Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Vigier Porn!


retroman

Recommended Posts

Modded some chrome hardware to black & indeed passive with just a volume knob .. sounds even better passive, however I’ve decided to reinstall the preamp & sell on. As great as this bass is I don’t want to take it to the kind of gigs I do & too good for just home use .. I will stick with passive jazz basses, they just work for me ... :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Snarf said:

Damn, sorry to hear you're going to move it on! How much are you thinking for it? I'd like to hear how it sounds passive, do you have any audio of it? Well let's face it, you definitely can't go wrong with a good jazz!

Here’s his ad. Lovely bass!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks mate! A lovely bass indeed, it'll certainly make its new owner very happy. If it's not sold by the time the Guitar Show is on, I'll mention it to people there.

My 5 string will have the same finish, can't wait to get my grubby hands on it. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

So I've taken delivery of my sexy new Excess, and I've got to say it is immense. I test drove it during a rehearsal this weekend and it's earth destroyingly loud with a seriously tight butt. The low B is really great - possibly the clearest I've played on a bass. I'm totally smitten, to the point that I'm actually considering flogging a load of my other stuff as it won't get played anymore!

The factory setup is spot on, I haven't needed to tweak anything apart from the pickup height a bit. It's so freaking easy to play it's insane, and the neck feels super silky smooth, with contours that fit very nicely in my hand. I've taken some snaps but to be honest my crappy phone doesn't really do it justice.

If anyone happens to be going to the Guitar Show in Birmingham this weekend, I'll have it on the Hi Tech Distribution stand - you're welcome to come and have a go!

 

DSC_4911.jpg

DSC_4912.jpg

DSC_4913.jpg

DSC_4914.jpg

DSC_4915.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why bother with bedding when you can be playing that sweet bass!! I'll definitely come and have a go. Looks great. I agree that the necks on these feel amazing. My friend bought a Vigier Excalibur guitar based on the neck of one of these, and the neck on the guitar is so nice even I can play it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haha, or clothes! Maybe I'll flog the lot, this is all I need in my life now.:D Great stuff, well we will have some guitars as well, I'm not sure which models we'll have yet but there's always an Excalibur kicking about somewhere so you can always have a fumble with that as well. We'll be on stage Saturday at 10.46 if you want to see it in action!

See you there!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Snarf said:

Haha, or clothes! Maybe I'll flog the lot, this is all I need in my life now.:D Great stuff, well we will have some guitars as well, I'm not sure which models we'll have yet but there's always an Excalibur kicking about somewhere so you can always have a fumble with that as well. We'll be on stage Saturday at 10.46 if you want to see it in action!

See you there!

Excellent - I'm tempted to bring one of my old Arpege basses to the show after I missed the chance of showing it to Patrice himself a few years ago. I showed him a picture of it and he said 'Thank you for looking after it' which I thought was pretty legendary. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh my, they are lovely. Very nice @ped :) As soon as the new bass arrives, I will certainly post a few pics. I'm super excited and have always wanted a purple bass and like you, I have never seen an EXCESS 5 in purple but I have seen an ARPEGE V 5 string. I have attached the picture below. It is stunning :) 

F1.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@ped Ahh do it! Bring one along, I'd love to see one of those beauties in the flesh! Yes that was 2 years back when Patrice came over, when we had Ron Thal on the stand too - that was a crazy show :D

@mattbass6 I've got some serious envy going on right now! The first 5 Excess I played was the same as your no.1, it's the one that made me switch allegiance from Warwick. And daammmnn, a purple one... that's really going to be freaking amazing! I'm looking forward to seeing pictures!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, ped said:

fullsizeoutput_bae.thumb.jpeg.51c6e3272c9fe77ce8ebe80d157fdd9c.jpeg

I've been having a really tough debate with myself over which of your three is my favourite one. Man that's a tough one, but I think I'm going to settle with this one :D

But, well let's face it... all three are freaking amazing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Snarf said:

I've been having a really tough debate with myself over which of your three is my favourite one. Man that's a tough one, but I think I'm going to settle with this one :D

But, well let's face it... all three are freaking amazing!

xD Thanks, this is the one I've had the longest (about 12 years now?), and probably the bass most people will recognise as mine. Lots of mods but a superb, even sound.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Snarf said:

@ped Ahh do it! Bring one along, I'd love to see one of those beauties in the flesh! Yes that was 2 years back when Patrice came over, when we had Ron Thal on the stand too - that was a crazy show :D

@mattbass6 I've got some serious envy going on right now! The first 5 Excess I played was the same as your no.1, it's the one that made me switch allegiance from Warwick. And daammmnn, a purple one... that's really going to be freaking amazing! I'm looking forward to seeing pictures!!

It was the first Vigier I tried as well but, it was a long(ish) time before it became mine. I ended up with a Mike Lull PJ5 and then sold that for 2 US Fender Precision 5 but every time I saw the Vigier I wondered why I hadn't bought it. One morning, seriously, I woke up and thought "that's it, I've got to have it" so, I sold both the Precision's and bought the Vigier. I haven't thought of buying another bass since, no GAS at all. I really have found my home hence the purchase of another Excess 5. It's taken me a long time, taken me on a cool journey of discovery and cost me a lot of money but to be here, has been worth it :) 

Edited by mattbass6
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, Snarf said:

You'll have to talk me through all of those mods on it, I'm very intrigued, and also feeling quite GASsy. I'm seriously impressed you managed to get hold of 3 vintage Vigiers!

The bass was actually found without any electronics in it, so it was just a bare 'chassis' of body/neck, so although I rate the Vigier pickups very highly, the setup in this one is different as I couldn't;t find any pickups on their own.

 

So - it has Basstec humbuckers (as opposed to single coils as standard) and a Marleaux 3 band pre-amp, where the stacked bass/treb has been separated into two controls. Ages ago when I started Bassworld (the site before Basschat) a bloke in Australia made the pickup surround for me. Finally, I installed a Roland GK system and pickup. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@mattbass6 Man, that's an awesome journey there - it's great having a prior collection like that, I've got a similar sort of track record. Many many basses have crossed my palms - 2 Stingrays, 2 Ibanezes, 6 Warwicks, 2 Yamahas, A Cort, a Satellite :| but never a Precision or a Jazz alas. I had pretty much the same waking revelation, and ordered this beauty. It's the first time I've actually thought about being a one bass man, it's been a very long time!

@ped I remember the good old days of Bassworld, I seem to recall being quite active on there for a while. 
That's crazy you managed to find one with no electronics! How?? Well you've added some serious mods to it, I bet it sounds great. How do you find bass with the Roland pickup thing? I've never really played around guitar synth stuff before, does it track well on bass?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be honest I can’t really member now. Perhaps someone tried replacing some faulty electronics and gave up! Roland system is amazing, I use it on my mini Bass too in my avatar. There’s no tracking issues because it acts just like a magnetic pickup, just processing each string separately. Most people incorrectly classify it as a MIDI system. I mean you can drive MIDI with it but then there’s tracking and latency issues. I use mine with a Roland VB99 which I think everyone’s here is sick of hearing about ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok I just had to go look that up - it's bonkers! The demo on the Roland site is crazy, damn. I've never heard of Bubby Lewis before, how the freaking hell does he manage to play that fast?? And the fact that it's picking everything up nicely - awesome. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...