Weird & Wonderful Basses

[Spoombung]

[quote name='Prosebass' post='424198' date='Mar 3 2009, 03:19 PM']No video of the Notts bash ? they were clanking Fenders and videoing it at the North East bash though ![/quote]

Yes, you're right - I've got my Bass Bashes mixed up [i]again[/i]!

[JanSpeeltBas]

Maybe reviving this thread...BigRedX has shown a lot of interesting basses - let me add some and I'll be doing it step by step...

Nexus are custom instruments made by the polish Jacek Kobylski.

Nexus Question:[attachment=30912:Nexus_Question.jpg]
Nexus Dune: [attachment=30913:Nexus_Dune.jpg]

[BigRedX]

Are Nexus still going? I sent them several emails but never got a reply. Also the website looks exactly the same as when I first came across it 5 years ago.

Several of the design features - especially the stone fingerboards interested me, but my original idea for this thread was to feature instruments that were still being made and therefore available to anyone who liked what they saw. The only exception to this rule was the Reverend Rumblefish, because despite there being limited numbers made, there seems to be a healthy supply of these instruments being traded second hand if you check out TalkBass.

Anyway feel free to carry on with this thread. Apart from a handful of manufacturers I've discovered since my last post, and manufacturers that appear to have gone out of business, or designs that are no longer being produced, I don't have any ore to show at the moment.

[JanSpeeltBas]

Having a website up should be a sign of being alive for a guitarmaker - I will try to remain faithful to your original concept.
As for today's bass I'm actually not quite sure if he's still active - his website isn't active today.
Vulture Bass is made by german Martin Geier (Geier being german for vulture) and his basses include the fairly common Condor and this nice Toba.

[BigRedX]

Cool - looking forward hopefully to seeing some basses I don't already know about.

In practice websites tend to stay up as long as someone has paid the hosting and domain registration which can last quite some time after the company has stopped trading. Case in point an Advertising Agency that I used to work for that went into receivership at the end of 2006 still had its website in place until a couple of months ago when hosting agreement ran out. Personally I would regard replies to emails from a potential customer far more indicative of someone still being in business.

The Vulture basses are nice. Not entirely sure about the scroll horn/single cut bit, but that's just my taste.

[Chris2112]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='252425' date='Jul 31 2008, 11:14 PM']I don't mean to rain on your parade, but there's plenty of other threads full of people enjoying their Fenders, Musicmen, Warwicks and such-like. This celebrates those luthiers who have decided to follow a less mainstream route.[/quote]

On the case of Warwick, don't you think that they are a company that only became mainstream because of their success? Certainly, they started out as "weird and wonderful". They were an early adopter or the NS body shape and the "bowl back" body cut (which is pretty damn amazing). Models like the Thumb and the Dolphin are some of the most recognisable "strange shaped" bodies around today. And their choice of woods has given the brand it's own signature tone, which is instantly recognisable.

Warwick were most certainly weird and wonderful, and simply because they were rather good and well marketed, they became sort of what I would call the afficionado's choice of mainstream basses.

You see, these basses:







are a bit more "weird and wonderful" (and a lot cooler) than this:

[BigRedX]

My choices were all down to personal taste and a desire to highlight some less popular makes.

Warwick might have been candidates had I started this thread 10-15 years ago, but now they are solidly in the mainstream and pretty much everyone here knows all about them. Plus I find nearly all of them unbelievably ugly. I like the look of the Starbass II (although it's not weird enough for this thread IMO) but the only example I've tried I found uncomfortable to play. The only Warwick I've ever found that I both liked the look of and felt right to play was the Jack Bruce Cream Reunion bass and it had a £4k price tag on it! Given that none of my (IMO) much nicer custom basses have cost anything like that, I simply can't include Warwick here. They aren't the only ones to miss out here - BC Rich and Status are two other makes that in looks and concepts would fit right in but I thought were too well known to be worth including.

Plus as I said in my quote, there are numerous threads devoted to Fender, Music Man, G&L, and Warwick, with plenty of people drooling over what is too me just another ordinary bass, the likes of which can be found in most musical instrument stores - and I simply don't get it. Even if was into those basses they don't need me to "big them up".

