Lfalex v1.1

I did do it. Once. To my eternal shame. having just moved from 4s to 5s, the band I was recording with were in Drop D, so I dropped the Vigier to DGCF and took what was the B string off for the session. I did it because I was more familiar with the songs in their original position on the fretboard, and the B string was just one more thing to control. That was >20 years ago. I'd never do it again- I must've improved a bit. It was only temporary, The B went back on straight away. Not that the Vigier's neck was bothered one way or the other...

All of which moot in the case of this bass; If you don't like ramps- Ramp Off. If you like ramps- Ramp On. 😀

Also.. "Ramp on, Ramp off, Daniel-San"

At least it's different(ish) It'll also be at least £60,000... 🙄

Surely 61.024 ci? 😉 That said, I use Metric for "small" measurements, and go back to Imperial for longer distances; Kilometres are meaningless relative to miles...

Which can, in turn, be illustrated by a graph, which shows the Modulus of Impedance; the way in which Impedance varies by frequency. *Please note I have no affiliation with Modulus, nor am I on their payroll etc. etc. ** Other manufacturers of graphite necks are available. 😉

(This is a generic thought regarding all 2 pickup instruments with a mid or neck humbucker/split coil and a single coil bridge pickup) I've always felt that the J is swamped by the P unless the volume controls are adjusted such that the J comes into play. Often, that lowers the overall output of the instrument somewhat. It can't be compensated for if it's a 3-way selector switch. The string deflection as witnessed by the P is inevitably much greater than that the J experiences, leading to greater output levels. If I were in your position, I might be looking into stacked humbucking Js, Split coil Humbucking Js or at the very least a hot or overwound J for the bridge position to give it a chance. Just a thought. YMMV, naturally.

Looks interesting. There's a 4 string version, too; The Quadraflex. There's no price info on the site. You have to mail them for info 🙄

I don't really like long songs (~6min) unless there's some substantial difference between the beginning and the end. Tubular bells side 1 is fine. Supper's Ready (Foxtrot- Genesis) is superb. If it's too repetitive for too long, I just get bored.

Could be drop tuned, y'know! Slacker strings= bigger bends at different frets! 🤣

Nope. The money I save through buying second-hand cars I "invest" in buying basses that are "rare" colours...😉 Come to think of it, I've only bought 2 new basses! 🤣 In all seriousness, its about a 15% increase on the price of the product. C'mon Epiphone, either you've got some blue paint, or you haven't.

Is there seriously a £100 surcharge on Pelham Blue vs the original Gold on these?

Good score there for £50. What are those weird things between the nut and first fret for? 😉

Nor mine. Ever. But I don't use the fastest strings I can find. Just goes to show, we're all a bit different as players.

Funny that DR feature an Insect (strictly an Arachnid) on a set of strings that share an acronym with an insecticide, namely Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT)

Must... Resist... Paul...

Having had two customs (If the Status I commissioned counts), I'm not sure that I could drop £~3k on a custom-made instrument that I'd not played first (so it'd have to be second-hand). There's that intangible "something's not quite right" or "such-and-such could be better". I'm not referring to construction, fit, finish or design / ergonomics specifically, more "Tone". I think the difficulty is this; how do a luthier and myself translate the tonal qualities I look for in an instrument into an actual bass in one attempt? I'm not sure it's possible other than by blind luck. That's not to say it's a bad bass. It just didn't nail the USP. 3 off-the-shelf instruments that I own do "something" that I value. The smoothness/tonality of the Vigier. The growl and bark of the Infinity SN4. The weirdness, immediacy and string impact noise (from the piezo) of the Ibanez EDA. I got to try all of these first. Decided I liked what they did, and purchased them as a result. I entirely understand that people might have special ergonomic requirements and some designs might offer a solution. I also agree that If you want a very specific aesthetic then luthiers can work miracles and that the quality of work is often excellent or better. I just couldn't go through the disappointment again with a new commission.

Nearly every headless I've encountered that uses DBE strings or has the ball-ends at the bridge uses a zero fret. Allied to the tension, the slots in the "headpiece" keep the string straight, but don't accurately control it's height, making action adjustments (as though filing a nut slot deeper) impossible. Enter the zero fret- this can easily be ground to give the desired action. They're often hardened or stainless to resist wear and tear from the strings constantly being in contact with them. An added bonus is that "open" notes supposedly sound more like their fretted counterparts as technically they're still over a fret and not a nut of a different material... You'd need a clean signal chain, new strings and golden ears to notice that, I reckon.

Is it usual to have two output jacks, one for each instrument? I thought it was the norm to have some sort of switch to toggle between them? Allows for separate FX chains, though, and nothing some sort of line selector pedal wouldn't fix.

You might still have to adjust (slacken) the truss-rod when you switch to BEAD. Also, I've a feeling the slots are cut for (roughly) EADG gauges, with the larger B slot only appearing on the fives. You could always take a file to it, I suppose...

I had some Fender strings on my old S1 Jazz (as one might expect!) Think they were 7130s or 7160s. No idea what they were material-wise, but they lasted ages, as did the DR Sunbeams that replaced them.

There's not really a "right or wrong", I'd say it's more down to personal preference. Also, not all brands/types of construction behave or feel the same when drop-tuned. I'm perfectly ok with my 100 E string dropped to D on a 4 string, I just need to remember that the tension has lessened a bit and not to dig in too much. That said, I play 5s more frequently, so the issue doesn't arise much.

I favour 45,65,80,100 (and whatever gauge works best for Low B on the fives) I don't feel that I'm missing out on bottom end. It does seem that these particular sets are getting harder to source; they certainly are in Elixirs, for example.

So recently, that's Trace Elliot, SWR, Eden, Tec Amp... 😨

Here's the best recording I can find of mine in a band setting; think the intro shows how the Passion s3 cuts through. Carousel.mp3