TrevorR

This was Guitar Galleries (looked it up). Also a tiny place in that little parade of shops near the level crossing on Station Road, opposite where the Asda was (used to park in the Asda car park). Must have been there from mid-90s to mid-2000s. Now Premier Lettings...

Well, back in 1999 a new Wal Custom Series Bass was in the region of 2 and a half grand. Up in that London a second hand Custom Series 4 string was around £1,500 at most. An old Pro Series Wal was about £450-500. Well, in Spring 1999 a nice red Wal Pro 2E turned up. Really good condition and IMHO a real looker. But the price tag said, £1,500! Of course I had a try (I’d actually been looking for a Pro 2E ) and said to the owner. It’s lovely. I’d take it off your hands today but it’s just way overpriced... by a factor of about 3, you know.” “Nah mate. That’s a Wal that is. They’re top flight basses those. That’s what they go for up in London. Properly rare.” “Well, yeah, the newer Customs go for that, the ones with the exotic wood bodies and newer electrics. This is a Pro Series. The market value is about 500 quid. Honest, I’d take it off your hands today for that.” “You’re ‘avin’ a larff, mate. This one’s worth one and a half grand. That’s the price. Take it or leave it.” “OK, I’ll have to leave it. But I’m telling you now, it’s just going to sit there gathering dust, taking up floor space and cluttering up your inventory. But if you don’t mind I’ll pop in every two or three months to have a bit of a play on it and see if the price has come down to a sensible price. That OK?” “Huh, please yourself but it’ll be gone in no time. Really sought after these are. It’ll be gone within a week.” So that’s what I did. Every so often I’d pop in, have a look at the guitars have a noodle on the Wal and offer £500 for it.” Over the course of two years the price label was amended to say £1400, £1250, £1100, £1000, and then £900. Then one month in 2001 The Guitar Magazine covered Pro Series Wals in their vintage basses you might see around and what they’re worth feature. As ever, it finished with a price round up which said that a good condition Pro IIE could go for up to £500 or £550. It was a Saturday morning so I rushed down to the local library and got a photocopy. Then it was straight to the shop to wave it under the owner’s nose. Sadly he wasn’t in, just the Saturday boy (to whom I was a familiar face by then. I had a chat with him and said, “You know that Wal?” He smiled, “Well can you show your boss this article in this month’s TGM and let him know that my offer for £500 quid absolutely still stands.” I wrote my name and number on the sheet and toddled home for lunch. It was about 2:30 when the phone rang and the Saturday boy was on the other end. “I’ve had a word with the boss and showed him the article. He says that you can have it for five hundred and fifty quid.” “Shall I pop over now?”... Got there about 20 minutes later and watched him take the £900 sign off and hand me the bass... Here she is...

Oh, the hours I spent in that little shop in the late 80s and 90s... And in the Slough branch (which was where I got my first ever acoustic guitar - a slope shouldered Washburn D25S dreadnought. Do you remember the odd little guitar shop down by the level crossing, can’t for the life of me recall the name. Guitar Galleries or something...? Got my Wal Pro IIE there in 2001 after 2 years (yes, two years!) of haggling the price down!

Oh, those bring back memories. Is that the sort with the bolt on neck and a metal neck plate on the back of the guitar? A chum used to play one like that. Built like a tank, as I remember.

I’ve got 4 guitars - two acoustic and two electric... 1995 Gordon Smith G-90 prototype (won in a charity guitar raffle - presented to me by Steve Howe), 1998 Gordon Smith Gypsy II semi-solid, 1999 Brook Tamar acoustic - ordered the day after the eclipse in August 1999. The back is two piece lightly figured walnut from a tree that blew down near the Brook workshop in the great storm of 87. 2003 Fylde Gordon Giltrap Signature acoustic (won in a charity guitar competition - presented by to me by Gordon Giltrap). Gordon Smith really are one of UK guitar building’s best kept secrets. Wonderful guitars that punch way above their weight in terms of how they sound and what they deliver! Other instruments: 1988 Fylde Octavius Bouzouki , 2000s Brüko ukulele. Here they are...

Fylde Electric? You’ve GOT to post a photo of that!

Neither was I... Though, to be fair I do prefer the neater look compared to a chopped up bit of dish sponge...

I beg to differ, I was browsing a bass group on Facebook and spotted these mutes made by a woman in the States. The happy customer comments caught my eye given that one was attributed to a certain @wateroftyne of this parish. Ordered a couple on a whim. They’re great, look good and the little handle makes them easy to get in and out...

Berlimey! Is that Mr Etheridge? Top guitar player.

It’s utterly ridiculous but I must confess I always had a hankering after Barry Devlin from Horslips’ shamrock shaped bass...

Ah, I wondered if someone would post a Stacatto Bass - magnesium alloy neck and interchangeable fibreglass bodies in different shapes! Made/promoted by Mick Jagger’s kid brother, Chris Jagger.

Currently listening to pre-release review MP3s of the new Kansas album, The Absence of Presence. The album’s not actually out until the end of June. Tell you what, it’s a bit good!

