Vadim basses?

J.Wolf · Dec 5, 2005

Anyone here have any personal experience with Vadim basses?

There is a sick one on ebay right now, here
They are really nice looking, super nce woods, and really cool carving. I can't figure out what the flamed neck wood is on this bass, has to be flamed walnut I guess.

Just curious if anyone here has owned or played one.

C-5KO · Dec 5, 2005

Yep.

They're great basses. I had a friend in school who had one. Very low action and comfortable to play. Check out Orin Isaacs. He endorses Vadim.

Frank Martin · Dec 5, 2005

IIRC Luthier's Acces Group has a couple of Vadims from time to time.... they are somewhere in the links, or google.

pilotjones · Dec 5, 2005

I've played one in a store. Fantastic. Search on "vadim" and you'll find my post, and others.

pilotjones · Dec 5, 2005

Here's his website:
Link Removed

You can see more of his work at Oric Isaac's site.

More info at Luthier's Acces Group:
http://www.luthiersaccessgroup.com/

Interview w/Vadim:
http://www.globalbass.com/archives/dec2000/vadim.htm

Geoff St. Germaine · Dec 5, 2005

That's a cool bass. I can't be sure, but the neck woods don't look like what the auction says they are. I get the walnut/purpleheart, but the rest look wrong or at least mixed up.

Anyway, killer bass. I talked with Vadim once about getting a bass. His prices are very good for what you get.

RAM · Dec 5, 2005

I've played a few. They played effortlessly and sounded great. Among the best I've played.

The construction was what I'd call "charmingly hand-made", as in you could see where Vadim spends time (like in laminations), and where he has a little more difficulty (such as the plunge-routing). The flaws I noticed were pretty consistent from instrument to instrument, but were ALWAYS cosmetic...NEVER functional.

If you find one you like, and ask my opinion, I'd say you should definitely consider one.

jnprather · Dec 6, 2005

No personal experience here, but I know Vadim is already on a very short luthiers I will when the day comes to build my dream bass.

If you search for "Vadim" here on TB you will find several threads, and a couple that are pretty recent. 99% fabulous things to say from those with first hand experience with Vadim and his basses.

If his reserve is under $2k that is probably a helluva bass for that price. Hope it goes to a good home! I would be taking a long hard look at that one if I had the money.

KayCee · Dec 6, 2005

I spoke with Vadim about building a 5-fretless for me a couple of years ago. Very pleasant to deal with. He's very passionate about bass-building, and really seems to know his stuff. He made several references to F Basses during the conversation, giving impression that his models are very influenced by them.

Another thing that really impressed me was that he treats fretless and fretted basses as totally different animals, which they are. Different woods, pickup placement, electronics, etc.. As he says, "fretless players want midrange, not boom".

BTW, Vadim makes his living as a truck driver. He makes a very limited number of basses. Every one that I've seen looks fantastic, but I've never heard one.

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Vadim basses?

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J.Wolf

C-5KO

Frank Martin

Bitten by the luthiery bug...

pilotjones

pilotjones

Geoff St. Germaine

RAM

jnprather

KayCee

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