FS/FT Veillette Mark IV (Paris) 5 string fretless
 

I hope the pics do it justice but this is a beautiful bass.

The sound is very unique, very warm, woody and acoustic to sound like an upright but with a lot more. Must be heard to be appreciated but the sound really has a feel to it. It uses Alvarez electronics (system 500) with a piezo pickup built under the bridge. Otherwise this is a solid-body bass.

Near perfect, the only flaw is a few slight and almost imperceptible indentations from the zipper on the bottom.

Comes with a Veilette custom-fit velvet lined gig bag and the original letter of ownership from Joe Veillette.

$1400 shipped in the US - will consider a trade for a 5 string.

Scale?
String spacing at bridge?
Width at nut?
Body wood?
Neck wood?
Year?

Ive played one of these, fantastic instrument.

GLWS

Thanks for that. Not sure how to interpret the 3" string spacing. What does the distance from string centre to string centre measure? Millimeters or fractions of an inch are fine.

Sorry if I wasn't clear but that is how I measured it, it is exactly 3" from center of string to center of string at the bridge.

It converts to ~ 44 - 76 mm, I went with inches because it was spot-on precise in this case.

Got it - so the equivalent of 19mm by standard measure.

And one last thing to bug you with - any sound clips?

Sorry but no on that one, I don't have anything good to record with here and I have never played it live.

If I can describe it, it's a warm, woody sound that is somewhat reminiscent of an upright bass but a sound of its own really, something in between.

This video here is a slightly different bass but the tone is pretty close to the piezo pickup section, it has that same mwaaa... I think the Mark IV sounds a little deeper and woodier though. It is strung with the same LaBella strings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QrnbpKECzU

Found it... This is the tone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbjpFQqeiTc

Clip of my former Veillette
 

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I dug this one up when I saw your post. I started using TI flats with this 5-string and for my money they worked better than the La Bellas. Anyway, I think this clip is just a room mic, but the solo has quite a few long tones so you can hear the bass growl.

Not to derail, but: first I bought the Veillette in this clip. It was a 5-string piezo-only fretless that looked very much like the one in your posting here, same Alvarez preamp, too. It had the amber stain with a quilt-top. I played quite a few jazz trio gigs with it and people were really into the sound (so was I, of course!). One gig was in an old-fashioned restored theater up in Evanston. The bass filled the whole darn place and I got many compliments on the sound.

I now own the Veillette 35-inch scale 6-string in my sig. These Mark IVs are like the prototype to the newer Paris models but will sound, to my ear, just about identical.

These Veillettes are a real game changer for any bass guitarist looking for an acoustic sound...sorry for the verbose post, but these basses make me rather loquacious.

Cheers.

Edit: Ha ha, Hey Big Brother. Looks like I didn't pay too much attention there. Good luck with the sale.
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Hi folks,

Just chiming in here with some specs...

The fingerboard and bridge/tailpiece are indeed Pau Ferro.
The body is poplar with a maple top, and the neck is maple.
"Red Mahogany" refers to the stain color.
The finish is polyurethane.

This is a great deal on one of our 'classic' Mk-IV basses.
An equivalent new bass would cost well over $3K.

Best wishes,
Martin

Sure appreciate the kind words, thanks!

Thanks, that sums it up well. Interesting tip for the TI flats, I actually have a set strung to my Tacoma but never thought to try them on the Veillette. Best I leave it be for the sale but I wish I had tried that.

For my 6-string 35", I couldn' t get the TIs to ring true. But on the 34" they were great. So for now I happily use the La Bellas. But I would like to develop a set of bright flats for my 6 string.

Cheers.
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