• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Brice Defiant 6 - GAS attack.

MirageBass

MirageBass

Apr 12, 2007
438
2
Rochester, NY/Los Angeles, CA
#1
So most of my stable of basses are at home in LA while I'm at school in New York. I'm more than happy with my 5-er Yamaha BBG5S. But then I saw this:

defiant6lizardburst5.jpg


Oh. Oh wow.

It's around $500 after shipping. I have about $2000 in the bank right now because of a summer internship I had at Activision. I play a 34" scale 5er, and this is a 35" 6er, but... Damn.

This is some bad GAS, guys. Especially at $500 for something that pretty.

(For reference, here are my current basses:
- 2 Yamaha BBG5Ses
- Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
- Travel Bass
- 1969 Teisco/KBR (kind of a junker, but has personality)
- Dean Edge 6 string fretless - same scale length.

So I basically see it as a fretted version of my fretless. YARGH!)
 
#3
Id stick with the Geddy Lee jazz to be honest, but if your looking to "adventure" into 6 string land Id go for it. Other wise I really don't see how the Brice would beat the Geddy Lee (except the extra notes)
 
#4
As a person that's owned 5 Brices and had one custom made, you might have to do some mods to this to make it "right." Personally, I'd swap out the electronics for a standard EQ system.

The other thing is that since this is a neck-thru, the neck is pretty "chunky" compare to other bolt-ons, like the Geddy Fender.

Of course, if you want to veer off into 6er land, this is a cheap way to do it, and you could always pick up a used higher end bass.

Z
 
#6
If I picked this up, it would probably include picking up and installing some barts.

1. How much are those?
2. Are there any tutorials for self installation?
3. I heard the neck is "chunky". I'm used to playing my BBG5S, which is comparable to other Yammy 5ers. Is that bad? (I get that nothing will *ever* be as ridiculously fast as the neck on the Geddy.)
 
#7
I'd give those stock pickups a shot, actually. They're based on the 8-string pickups Rondo uses in the Intrepid guitars, and they get fantastic reviews for clarity, full response, and even-ness.

If I didn't just pick up a Schecter California Custom 5, I'd be all over either that 6-string or the Brice 5 they just posted.
 
#11
Standalone said:
Is that fotoflame or a real veneer?
Click to expand...
It's a real veneer. Probably paper thin.

It's a nice looking bass. Massively wierd electronics. Wonder what the "coil tap" does. One mini-rocker switch for both pickups is ***?. I would guess that it is in fact series/parallel for the whole circuit.

I love that bass but if I bought it I'd have to completely rewire it. I love passive basses. I would (1) get rid of the Les Paul style pickup selector and go to a VOL/VOL/TONE arrangement. (2) drill another hole and make it so that each pickup has an individual coil tap. (2) is assuming that the "coil tap" is a series/parallel switch for the whole bass. If in fact the "coil tap" switches humbucking/single coil on both pickups simulaneously, I'd leave it be.
 
#16
Philbiker said:
I would (1) get rid of the Les Paul style pickup selector and go to a VOL/VOL/TONE arrangement. (2) drill another hole and make it so that each pickup has an individual coil tap. (2) is assuming that the "coil tap" is a series/parallel switch for the whole bass. If in fact the "coil tap" switches humbucking/single coil on both pickups simulaneously, I'd leave it be.
Click to expand...

Couldn't you get a push pull pot and and wire it up so the volume control is a coil tap in addition? That way you wouldn't have to do any drilling and it would look less cluttered.
 
#19
73jbass said:
I love how some of you have already decided what modifications you would do to the bass,without actually hearing it first. That's too funny.
Click to expand...
Not really for someone who knows about guitar electronics. First of all, on a dual pickup bass I already know that I prefer VOL/VOL/TONE. The basses which I've owned that have been configured differently I have always changed to this configuration because I know what I like. Secondly, the Korean contractors that Rondo uses for their Brice basses occasionally do some very strange things which make little or no sense. This seems to be the case here. Years ago when I got my V2 one of the first things I did was remove the pan pot from the circuit. What sense did VOL/VOL/PAN/TONE make to anybody?
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back