TrevorR

Found some more photos of the Wals lurking on the iPad so here are a few for your delectation... [b]Pro IIE Bass...[/b] Playing at church...

Now that I've met you, would you object to Never seeing each other agaon? (Aimee Mann) What is hip? What's going on? Will you still love me tomorrow?

Just spotted this report from NAMM about the redesigned, relaunched Gizmotron 2.0 http://geargods.net/news/coolest-guitar-invention-yet-gizmotron/ A radical update of the gadget pioneered and promoted briefly by Godley and Creme from 10cc in the late 70s. 2015's engineering, electronics and manufacturing processes might make this a viable thing nowadays... Provided you're happy to have a hughe lump of plastic adorning the front of your bass. Watcha think... A radical new must have effect or a gizmo(tron) too far?

Set it out tonight. All went more or less straightforwardly. I can see how if you had the wrong length of bracket it would be a nightmare. Sacrificing £10 on the correct brackets is probably much better than trying a bodge job of some sort. There was a bit of drilling but it went OK. My main helpful hint is to drill the two holes at one end and then mount the brackets in place with screws. Then, use the holes on the loose ends of the brackets as guides for drilling the other house. That way you can guarantee they are in the right place and will align. Also, the box said to use a 5mm drill. I used a 3mm one and that was just the right size. If you used 5mm I really don't think that the screws would have had any metal to catch on. If it's a misprint on the box it's one heck of a misprint! Once my Cleartone patch cables arrive and I have tidied up the cables underneath I will post some photos of the board in the appropriate thread. I must confess that it's rather bijou compared to most.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1439930621' post='2846914'] We could do the pairs in Rio next year... On a related note. Is the Wal history site yours? It an excellent piece of work, I've enjoyed hours on there. [/quote] Thanks, yes indeed. The child of a really nasty chest infection about 10 years ago which laid me up for the best part of a month and some free web-space from my then broadband provider. I thought. "I'm so bored I'll teach myself HTML and how to make a website... now, what could I do a website about? Hmmm... I know!!" Moved it all over to Blogger a few years ago. Glad you enjoy it. Must get around to doing some updates some time.

No but kudos for the mention of a great great band and two great great tunes! Love Barry Devlin's bass playing!

'E said "Captain?" I said, "Wot?" 'E said "Captain?" I said "Wot?" 'E said "Captain?" I said "Wot?" 'E said "Captain?" I said "Wotcha want?"

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1439991151' post='2847314'] Isn't It Ironic? [/quote] No Alanis, it isn't. Most of it isn't ironic at all; it's just bad luck. For goodness sake, buy yourself a dictionary!!!

[quote name='Bottle' timestamp='1439986296' post='2847252'] Little update. Have now got the Classic JR too. Great board, sturdy and well made. Here's the problem: I'm having trouble mounting the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2+ to the underside. The brackets I bought off of Amazon are for the right PSU but will only fit the older PT-JR series not the Classics anyone have any ideas on how to do this? [/quote] There is a guide on what is supposed to fit on what here... [url="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/52a0ce9ce4b0aa09f5b9273a/t/556c7101e4b08a6590d1677a/1433170177787/UpdatedBRKTguide.pdf"]http://static1.squarespace.com/static/52a0ce9ce4b0aa09f5b9273a/t/556c7101e4b08a6590d1677a/1433170177787/UpdatedBRKTguide.pdf[/url] And the overall bracket page is here... [url="http://www.pedaltrain.com/brackets"]http://www.pedaltrain.com/brackets[/url] Don't know if there is any helpful info there. Hopefully I have a Classic JR and some (non VoodooLab) brackets waiting for me at home in a big thomann shaped box. A lot of reviews have complanied that the mounting brackets are tricky to fit at the best of times. Fingers crossed!

http://youtu.be/FBtweLJ211k

Where do we go from here? Is it down to the lake I fear? Why does it always rain on me? Is it because I lied when I was 17? What becomes of the broken hearted? Would I lie to you? What is love anyway? Does anybody love anybody anyway? Why must I be a teenager in love? Will you still need me? Will you still feed me when I'm 64?

CamdenRob, I'll be able to row faster with my Pro, though! :-)

Just a quickie question... What's the protocol on sharing outside Basschat? I'd love to flag it on the Wal Basses Facebook group I help moderate if that was OK... Not sure how many there are Baschatters and how many locals who might like to come aren't.

Aria Pro II SB700 - my first ever bass, I still own it. Squier Jazz bass - Frankenjazzed, de fretted and then sold on to my bass teacher to help fund a Brook acoustic guitar. Tony Revell custom built acoustic bass - back in 1991 they just weren't as available as now and this is a real beaut Wal Mk 1 custom bass - bought second hand in 1992 and since then my No 1 bass Wal Pro IIE - bought second hand in 2000 and my No 2 bass love. Signature Frankenjazz - bought from Buildabass off eBay as a DIY project. Added Hipshot tuners, Audere preamp, Graphtec saddles, Dunlop Strap Loks... A fantastic super jazz. I leant it to a producer friend and now he flatly refuses to give it back he loves it so much. Faith Neptune Titan acoustic bass - bought because my Revell it fully acoustic and too precious to take to acoustic gigs. A grand total of just 7 basses, 6 of which I still own. Either I'm a total lightweight or I found my true bass love early on...

