The Last Bass Outpost
Main Forums => The Bass Zone => Topic started by: dadagoboi on August 20, 2015, 03:06:47 PM
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Just got one in from Allparts.
(http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae241/cata1d0/02/0%20OMEGA%20BADASS_zpsvkrnbzq2.jpg) (http://s976.photobucket.com/user/cata1d0/media/02/0%20OMEGA%20BADASS_zpsvkrnbzq2.jpg.html)
The plating and overall quality is excellent. If you're a fan of the Badass II, you'll like it IMO. If you're not, nothing to see here.
Saddles and length adjusting screws appear to be interchangeable with the BA II. My two basses with them are buried and I'm too busy to dig them out at the moment. AP also sells a replacement saddle kit.
This Omega is nickel plated, the preferred finish of Old Farts everywhere. I'm betting the other finishes are the same quality. The BA and BA III are chrome, I bought them used.
The BadAssII patent expired a while ago and I guess no one trademarked the look.
Difficult to believe, considering that dildo guy from QuarterFlash trademarked the Vox Phantom shape. I got a letter from his lawyers a month or so ago. Check my website for my reply
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Got a "link" to it (Pox Bantam), Carlo, as I can't find it on the site...?
I still have my BA1 that lurked on my PC for circa 20 years...
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Got a "link" to it (Pox Bantam), Carlo, as I can't find it on the site...?
I still have my BA1 that lurked on my PC for circa 20 years...
http://cataldobasses.com/index.html
bottom of the page. Haven't heard anything since.
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Just got one in from Allparts.
(http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae241/cata1d0/02/0%20OMEGA%20BADASS_zpsvkrnbzq2.jpg) (http://s976.photobucket.com/user/cata1d0/media/02/0%20OMEGA%20BADASS_zpsvkrnbzq2.jpg.html)
Difficult to believe, considering that dildo guy from QuarterFlash trademarked the Vox Phantom shape. I got a letter from his lawyers a month or so ago. Check my website for my reply
D. BAG! Wonder just how much money he makes on this trademark? I have a simple solution - add a very minor bump on the rear facet - just enough to be felt. Voila! 7 sides instead of 5! Screw his trademark! He ought to be paying the world back for being involved in any of the "music" his band unleashed on the innocent public! ;) Right now, as I type this, I have that damn song of their's stuck in my head! Next to Disney's "It's a small world" one of the worst earworms ever! >:(
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Thanks, Buzz. A long time ago I went through all that. I could actually do a 'Reverse' version, I have it somewhere, but I don't care anymore. I have my original and the clone I built and a lot of other fish to fry. That's why I didn't mention it before...I've hardened my heart. ;)
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...I've hardened my heart. ;)
NooOoOOoOoooooo!! Damn it! It's back now! But, on the plus side, Small World has been replaced! ;D
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Maybe he's planning a major marketing campaign to re-launch the model... maybe he's just sore over having a trademark that cost him too much for a decent return... maybe he's just a jerk... :mrgreen:
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Maybe he's planning a major marketing campaign to re-launch the model... maybe he's just sore over having a trademark that cost him too much for a decent return... maybe he's just a jerk... :mrgreen:
When you own a trademark you have to defend it, otherwise it can be revoked. I'm pretty sure he Vox had to get a license from him to sell their 'Apache' in the USA. Vox sells their reissue 32" Phantom worldwide but not in the US, I guess that wasn't part of the deal. There have been a few reissue Phantoms offered on Ebay by Tokyo dealers but they've been pulled down pretty quickly.
It just strikes me as ridiculous you can trademark something no longer made (this was in the 90s) that you had no involvement in designing and that had been copied many times. And block people from making their own copies for sale. Even though yours is a POS copy...IMO. At one time he even had a trademark on the Phantom typeface, although I think it was overturned. I could be wrong on that.
Anyone care that there's a new Badass?
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How shall I put this? :-\ A very functional bridge that lives and breathes the concept of "let's not be bothered by how it looks".
