SEI bass

[Hellzero]

This was my Sei Flamboyant 6, excellent bass, for sure, but I traded it for I don't remember what, ask @binky_bass...

17 hours ago, sprocketflup said:

People called Romanes they go the house?

Hoc non debevo vendere.

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, Hellzero said:

Hoc non debevo vendere

Now, why didn’t Google translate offer me that? Much, much better.

 

 

Hoc Non Debevo

 Vendere 

Edited Monday at 16:16 by ezbass

[Hellzero]

Because Google didn't study Latin @ezbass. 😉

[binky_bass]

3 hours ago, Hellzero said:

This was my Sei Flamboyant 6, excellent bass, for sure, but I traded it for I don't remember what, ask @binky_bass...

I barely remember owning this bass! I think I've had 4 or 5 Sei basses over the years, all fantastic beasts. Strangely never ended up keeping one for more than a few months though... 

[FunkyDude]

29 minutes ago, binky_bass said:

I barely remember owning this bass! I think I've had 4 or 5 Sei basses over the years, all fantastic beasts. Strangely never ended up keeping one for more than a few months though... 

I know what you mean though. It's all a "feel" thing as far as basses are concerned. Cheap basses do not mean it's bad. I had SIRE before and loved it. Expansive basses do not automatically mean it's a keeper.

[Russ]

37 minutes ago, FunkyDude said:

I know what you mean though. It's all a "feel" thing as far as basses are concerned. Cheap basses do not mean it's bad. I had SIRE before and loved it. Expansive basses do not automatically mean it's a keeper.

I have my Sei and my two custom Maruszczyks, a Spector and a MM, so I've got quite a few high-enders, but one of the basses I play most often is a 5-string Revelation Jazz. Cost me less than £300, and, after a proper setup, I'd put it up against any Fender. It's a great bass. 

[crazycloud]

8 hours ago, Hellzero said:

This was my Sei Flamboyant 6, excellent bass, for sure, but I traded it for I don't remember what, ask @binky_bass...

 

  

That bass, headless would be a piece of kit I think I could love. Can't afford it though.

[crazycloud]

Double post, sorry.

Edited 19 hours ago by crazycloud

[Ruarl]

 

Here's mine. Acquired from here are few years ago, and fettled by Martin. It's early - serial number is "9". And the seller passed on to me an old Guitarist magazine which had a review of this very bass. It has the Schack circuit with dip-switches for EQ frequency. The two little black dots near the bridge are 3-position coil-tap switches. Oh, and it has LEDs in the neck-edge fret markers 😎

 

There is lots to love about this bass. It plays beautifully, and produces a huge range of sounds. As others have said, the necks are like nothing else. Two minor gripes: 1) The bridge has narrow slots for the strings to pass through. I bought a set of DRs to put here (the strings it has are awful) and the overwinding at the base means they don't fit. So now I don't know whose strings to buy! Any ideas? 2) It doesn't hold its tuning as well as my other instruments. This one I can forgive, though. All my other instruments are bigger, heavier, tankier things. 

[simisker]

4 hours ago, Ruarl said:

 

Here's mine. Acquired from here are few years ago, and fettled by Martin. It's early - serial number is "9". And the seller passed on to me an old Guitarist magazine which had a review of this very bass. It has the Schack circuit with dip-switches for EQ frequency. The two little black dots near the bridge are 3-position coil-tap switches. Oh, and it has LEDs in the neck-edge fret markers 😎

 

There is lots to love about this bass. It plays beautifully, and produces a huge range of sounds. As others have said, the necks are like nothing else. Two minor gripes: 1) The bridge has narrow slots for the strings to pass through. I bought a set of DRs to put here (the strings it has are awful) and the overwinding at the base means they don't fit. So now I don't know whose strings to buy! Any ideas? 2) It doesn't hold its tuning as well as my other instruments. This one I can forgive, though. All my other instruments are bigger, heavier, tankier things. 

That would have been me, Ruarl - I was wondering if it would turn up in this thread.

 

This was literally my dream bass - as in the one I first coveted in my copy of Guitarist as a teenager in a small Welsh village in the early 90s. So to have eventually managed to own it many years later was just mind-blowing.