I'll also throw in a band from Sacramento that a chum played in called The Mind Club. Released a couple of albums which are worth tracking down. Sort of a Lalo Schifren vibe to what they did... http://youtu.be/V8n0tEj2mqY http://youtu.be/Z_sEMU1HrdQ

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1439563455' post='2843974'] Aargh! Yes. That one also features another pet hate, i.e. through-necks visible as contrasting stripes down the middle of the instrument. [/quote] Except that is a bolt on not a thru neck... An old Wal trick when you have some different coloured heart and sap wood on the bookmatched facings. My Wal has a similar but more subtle version on the front...

I've also worked around the corner from Denmark Street over the last 20+ years and its downhill over that time has been a sad one. Back in the day (over 15 years ago now) each shop was independent and had its own character. Each had its own manufacturers link ups and many had interesting new and second hand treats within. A bit overpriced, yes, but... hey... "London Prices". Back then Rose Morris had an exclusive deal with the mythical Takamines which were just starting to appear (a chum of mine got a prototype Tak electric in three back in about 1990!). Rokas was aimed at, well, rokas but also had some interesting second hand stuff (sparkle silver double neck Wal anyone?). Hanks had everything from beginners guitars to top end US and UK luthiery. Andy's was just mad and disorganised. Every visit was a treat whether you bought or not. Then as I recall about 10+ years ago almost all of the shops got bought up by the same conglomerate and, although they retained separate names and fascias were little more than a glorified musical Department store, and similarly homogenised. All run out of one corporate centre and without soul.it felt like it went from being a musical Diagon Alley to House of Fraser. Then, of course, there was the big implosion which others have alluded to and the Music Ground scandals from about three years ago. Had a look around the other week and it's barely a shadow of what it used to be. (Back in the days we always think about when we talk about Denmark Street). However, it's nice to see that Wunjos is bringing a bit of personality into the place since it moved into Denmark Street from its premises round the back. Would be a shame if the developers drive that little bit of history out of the west end.

[quote name='tobiewharton' timestamp='1438982907' post='2839260'] Bubinga5 - I was thinking the same with Abe Laboriel. Will check out these guys. Do you play yourself? The guys who are standing out for me at the moment are Justin Raines (Israel Houghton, amongst others) and Maurice Fitzgerald (Kurt Carr, amongst others). [/quote] Wouldn't say Abe Laboriel is particularly pegged as a gospel player, esp given his broad session rep and smooth jazz output. However he has done a fair bit of gospel playing with the likes of Andre Crouch, Ron Kenoly and Alvin Slaughter. Must say that I love all his playing but mostly listen to his first two solo albums and his stuff with Koinonia.

The one that I just keep coming back to is Incognito's "Tribes Vibes and Scribes". Amazing playing by the whole band but particularly by Randy Hope Taylor. My two faves from the album... http://youtu.be/jC9C6cCc_A8 http://youtu.be/Exhdm8Jyg8E

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1439367403' post='2842129'] just noticed though, that bit of light wood on the front of the cutaway, that would bug me over time! [/quote] Well then, you clearly haven't spotted the bit of wood that the neck pickup's tone control is sitting on yet... ;-) Mwah ha ha ha!

The JGs were Wal's first settled design. Solid ash body with a leather tooled scratchplate. Lots more info here http://walbasshistory.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page_28.html (This one is John Entwistle's) Gary Tibbs' one was less floral... There is an interview with Percy about his involvement in the early days of Wal here. He was a proponent of the brand and appeared in their press ads... Quite a few photos here of him with his JG, Pro and Custom Series Wals. http://walbasshistory.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/interview-with-percy-jones.html

Tough choices... These are the bass players who have played on the music which has stayed with me longest and to which I keep on returning. Probably some unexpected choices here (after the absolute no brainers)... 1 Phil Lynott - Thin Lizzy 2 Geddy Lee -Rush 3 Chris Squire - Yes 4 Neil Murray - Whitesnake and everyone else 5 Kelly Groucutt - Electric Light Orchestra 6 Barry Devlin - Horslips 7 Bernard Edwards - Chic 8 Rutger Gunnarsson - Abba 9 Randy Hope Taylor - Incognito 10= Herbie Flowers and Mo Foster - a gazillion great sessions... Oooooooh, so many others bubbling under too.... Mike Rutherford, David Paton, John G Perry, John Gustafson, Leland Sklar, Jimmy Johnson, Jamerson and Babbitt, Duck Dunn, Abe Laboriel...

Before getting moulded plugs I used these for years http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alpine-MusicSafe-Filter-Plugs-Musicians/dp/B000VO8PR0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439272150&sr=8-1&keywords=alpine+hearing+protection Alpine Musicsafe Pro. A bit fiddly to get in and out until you got the knack but I found them more comfy than Doc's Pro Plugs or Etymotic plugs and just as effective. Being able to change the level of attenuation was a real boon too.

Bought these nice 4 inch wide straps for all my basses. Took a while to arrive but worth every penny in terms of comfort and quality. http://www.italiastraps.com/guitar-straps-uk.html That plus Jim Dunlop Straploks on all my instruments... No other way to go for me!

As far as I understand this was one of the first (poss the first) on which he used a Wal bass. The album was relaeased in 1978. He would have been playing his JG series bass, serieal number JG1122. You can see the record here from Wal's old list of JG series basses... some interesting names on there! His last album with a Wal would be Xcommunication. From Manifest Destiny onwards he was playing his Ibanez.