(https://moviecomicswhoswho.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/ephialtesfilm.jpg)
The eternal No 1 in my list of ferociously ugly bridges.
But it has its fans, which is a comforting thought. :mrgreen:
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How shall I put this? :-\ A very functional bridge that lives and breathes the concept of "let's not be bothered by how it looks".
The eternal No 1 in my list of ferociously ugly bridges.
But it has its fans, which is a comforting thought. :mrgreen:
It's an excellent example of "Form Follows Function", a guiding principle of 20th Century Modernist Architecture, the Bauhaus, and other schools of design. It certainly looks the part of what it purports to provide.
Unlike the Three Point, which neither Functions nor has a logical Form.
I'm sure that the 'designer' who intended that the E string wrap should reside on top of the saddle when almost correctly intonated also thought 'string break' meant "SPRING BREAK!".
Anyone presenting that 'design' to a knowledgeable "Guitar Engineer" for critique would have been abused with more force than anything recommended in the Amazon Manual of Business Etiquette.
"But it has its fans, which is a comforting thought beyond me."
(Insert lawyerly gibberish with infantile comic book illustration here)
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Dear adult Carlo: Anything you say or write. There is a German proverb: "A matter of taste, said the ape as he bit into the bar of soap."
(http://www.kika.de/die-beste-klasse-deutschlands/extra/selbermachen/seifenblasen102_v-tlarge169_w-600_zc-be147c57.jpg?version=29665)
And if that bridge is Bauhaus then Deep Throat was a piece of erotic art. If you want to stick to architecture terms I detect more than a streak of Brutalism in it. Obviously licensed to North Korea. The Kim-bridge.
(http://www.wz-newsline.de/polopoly_fs/1.1290542.1365782283!/httpImage/onlineImage.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_550/onlineImage.jpg)
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Carlo, you have to understand that Uwe prefers form that doesn't function well. He thinks the Babicz bridge -- you know, the one that actually works properly -- overwhelms the look of the SG Bass, so he'd rather have the three-point, which doesn't.
Anyway, good luck with these. The Badass II became way overpriced, these ought to fit the bill for fans of that style bridge.
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Carlo, you have to understand that Uwe prefers form that doesn't function well. He thinks the Babicz bridge -- you know, the one that actually works properly -- overwhelms the look of the SG Bass, so he'd rather have the three-point, which doesn't.
Anyway, good luck with these. The Badass II became way overpriced, these ought to fit the bill for fans of that style bridge.
Right, Dave. I always defer to lawyers when it comes to matters of style, engineering, and design.
They can always talk it into being right or sue it into submission. It's not a reality based profession, as I told this cookie as she starts her first year of law school this week. 162 on the LSAT with no prep.
(http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae241/cata1d0/02/Cookie_zpspen7qz2v.jpg) (http://s976.photobucket.com/user/cata1d0/media/02/Cookie_zpspen7qz2v.jpg.html)
I don't particularly like the Babicz either, they're selling snake oil IMO. I'm a bent plate, threaded saddle, its made millions of hits, kind of guy. I just bought the Omega for the hell of it, it will just go into a parts drawer. I do admire the guy who designed it for finding a need and filling it.
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I have to marvel at how grown men have issues with the Holy Immaculate Trinity! That bridge is like an old Landrover. Are there better cars? Yes, then and now. But can you overcome its flaws when in need? Yes, that bridge - in all its weirdness - is flexible as hell. I have never failed to get the adjustment I need from it. And if I can do it, anyone can, lawyers aren't really good at adjusting things. Moreover, I'm a stickler as regards buzz-freedom, perfect intonation (I need that - I play al lot of stuff up high, do chords etc.) and eveness of volume string to string (well, actually I like my E and my G a little louder than my A and D).
But I'm not doubting the functionality or the sound of Badass and Badass-inspired bridges at all. They just look horrible to me. Not a fan of bridges with large base plates in any case, that is what I find appealing with the three point: it doesn't obstruct the bass.
