LukeFRC Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 (edited) I may as well start with this picture... 8-9 years ago I had Warwicks and other. though neck basses.... a early G&L L1000 I bought from Gareth (formally of this Parrish) made me realise there was something about the simple fender design that just works, ergonomically and in terms of sound. One of the Warwicks got traded for the Sadowsky metro Will Lee above, originally cos it would be easier to sell than the Warwick but then I got the Sadowsky home and played not much else for the next 2 years. It is phenomenal instrument... The Lakland 55-94 classic was a local find and my introduction to 5 strings, something about Bart pickups suit my playing style and it sounds great... It kinda can do jazz bass and stingray sounds and currently enjoys some Jazz flats. It has a East Uni-pre in it which I tuned while I had a borrowed a pre-EB Ray and although the pickup isn't quite in the right place I could get 90%+ of the way there with the tone if set the preamp right... But in my heart I'm a P bass guy so sold loads of stuff. and saved and waited and, I guess had custom built for me the Bravewood P bass (also in the picture) - It took about a year to build and in the mean time lots of other P bass style basses were catching my eye... including the early ESP Navigator stuff... (which I would still like to try), one I really wanted was one for sale in Oz with a beautiful solid Padauk neck and ash body, it looked lovely but wasn't cheap before VAT and import and pretty pricy after. But Padauk neck, that would be fun to try eh? Not many about right? With three basses, one covering a J type sound, one a J and stingray type sound and a P style, they are all Fender shaped objects and sound like Fenders... and it got me starting thinking about the 4th space on my bass stand being more modern sounding thing, Vigier, or Warwick or something graphite maybe? I had a long list of "would be fun to try" some obtainable, some one off instruments that I knew weren't going to be sold and a lot of stuff way out my price range... like Le Fay. Then a number of things happened. there was a lovely vintage Precision put on sale here for £lots. It was stunning and lovely... and I wanted it ... but out my price range… I got permission from the other half to buy, but it had sold, But I had green light to spend ££ A Le Fay capone popped up on Gumtree a 3 hrs drive away and I had a day off So I went and got it... more to come... Edited May 22 by LukeFRC 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted May 2, 2022 Author Share Posted May 2, 2022 (edited) Basically the previous owner had bought this bass in 2021 and a load of other high end gear, had been working internationally so hardly touched it and then tragically died in his early. 30's, his widow was selling them off, there's not really a way to work out the prices of used LeFay as they aren't that common but I didn't quibble her asking price and it was the very max of my budget... and yeah she's lovely and very high end thing... I've never played a headless before, it sits a bit differently and there is definitely no headstock dive. The bass is simply a work of art.... like this is really high level of craftsmanship, the sculpting of the woods compared to say a Warwick thumb is another level - and it feels very much design led. Everything seems and feels thought through and there for a purpose rather than rushed quickest way to do something. The bridge is very sturdy ... and, maybe this is the cleaness of the tone, or just all headless bridges but tunes so easily. I've got an HX stomp and using the fine tuning mode the other basses take a bit of coaxing to get bang on... this just does it - it's crazy Padauk neck! Really easy to play, the widest point is a few mm below the top of the fretboard so it kinda starts to curve back in on itself. Anyway very easy to play. These things in the faux headstock. I will learn more about them when I need to change strings. one of my half thought-through ideas was to learn to make a neck and then make my own Padouk neck... safe to say if I ever installed frets I would not be even attempting them to look like this... it's crazy the top is gently curved and the back doesn't look bad either ... like crazy woodworking chops... and also the bits to the bridge pins - the mind boggles. But what I like (and I work as a designer) was I was playing it and thinking about how well it seemed thought out... someone else pointed out the crazy woodwork to me, it's not ostentatious craft for crafts sake, and also no coffee table wood on view... I like that. Another one of the back... This looks odd to me - there's nothing on the back of the headstock!! pointy grey/silver paint! woop How does it sound... so not like a fender at all.... it's really really clear and consistent all the way up and down, the low notes on the B string are clean and defined and feel in character. It was initially set up with super low action and straight neck, so I imagine I could do a Charles Berthould impression with tapping and slapping if I practiced for about 10 years and had any talent... tonally if I was trying to describe it it's in the same ballpark as Charles' Herr Schwartz - but played by an idiot. It's quite piano like in the way notes have clarity and it seems to reward playing melody and multiple notes