Now that Jan has taken over this thread maybe the style instruments featured will change, although from his other posts I have a feeling that we share the same appreciation for the less conventional and it's not just about wacky shapes but also construction and design that is equally important.

[JanSpeeltBas]

"Now that Jan has taken over this thread maybe the style instruments featured will change, although from his other posts I have a feeling that we share the same appreciation for the less conventional and it's not just about wacky shapes but also construction and design that is equally important."

Indeed, I'll be focusing on the unusual. But especially for Chris 2112 I'll put up the very first Warwick. Almost identical to the revered (Jaco used one) Framus S380 J-copy. Framus was the company of Hans Peter Wilfer's father. They went bankrupt around '78 but production actually never really stopped As far as in '81 "new"models were introduced, evolving into a new company around '82: Warwick. Next offerings were the Streamer (produced under official license of Stuart Spector - so a genuine Spector NS copy!) and the recently reintroduced Nobby Meidl, clearly based on Steinberger and Kramer Duke designs. I will not further comment on Warwicks originality (nor quality) as I agree with BigRedX: they do not belong in this thread.

[JanSpeeltBas]

Todays bass is made my Montreal Luthier Michel Fournelle (La Lutherie MF).[attachment=30957:Lutherie_MF_Bass_1.jpg] It's a nice headless, with conventional tuners mounted at the bridge. I chose this one 'cause of the link with the Warwick Nobby Meidl in the previous post. And let me offer you some more thoughts on the headless tuning concept...
This tuner arrangment reminds you of multi-stringed BC Rich guitars and basses and later Kramer basses [attachment=30961:Kramer_Duke.jpg] but probably the first bass to feature it is made by Bunker. The Bunker family (there's at least two generations involved) is a very underrated, innovative team that has made instruments under the Bunker, PBC and Treker brands - at one time even producing the American made models of Ibanez. Innovation doesn't make for great sales and that's why they keep slipping in obscurity.[attachment=30959:Bunker_1978.jpg] This headless Bunker is from '78. Other headless makers opted for the thumbscrew tuner. This design comes from the great late Allan Gittler (or Avraham Bar-Rashi - his later Israelian name) who came up with the ultimate minimalist design in the early '70s. He was a great guitarplayer (check out his recordings - his playing is a unique cross between classical playing and modern improvisation, fully exploring the sonic possibilities of his own designs) and invented his (very heavy)steel rod guitar not just to be different but to create a more direct interface between player and instrument - all about resonance. Very different from Ned Steinberger who came up with his minimalist carbon bass from his point-of-view as a designer. But then again - Leo Fender didn't play music too - he was an engineer, actually more into amplification! When Gittler found out Steinberger had been visiting his 'machinist' (who revealed the details of the thumbscrew) he immediatly fired him and stopped all production. About 60 have been made - three of 'm basses. Unfortunately Gittler was ripped off again by the Astron company who made an unauthorized bunch of Gittler guitars.[attachment=30960:gittler_bass.jpg] Another interesting headless story is the Fender headless bass. It came about in the mid '70s in an attempt to solve the classic 'dead notes on the G-string' problem. First solution (in the '50s) was to make the Precision headstock larger (the classic Fender head) but in the '70s Fender R&D engineer Gene Fields (this story comes from his assistant at the time: Phil Kubicki) tried to solve it by making the headstock smaller - everytime he took something off the deadnote range shifted higher up the neck. The resulting fairly modern prototype obviously never made it to production...[attachment=30958:fender_headless.jpg]

[JanSpeeltBas]

[attachment=31000:Normandy..._archtop.jpg]Today's bass is a Normandy, an American made archtop bass with aluminum body. It has a wood neck and a similar semiacoustic instrument is made by Ronnie Longfellow in London.[attachment=31003:Longfell...emiak_VK.jpg] Companies like Electric Co. and Specimen make aluminum basses too - they have been mentioned before in this thread.