But if Badass and neo-Badass is your thing, I'm happy for you. I don't have to understand it.
And if that's your daughter, Carlo, then congrats as the law profession is a good choice for a woman. I'm not saying that men do no longer have more advantages in our profession, but we've come a longer way than most.
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Right, Dave. I always defer to lawyers when it comes to matters of style, engineering, and design.
They can always talk it into being right or sue it into submission. It's not a reality based profession, as I told this cookie as she starts her first year of law school this week. 162 on the LSAT with no prep.
(http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae241/cata1d0/02/Cookie_zpspen7qz2v.jpg) (http://s976.photobucket.com/user/cata1d0/media/02/Cookie_zpspen7qz2v.jpg.html)
I don't particularly like the Babicz either, they're selling snake oil IMO. I'm a bent plate, threaded saddle, its made millions of hits, kind of guy. I just bought the Omega for the hell of it, it will just go into a parts drawer. I do admire the guy who designed it for finding a need and filling it.
Is that your daughter?
IMHO both the Babicz and the Badass are overkill, but they work just fine.
I have to marvel at how grown men have issues with the Holy Immaculate Trinity! That bridge is like an old Landrover. Are there better cars? Yes, then and now. But can you overcome its flaws when in need? Yes, that bridge - in all its weirdness - is flexible as hell. I have never failed to get the adjustment I need from it. And if I can do it, anyone can, lawyers aren't really good at adjusting things. Moreover, I'm a stickler as regards buzz-freedom, perfect intonation (I need that - I play al lot of stuff up high, do chords etc.) and eveness of volume string to string (well, actually I like my E and my G a little louder than my A and D).
But I'm not doubting the functionality or the sound of Badass and Badass-inspired bridges at all. They just look horrible to me. Not a fan of bridges with large base plates in any case, that is what I find appealing with the three point: it doesn't obstruct the bass.
But if Badass and neo-Badass is your thing, I'm happy for you. I don't have to understand it.
And if that's your daughter, Carlo, then congrats as the law profession is a good choice for a woman. I'm not saying that men do no longer have more advantages in our profession, but we've come a longer way than most.
An old Landrover? Most of them can't make it across a parking lot without needing a major overhaul, so I suppose the comparison is apt. :P
It's an awful design. Nothing you say will convince me otherwise.
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'fender bridges, the bridge legends are built under'. a functioning bridge that stays visually out of the way and is simple to adjust. uwe you must be one those fancy guys playing up high and chording. come back to earth, this ain't bass player magazine.
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Yep, that's my daughter.
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Congratulations to her. :thumbsup:
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Yep, that's my daughter.
WHOA!!!! Really!? Like I hear constantly when people see my daughter - thank God she takes after her momma! ;D
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WHOA!!!! Really!? Like I hear constantly when people see my daughter - thank God she takes after her momma! ;D
Amen, brother!
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Back to the bridge, I like the extra mounting holes and hope that the screws it uses are tougher than the ones that come with a real Badass. I can't count the number of broken ones I've had to replace over the years. It's funny that Fender's skinny little screws almost never strip or freeze, but almost every Badass I've installed or repaired had at least one screw with the head broken.
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This is the Badass II I bought used in 1982 to use on my first Fenderbird, it's been on a bunch of my basses since. The 5 screw mount is the same as all the other IIs I've ever seen. I drilled the base for string thru in the late 90s. The holes in the saddle channels are in line with the mounting screws, visible under the G and D.
I really don't like the III saddles and don't understand why Quan dropped the outboard mounting screws.
The original BA is a queer duck, too tall for a Fender IMO and the wrong radius for Gibson. As far as weak screws I think it's probably the result of too much torque by a Hulk like installer.
(http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae241/cata1d0/JAEZZbird/P1040780_zpsbbfb41af.jpg) (http://s976.photobucket.com/user/cata1d0/media/JAEZZbird/P1040780_zpsbbfb41af.jpg.html)
Oh, look...super heroes.
