TrevorR

5-string basses... only ever played 4-strings and sometimes wondered, “Should I?” Funnily enough it was the much ridiculed SBL “Why you shouldn’t play a 5-string bass” video that crystallised for me that I actually neither want nor need one. Fretless basses - defretted a Jazz many, many moons ago and soon realised I was never going to put the hours (days, weeks, months) in to become anywhere near competent on it. Rickys - love the look, love the sound, hate everything else about them. Warwicks - as above except without the loving the looks and sound. Oh and, like others, cabs seemingly made out of solid lead. #lovemymarkbass

Not to mention Headspace, Rick Wakeman and That Oceanic Feeling. Top player. Gord the blu-ray/CD package for Crimble. Really looking forward to it!

Nice! And on the choice of body shape I’d have to heartily agree!

Lovely bass. Simon and Andy do make some amazing instruments. I’ve often gazed longingly at their Otter basses but would never be able to justify the outlay, though. I do have a Tamar 6 string which I adore. That will have to do... would love to see the full bass.

And any I’ve seen have a pretty awful/unique tone... there is a different vibe and sound to acoustic basses beyond just the look. They are great to tinkle on around the house without worrying about amps and stuff. As others have said, for and ensemble playing a small amp is a must. There’s a huge variation in cost and quality in the sound (esp of the pickup) so try before you buy is pretty much a must. Ive got a Faith acoustic bass which I got a great deal on new at £500 and it'sgreat fun in more acoustic settings. For your jam session an electric bass and small amp would, of course, work fine. But if it’s also about the vibe and the look and a less electric tone and you just fancy one then definitely try some out. Then you can make an informed yes or no decision.

Ditto.

PS no idea what happened to the font and no amount of selecting and resizing seems to make a difference!

Four to mention for me... To My Roots by Emma Stevens. Sparkly, uplifting country-tinged pop with an edge. A lovely positive album which manages that without any cheese. Gordon Giltrap and Paul Ward’s Last Of England was my personal highlight showing that Gordon is very much still at the top of his game. The last tune on the album is a track my wife and I commissioned as a 50th gift to each other so it’s particularly special for us. Sonny Landreth, Live in Louisiana gives you two great CDs of swampy, Cajun flavoured blues. One disc acoustic one electric. Some great playing on there. Finally Legends of the Shires by British prog-metal veterans, Threshold. Loved this band for ages and this is some top heavy prog.

My whole family lived in a 4 x 10. You know, the classic old two up, two down.

Indeed... in fact this pic of “one of the basses they can make for you” (yeah, sure!)... ...is actually scanned from Wal’s own promotional leaflet. You can even see the writing on the other side through the paper! Here’s the original scan from my website with all the same wrinkles in the paper!

He said that he had set himself a random date of around the new year after which he'll presume that no-one's coming out of the woodwork and count it as properly his... Patience Mr Fox!

Can’t help you on the treasure hunt but they are wonderful basses. I love my 700 - my first ever bass and I’ll never make the mistake of selling it. Does it have to be your actual SB700? You see them coming up pretty regularly. Would a brother or sister bass scratch that itch?

Gordon did three prog albums in the 70s - all great but this is my absolute fave (Perilous Journey and Visionary are the others). His more recent fingerstyle stuff is great too. Check out Last Of England and Shining Morn.

Absolutely. I’m going to sit here at home playing my absolutely genuine Custom Series Wal that I got brand new for just $400! What a classy piece of work by Paul, eh? http://www.rareguitarheaven.net/mobile/goods.php?id=1018

Sorry, sorry... FIVE! Five albums! I can whittle it down to five albums. How could I have forgotten this one? One of my all time favourite albums. My all time favourite guitar player. A band that features a teenage Simon Phillips on drums, John G Perry of Caravan on Wal bass, Morris Peart on percussion... Plus one of the UK’s most accomplished fingerstyle folk guitarists rocking in full on prog mode... Gordon Giltrap - Fear Of The Dark

Oh, I’ve whittled it down to four and I can’t choose between them so here goes... Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous. But if only studio albums were to count I’d choose Jailbreak Electric Light Orchestra - Out Of The Blue. So many great pop songs on that album, and not just the ones you know. Horslips - The Book Of Invasions (probably - The Tain would be a close run thing). Folk influenced Celtic rock from the 70s. Tribes, Scribes and Vibes - Incognito. Not a single less than amazing track on it. Perfect acid jazz and funk with some sublime playing from Randy Hope-Taylor!

Not as awful as I expected but still entirely unnecessary.

Yes, Fiona Bruce would DEFINITELY convince me to go to more car boot sales!

Yeah, Stu. You've already gone way above and beyond. Looking forward to the pics when you're ready to share and for your big "Tah-dah!" when you reveal what you actually paid for it. Lol. Like @Highfox and @bassjim have said just don't disclose the serial number. If someone emerges who does want to claim it as their own the two pieces of proof needed would be "What was the serial number." "Can you show me a photo of you playing it so we can compare the wood, the grain, the figuring and any other identifying features." You bought it in good faith, the burden of proof to show it is the bass that was stolen and not just a.n. other Wal rests on them. Personally, I really can't see someone putting their hand up and claiming it's theirs. In the meantime, enjoy your Wal...!!!

Quality music. Apparently it’s a duo called Banks & Wag who’ve done lots of pop as well as TV and film work. Singer is a vocalist called Sharleen Linton. Great set of soul pipes!

And if there are bits of that surface you like then listen to those bits. Let’s face it there are some bits of rock or pop you like and whole swathes you don’t. Jazz and classical are no different. Listen to what you like. So if you do want to explore a bit and like Bach and Barber try some Vivaldi/Haydn and some Elgar/Copeland. If you want to explore deeper and think, “I’ve never listened to any Bruckner” a perfectly valid outcome is, “Well, done it once, never have to listen to Bruckner ever again”. Plenty of rock bands I have filed in that bin!

OK, mind officially blown. A bit of internet digging and several sources suggest the guitar is by a guy called Vic Elms, the drums are by Steeleye Span’s Liam Glenocky and bass is, wait for it, John McCoy later of Samson, Gillan and, was it, Mammoth?

This may just be my favourite ever TV theme. Some great piano, drum and double bass playing. Odd to think it had a life before Barry Norman or that Nina Simone did a vocal version of it!

Shout out for CBeebies Show, Go Jetters. Teaching the nation’s 5 year olds about geography and cultural heritage AND turning them on the disco and funk. They are a team of global adventurer superheroes who are led by a disco unicorn who wears a white sparkly glittery flared jump suit. Ubercorn always has funky facts about the place they visit each episode... surreal genius The theme is like the Wonder Woman Theme on steroids. CBeebies have also done a series of adverts which pastiche famous funky tunes... enjoy...

The little black discs next to the letters A & B are trim pots. Plug your quietest bass into channel C then use the trim pots to reduce the volume of he basses in the other channels to match it. V easy. I’ve got the old model where the trim pots were inside so you had to take the top of the pedal off to adjust them. The second gen ones have a much more sensible design. So, I’d have the passive Aria in Channel C and the Wal in Channel A with the internal trim pot turned down as necessary. I used Channel B as a mute channel as I only took the two basses to gigs.