New bass options, Vigier/Status/ACG/Strandberg choices hmmmmmm

[winterfire666]

im looking for a new 4 string bass, i currently use a cheap ibanez sr300 for my 2nd band which tune to C (thrash metal)

its fine for a cheap bass but i need an upgrade, i immediately ruled out anything p or jazz styling as i cant stand em, i want modern/erganomic lightweight 

neck stability is a priority so carbon fiber necks are a bonus, i like to see what im doing so luminlay or even better leds are also a bonus.

my first thought was to wait for the upcoming Strandberg boden bass as it seems to tick all the right boxes (and i love my strandberg OS6, the endurneck is the future) however now i have set my budget it would be silly not to see what my other options are

i like the look of the Vigier Passion, played one years ago briefly and it left a lasting impression (although im not super keen on high gloss finishes)

a status s2 classic bolt on with wrap around leds comes in (almost - close enough) within budget, which i did not expect

and finally i just spotted the acg Krell, which looks the business, ive played an acg before but not the krell and i loved the feel, plus i get lots of custom options.

 

is there anything else out there to consider?

or any opinions on any of the above basses?

im looking at around £2500 max budget and would prefer to buy new.

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 29, 2018 by winterfire666

[Dood]

You should absolutely consider Shuker at the top of your list, especially given the custom options you can have pretty much whatever you want, but picking from the available design selections will make things easier to chose. In terms of neck stability, you can, but you needn't go for carbon. For example my 7 string is made up of a 7 piece laminate neck through that features 4 carbon inserts and two truss rods. It has been rock solid at over ten years old and of course much cheaper to manufacture, if cost is a baring. 

[winterfire666]

1 minute ago, dood said:

You should absolutely consider Shuker at the top of your list, especially given the custom options you can have pretty much whatever you want, but picking from the available design selections will make things easier to chose. In terms of neck stability, you can, but you needn't go for carbon. For example my 7 string is made up of a 7 piece laminate neck through that features 4 carbon inserts and two truss rods. It has been rock solid at over ten years old and of course much cheaper to manufacture, if cost is a baring. 

thanks ive heard the name but not familiar with them, ill check em out now.

 

[Dood]

3 minutes ago, winterfire666 said:

thanks ive heard the name but not familiar with them, ill check em out now.

 

If you age have questions I'll be happy to answer, just send me a PM and I'll get back to you after teaching today. Very highly recommended. JJ Burnell has a signature Shuker bass, and there is a model known as the CarbonLite, which retains all the beef of a P bass, with much less weight and a gorgeous carbon fibre neck! Stunning instruments!

Edited April 29, 2018 by dood

[thodrik]

I own two Vigiers, an Excess and an Arpege 5 string. 

In terms of downtuned heavy rock/thrash, I actually prefer my Excess to the Arpege. The Excess has a slightly less complex EQ system and is definitely more of an all out rock bass. The Arpege is more of a refined bass and was my bass of choice for doing modern metal/prog stuff. In terms of old school downtuned metal in the High on Fire/Baroness/Mastodon/Saviours/Kylesa stuff, I would pick the Excess over the Arpege or Passion every time.

One thing to consider is that the scale length of the Vigiers is slightly under 34 inches, so if you are tuning down to C you might need to use bigger strings than you would if you were using  a 35 inch scale bass or a fanned fret alternative like a Dingwall. I don't find the scale length on the Vigier to be an issue, but saying that I love the sound of a downtuned Rickenbacker bass which only has a 33 inch scale.

Also be aware that the Vigiers have no trus rod, so you will never ever be able to adjust the amount of relief on the neck. On the plus side, the neck should never move, so the relief on the neck on the day you buy the bass should be the same relief when you pick the bass up again ten years later. I have had the Excess for nearly 14 years now and no neck issues so far. Though saying that I've had an 1974 Gibson EB3 and a 1978/9 (ish) Fender Precision for nearly 20 years and not had any neck stability issues with them either. I don't think that carbon fibre necks are essential.

I would really recommend trying as many basses as you can just to see what neck shapes/pickups and EQ systems you prefer. 

Edited April 29, 2018 by thodrik
I can’t spell

[winterfire666]

thanks for the input, i wasn't aware of the scale length on the vigiers, my other bass is a xylem custom with a 33'' scale and its a beaut so i wouldnt expect that to be an issue.

i do however like to adjust the neck relief if required so tht is worth considering.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

2 hours ago, thodrik said:

I own two Vigiers, an Excess and an Arpege 5 string. 