(http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae241/cata1d0/02/01SuperHero_zpsmamlny0m.jpg) (http://s976.photobucket.com/user/cata1d0/media/02/01SuperHero_zpsmamlny0m.jpg.html)
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Interesting to note that the original Badass I bridges came in two different widths. I had one mounted on a bass years ago that was routed for the bridge. Sold that original one and bought another years later to put back on and it was a tad too wide. :-[
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It's an awful design. Nothing you say will convince me otherwise.
I clock it up to 'period charm'. You take off the strings and the bridge falls off, shedding the saddles in the process. However, what other bridge design allows you to control the yaw?
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I clock it up to 'period charm'. You take off the strings and the bridge falls off, shedding the saddles in the process. However, what other bridge design allows you to control the yaw?
YAWohl!
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"It's an awful design. Nothing you say will convince me otherwise."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you the guy who claims that the Evertilt bridge is an inherently good design missing - ooops! - a separate stringholder it never ever came with? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Alas!, the world would be so much a better place if bridge designs were the only things we ever disagreed about! ;D
Daughters in their 20ies are of course .... an issue. Whenever you go out with them as a middle-aged man people will think the inevitable and give you that look ... We had a client event this summer and Edith (= soon to be second wife and three months older than me - which is why she always ignored me at school, but let's not get into that again ...) didn't feel like going, so I took Teresa (daughter from first marriage) who first said only jokingly she'd go with me and then - curiosity! - decided to be serious about it. So I took her along and introduced her generally as "Natasha, my current Russian intern ..." to clients, just to see their open-mouthed reaction - Teresa would even play along with it -, before eventually hastening to add "Just joking, she's my daughter." (At which point people would actually notice the similarities between us.)
I admit being image-conscious enough to worry about the perception of being seen as some 54-year-old sugar-daddy with a woman 30 years younger. :-[ That's almost as bad as being a 54-year-old caught in a new Ferrari.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you the guy who claims that the Evertilt bridge is an inherently good design missing - ooops! - a separate stringholder it never ever came with? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Alas!, the world would be so much a better place if bridge designs were the only things we ever disagreed about! ;D
I hope you're not talking to me. That's the only bridge that I can think of on short notice worse than the 3 point. The crap Norlin was putting it on was highly deserving of it, I will say that for it.
...I am however perfectly happy with ALL of my original bar bridged EBs, which intonate at least as well as an unmodded 3 point.
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Carlo, would I ever insult you thus? I was aiming at the Minnesotan.
The saddles dropping out of the three-point if not under string pressure never bothered me, us Krauts are good at picking up the pieces, practice makes perfect. :mrgreen:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1976-137-06A,_Koblenz,_Tr%C3%BCmmerfrauen.jpg)
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A sincere mea culpa. ;)
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...I am however perfectly happy with ALL of my original bar bridged EBs, which intonate at least as well as an unmodded 3 point.
I find no fault with the bar bridge on my '64 EB-0 either. Intonates well, is stable and allows for low string action. A nicely designed item. When I got the EB-0 it had a BadAss on it, which I thought looked horrific and which lifted the strings too high.
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j306/apowell1/Electric%20Basses/Gibson%20EB-0%201964/P6180433.jpg)
I was overjoyed to discover the original bar bridge and mounting bolts in the storage pocket of the case. THE BA came off immediately and sold for silly money on Ebay, and I cheerfully reinstalled the bar bridge. It even covered up the mounting holes from the BA! Decorum has been restored.
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j306/apowell1/Electric%20Basses/Gibson%20EB-0%201964/PB070018.jpg)
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Much better - I'm relieved. The Badass is even more horrible on an EB than on a TB - and that is saying something.
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Love it, Al! The upside down finger rest does bother my OCD sensibilities, though.
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Love it, Al! The upside down finger rest does bother my OCD sensibilities, though.
