No disrespect intended, but it takes a French guitar maker to call one of his products the 'Passion'! Having said that, we have to admit to having had un grand amour (of a distinctly passionate nature) with a previous Vigier bass which came our way. It was that model (an Arpege) which was responsible for creating our impression that Vigier instruments are possibly the most seductive exports from the French since they unleashed vintage Cognac on us poor unsuspecting Anglo-Saxons! The chance, therefore, to sample one of Patrice Vigier's carbon fibre necked basses, fitted with his 'Phenowood' (phenolic) fretboard seemed too tempting to be missed.

The model we borrowed from distributors Capelle was a passive Passion (hmm -'passive passion'; sounds interesting - Ed!). The bass was fitted with two French-made Benedetti 8B Alnico magnet pickups and looked (as we've come to expect from Vigier) good enough to either strut on stage with or, in case you're feeling peckish, eat - with a gourmand's relish.

One of Patrice Vigier's claims to fame is his particularly fine finishing quality, and we certainly couldn't fault this bass in that respect. Beautifully shaded in a fiery red, with a flawless glow, it presented a classy, totally professional image. From a materials point of view, too, you have to hand it to Vigier and his team - they don't miss a trick when it comes to exploiting the potential of new materials. The Passion model we tried had a traditional wood body, fashioned from ikoko (apparently an African mahogany-like material, we gather from Capelle) but with a man-made neck/fingerboard combination. Not all Passions use this body wood; in fact Vigier (like most craftsmen makers) varies his woods continuously, and you might equally well come across other woods being used, one of the nicest being a natural finished walnut.

The neck, however, is entirely man-made. Rather than using one of the other unique Vigier approaches, such as a phenolic resin fingerboard fitted to a metal plate, both secured to a maple/walnut 'sandwich' (yum!) neck, and available as an option, this variant on the Passion shape had a Phenowood (phenolic resin) fingerboard on an all-carbon graphite neck. The maker has opted here for an unusual jointing system, bearing in mind his choice of materials. Instead of following a straight-through principle he has used a glued joint to fasten the plastic to the wood. According to Vigier glueing this 'plastic' neck assembly to the body means that, as the bridge rests entirely on wood, it gives the Passion a more natural sound than you would get if an all carbon fibre straight-through approach was employed. It's hard to tell whether such a claim is true, of course, as you could only make a sensible comparison with an all-wood Passion (not an option, we gather), but the idea makes a fair degree of sense. Either way, as you'll see later, we certainly didn't find the Vigier at all 'plastic' in its sound. That joint, moreover, is immaculately contoured so that it feels like one of the least obstructive heels you'll find.

The phenolic fretboard bears 21 frets (as well as a 'zero fret'; a system which regular readers may recall we rather like, as it reduces dependency on having a perfect nut). The setting of the medium-fat gauge frets in the man-made material was finely done, as was their comfortable profiling. The fretboard combines with the carbon fibre of the neck to feel uncannily like real wood, so you're unlikely to find it either unpleasantly cold to the touch or at all disturbing to play on. The neck shaping provides a slim profile, which makes the Vigier particularly suitable for faster playing styles - notably the current craze for slapping and pulling.

Hardware on the Passion comprises all Schaller gear. The heavy duty bass tuners work smoothly and accurately, and the Schaller bass bridge offers a full range of adjustment, both intonation and action being settable, as well as the string spacing, which can be adjusted by screwing the individual saddles from side to side on their threaded shafts. In our view, there are few bass bridges better than Schaller's. It's a well proven design and we like it a lot.

The Passion looks, feels and plays beautifully. The balance is perfect and the body feels comfortable and easy to handle.

Not having active circuitry (that's available as an optional extra) may make the Passion appear perhaps over-simplified compared with some of this maker's highly advanced active and programmable models, but, certainly for use on stage, there's a lot to be said in favour of simplicity - as anyone who's ever set one of their active controls wrongly when in a hurry will testify! The control gear for the two pickups just comprises a pair of plastic capped pots for volume control of each pickup, and a single tone control. It's about as basic as you can get, but this is very likely to appeal to those players who don't appreciate having too many controls to fiddle with on stage. Either way, the choice of types is yours - you can have either a passive or active versions, as you prefer.

The sound on our passive version ranged across a very reasonable spectrum for a passive instrument, suiting it for a number of styles, but most particularly for the Jazzier/Funkier approach; especially slap bass playing. Mind you, that's just the opinion of our reviewers (from whose hands we found it rather hard to prise this instrument after they'd officially done with it - always a good sign!). Having said that, mind you, the Vigier was also quite capable of producing a nice, guttural drive (probably due to having its twin pickups set fairly close to the bridge), and it could sound great in a tight and aggressive hard rock (as opposed to heavy metal) outfit. We wouldn't like to go on record as saying whether or not the carbon fibre neck made any appreciable difference to the sound which you might have got had Vigier been offering a conventional, all-wood Passion. Nonetheless, the carbon fibre/phenolic combination should ensure a stable and roadworthy lifespan, and as we said earlier, we certainly didn't find a noticeable 'plastic' sound. Certainly the Vigier had bags of sustain and a rich harmonic content in the notes - equally importantly, we found it completely free of 'dead spots'.

Not every player, though (however close it might seem to organic materials), will like the feel of Phenowood. In fact, we understand the ubiquitous Pino Palladino is in the process of having one of these models made specially for him, but with a rosewood fingerboard applied to the carbon fibre neck. This isn't a 'pros only' option, just in case you were wondering, as anyone can have either ebony or rosewood on carbon fibre supplied as a special order. In our view, we actually quite liked the feel of the resin fretboard, and suspect that more than a few players will choose it for its physical strength and stability (matching that of the impossibly tough carbon fibre neck), not bothering overmuch about the slightly unusual feel it affords.

The Passion is an extremely practical bass, it seems to us. It's beautifully made, plays and handles really easily, and sounds great, given that you are either a 'slapper' or want a hard-driving bass sound. It certainly isn't the cheapest passive bass around by any standards, but it has appeal by the yard (sorry - metre!), and offsetting the relatively high price are all those mechanical and tonal qualities combined with an immaculate standard of finishing.

For those who like the simplicity of passive systems, and who appreciate a fast-playing bass with great looks, undeniable rarity value and, above all, a distinctive touch of class, then this Vigier is certainly one to try. Albeit 'only' a passive and at a high-price, it's a very different kettle of fish from the mass-produced Japanese instruments which might otherwise make it look overpriced. If you try one for yourself, we feel you'll see how the asking price is fully justified.

For the right player, we reckon the Vigier Passion is a good investment. Whether you go for an active or passive version, it should take a hard life on the road more than capably, and will always leave you with that feeling, as you put it away in its case, that you've got yourself a professional class instrument which not only plays, looks and sounds great, but which earns you some very envious glances from other players.

RRP £695 Inc. VAT

More details on Vigier instruments from Capelle Music Ltd., (Contact Details).