In terms of downtuned heavy rock/thrash, I actually prefer my Excess to the Arpege. The Excess has a slightly less complex EQ system and is definitely more of an all out rock bass. The Arpege is more of a refined bass and was my bass of choice for doing modern metal/prog stuff. In terms of old school downtuned metal in the High on Fire/Baroness/Mastodon/Saviours/Kylesa stuff, I would pick the Excess over the Arpege or Passion every time.

One thing to consider is that the scale length of the Vigiers is slightly under 34 inches, so if you are tuning down to C you might need to use bigger strings than you would if you were using  a 35 inch scale bass or a fanned fret alternative like a Dingwall. I don't find the scale length on the Vigier to be an issue, but saying that I love the sound of a downtuned Rickenbacker bass which only has a 33 inch scale.

Also be aware that the Vigiers have no trus rod, so you will never ever be able to adjust the amount of relief on the neck. On the plus side, the neck should never move, so the relief on the neck on the day you buy the bass should be the same relief when you pick the bass up again ten years later. I have had the Excess for nearly 14 years now and no neck issues so far. Though saying that I've had an 1974 Gibson EB3 and a 1978/9 (ish) Fender Precision for nearly 20 years and not had any neck stability issues with them either. I don't think that carbon fibre necks are essential.

I would really recommend trying as many basses as you can just to see what neck shapes/pickups and EQ systems you prefer. 

I'd love to hear the Excess in that sort of band! Do you have any recordings?

[Cato]

Have you had a look at Dingwall or other multiscale basses?

[thodrik]

44 minutes ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

I'd love to hear the Excess in that sort of band! Do you have any recordings?

Not really. Most of my recordings have been done on my Precision or a Sadowsky Metro rather than the Vigier. Also most of my recordings are in less heavy genres unfortunately. Never really managed to get a truly heavy band going and when did get to the demoing stage I recorded it on an old Precision! 

https://khydra.bandcamp.com/

This crap demo below done in 2005 is about the only slightly heavy recording I have of the Vigier Excess. We were all drunk at the time. Think it is tuned to C sharp:

https://myspace.com/nythsco

Did some alt rock demos with my old band in drop D,  back when I couldn’t grow a beard but had a full head of hair:

Might have something recorded later this year though with my new (to me) band, Electric Mother. Heavy rock in drop C for the most part. Not decided what bass to use for recording purposes yet. Might end up being the Excess.

https://m.facebook.com/electricmotherband/?locale2=en_GB

Sorry for spamming in advance!

[winterfire666]

19 minutes ago, Cato said:

Have you had a look at Dingwall or other multiscale basses?

Actually dingwall was intended to be on my list, i like the look of the ng2 specifically but i forgot to mention it.  Also the strandberg is multiscale too. 

[Mastodon2]

Unless the Strandberg basses are being made by Ola himself (unlikely) or in one of the custom shops, I wouldn't bother. I had a Strandberg Boden OS7 guitar and it was nice but it was the absolute top end of what I'd pay for an Asian instrument. The stuff coming out of the WMI factory is good but the prices for them now have gone up significantly since then and I just don't think it's worth it. Same with the Dingwalls, the Asian stuff is ok but personally I'd hold out for a real deal Canadian one.

 

[only4]

I have 2 acg Krells and can’t say enough good things about them. 

[ped]

Gotta be the Vigier! I have used a selection of different Passion basses in a funk metal Welsh math-core band (!) and the way they cut through the mix live was excellent. Rock solid construction and amazing neck. A bit different but not so much it can be pigeon holed into a style of music. 

[BassBunny]

ACG without a doubt.

[kumimajava]

With exception of the Strandberg (which isn't out yet?) I've played all the basses you've mentioned. All great instruments, thought I didn't get the feeling that the Status electronics would be the best fit for downtuned metal.

From the Vigiers - as much as I love the passion, and I would want it to be my "favourite" Vigier, every time I try an Excess it seems to feel better. Despite the part-wooden neck, you can get a good amount of grunge and growl. From the passions/arpeges, I much prefer Series II (followed by Series III), and was surprised I didn't actually like the "current" Series IV nearly as much. Not sure which version of the Passion you tried, but in case you're set on buying one "new" that it was the current series. To my feel, they vary a lot.

If you're looking at carbon necks - do also consider Zon (and/or Modulus), second hand. The later models have relief-adjustment/truss rods, and are rock solid too.  They tend to turn up in the Classifieds from time to time... I know you said you'd prefer to buy new (these won't fit your budget new) - but give these a go if you can find one. 

Edited April 30, 2018 by kumimajava

[Bigwan]

ACG. Every day of the week. Alan can do multiscale too.

[naxos10]

I'd go with ACG, great basses which can be customized to fit your needs including scale length. His pickups are also excellent.

[eude]

Another vote for ACG here. Best basses I've ever played/owned, and I'm sure you could get something really special within your budget.

