BassTool Posted February 22 Posted February 22 (edited) More a renovation thread than a build, but here goes... I bought this bucket list fretless Vigier shortly after Christmas from @TheMoose who had it under his bed for 30 years! Always wanted one, but they rarely come up for sale. I have a lovely Cliff Bordwell fretless that I use live, so my plan was that this Vigier was to get a fret installation. The bass was in excellent condition except the worn fingerboard, and was thought to be late 80's, the serial number on the bottom was 016, and threw up inconclusive results on the Vigier database. I decided to contact the Vigier guys - Patrice Vigier has now retired - but the company still runs a website. They were very helpful, as well as interested - and asked me to send them pics of the bass - and they told me that to find the exact date the bass was completed, I needed to lift out the pickups to find a date stamp. And there it was... 016 - 20th March 1985 So, an earlier bass than first thought. With help and advice from @ped as well as @itu and @Andyjr1515 I found out the fingerboard is known as phenowood - a combined wood and resin mix - and with the fret lines already in place, was ideal for fretting by a competent luthier - deffo not in my skillset! I found a local guy called Gary who runs Sylva Guitars near Heaton in Newcastle: https://www.sylvaguitars.co.uk/ He actually makes custom guitars as well as doing repairs etc. A phone call and a visit to his workshop convinced me this was the guy to transform the bass. He planned on refurbishing the worn fingerboard before fretting. It was booked in for 4th February, so in the meantime I had a few things I wanted to change. To give a uniform look from top to tail the chrome bridge and tuners needed replacing. Vigier still have in stock the original Schaller 3D bridge in black, so I ordered one. The M4 Schaller tuners however were not in their stock, but as luck would have it, a new (old stock) boxed set in a dark chrome turned up on eBay - result! Edited February 22 by BassTool 4 Quote
BassTool Posted February 22 Author Posted February 22 I replaced the chrome bridge with the black one, and ordered direct from Warwick a set of their bell brass frets. I've used a Warwick Thumb NT for years, and the frets are superb after so many years. I set about making a brass nut to match with the new frets as well as the Vigier headstock logo. The frets and nut then went off to Sylva guitars... 4 Quote
BassTool Posted February 22 Author Posted February 22 The fretboard wear was pretty extensive, and luthier Gary decided to do a test sanding and fretboard oil. 5 Quote
BassTool Posted February 22 Author Posted February 22 He suggested a True Oil finish to the board, and knowing how good the stuff is after using it on my BlazerRay build, I was happy to go ahead. Next stage was the fret cuts. He wasn't sure what the white lines were made of, but said they were possibly some kind of extremely hard filler 😳 He kept me posted with pics, and explained his fret slot cutting method: 'Started cutting the fret slots out. Here’s a few pics. Basically the radius block acts as a perfect saw fence to enable a near perfect cut that’s 90 deg to the neck. The magnets keep the saw 90 deg to the fretboard as well as aligning the saw to the slot.' 4 Quote
BassTool Posted February 22 Author Posted February 22 He went on to explain that two saws are used, one to make the initial cut and then one to set the depth and width. Once the slots were all cut, he set about with the fingerboard refurb with various coats of True Oil - as done many times on here. He sent this pic before a weekend of drying. 5 Quote
BassTool Posted February 22 Author Posted February 22 At our initial meeting, Gary got his notebook out and asked various questions about string spacing, set up preferences, string guage etc, he was really thorough. The carbon fibre necks on these basses are so rigid there is no truss rod to tweak, so getting the nut and bridge correctly set are paramount. At this point I'll say that the neck on this bass is utterly sublime IMO, the minute I picked it up I was smitten by the shape and feel - it's like nothing else I own, or indeed any other bass I have ever played. @ped had told me about his love affair with his Vigier basses and I totally get it. Access to the top frets is incredible - not that I visit up there that often 😆 Like the sound it makes, it's pretty unique 😎 2 Quote
