thodrik

He generally did. It just sounds like he isn't at times because Geezer played a lot of his stuff in the higher registers anyway so it doesn't necessarily sound downtuned.

Latter period Slayer saw them use 7 strings tuned to B. Of course, a 7 string in standard tuning will be a lot tighter than tuning a guitar with light gauge strings down to B. A lot of it comes down to set up both in terms guitar and amp set ups. A lot of Machine Head's classic more thrashy stuff is in C sharp 'sabbath tuning' but it sounds very crisp (or crap depending on your opinion of post-Blackening material). I quite like faster downtuned stuff like High on Fire and old Mastodon and Baroness which to me is a bit of mix of downtuned classic rock with little bits of thrash metal and sludge thrown in. Even then I don't consider the music to be unduly heavy compared to a brutally aggressive thrash band playing in standard tuning. What is 'heavy' can vary from one person to another. I just to focus on whether I actually like it. There is lots of heavily downtuned Roadrunner Records type generic metal which I don't consider to be 'heavy' at all. I am also pretty sure Geezer tuned down to match the guitar both live and in the studio and has given interviews saying as much. He probably did a fair number of songs on standard tuned bass live if he didn't have a spare to hand or he simply forgot to tune down or switch basses on account that the 70s were a wild time.

I am pretty sure that Glockenklang pre-amps come as standard on Sandbergs and some of the latter period Vigiers (I might be wrong on that), though in both cases they are preamps made specifically for those brands (definitely for the Vigiers). That system however looks very similar to the Sandberg circuit. My nephew went from an entry level Sire M5 to a Sandberg. The pre-amp on the Sandberg is a marked improvement. In terms of a comparison with a Sadowsky, I have two Sadowskys and when comparing them to my nephews Sandberg I do think that the Sandberg circuit is a little more transparent as the Sadowsky circuit is pretty coloured. I still prefer to the Sadowsky circuit, mainly because I think that the treble on the Sandberg circuit is a bit glassy on higher settings.

23 years and counting with this bass, which was about 20 years old when I got it. I have other basses but this one is still the reference point. Lacquer on the neck has really started to peel off in the last 5-6 years (and is worse now than in the pic which is now 2-3 years old). I'm in two minds to get it re-lacquered or just let a tech give it a satin finish. Either way, it isn't going anywhere even though I don't really gig it much anymore.

I used to have cheaper power supplies, however once I started touring I went for the Dunlop DC brick. It works with pretty much any 9v standard pedal with no additional noise. Much like my use of the Boss TU tuners, there are probably 'better' products out there but I generally just want an easy to use product that just works.

What was the issue with the Bi-Polar Bear power sections? I had my first GP7 SM300 amp replaced during its warranty phase. The technical reason given to me by Trace Elliot for the fault was 'DEATH', so I presume that it must have had a Bi-Polar amp. My GP12 SMX amp I bought used also had a new power amp fitted, so I presume it was also a Bi-polar Bear amp originally as well!

It reminds me of this but in bass guitar form. I kinda want one as a result.

I had one of those 1x15 combos for years. The fan got a bit noisy and I had to replace the speaker but the amp was still working fine after 15 years of heavy use. I only sold it because I preferred my Mesa Walkabout and I was frankly fed up of the Trace Elliot pre-shape and graphic combination after a decade plus of using it. The combos are fairly heavy for the amount of output they provide compared to more modern designs. However they are 'just about' portable for short distances from the car to the venue of up a flight of stairs. If you have a pet they will love using the rat fur covering as a scratching post.

I rate Elixir strings highly. Currently hard to find certain gauges though if you buy singles. I haven't found the high C string in stock anywhere for ages.

Me too!

I have owned a Sadowsky bass for twelve years and have never used the Vintage Tone Control once.

I owned a Trace Elliot amp for ten years and generally used a smiley face EQ and the pre-shape.

There are far more specialist bass amp manufacturers now compared to any point in the past so I really don't understand an argument that there is a more limited choice amplifiers now compared to the past. Back in the late 1980s Trace Elliot, SWR, Eden etc were one of a few companies specialising in bass amplification. The number of specialist bass amplifier manufacturers has increased exponentially since then.