When it comes to aluminum in a bass the first name that comes up is Kramer who used metal necks for some time. Some BC members have them and they show up for sale from time to time.[attachment=31006:Kramer_bass.jpg] Kramer was actually more of an assembly workshop. Most guitars use imported Japanese ESP parts, the aluminum necks were outsourced too. A Kramer fansite states that the only fully American made instruments are the Spector basses (and guitars) they made in the '80s.
Kramer was however founded by salesman Gary Kramer and guitardealer Dennis Berardi. The latter was so frustated with the quality of Fender he was selling in the '70s ( warped necks all over the place) he wanted a better guitar. Kramer worked for Travis Bean [attachment=31007:Travis_Bean_TB2000.jpg]who was already making (neckthrough profile) aluminum guitars and basses for some years and with the help of Dr.Phil (Petillo) they set up a nice range of bolt-on aluminum neck basses. The Kramer company got sold a few times but these necks were used into the '00s by spin-off company Vaccarro, most noted for the shortlived Hartke (yes, Larry's) bass.
The use of aluminum in a bass actually started in double basses. In the early 1900's the Buffalo company made some and Ford (cars) got an order from the American Navy - basses for use on their ships. Later use is as reinforcement of guitar necks by makers like Kay, Maccaferri and the British Watkins. The first aluminum guitar neck was made by the french Jacobacci. They made basses too - at first under the Ohio brand [attachment=31001:Ohio___62.jpg](this one's from '62) - but never with metal necks. The later Jacobacci JB series from the late '60s [attachment=31002:Jacobacc...200___74.jpg]may have been an inspiration to Shergold and Wal - the body shape is very familiar...Vintage lovers will be aware of the unique instruments of Wandré Pioli with its radical artistic designs and cheap industrial construction. He may be credited with the first aluminum bass around '61, - extraordinary beyond words - original and outrageous even by todays standards. He used a three-piece aluminum core for his instruments. [attachment=31004:Wandre_Waid_Bass.jpg] [attachment=31005:Wandre_Waid_kop.jpg]This here is his Waid Bass with a closeup of the tuners. He made several models including EUBs. It's hard to believe these were actually cheap instruments at the time. Some were exported to the UK by Dallas under the Dallas name - if you have one hanging on your wall you'd better take it off as it's worth several thousand pounds today.

[BigRedX]

An interesting couple of posts there.

I was surprised in the first one that you didn't mention [url="http://www.fleishmaninstruments.com/"]Harry Fleishman[/url] since the Michel Fournelle bass is very reminiscent of his designs plus he was one of the pioneers of headless bass design producing instruments with body mounted tuners in the mid 70s.

[url="http://www.bunker-guitars.com/"]Bunker[/url] are still producing interesting instruments and most are thankfully more aesthetically pleasing than the Pro Bass you pictured. Their most interesting development is the [url="http://www.bunker-guitars.com/tf_neck.html"]Tension Free™ Neck[/url], which is also used on the [url="http://www.henbev.com/b4.html"]Henman-Bevilacqua Bass[/url].

As you probably know I'm a big fan of aluminium-constructed instruments and own several myself. I believe the Longfellow bass you pictured belongs to Dangerboy who posts here. I own a Kramer B450 and XKB-10, a Duke copy (most likely by Hondo) and a Hartke XL-4 all with aluminium necks, a Tokai Talbo B-135 with an aluminium body and a Born To Rock F4B. The neck design of the Vaccaro/Hartke instruments doesn't have that much in common with the Travis Bean/Kramer ones and while a more sensible weight has some fundamental design flaws which make it potentially quite fragile. While my bass is OK, I've seen at least one example where the forces in the neck have caused the fingerboard to separate from the rest of the neck at the headstock end.

There's a surprisingly large number of small manufacturers building aluminium-based guitars and basses. If you want to know more, a good place to start is [url="http://www.metalnecks.com/"]Metal Necks[/url].

[RhysP]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='58515' date='Sep 11 2007, 12:06 AM']Here's Mondays choice from [url="http://www.atlansia.jp/"]Atlansia[/url].

Designed by N. Hayashi, better known to all those late 70s Aria Pro II fans as H. Noble we have a Galaxy and a Stealth

[/quote]

Atlansia used to make a one string bass called the Solitaire.
Great thread! I've only just seen it, late to the party again........