 

I'm really pleased you've still got it and loving it - it still looks a beauty! I can't remember if I ever fitted new strings on it, though, so I'm dodging that one [I think I was in my DR Fat Beams chapter at that point, for what it's worth!]

 

For those that asked about the body shape comparison: I also had a six-string Flamboyant headless fretless [edit: see following image] and of the two shapes, I felt this Original was better ergonomically. Though the Flamboyant arguably looked even cooler/meaner!

 

Also, these two proved beyond any doubt that headless is the way to go if you want to go down the 6-string path. The complete absence of neck dive was an epiphany

 

 

EDIT: Ah, here you go:

 

Edited 15 hours ago by simisker
Flamboyancy

[Hellzero]

@Ruarl Try the LaBella Super Steps or the F Bass or the Rotosound Piano String Design or the Kalium or the Galli EC and the likes with the exposed cores.

 

Newtone is also making some and is always a pleasure to deal with.

[FunkyDude]

6 hours ago, simisker said:

That would have been me, Ruarl - I was wondering if it would turn up in this thread.

 

This was literally my dream bass - as in the one I first coveted in my copy of Guitarist as a teenager in a small Welsh village in the early 90s. So to have eventually managed to own it many years later was just mind-blowing.

 

I'm really pleased you've still got it and loving it - it still looks a beauty! I can't remember if I ever fitted new strings on it, though, so I'm dodging that one [I think I was in my DR Fat Beams chapter at that point, for what it's worth!]

 

For those that asked about the body shape comparison: I also had a six-string Flamboyant headless fretless [edit: see following image] and of the two shapes, I felt this Original was better ergonomically. Though the Flamboyant arguably looked even cooler/meaner!

 

Also, these two proved beyond any doubt that headless is the way to go if you want to go down the 6-string path. The complete absence of neck dive was an epiphany

 

 

EDIT: Ah, here you go:

 

Martin's choice of woods is just breathtaking!!

[Russ]

1 hour ago, FunkyDude said:

Martin's choice of woods is just breathtaking!!

My first "proper" Sei, back in the late 90s, was a 4-string with a beautiful ziricote top. Ended up selling it back to The Gallery after being unemployed for a while, unfortunately. I'd love to track it down, it was a beauty and sounded amazing (it had original Lane Poor pickups in it, with the Schack circuit). 

 

I also had this one for a while - it's a Flamboyant fretless with an ebony top, and Wal pickups and electronics. It was a phenomenal bass. I sold it to finance our first international move, and I really miss it. 

[eude]

8 hours ago, Ruarl said:

So now I don't know whose strings to buy! Any ideas?

I would give Newtone Strings a go.

They will happily make you a taper wound or even exposed core set to your liking.

Their Nickel Hex Core strings are like a slightly more edgy DR SunBeam.

They're made in the UK, last ages and are way cheaper than they should be!

 

Lovely bass by the way.

I think I had a copy of Guitarist featuring the review too!

[NickA]

4 hours ago, Russ said:

Flamboyant fretless with an ebony top, and Wal pickups

A legendary bass.  Sei were the only people Wal ever trusted with a set of parts, I'm told.  Ought to combne the sound of a Wal with better ergonomics and the sustain of a through neck.  Perfection (for me) ( probably).

 

Though I do find the Flamboyant body shape a bit too ...erm... Flamboyant?

Edited 5 hours ago by NickA

[Russ]

1 hour ago, NickA said:

A legendary bass.  Sei were the only people Wal ever trusted with a set of parts, I'm told.  Ought to combne the sound of a Wal with better ergonomics and the sustain of a through neck.  Perfection (for me) ( probably).

 

Though I do find the Flamboyant body shape a bit too ...erm... Flamboyant?

I wasn't playing much fretless back then, so it was one of the first to go when we moved (along with a Warwick Streamer Jazzman I got through a short-lived endorsement deal). It was an amazing bass - you're right, all the Wal tone with none of the weight or ergonomic issues (always loved how Wals sounded, but I never liked the necks, and they were all boat anchors). 

 

Actually been toying with the idea of asking Martin to make me another one - same woods, same look, but with Turner pickups and the Lusithand preamp.