point though...because they are so good.

Good choice, great bass