These intervals derive from the scale, so, in C (because there are no sharps and flats so it makes the visuals easier...). The C Major scale is... C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. If you give each note a number to show where it is in the scale you get... 1 C, 2 D, 3 E, 4 F, 5 G, 6 A, 7 B, 8 C. The first note in the scale is usually referred to as “the Root”. The 8th as “the Octave” (Latin for Eighth!). Never heard this referred to as “root unison” - although strictly correct in grammatical terms it sounds made up - it’s always referred to as the root or octave. This note has a frequency exactly twice that of the root - the scale notes’ frequencies aren’t random, they all have mathematical relationships. All the other notes are referred to By their position in the scale, so... Root - C, Second - D, Third - E, Fourth - F, Fifth - G, Sixth - A, Seventh - B, Octave - C. In the MAJOR scale the distance between the root and the 3rd is 4 semitones - so because it derives from the Major scale, that 4 semitone interval is referred to as a “major 3rd”. The C minor scale has some different notes as some of them are flattened by one semitones (including the 3rd - plus the 6th and 7th). C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭, C So in the minor scale the distance between the Root (C) and 3rd (E♭) is only 3 semitones. This three Semitone interval is referred to as the “minor 3rd” because it derives from the minor scale. Any 4 semitone interval between two notes can be referred to as “a major 3rd”, any 3 semitone interval can be referred to as a “minor 3rd”. For example... “So, from the G you go up a minor 3rd to B flat.” The 4th and 5th don’t commonly have these major/minor variants so can be referred to as perfect 4ths or perfect 5ths. But just 4th and 5th will do fine. They can be flattened or sharpened but in this case tend to be referred to diminished (down a semitone) or augmented (up a semitone). Hope that helps explain the terminology.

You are confusing “scales” and “keys”. In any song in a major KEY the usual chord progressions are built around this pattern... 1 Major , 2 minor, 3 minor, 4 Major, 5 Major, 6 minor, 7 diminished. The chords within the key derive from the notes which are available to use in the scale. This link explains how the chords are built up from the scale notes... https://www.fundamental-changes.com/harmonising-the-major-scale/ So in the key of C the notes on the scale are C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. Using only these notes the standard chords (Root/third/fifth) created are as follows... 1) C E G - C Major - interval between C&E is 4 semitones, a major 3rd, making this a major chord. 2) D F A - D minor - interval between D&F is 3 semitones, a minor 3rd interval, making this a minor chord 3) E G B - E minor - interval between E&G is 3 semitones, a minor 3rd interval, making this a minor chord 4) F A C - F Major - interval between F&A is 4 semitones, a Major 3rd interval, making this a major chord... and so on up the scale... 5) G B D - G Major 6) A C E - A minor 7) B D F - B diminished If you think about it simple songs on a major key don’t ONLY use major chords, there will be some minor chords thrown in, this relationship between the chords in a key explains why. Apologies for the God-bothering content but here’s the chord sheet for a song we do at church that demonstrates this for the key of C... there are the above minor chords scattered among the major chords... Understanding this principle is also really helpful in decoding/deciphering a new song a it gives a clue of what notes/chords might be available to use and might come up next...

Ah, couldn’t work it out when I enlarged it. So that’s a pretty strong mid cut and bass boost then.

That’s why they call you the working man...

Lol, it does t have to be Rush, or even Prog... here’s that big blue Ikea tray being put to use for a slice of 80s pop...

OK, so we’re all going stir crazy... here’s a little quiz I saw somewhere else to pass the time and channel all those pent up creative urges... Post up a recreation of a famous album cover using just bits and bobs found around your (locked down) house. First person to guess can then post their own and so on... I’ll start us off...

That’s always been my starting point. EQ at 12, VLE and VPF fully counter clockwise. As it is mostly my EQ is High and both Mids on noon. A slight touch of bass boost... maybe 1 o’clock, no VPF (never been a smile curve/mid cut fan) and a tiny touch of VLE (maybe around 8 o’clock). That’s a nice rich, punchy tone great for sitting in a mix with my basses and the way I play!

Completely agree about the VT Bass DI. Careful use of the “bite” button does add in a load of sparkly upper mid... kinda brings in a lot of that (what I think of as) “trade fair” tone, in a good way. Definitely worth exploring, especially with the “Character” control which allow you to vary the pedal’s core tone/modelling between a couple of classic amps and a more modern high gain tone.

Tiran Porter’s tone on this track sends shivers down my spine! Apologies for the God bothering content but I think the tone on this song is a great pick sound... Ironically reminds me a bit of Tony Butler’s tone back in the day with Big Country. Rather less God bothering... For all their Percy Jones-esque jazzy refinement those old Pro Series Wals could belt out a killer rock sound... And finally, always loved John Wetton’s bass tone on that first Asia album. The stabs about 1 min 50secs in are just immense, tone wise!

Just a quick Q... where do you have the VLE and VPF controls set? Full off? 12 o’clock? Somewhere else? They have a profound effect on the core tone of the amp. [Edit] Having said that, what EQ and gain settings are you using overall?

Jealous (of seeing Stevie, not peeing with Noel). Remember driving home one day in summer 1990 and randomly seeing a poster saying “SRV, Hammersmith Odeon, October 1990” and thinking “Wow, I'd love to see him live. I’m definitely booking tickets for that!” Then a week or so later the terrible news came through...

Something cool to get a Sunday morning started...

SRV