[JanSpeeltBas]

Todays special is one of my favorites – it brought it up already in another thread recently – and I really really love this one: Staccato. It’s not aluminum but magnesium and here’s the story (copied out of my “Compact Encyclopedia Of British Bassmakers”). It’s not apparent if its still available – Pat Townshend mentions he’s still able to put one together out of NOS parts but his website has’t been updated for a while.
[attachment=31055:Staccato_Mg.jpg]
"Staccato
Limited production of the Staccato Mg bass by instrument designer Pat Townshend and Chris (Mick’s brother) Jagger between 1985-’87 in Norwich. Shareholders were the Jagger family and Stones' bassist Bill Wyman.
South African born motor racer Pat Townshend worked in the US where he came up with the innovative and oddly shaped Staccato drumkits made out of fiberglass. In ’78 Yamaha commissioned him to develop a new guitar made out of metal. After trying aluminium Townshend chose cast magnesium for his guitars which were made at John Carruthers workshop in California. Original concept was an interchangeble neck, allowing quick change from guitar to bass or twelvestring. 21 were built under the Staccato name before Townshend moved to the UK where he designed the Staccato bass in ’83. With funding of members of the Rolling Stones a factory was set up in Woodbastwick, Norfolk. From ’85 there were about 200 basses made, the most prominent user being Gene Simmons. Townshend then went back to motorsports. Currently he offers a limited number of Staccato Mg basses made from NOS parts.
The Staccato Mg (GBP 850 at introduction) is an unique fourstring bass with magnesium neck, fiberglass body and screwed carbonfibre fingerboard with cast frets. The fingerboard can be easily replaced in case of fret wear. Other features: height adjustable nut, fine tuners at the bridge. Electronics are two Kent Armstrong humbuckers (with coil tap) and three band EQ that’s adjustable through minipots in the cavity.
[attachment=31056:Staccato_2.jpg]
[url="http://www.staccato-art.co.uk/""]http://www.staccato-art.co.uk/"[/url]

BigRedX pointed out the Metal Neck website, but that hasn’t been updated for some time too. It mentions however the Obstructures company which is making prototype full aluminum basses.[attachment=31057:Obstruct...rototype.jpg]

This body shape leads to another key-“ metalist” I didn’t mention before: John Veleno – he made aluminum guitars in the ‘70s and actually one bass too. His V shaped headstocks are adorned with a ruby.
Tommorrow more on Harvey Fleishmann – I did not forget him, just saved him for later!
As for Atlansia, originally featured on one of the first pages of this thread - this is the Solitaire. [attachment=31058:Atlansia_Solitaire.JPG] BigRedX has Japan-connections - he may now where to get one, all my e-mails to Atlansia regarding buying one have been unanswered.

[RhysP]

[quote name='JanSpeeltBas' post='572586' date='Aug 18 2009, 08:03 AM']This body shape leads to another key-“ metalist” I didn’t mention before: John Veleno – he made aluminum guitars in the ‘70s and actually one bass too.[/quote]
He made more than one bass - Kasim Sultan from Todd Rundgrens Utopia had an Ankh shaped Veleno bass.

With regard to the Staccato bass - I played one when they first came out at the London music trade fair (when it was trade only before they let the great unwashed spoil it.). Pat & Chris had a small stand in a room that was chock full of fantastic basses.

They had serious problems with the basses; because magnesium is such a soft metal the bridge & string retainers on the headstock began to rip out of the body under string tension over time.

Edited August 18, 2009 by RhysP

[JanSpeeltBas]

[i][size=1][quote name='RhysP' post='572794' date='Aug 18 2009, 01:48 PM']He made more than one bass - Kasim Sultan from Todd Rundgrens Utopia had an Ankh shaped Veleno bass.

With regard to the Staccato bass - I played one when they first came out at the London music trade fair (when it was was trade only before they let the great unwashed spoil it.). Pat & Chris had a small stand in a room that was chock full of fantastic basses.

They had serious problems with the basses; because magnesium is such a soft metal the bridge & string retainers on the headstock began to rip out of the body under string tension over time.[/quote][/size][/i]

Thanks for your info: my source(Michael Wright - Guitar Stories vol.2) speaks of just one-off bass, made as part of a guitar-bass set.
And nice to hear from someone who actually played a Staccato. I know only one owner: sessionplayer Reggie Worthy in Germany.