Back in the day, the option was either all valve, solid state MOSFET amps or 'hybrid' amps which were essentially MOSFET amps which a preamp tube or two. These days the solid state amps that dominated the prior era have been replaced by class D amps. Even with class D amps you get the 'hybrid' version with pre-amp tubes. The class D amps are also generally cheaper than a lot of the old MOSFET amps were. For example, the top line Mesa bass head would easily cost you upwards of £2,000 circa 2010-2015. In 2022, the top of the line Subway amps are about £1300. Even the new flagship Trace Elliot head is going to be less expensive than the 12 band amps that Peavey launched back in 2006. The options are only limited now if you have a pre-determined dislike of class D amps or really miss the market presence formerly taken by names like SWR, Eden or Marshall who have now disappeared from the market. However, you can still buy new MOSFET or valve amps from a number of makers so I just don't see any basis for there not being any choice on the market today.

To be honest, I have had way more experiences of poorly/rarely maintained Ampeg SVT or other valve amps cutting out in the middle of a gig (or even going on fire!) compared to pretty much any other type of amp. Valve guitar amps 'going wrong' in the middle of a gig was and is an expected part of gigging. In fact, 'anything and everything going wrong' is an expected part of gigging. Accordingly, I really can't agree with a 'back in the day, everyone had one amp and nobody had technical problems but all these new class D amps are causing reliability problems we never used to have before' viewpoint. While I do love old school amps, I do think that the premium class D amps are at least as reliable, if not more reliable than most of the solid state MOSFET amps from the 80s and 90s. The technology involved with the class D amps does make them essentially impossible to self repair and so complicated to repair that paying a tech to repair it is uneconomic. However, a full re-tube and cost of repair of an SVT or another valve amp generally costs about the same as a pretty good class D amp, so whether an amp is 'repairable' is all bit relative. It is also getting more difficult to source parts for the old MOSFET amps so they are becoming less repairable as well. Compared to when I was starting to learn in the late 1990s there is in my opinion an amazing collection of amps to choose from in the current market.

The Series IVs have the same 10/90 system as the Excess series which all have maple/rosewood boards. My Excess has a maple board and think I prefer the look and 'feel' of the maple if nothing else over the phenowood. Was it the Series II or III basses where Vigier ditched the all graphite necks and went to the 10/90 route?

I think that some of the artificial sound with the Pascal Mulot demos is down to the composite fingerboard on the Series IV basses. I don't think that the Series II and III had the Phenowood board but I might be wrong. I personally would have preferred a rosewood or ebony board on my Arpege. The attack and immediacy of response is amazing don't get me wrong, it just takes a bit of work to get any kind of 'warm and earthy' type tones.

The Series IV Arpege I have has 'a little bit, but not much' relief, which is pretty much the same as my Excess bass. I do understand that the Series 2 models had even less relief and were more of the 'dead straight' variety. The Series IV basses are/were great. They do lose a little bit of 'specialness' by not being neck through. Whether the new Delano pick ups are as gutsy as the old Benedetti pick ups is up for debate, but to my ear they are certainly less noisy and more easy to work with. Going forward I think that the Series II and III Arpege and Passions will be known as the 'classic models' over Series IV models.

That is unreal levels of tidy. That essentially looks like 'New Old Stock'. Great find!

True, I have dealt with Ben in the past. Always a good guy to deal with.

I still haven't seen any announcement from Vigier through its social media channels or website providing any details that last orders are be given by 11 March. I also haven't seen any announcement on the HTD Facebook page or their website. In fact I have not actually seen the press release in any of the normal guitar press that usually cover Vigier announcements. Any web search looking for further information just leads me back to this thread. I don't doubt that the press release that Ped received is legit but is all a bit strange to be honest.

Thanks, I did a careful edit to make clear that the incoming baby is only a disappointment for the purposes of my current ability to purchase bass gear!

Those might have been Benedetti pickups. I have them on my Excess. Lovely sound but very noisy single coil pickups. I generally run the treble on the preamp almost all the way off which helps with the noise and some of the piercing high frequency response. My later Arpege (when production changed to bolt on construction) I think has Delano pick ups which are dead quiet compared to the Benedettis.

Good call!