tauzero

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1444892365' post='2886968'] The only time an esoteric bass like a Wal is any use is if you have the freedom to be using something that sounds a bit different. It wouldn't be any good for dad rock pub covers [/quote] Why on earth not? It's a bass, it will make bass noises in a pub rock band as well as any other bass.

I went a bit higher than you, AT. Definitely not three figures though. And not only is it up to three figures (before the decimal point), the first digit is 3.

[quote name='colgraff' timestamp='1444810351' post='2886166']This, of course, is the heaviest Wal of all: [/quote] Not showing up any more. Let me guess, it was the Great Wal of China. Hadrian's Wal would be next and then the comparatively lightweight Berlin Wal, although Jeff wasn't entirely happy with the neck profile and traded it in

[quote name='steve-soar' timestamp='1444769225' post='2885920'] Meanwhile, in Saudi Aribia, a 3 times cancer surviving 73 year old man is expecting 350 lashes for having wine. [/quote] He could wear a Wal on his back, that should help.

[quote name='DavidMcKay' timestamp='1444758211' post='2885711'] I have never heard a bad word about or against Wal basses - and that makes me ultra suspicious! [/quote] Personally, I don't like the neck profiles, so I wouldn't have one. Other basses that I have tried and didn't like the neck profiles of - Fodera, Spector, some Warwicks.

It's the Squier Standard Precision V or some similar name. I had one briefly, one of my occasional poor purchasing decisions.

[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1444598300' post='2884472'] Ha ha, imagine what mid-70s Fender motorcycles would have been like [/quote] They were called Harley-Davidson. The Sportster 1000 was notorious for selecting two gears simultaneously, with unfortunate consequences.

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1444217164' post='2881171'] why do people need so many basses or guitars for that matter? [/quote] I don't need them. I just want them. And that's my justification, although I do have to provide something a little more concrete to Mrs Zero. After all, it's her who has to cope with the diminishing amount of space caused by about 15 basses.

[quote name='Shonks' timestamp='1444319217' post='2882228'] Fender basses changed the world. The design is so fantastic it's hardly changed over the years and all the brilliant boutique basses out there, while being master built, are mostly Fender copies lets face it. [/quote] That's because bassists have no imagination.

I was wondering about the wonky bridge, then I realised it's a fan fret design.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1444476544' post='2883521'] I had a look at pictures of the Alembic 'hippy sandwich'. There's definitely influence in terms of the stripey through-neck. However, the body shape and pickups are very different. If we compare an Aria SB900 (for the double pickups). with the Mania basses (and many other basses) There is more similarity than just the stripey through neck, or even the double humbuckers and wood grain top, as the Alembic had. The body shape is the same, and this IMHO makes it more of a copy (though not exact) than an 'inspired by' as in the Alembic. Are there earlier instruments that were a more direct inspiration than the Alembic. [/quote] The body shape isn't that close - the Aria is as close to a Fender Jazz as it is to a Zephyr or Grind shape. The Zephyr/Grind/Mania top horn is much slimmed down in comparison, and the Mania and Zephyr have symmetrical bottoms rather than the forward slant of the Aria, Jazz, and Grind.

If you look at his other auctions, it seems highly probable that it's someone else who's buggered it up and the seller has got it in a house clearance or the like.

And you can use the extension pole to play pool. It looks quite nicely made, though there's not really enough close-up photos. The bridge does intonation in pairs, not individually, which isn't ideal.

[quote name='Chienmortbb' timestamp='1443997438' post='2879399'] I don't belirve that Passive EQ can boost. With controls set flat it cuts everything by a certain amount but mimics boost by cutting some frequencies less than others. You need a lot of gain before or after passive eq to make up for the loss of signal. Passinwnd is the best guy to ask though as he designed the preamp that we are using with active bass and mid but a passive treble control. The real answer though is to use your ears. [/quote] I suppose it depends on what you count as boost. The Baxandall design makes up for the fact that the James network cuts the overall signal to about 1/3 of the input level so the whole lot needs more amplification afterwards. However, the tone controls don't behave as cut-only.

That's a Grind shape but doesn't seem to have the scoop. It's all so complicated...

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1444195902' post='2880973'] Oops! If I was to buy a grind, I'd have to research further to be aware of mis-labelled zephyrs. [/quote] I'd go with either TBH. The neck on the Zephyr is a little fatter - just enough that I sold mine rather than hang on to it. It did get used in one studio session - I was recording in the control room which was packed with electronics, and my Antoniotsai was picking up interference, so I used the Zephyr. While they're both made to a good standard, there's something about the sandwich-wing Zephyr [1] which makes it seem to ooze quality. [1] Other Zephyrs are available. Avoid the Ford Zephyr, it'll be rather long in the tooth and all rused out now.

The pickup cover is nicely wonky. Sadly, all the photos are taken at an angle which precludes checking the neck pocket to see if it has an authentic Fender gape.

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1444086905' post='2880253'] I don't think the daft sods asking £300-odd ever get lucky. [/quote] They only have to get lucky once though, whereas the poor buyer has to evade those for ever.

Yes, a Zephyr - pretty symmetrical rather than the leaning-forward Grind.

[quote name='sprocketflup' timestamp='1444087784' post='2880257'] and another to inevitably ask if its any good for m*tal [/quote] And another one to say that Leo Fender had invented the light bulb and nothing better had been invented since then.

Mrs Zero and I will be there on the Friday, making a long weekend of it!

[quote name='CHW' timestamp='1444044094' post='2879666'] Of course- everything has it's price, but this is more about a middle ground between "I need some cash" and "it's not for sale but for £50K it is yours" [/quote] "So we've established you're a whore, we're just haggling about the price".

[quote name='IBWT' timestamp='1443877832' post='2878407'] My only criticism is that you could have made the most of the headstock for the 5th string and have it go all the way up to get more tension. [/quote] Surely the tension would be the same (as the speaking length is the same) and the only change is that it would be slightly easier to fret the string as the overall length of the string would be greater and so the marginal change in length from fretting would be proportionately lower with the tuner at the end of the headstock.

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1443975606' post='2879126'] If you're electronically minded then downloading [url="http://www.duncanamps.com/tsc/"]Duncan's Tone Stack Calculator [/url]and playing with the controls will give you an idea of how a Passive EQ functions. There's a few different designs, the 'Fender' model is the same as Trace Elliot and Alembic use in their preamps. [/quote] And the James one illustrates boost and cut in a passive tone stack.

Passive eq can boost and cut, depending on what it is. The James circuit was the passive predecessor of the active Baxandall circuit, and like the Baxandall, offers both boost and cut. James: [url="http://www.thermionic.info/james/James_SimpleToneControl.pdf"]http://www.thermionic.info/james/James_SimpleToneControl.pdf[/url] Baxandall: [url="http://www.thermionic.info/baxandall/Baxandall_NegativeFeedbackTone.pdf"]http://www.thermionic.info/baxandall/Baxandall_NegativeFeedbackTone.pdf[/url]