Misdee

I remember seeing the bass player for The Cure playing a Wal Pro bass , and that must be about 40 years ago!

I take your point entirely. On reflection, it would be more appropriate for Paul to do a run of Pro basses and charge more than a standard MK1 Custom , rather than less. I recall that Status Graphite did a run of early -1980's-style basses to mark some anniversary or other a few years ago. If Wal were to follow suit with some Pro basses I bet they would all be sold on pre-order in no time at all. I see why that is very unlikely to happen, though. What I find a bit unsettling in all of this is that the 1980's is now a "vintage" era. How is this possible? That decade was supposed to epitomise modernity. I was young and thin . We had video recorders, walkmans, leg warmers, brass bridges, graphite necks , active electronics. and mass unemployment. How has it come to this? Nowadays I need something as heavy as a vintage Wal to flatten my gut enough to stop the bass pivoting on my belly when I play standing up.😄

I love the fact that Wal have never and hopefully will never start manufacturing a budget model overseas. Lets face it a " budget" UK -made Wal Pro would be 3-4 thousand quid , in all likelihood. That is o.k by me. Didn't Sam Rivers from Limp Bizkit have a Pro - style Custom built a few years back IIRC? I would dearly love a Pro-style bass for so may reasons, not least of all Alan Spenner and Gary Tibbs with Roxy Music. Both were so inspiring to me when I first started playing.

Given the ongoing trend for retro gear, if Wal reissued the Pro Basses they would be fighting customers off with the proverbial unhygienic stick . I know Wal are back-ordered for years already, but maybe they could expand their operation if they had consistent demand for a bass that was slightly simpler to manufacture . I would buy one, that's for sure.

Chiswick has always been choc-a-block with actors and media people in general, still is and probably always will be.

I am really into these early '70'S bass tones, and have been using TI flats on a Fender Precision and 74 Jazz reissue to try and get my own approximation. I had been thinking that buying a valve preamp might be the last piece of the jigsaw, but after reading this thread now I am beginning to wonder if getting a bronze- coloured Ford Granada might be what I need to get the sound I crave.

All just goes to show how a "nasty" sound soloed is necessary to have some cut-through in the final mix.

This isolated bass track sounds pretty "ponky" too, to my ears at least. All the more surprising when you consider that it is LA session ace David Hungate in the early 1980's: Sounds great in the finished track, though.

Dave Richmond is a brilliant bass player, absolutely fantastic. His work with Serge Gainsbourg is especially good: Yes, I know that at least three different bass players claim to have played on this album, but as far as I know, Dave Richmond is the most likely candidate.

Definitely less clicky than the first example, but still some pick-like attack, even if it is fingers. Not dissimilar to Wilton Felder in that respect.

If you listen to the decay of the notes , it sounds like flats to me, especially allowing for the extended frequency range inherent to Alembic basses. Rounds would likely have been much more twangy on that bass. Even allowing for pick/muting technique, it sounds like flats. This example from the same sessions sounds a bit less ambiguous : Alembic were not at all averse to flatwound strings on their basses in this era, and were enthusiastic exponents of Pyramid Gold flats back in their early days . Phil Lesh and also ,I think, Jack Cassidy used flats on their Alembics. Maybe John McVie was still old school enough in the mid-70's to be reluctant to move to roundwounds. I know Chuck Rainey and Willie Weeks, for example, didn't switch to rounds until the early 1980s.

100% pick and flats for John McVie, I'm less sure whether Wilton Felder is using a pick .

Wilton Felder's tone on this track was pretty typical of so many examples from that era , and as others have pointed out, it sounds magnificent in the track. The fact that Wilton is a great player helps a bit , too. I was listening to the isolated bass track of John McVie ( another great player) on Go Your Own Way from Rumours the other day and considering he played it on an Alembic, that sounds pretty "ponky" too ( I would say "plunky", but we'll agree to differ😄) It makes me smile when I think how fashionable these more muted retro tones have become again . What happened the the 1980's when modern was best and flatwounds were practically illegal ? The more" ponky " the better seems to be the zeitgeist of our time when it comes to bass nowadays. Its interesting to consider that it's twenty years since D'Angelo released Voodoo with Pino Palladino reinventing himself with a P Bass sporting flatwound strings to such great effect, and legions of would-be trendy and hip bass players have subsequently fallen over themselves to copy his inspired approach. How ironic! I love these vintage bass tones, and the instruments they were created with, but it would be nice to see a bit more creativity from some contemporary players. Its nice to be inspired and emulate, but I always feel that the players being emulated were more often than not inspiring because they were original and individual in some way, if that makes sense. Anyhow, if you can't beat them, join 'em, I'm off to play my 74 AVRI Jazz with TI flats this afternoon😄.

