Omega (BadAss II Clone) Bridge

dadagoboi · August 20, 2015, 04:06:47 PM

Just got one in from Allparts.

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

Highlander · August 20, 2015, 04:27:49 PM

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...

dadagoboi · August 20, 2015, 05:02:43 PM

Quote from: Highlander on August 20, 2015, 04:27:49 PM
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.

Lightyear · August 20, 2015, 06:21:35 PM

Quote from: dadagoboi on August 20, 2015, 04:06:47 PM
Just got one in from Allparts.

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!

dadagoboi · August 20, 2015, 06:32:51 PM

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.

Lightyear · August 20, 2015, 07:30:50 PM

Quote from: dadagoboi on August 20, 2015, 06:32:51 PM
...I've hardened my heart.

NooOoOOoOoooooo!! Damn it! It's back now! But, on the plus side, Small World has been replaced!

Highlander · August 21, 2015, 12:40:31 AM

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...

dadagoboi · August 21, 2015, 01:15:00 AM

Quote from: Highlander on August 21, 2015, 12:40:31 AM
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...

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?

uwe · August 21, 2015, 09:51:30 AM

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.

dadagoboi · August 21, 2015, 10:33:28 AM

Quote from: uwe on August 21, 2015, 09:51:30 AM
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.

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)

uwe · August 21, 2015, 11:31:35 AM

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."

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.

Dave W · August 21, 2015, 03:13:10 PM

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.

dadagoboi · August 21, 2015, 03:25:36 PM

Quote from: Dave W on August 21, 2015, 03:13:10 PM
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.

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.

uwe · August 21, 2015, 05:54:19 PM

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.

Dave W · August 21, 2015, 06:49:37 PM

Quote from: dadagoboi on August 21, 2015, 03:25:36 PM
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.

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.

Quote from: uwe on August 21, 2015, 05:54:19 PM
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.

It's an awful design. Nothing you say will convince me otherwise.