Misdee

I can remember in the 1980's when plenty of UK retail shops had Wal basses in stock, especially in the Greater London area. That's when I played a fair few and I distinctly remember the substantial feel of the necks on all of them. When I see the eye-watering prices of a new Mk 1 Wal, how I wish I could go back in time! Lovely basses, but five grand? They were never that expensive back in the day, even allowing for inflation. I've never had one of my own, and I suppose now I never will. Such a shame as I would dearly love one.

[quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1470342737' post='3105407'] 35 years? Who are these 'many'? Many members of this forum might believe that, say, Fenders have been over-valued for 35 years, but if the market for fenders has sustained those prices for 35 years then I'd say that would be a pretty good indication of what those fenders were actually worth. That's not to say that circumstances couldn't change such that their value suddenly plummeted, but I'm not sure that's the same as being overvalued in the past. [/quote] I say most of the last 35 years, because for the most of that time the pound has traded above it's current level. It has been unusual to get less than 1.5 dollars to the pound. A higher dollar rate favours American exports at the cost of transatlantic trade in the return direction. This suits certain vested interests, but does not necessarily reflect the true buying power of the respective currencies. Numerous economists have drawn attention to this discrepancy. Regarding the UK retail value of brands such as Fender, goods are priced to a market, and you can't blame any company for trying to get maximum profit. Except for Warwick. They are taking the piss.

In the long term, I fear for specialist high-end guitar and bass shops. People will pay a bit more for a while,but ultimately higher prices will lead to a tail-off in sales that would be disasterous for smaller independent retailers. There is a certain point at which consumers start to look elsewhere to spend their money. Folks will pay 21/2 to 4k for a high end " boutique" bass, they won't pay 5k upwards, except for the most prestigious brands, such as Fodera and Wal. Look at the drop in sales of German- made Warwick basses over the last few years. Their incredibly high ( some would say exhorbitant, or even just plain mental) prices have led to their disappearance from the UK retail scene. When was the last time anyone on Basschat ordered a new German-made Warwick?

Wal necks are, as I remember them, pretty chunky and barrel-like, for want of a better term. They are certainly nothing like the shallow D of a Stingray, more like a slightly narrower chunky Precision.

Hard to whittle it down to five, but John McVie, Graham Maby, George Murray, David Hood and Robbie Shakespeare all inspired me when I first started playing and still do now, decades later.

I too have absolutely no desire to get involved in a political discussion - I'm way past saturation point with all this Brexit business - and as someone else has pointed out, that horse has already bolted. The fact is that the pound will not be recovering to pre -Brexit levels any time in the foreseeable future, not least of all because many in the financial markets believe that sterling was grossly over-valued for most of the last 35 years. They would see the current exchange rate as a far more accurate valuation of the pound, especially in relation to the US dollar. This is significant for the price of musical equipment not just from the USA but also from the Far East, where trade with the West is usually conducted in US dollars, regardless of the final destination of the goods. The big question is whether, in the longer term, manufacturers will have to rethink their pricing structures for the UK market. Conceivably, there may come a point where American guitars become priced out of the market in Britain and sales fall off drastically. Companies like Fender will have to make a decision whether to cut profit margins or see their sales dwindle, leaving them with 100% of nothing. I am brassed - off myself because I've been saving for a new MM Stingray and now can't even bring myself to find out what the post- Brexit prices are. My only hope is that Sterling Ball takes pity on America's closest ally and cuts us a special deal. I am not, however holding my breath!

Feedback thread for Misdee - comments and suggestions gratefully received.

I've been reading this thread with interest, despite the fact that these basses don't really appeal to me in so much as Shell Pink would have to be one of my least favourite Fender custom colours, and although I quite like Flea as a bass player that is not enough to get me to buy what is essentially just another vintage Jazz Bass copy. I wouldn't buy a bass with fake wear on it either, but that's just me being a grumpy old man. This may be an apocryphal tale, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that some young pup of an internet billionaire bought the 61 Shell Pink Jazz for Flea as a gift to his most esteemed musician. Someone told him that this was the rarest and most valuable bass that there was, so he bought it as a present. Flea promptly put stickers on it and proceeded to beat hell out of it in his inimitable style. That's punk rock for you. Regarding the stack knobs v VVT configuration in terms of tone, I know that many bass players favour one arrangement over the other, including such notables as Jaco Pastorius and John Entwhistle, but I'll be damned if I can hear a difference. Either one will sound like a Jazz Bass.

I went to see Rainbow at the first ever Monsters Of Rock at Donnington in 1980 (!). That was the era of Graham Bonnett as singer and Roger Glover on bass, although I would have to say that the Dio/Daisley lineup was Rainbow's finest hour. L.A. Connection is still one of my all time favourite play- along tracks at home.