Lfalex v1.1

Nice colour choice and finish. Just about the only time gold hardware looks good is on a green instrument

That'd be cool. And maybe worth $3k.

Yes it does! As per usual, I don't like the pickup selector system. This one would would work better with 3V,1T and individual on/off switches per pickup.

They're harder to tune in mirrored 4ths...

Duh. I forgot the Cs!!

Warwick Fortress Flashback (discontinued)

12 String Grand Chapman Stick, tuned in mirrored 4ths BEADG / BEADG..

If you look closely, you can just see the Colorado River running out of it....

TONY LEVIN!! Don't fob him off with some OLP. Give him a proper signature model. Like that 3 string one-off Stingray he had. No weak G string on that!

Fender have done better in the past; The Stu Hamm Urge and Roscoe Beck Signature were both different and excellent basses. I take your point, however. Particularly in the case of Geddy Lee and Steve Harris signature models.

That's a contentious statement. I think if you took a bass whose EQ could run 18v or 9v and tried it both ways, you'd notice. Edit- Bear in mind that if the pickups are active, they'd benefit from the extra headroom as well as any onboard EQ.

My Vigier Passion s3 didn't apparently move at all when I changed from 35,55,75,95,120 to 45,65,85,105,135. Patrice reckons the necks don't move. I'm inclined to believe him. I suppose if you engineer a neck to remain stiff under the heaviest set of strings + a further 25%, it'll stay put. That's what I'd do.

Now I think of it, The US NS EUBs (acronym hell!) Have concentric alternating laminates of carbon & wood. They have Ebony fingerboards.

So not completely dissimilar to Vigier's 10/90 neck system, then? Truss rods (or lack of) are an interesting concept in graphite- necked instruments. On the one hand, they offer relief adjustment. I suppose that they require a little attention, but mainly due to changing player preferences rather than climatic concerns. Does the presence/ absence of a truss rod affect the sound, and if so, how?

I think it is a function of my playing through headphones and generally not using any fx or amp/cab sims.. it is a very revealing but unrelenting set-up.

Still having lots of fun. Played for about 3 hours this afternoon. By virtue of a 2mono/1mono adapter, I can now use my Pandora PX4d with the stick. Tuner works really well with it, but the stars of the show are the amp sims and, better still, modulation, delay and reverb. These really can flesh out the sound of the melody strings, and the tap delay in particular helps keep my right hand timing up to scratch. Ideally, I'll get round to using the Melody side into the PX4d, and the Bass side through a Zoom B3 into a mixer. That'll be good, as I can use a drier sound on the bass side and save the heavy modulation for the melody alone.

I've seen ads for them. They look good, but there's stiff competition from the likes of Ibanez Talmans (cheaper, I know) and Sereks, to name just two. I don't really like V/T/3 way selectors. I'd prefer 2V/2T on a bass like the Wilcock (stacked knobs would be fine) Nice to see something British made at a sensible price point.

An idea I'd like to pursue is a good quality wooden fretboard (Ebony? Pau Ferro?) On a graphite neck. I guess no one's done it because the expansion rates and moisture absorption of carbon fibre/ graphite and wood are probably vastly different, and the board would either warp or lift off in places (?) I think it might imbue an all carbon instrument with just that smidgen of warmth..

That's very specific! I think Warwicks should just be "Woody"!

Thanks for posting that. I like the Bongo, and for the most part, I like this. The weird fretboard would have to be demonstrably better before I'd believe it was necessary. I'm even less convinced by the controls. I had a quick scan of the page, and all it says is that it's a 5 way selector, and they're "programmed" Does that imply Coil switching (bridge, outer, inner, both, neck?) AND eq presets to match? Could be good. Could be not-so-good, especially if they're baked-in and can't be changed. Think I'd prefer a regular Bongo 6. I guess it'd be difficult to A/B test them, as they're hardly common! Edit- found/read the control pdf. That's a weird thing to do. I'd prefer more "control" from more controls!

So far... I hadn't heard any of the others interpretations, had a quick go myself.. and ended up with an amalgam of the precision player (doubling the main riff) and the Spector for the melodic part. So much for originality. The tune is ok, but ultimately there's not a lot of space or scope between the guitars for much harmony without turning it into a 2-way noodling match betwixt the bass and lead guitar.

Are there any pickups with "blade" polepieces? They would allow whatever spacing you like v without worrying about polepiece alignment, if that's your concern..

Cool, thanks. Uh.. not metallers; imagine the guitar has no distortion and pretend it's neo- classical?😉

That IS interesting. Some of us should have a go at it. Not that I have the faintest clue how to record myself via a phone, nor do I have the facilities to make an audio mix of the resultant chaos! If have to not watch other people's versions, or I'd end up inadvertently plagirising bits. Edit- Where's the original bassless audio hosted? I haven't had chance to watch all of it, but didn't see a URL..

Socially distanced audiences, eh? Sounds like a cue for a couple of Anthrax numbers; "Antisocial" (I know, its a Trust cover) "Caught in a Mosh -NOT!"