Does anyone here own or have played an Alusonic bass, or a Lightwave bass?

[zawinul]

Still looking for my optimal fretless machine

Does anyone here have any expereince of either Alusonic basses or Willcox Lightsaber basses?

If so are they punchy? sustain? good for fretless?

cheers

Z

[Hellzero]

Hi Z,

I used to have two Lightwave Saber 4 strings (sorry, but it's a plural, so there must be an "s").

One was fretless and one fretted.

All I have to say is that the sound is not that terrific and that the craftsmanship is more on the Chinese side.

The necks were awfully badly made with dips and bumps everywhere, they were too thin and totally unstable.

The good thing is that the "pickups" are very easy to set up.

What about the sound : think EMG on the boring side, absolutely not alive and certainly not punchy.

I sold both of them for half the price I paid two weeks later.

Here is my experience.

Tony.

[lat89]

Interested to hear what people's views on the Alusonic basses are. I really like [url="https://www.facebook.com/AlbertoTHEBASSRigoni/videos/10153605845704578/"]this[/url] video, they seem to have a great punch.

[BigRedX]

I used to have a Lightwave Sabre with both fretted and fretless necks. I only ever used it with the fretless neck fitted and strung with TI flats. Excellent sound and very playable. Only moved it on because I had a clear out of my 4-string bases as they weren't getting played as everything I do these days is easier on a 5-string. I'd have another Lightwave if I could find an equally good one with 5 strings.

Never played an Alusonic, but I like basses and guitars with aluminium in the construction. Not particularly sure about the video though. That sound to me is as much about the effects he's putting the bass through as it is about the bass.

I'm not a big fan of demo videos mainly because the basses never sound remotely like they do when I play one through my rig. Case in point would be the Bass Whisperer review of the Lightwave where IMO he made it sound like every other bass he demos, whereas in my hands it sounded completely different to all my other basses (which for me was the whole point of owning it).

[Happy Jack]

I had a fretted Lightwave Sabre 5-string some years back:

[URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Basses%20SOLD/Lightwave%20Sabre%20VL%20SOLD/CIMG0093.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/h4ppyjack/Basses%20SOLD/Lightwave%20Sabre%20VL%20SOLD/CIMG0093.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Long enough ago that I barely recognise my old back garden!

Very surprised by Hellzero's comments. Mine was absolutely lush, a very high-quality instrument with no problems or issues at all, and of course very lightweight.

I didn't keep it because the sound was so transparent that there was nowhere to hide ... the slightest error in your technique or glitch in your bassline was right there for everyone to hear.

I don't do much recording (if any) but I've always thought that - in the right hands - this would be a monster of a recording bass.

[Hellzero]

Hi Happy Jack,

Those 2 basses were amongst the very first produced,this is, maybe, the explanation.

Soundwise, my Leduc U-Basses were way much more precise and absolutely unforgiving any slightly wrongly placed finger. And real tone monsters.

Tony.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Hellzero' timestamp='1434718304' post='2802141']
Those 2 basses were amongst the very first produced,this is, maybe, the explanation.
[/quote]

Ver much so. Lightwave basses have gone through 3 different incarnations. The first were not so good and existed mostly as a platform to show off the pickups. This approach didn't really do Lightwave any favours.

My bass was from the second wave. And IMO there was nothing wrong with the construction at all. Also the pickup/bridge units were much improved over the original design although for a bass that should encourage experimentation with string types, getting it set up properly after changing strings was still more hassle than it really should have been.

The Lightwave basses being produced nowadays are another major step forward once again. One of the current models is produced in collaboration with Tune Japan a company that are renowned for their high-quality instruments.

[Hellzero]

For sure, they've made a big mistake with the first ones. They shouldn't have sold these "demo" basses...

Anyway, Tune is a great manufacturer, so the overall quality must be up.

If I have the opportunity to try one of these Tune made I'll do so, but Lightwave dealers are quite rare over here. :-(

Tony.

[zawinul]

i'll probably avoid lightwave then, no one tried an Alutronic!?

not buying blind, will have to..... so few fretless basses available in the UK!

[Hellzero]

Hi,

What kind of fretless sound are you looking for ?

Say a player's name, that would help.

I've mainly been a fretless player for 3 decades and have owned quite a lot, so I can probably help...


Tony.

[zawinul]

[quote name='Hellzero' timestamp='1434744814' post='2802530']
Hi,

What kind of fretless sound are you looking for ?

Say a player's name, that would help.

I've mainly been a fretless player for 3 decades and have owned quite a lot, so I can probably help...


Tony.
[/quote]

mick karn and percy jones!!!

[zawinul]

i owned a wal cuctom fretless back in 80's sold it!

can't afford another one want similar punchy sound xx

[TomRichards]

Early Lightwaves were spotty which is why Chris Willcox took his license back from the builder. Since then QC isuch better. They are great fretless monsters and the combo of optical and piezo is expressive and reproduces every nuance of yoir playing. I owned both early and current production.