ACG do carbon fibre reinforced necks and multi-laminates so you won't have any issues with stability. I know Alan has made a bass tuned an octave below low E which works perfectly too, so low C won't be a problem at all.

Eude

[winterfire666]

had a bit of a chat with alan at acg, im going to pop over to see him next week , im definitely leaning that way at the moment and hes only a couple of hours from me.

im loving the krell shape.

thanks for all the input folks your responses are giving me a lot to consider.

 

[eude]

16 hours ago, winterfire666 said:

had a bit of a chat with alan at acg, im going to pop over to see him next week , im definitely leaning that way at the moment and hes only a couple of hours from me.

im loving the krell shape.

thanks for all the input folks your responses are giving me a lot to consider.

 

You won't be disappointed, the Krell looks cool and is really ergonomic too (much like all of Alan's designs).

If you can stretch to it, go for the MC Series pickups too, they're are amazing.

Can't wait to hear how you get on.
I'm expecting another delivery from ACG Towers tomorrow

Eude

[winterfire666]

5 hours ago, eude said:

You won't be disappointed, the Krell looks cool and is really ergonomic too (much like all of Alan's designs).

If you can stretch to it, go for the MC Series pickups too, they're are amazing.

Can't wait to hear how you get on.
I'm expecting another delivery from ACG Towers tomorrow

Eude

the model im actually considering is something new but based on the krell which is quite exciting.

hopefully ill get chance to try a few pickup options

what would you say is the difference between the standard pickups and the MC series?

[eude]

19 minutes ago, winterfire666 said:

the model im actually considering is something new but based on the krell which is quite exciting.

hopefully ill get chance to try a few pickup options

what would you say is the difference between the standard pickups and the MC series?

Very cool mate!

The B Series pickups are extremely good pickups, which I'm more than happy with in my basses, but the MC Series are a whole new ball game, the pick up every bit of your playing and are wonderfully balanced and even sounding across the whole range of the bass, a real hifi experience if that makes sense? I'd have them in all my basses if I could afford them, and if they were available in my narrower string spacing, but they aren't for now  

It looks like Alan has a bass with MC Series pickups in stock at the moment, so if you're lucky, you should be able to give it a go and see what I mean...

Eude

[EMG456]

24 minutes ago, winterfire666 said:

the model im actually considering is something new but based on the krell which is quite exciting.

hopefully ill get chance to try a few pickup options

what would you say is the difference between the standard pickups and the MC series?

Haha - you and me too then...

the MC pickups to me are just what the doctor ordered - super defined, full range, clean clear and punchy and the perfect tone source for Alan's top flight preamp. he will tell you though, that they're not for everyone.

[mattbass6]

For me, it has to be the Vigier every step of the way. The stability is 2nd to none and if you want a modern take on a classic design, the Excess is the one. The pups and electronics are stunning and versatile. Everything I need is in this bass. It completely stopped my GAS so much so, I ordered another   I play the 5 string version and the clarity, playability of these basses surpasses any thing I have ever played before. It did take me a small time to get past the neck relief "thing" but now, I honestly don't think I could go back. I used to take other basses on tour with me in different countries and worry every time that there would be a neck adjustment upon arrival. That wasn't always the case but 50% of the time, there was. With the Vigier it never happens. That consistency for me, is worth it's wait in gold. I've had all graphite necks but they felt soulless. With the Vigier, you get the feel of wood and with the stability of an all graphite necked bass. I play in a rock / progressive band and the Excess is dream in that situation but I can see it covering any style of music. It is punchy, clear and cuts through any mix, beautifully. Try one, you will not regret it 

[winterfire666]

1 hour ago, mattbass6 said:

For me, it has to be the Vigier every step of the way. The stability is 2nd to none and if you want a modern take on a classic design, the Excess is the one. The pups and electronics are stunning and versatile. Everything I need is in this bass. It completely stopped my GAS so much so, I ordered another   I play the 5 string version and the clarity, playability of these basses surpasses any thing I have ever played before. It did take me a small time to get past the neck relief "thing" but now, I honestly don't think I could go back. I used to take other basses on tour with me in different countries and worry every time that there would be a neck adjustment upon arrival. That wasn't always the case but 50% of the time, there was. With the Vigier it never happens. That consistency for me, is worth it's wait in gold. I've had all graphite necks but they felt soulless. With the Vigier, you get the feel of wood and with the stability of an all graphite necked bass. I play in a rock / progressive band and the Excess is dream in that situation but I can see it covering any style of music. It is punchy, clear and cuts through any mix, beautifully. Try one, you will not regret it 

i wish i could try one out but few places keep any stock