Totally get both your points, and the potential replacements all look like mouthwatering prospects. I am interested how this turns out as I am very into idiosyncratic passive pickups. Keep us posted.

The pickup is kind of the point of the Carbonita, otherwise it would be just another P Bass, as Im sure you are well aware. All the retro -fit alternatives Cuzzie mentions are superb choices, but so is the FideliTron that is already in it. You could be spending plenty of money making a sideways move. I was under the impression that Fender had copied the FilterTron for this bass, anyway

The 2024 has indeed got a pretty chunky neck but I still find it very playable. FWIW, I think they are fabulous basses and well worth the premium over the 10 Series made in Indonesia. Regarding the weight, the X basses are inherently heavier, usually around 9 1/2lbs for a 4 string, 9 3/4 for a 5 string. The non-X version is normally lighter by about half a lb or so.

My other thought is that it might be something to do with how the Focusrite interacts with the pedal. Maybe I need to add some EQ and/or compression at the interface stage to make it sound a bit more palatable.

Will do, thanks !

I usually have drive set at 11 o'clock, bass at 1 o'clock, blend at 3 o'clock, mid ( 1khz) at 12 o'clock or slightly boosted to 1 o'clock. Cheers I will give your settings a go.

Thanks so much for getting in touch, I am absolutely sure that the problem lies with me and how I am using the pedal. So, is it correct to think that the presence control is boost only i.e. all the way off is flat?

I recently replaced my trusty Korg Pandora PX4b with a Tech21 BDDI V2 in my home recording set up. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts with the EQ, the BDDI sounds very harsh and trebly. With the treble and presence controls set at 12 o'clock (ie flat) the sound is very, very toppy, so much that if I am doing a bit of slapping and popping the twang is fit to burst my eardrums! I am having to roll back the treble and presence to about 10 o'clock and also have to use my Diamond BC1 compressor to get an acceptable sound with my main bass, a USA Lakland PJ. I should also mention that I am recording onto my PC via a Foccusrite Solo 3rd Gen into Audacity. I have not downloaded any of the bundled software included with the Focusrite, but plan to do so as soon as I can work out how to. As I have mentioned before on these pages, to describe my tech skills as remedial would be overly kind. Any help or advice on taming the sound would be gratefully received.

To me, this is a bit of a disaster. Yet another iconic brand compromised by a mixture of ageing ownership and economics, with Spector and Ken Smith making similar arrangements to Sadowsky, and Pedulla gone completely. What is glaringly obvious is that with this licencing deal Warwick have made a massive play to get into the Fender-derived bass market, an area they were previously excluded from by their own designs. Warwick will now be in pole position to take over the brand entirely when Roger retires. I fear that in the fullness of time they will have no scruples about compromising quality and exploiting the brand name.

Totally agree that mainstream pop music has been going nowhere for a very long time. The exception would be rap-/hip-hop/grime etc. And yes, Oasis sounded nothing like the Beatles, more like Slade for the TFI Friday generation. They just thought that if they mentioned themselves in association with the Beatles repeatedly they would somehow appoint themselves as inheritors of the Beatles genius. The major difference being that Oasis were of very limited ability and even more limited intelligence. Testament to just how unaware they are of their shortcomings is just how enamoured the Gallaghers nowadays are of their own importance, offering their wisdom on a whole host of subjects. Brett Anderson once famously described Oasis as electricians with guitars, but I would take exception to that. No way could any of them learn a trade.

Thanks, cheers for that. Right, so I am going to get myself a Focusrite Scarlet-solo and an XLR cable. May I ask do you know if it will work OK with Windows 7? ( Yes I really am that far behind the times) Regarding the Helix, unfortunately it wasn't available yet when I was shopping for an upgrade on the Korg Pandora, so I bought the BDDI V2 as a good safe bet.