[BigRedX]

In theory [url="http://www.atlansia.jp/E-SHOP.HTML#ES-0107"]this Atlansia Solitaire[/url] is available to buy. However at around £500 with the current exchange rate plus shipping and taxes it's not a particularly good deal at the moment. Also the Japanese generally aren't very happy about doing things that are outside of their comfort zone and one of those things tend to be dealing with "weird foreigners" which can make buying from outlets not set up to trade outside of Japan pretty much impossible.

There was a 3-string version of this bass on the Ishibashi U-box about 2 years ago but it had gone by the time I got around to emailing my enquiry. If you want a Japanese instrument the best way is to cultivate some contacts in Japan who can do all the buying for you and then ship you the instrument. I have my contact in Japan currently on the lookout for a 5-string Atlansia. He's been successful in the past at finding me a Tokai Talbo Jr. guitar (at about 1/3 the price they sell for in the UK) and a Yamaha EZ-EG. The other advantage with doing your buying this way is that the Japanese still don't really do second hand (unless it's a specialised vintage/antique market), so once you start looking outside of shops geared up to sell outside of Japan the prices become a lot more appealing.

[MacDaddy]

[quote name='JanSpeeltBas' post='569636' date='Aug 14 2009, 11:47 PM']Maybe reviving this thread...BigRedX has shown a lot of interesting basses - let me add some and I'll be doing it step by step...

Nexus are custom instruments made by the polish Jacek Kobylski.

Nexus Question:[attachment=30912:Nexus_Question.jpg][/quote]

looks like the kind of thing Freekbass plays?

[JanSpeeltBas]

Harry (not Harvey…)Fleishmann has been called the “Edison of Bass” by Bassplayer Magazine’s Jim Roberts and indeed he has been pioneering in instrument design. He is however more than a luthier – a writer, teacher, musician and composer too. He doesn’t make many instruments but seems more into design. He has designed for FMIC (that big company that started out as Fender but now holds many brands like SWR and Guild) and in the ‘80s for IMC (Samick, Hondo). Todays bass is designed for Jackson (part of FMIC) and called the Anti-Gravity. It was made for a short time ( around ’02) in the USA and it’s a very original instrument. Attempts to have more made in Japan have failed, maybe due to the controversial looks? Most people call it downright ugly – I myself like it and nearly bought one a few months ago...key attribute of the Anti Gravity is its low weight (under 7 lbs) which comes from a distinctly shaped solid spruce body and graphite reinforced mahogany neck. Other features are Basslines J-pickups, active EQ and Hipshot hardware.
[attachment=31136:Jackson_AG5_full.jpg] [attachment=31137:Jackson_AG5_back.jpg] [attachment=31138:Jackson_AG4.jpg]
These pictures are the 35” scale AG5 fivestring and a less common AG4 fourstring version.
From the eighties there’s this: [attachment=31139:Fleishma...less_EUB.jpg]
It’s a Hondo Flash, a licensed Korean made version of an early Fleishmann design: the Bassic IV. Originally a custom bass made for avant-garde musician Bob Drake (worth checking out his music!) and produced in relatively larger numbers (untypical of Fleishman) in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s by Harry himself. Again lightweight (5 lbs) and balanced. And an early headless design.
Check out the Fleishmann website for more interesting basses, ABGs and EUBs . And he pioneered fanned frets too![attachment=31140:Fleishma...l_basses.jpg]


Aluminum update: a current Fouke[attachment=31141:Fouke_35.jpg], a Tactical [attachment=31163:Tactical_ABC_alu.jpg] and the magnesium Messenger (ca. ’68) guitar – they made some basses too but not that many – it’s even impossible to find a picture of them…[attachment=31142:Messenge...taarhals.jpg]

Edited August 19, 2009 by JanSpeeltBas

[JanSpeeltBas]

[attachment=31211:FMW_Sharc.jpg]Today: FMW Sharc Bass, made by Frank-Michael Weber in Berlin. Weber uses acryl for his bodies. This one’s headless with an attachable lit headplate. The neck (and center body since it’s a neckthrough design) is made out of maple and mahogany with a 24 fret ebony fingerboard. Pickups are by Häussel with optional piezos in the ABM bridge.