I just returned it to its original location, so it's happy there. The gaping hole at the neck was there when I got it, so Dave sold me a period mudbucker to fill it. There isn't much you can't thump with a mudbucker and a Dimarzio Model 1 on the same bass.
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I just returned it to its original location, so it's happy there.
I'll rest easier tonight. Or it will.
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"Badass" is a registered Trademark - Serial #78357139 and 73576408
Trademark Status & Document Retrieval (http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78357139&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch)
Trademark Status & Document Retrieval (http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73576408&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch)
Owner:
Quan, Glen D.
561 Darien Way
San Francisco, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES 94127
Attorney:
Ronald S. Bienstock
Bienstock & Michael, LLC
411 Hackensack Ave.
7th Floor
Hackensack, NEW JERSEY UNITED STATES 07601
US Design Patents were were granted in 2008 under serial numbers D570,399 (BAIII) and D259,119 (BAII).
United States Patent: D570399 (http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=3&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=quan.INNM.&s2=bridge.TI.&OS=IN/quan+AND+TTL/bridge&RS=IN/quan+AND+TTL/bridge)
United States Patent: D259119 (http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=D259,119.PN.&OS=PN/D259,119&RS=PN/D259,119')
The belief seems to be that Mr. Quan is deceased and there is nobody "minding the store".
The fact that Fender's Geddy and Allparts' Omega bridges are direct copies lead me to imagine this is true.
That said, I'm curious...were the LQBA bridges ever marked with a patent number?
Patent pending - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_pending#United_States)
Apparently, having the product marked with the patent number is required, and I have not been able to find evidence of that on either the packaging or the models themselves.
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I looked it up, Glen Quan died 6/5/2006. No idea if the company still exists.
Look closely at those design patent dates. The BAII was actually filed in 1978 and granted in 1981, so it has expired. The BAIII was filed 6/5/2006 -- one week before Glen Quan died -- but not granted until 2008. It's valid, assuming there are heirs who want to enforce it, but AFAIK no one's marketing a copy of the BAIII anyway.
A patent number doesn't have to be on a product, but it can make it difficult to enforce the patent if you don't.
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According to the first trademark document 'Badass' was renewed Feb 19, 2015 by Glen D. Quan. Second one is up for renewal.
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Good catch on the patent dates.
My eyes get a little buggy after doing some of these searches...;)
It makes sense that the first BA bridge patent expired, and there appears to have been no application for the BAII.
The BAIII could be a drop-in replacement for the bridges I use, so it and its variants are of some interest to me.
I do see that the BAII/Omega design could be drilled to be string through as well.
That said, the Allparts BB-3575-010 is the best "off-the-shelf" alternative I've found so far, but it does not offer a top-load option.
https://www.allparts.com/BB-3575-010-String-Thru-Body-Bridge_p_688.html
(https://www.allparts.com/thumbnail.asp?file=/assets/images/products/BB-3575-010-web.jpg&maxx=390&maxy=0)
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According to the first trademark document 'Badass' was renewed Feb 19, 2015 by Glen D. Quan. Second one is up for renewal.
The renewal was done by an attorney. Assuming Glen Quan is deceased, it would belong to his estate. But the trademarks are beside the point, they're trademarks on the name, and AFAIK no one else is using the Badass name for musical instrument goods or services. Omega certainly isn't.
The BAII bridge shape never was trademarked. They would have had to show a style element in addition to the function in order to do that. They got a design patent instead, and that's expired.
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Good catch on the patent dates.
My eyes get a little buggy after doing some of these searches...;)
It makes sense that the first BA bridge patent expired, and there appears to have been no application for the BAII.
...
That first patent is for the BAII, not the original. You can tell by the patent drawing, it's a 5-hole mount. The original BA had a three-hole mount.
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That first patent is for the BAII, not the original. You can tell by the patent drawing, it's a 5-hole mount. The original BA had a three-hole mount.
Again, good catch.
8)