Hellzero Posted February 22 Posted February 22 So, it's an early Passion II as I said in @TheMoose selling ad. I've written it a lot of times that the only way to date correctly an early Vigier is to remove the bridge pickup and simply read the date hand written or embossed... 😉 Superb "restoration" work @BassTool ! 2 Quote
BassTool Posted February 22 Author Posted February 22 17 minutes ago, Hellzero said: So, it's an early Passion II as I said in @TheMoose selling ad. I've written it a lot of times that the only way to date correctly an early Vigier is to remove the bridge pickup and simply read the date hand written or embossed... 😉 Superb "restoration" work @BassTool ! Yes Tony, you were spot on 👌🏼😉 Quote
BassTool Posted February 22 Author Posted February 22 So, after lots of TrueOil drying time, Gary was finally happy with the neck refurb, and I got sent these pics: To say I was a little excited when I saw those frets against that fretboard was an understatement - exactly what I was hoping for 👌🏼 4 Quote
BassTool Posted February 22 Author Posted February 22 Once they were all in, time for a fret level, then crowning And then, my homemade brass nut Time for a full setup! 4 Quote
BassTool Posted February 22 Author Posted February 22 Well, just to say, this was all about me getting one of my bucket list basses, the other was a Wal Pro11e or a Wal Pro 1 - without a lottery win, they won't happen 😆 So, just want to make this clear 😉 this refurb was purely for me, I have a few basses that will stay with me till my dying day, and this was always going to join them. Absolute keeper 😎 Huge thanks to Gary Bell at Sylva Guitars for transforming my bass, superb work 👌🏼 https://www.sylvaguitars.co.uk/ Lovely bloke, and another first class luthier up here in the North East 👍🏼 We rehearsed last night for first time with it, I'll need to get used to the shorter neck compared to the Thumb which is now getting too heavy for me - the Vigier is a lightweight in comparison. Band mates loved it, I love it 👌🏼 10 Quote
itu Posted February 22 Posted February 22 Wonderful! I was wondering what's different, but there's no zero fret because this beauty used to be fretless. 1 Quote
BassTool Posted February 22 Author Posted February 22 24 minutes ago, itu said: Wonderful! I was wondering what's different, but there's no zero fret because this beauty used to be fretless. Well spotted! I asked Gary if we could do a zero fret to keep it authentic but he said it wasn't possible, just makes it a bit more unique to me I suppose 😎 1 Quote
Hellzero Posted February 22 Posted February 22 Again what an excellent job performed here. 👌🏻😍👍🏻 1 Quote
Reggaebass Posted February 22 Posted February 22 First class work, congratulations on getting a beautiful bass 1 Quote
BassTool Posted February 22 Author Posted February 22 30 minutes ago, Reggaebass said: First class work, congratulations on getting a beautiful bass Thanks RB, I would have loved the skills to do it myself, but they don't stretch that far! Apart from the tuners and bridge swap, the nut was as much as I could contribute 😆 1 Quote
RonC Posted February 23 Posted February 23 What a great job!! good craftsmanship, this Vigier looks stunning! 1 Quote
BassTool Posted February 23 Author Posted February 23 Body shot with black bridge, for 40 years old the condition is really good 👍🏼 I forgot to say I also cleaned up the pole pieces on the Benedetti pickups after fitting the bridge, nothing too harsh, q tips with a tiny dab of Solvol Autosol 5 Quote
briansbrew Posted February 23 Posted February 23 Absolutely beautiful Johna, Ive got Vigier envy. Let e know when you want to sell it 😜 Quote
Hellzero Posted February 23 Posted February 23 37 minutes ago, briansbrew said: Let e know when you want to sell it 😜 Brian, there's a rare Vigier Arpège Delta Metal fretless at Bassdirect at the moment. 😉 The Benedetti pickups and the Vigier soft case are from the 90's and the preamp is not original. https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/product/vigier-arpege-i-delta-metal-fretless-1982-pre-owned/ Quote
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