Other FMW models (all acryl-bodied)include the Arrow (modern styled with MIDI electronics) and the P- & J-style Precious (in our [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=57672&st=0&gopid=575067&#entry575067"]parallel "less weird & familiar" thread[/url]) and Jaybee.
Why Acryl? In FMW’s own words:
“The idea was to combine finest woods like maple, padouk, ebony and mohagony with the best available hardware and acrylic bodies.
As a physicist Frank-Michael Weber knew that the low internal damping and high stiffness of an acrylic body should lead to a good sustaining guitar. The vibrational properties of the material are more precise than the properties of conventional wooden bodies. Thus the sound of guitars with wooden bodies is alway different within a series of "identical" guitars.
The sound and sustain of acrylic guitars in contrast is always predictable and repeatable.
That´s why Frank Michael Weber started to built acrylic guitars in the year 2002. From than to now a lot of new models have been devellopped and musicians all over Europe and America chose fmw guitars.”

A short history of acryl see-through “plexiglass” guitars: we all know the Ampeg Dan Armstrong designed plexi’s (1969-1971 but several times reissued, and copied into the ‘70s by Ibanez and Aria/Univox)[attachment=31212:Ampeg_plexi_ri.jpg] which is followed by the shortlived US made ’78-‘80 Renaissance (not the current Rick Turner instruments) – a real back breaker at 15 lbs.
Bernie Goodfellow (in the days of Nightingale) made a custom plexi-body P-bass for Charlie Jones, as did Crimson guitars – these have a plexi neck too![attachment=31213:Crimson_...i_P_bass.jpg]


Other acryl body basses are the pictured Sandberg Plasma (originally conceived for Rammsteins Oliver Riedl, mainly for the visual effect enhanced by LEDs in the body) and the defunct American NEO instruments with similar light effects.
[attachment=31214:Sandberg_Plasma_5.jpg]
(photo by stationmusic.de)
Nowadays there are quite a lot of cheap Korean and Chinese made acrylic body basses available from companies like Fine, Gremlin, Infinity, Sakura and Wesley .

Edited August 20, 2009 by JanSpeeltBas

[BigRedX]

Many thanks for posting a full picture of the shark bass. It seems to be one that pops up every time some does a search on the internet for weird basses and posts the results, but with no information. At last I know what it is! Does Frank-Michael Weber have a web site for his instruments? - I couldn't see anything obvious from a Google search.

I own a Wesley acrylic bass - in purple! - and it's actually not bad. The neck is your typical Chinese £100 bass neck and if I ultimately decide to keep it, at some point I'll get a better one made, because the body is a comfortable small shape and I quite like the sound of the pickups.

I've also played the Charlie Jones' Crimson Acrylic bass, and have to say I wasn't very impressed, especially considering the price I was quoted to make a similar one for me. Stupidly heavy and with the chunkiest neck I've ever seen or felt on a bass. The glitter embedded in the acrylic looked fantastic and it would be great for a video (provided I could sit down for a couple of minutes between each take) but it didn't feel like a quality musical instrument to me. Which is a pity because I don't believe that visually impactful, different looking basses (or guitars) shouldn't preclude them from being good musical instruments.

The main problem I have with using acrylic as a material for building guitar bodies is that you can see all the "innards" of the instrument and they nearly always look ugly. It seems that no-one ever bothers to polish the insides of the cavities for the controls or the pickups, so you always end up with opaque areas in an otherwise see-through instrument body. While on a £100 Wesley I can forgive it as an economy measure, if I was paying the price of the Crimson bass I'd be wanting every surface polished to perfect transparency including the wiring tunnels.