at once... The preamp is really nice, volume, passive tone and the 6 position pickup selector (best described as: rear coil, parallel MM, parallel Jazz, front coil, series MM, series jazz) and then 2 band bass and treble boost only. The bass control is really nice, it adds a boost at about 80Hz but nothing below 30Hz - so none of the subby stuff, the high end boost is a nice high end boost. And then the 6 position control makes it sound like completely different instrument. So yeah, I feel a bit like a 17 year on their birthday old let loose on a Ferrari ... and the temperature of the house it previously lived in down south and my cold room the bass live in up north mean I need to tweak the setup, the bow on the neck isn't quite right at the moment. Like I said a 17 year old in a Ferrari! Edited May 2, 2022 by LukeFRC 23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 So cool 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenolive Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 That’s a Beauty Luke 👌 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 Nice catch! Love to know the concept behind it being a headless but not being a headless at the same time! Just aesthetics or something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted May 2, 2022 Author Share Posted May 2, 2022 updated the post with some words... 2 minutes ago, Kev said: Nice catch! Love to know the concept behind it being a headless but not being a headless at the same time! Just aesthetics or something else? No idea the Paignton is essentially the same bass headless and I think they started off with both models. I guess if you're making your own headless bridge they wanted to use it on both? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 Really quirky, they sounds fantastic too. Think this is the model nate navarro has, or had and used for lots of videos, and it always sounded better than anything else he was using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted May 3, 2022 Share Posted May 3, 2022 Always loved the Le Fay designs, although visually some of them are a bit "out there". Follow Le Fay on instagram and it's a rare but enjoyable treat when they post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyJ Posted May 3, 2022 Share Posted May 3, 2022 That there is a stunning example of functional art! There is nothing quite like a Lefay. I played a lefty Herr Schwarz once, some 10 years ago, and it still haunts me. So well thought-out, beautifully made, great playing and sounding, and stunning to look at. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted May 3, 2022 Author Share Posted May 3, 2022 On 02/05/2022 at 21:43, Kev said: Really quirky, they sounds fantastic too. Think this is the model nate navarro has, or had and used for lots of videos, and it always sounded better than anything else he was using. I think I've just seen a video of him playing Mario on a white Herr Schwartz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted May 5, 2022 Share Posted May 5, 2022 There are all sorts of things which are correct about this bass - but the back of it is particularly correct! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merello Posted May 5, 2022 Share Posted May 5, 2022 Stunner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted May 5, 2022 Author Share Posted May 5, 2022 3 hours ago, Owen said: There are all sorts of things which are correct about this bass - but the back of it is particularly correct! You would particularly like the way the B string sounds I think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horrorshowbass Posted May 6, 2022 Share Posted May 6, 2022 LeFay sounds awesome (but they all have lovely bottoms) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted September 22, 2022 Share Posted September 22, 2022 On 02/05/2022 at 22:36, Kev said: Nice catch! Love to know the concept behind it being a headless but not being a headless at the same time! Just aesthetics or something else? The Dobratz brothers call this RHT for Right Hand Tuning, and the idea is to still have mass behind the nut and thus having a less typical headless low mid emphasis and sometimes too fast attack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted September 22, 2022 Share Posted September 22, 2022 And especially for @LukeFRC, here is the video showing how to change strings on an RHT model, which is fast and easy: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msb Posted September 22, 2022 Share Posted September 22, 2022 I was not aware of LeFay, that simply looks gorgeous. Nice catch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted September 22, 2022 Author Share Posted September 22, 2022 8 hours ago, msb said: I was not aware of LeFay, that simply looks gorgeous. Nice catch. It is amazing. It’s just even tonally from string to string and musical and lovely 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misdee Posted September 23, 2022 Share Posted September 23, 2022 These Le Fay basses have got a really distinctive sound, exceptionally clear and precise with a top end that sounds very extended but in a natural way. The tone sounds like it's coming from the wood and overall construction of the bass rather than just hyped up electronics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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