Edited August 20, 2009 by BigRedX

[JanSpeeltBas]

FMW website: [url="http://www.fmw-guitars.de/"]http://www.fmw-guitars.de/[/url]

Most commonly mentioned weird bass is actually not this Sharc but the Shark by Austrian guitarmaker Andreas Pichler from Gross Kirchenheim. It was first marketed under his own (Andreas Guitars) name, later by stringmaker Thomastik-Infeld under the Infeld brand. It's out of production for some years but actually an interesting bass. I read positive reviews about it when it was introduced in '95, these details come from a catalogue posted on Vintaxe.com:
There were two types with little difference (probably only the finish?): Basking Shark and Bull Shark. They have wooden necks with an aluminum fingerboard and a wooden headstock. This unlike the guitar version that has a aluminum headstock too. It's scale is a mysterious 35,8", the Sharkfin like body is made out of maple or ash (this could also be the difference between Basking and Bull...) and hailed for its balance. Original pickups are Alembic, hardware by Schaller. Later Infelds may have different pickups - I think this bass is pictured inside some of their string packages too. This is it: [attachment=31227:Andreas_...ld_Shark.jpg] [attachment=31228:Andreas_Bull_Shark.jpg] [attachment=31229:Andreas_Shark.jpg]
EDIT: these Basking and Bull Andreas basses were made until '02, from '03 to '04 under the Infeld name, a single Shark model with alder body and Bartolini pickups.

In all of its sharkiness it reminds me of this French bass from the '80s: Apex [attachment=31232:Apex.jpg] with programmable controls like the Vigier Nautilus.
As for Wesley: did someone ever try their Vigier-copy? [attachment=31230:Wesley_E...giercopy.jpg] Must be as bad as this Chinese made Neotone Ritter Ripoff! [attachment=31237:Neotone_...ter_copy.jpg]

Edited August 20, 2009 by JanSpeeltBas

[BigRedX]

Many thanks for the FMW website URL!

And then you go and post another of my favourite basses. I nearly bought an Andreas bass about 10 years ago when they were being shown at one of the UK guitar shows. However as I was mostly playing guitar at the time I got this instead:



I wish I'd had enough money at the time to buy the bass to go with it. There was a basking Shark for sale on TalkBass a couple of years back and I got into a dialogue with the seller, but it never went through... According to the Andreas 2000/2001 catalogue the difference between the Bull and Basking shark basses other than the finish is that one has a ash body and the other maple (I'm guessing that the bull is maple with the closer grain?). An aluminium fingerboard Andreas bass is still on my to buy list.

[Bassassin]

[quote name='JanSpeeltBas' post='575508' date='Aug 20 2009, 01:33 PM']As for Wesley: did someone ever try their Vigier-copy? Must be as bad as this Chinese made Neotone Ritter Ripoff![/quote]
For the record - I did! I think it's more of an anorexic Rickenbacker (AnorexRick?) shape but that does give it an air of Vigier... Vigienbugger? I dunno.

Anyway, for £99 it's a really well-made little bass - through-neck, real (not photo) flamed top, wooden binding, 2-way trussrod and nice quality hardware. Let down mostly by the active circuit - useless rubbish in mine (although I think it was actually faulty) which I binned & swapped for an Artec 3-band, back when you could get them from Hong Kong for £15 - sorted. The finish is a bit iffy too - the MeconiumGlo front is not to everyone's taste (I quite like it) but the back, neck & headstock is simply oversprayed with thin matt black that literally rubs off on your clothes & hands!

I gigged mine a few times & then decided the back would have to be refinished - so I took it apart, stripped off the paint & now it's awaiting a convenient window of opportunity for refinishing. I might re-shape the headstock a bit as well - it's fugly & in no way sympathetic to the body design.

It's not very weird & wonderful but I have an acrylic P-bass project waiting in the wings too.

Anyway - carry on!

Jon.

[BigRedX]

Also apparently Tom Bowlus over on TalkBass bought one of those Ritter knock-offs and the general consensus was that it wasn't at all bad considering the price and certainly nowhere near as poor as he was expecting.

[JanSpeeltBas]

We'll leave the aluminum & acryl and go for an ABG: this is the Gottschall Funnel Bass - with soundports where you don't expect them...[attachment=31294:Gottschall_Funnel.jpg] [attachment=31296:Gottscha...nel_body.jpg]
More info: [url="http://www.gottschall-guitars.de"]http://www.gottschall-guitars.de[/url]