TrevorR

I've always been more of a natural finger style player, having learned that way. However, I've always used a pick for songs that just don't sound or feel right with fingers for some reason... The ones that spring to mind would be, say, Matty Groves, Going Underground, a few worship songs but they were few and far between. However, since going over to flats at the start of this year I'm increasingly liking the way a pick sounds with them since you lose a lot of the noisy, splangy sound from the pick scraping over the windings. Started to throw it in on a few different songs, including slow ones which (finger cramp excepted) I would never have considered using it on before... Just for the particular tonal variation.

[quote name='grumpyguts' timestamp='1461921096' post='3038704'] My last time out in front of an audience was 1986 at Esher College, that was till last night. Approx ten mins and three songs at a blues jam night in Ascot. [/quote] Well done for finding the bottle! Nowt like playing with others in the real world. Was that at Jagz? Played there a number of times - always a good vibe and I think some of the members of my former band frequent their blues and acoustic nights.

And just for clarity as well, I wasn't being tetchy or sarky so hope it didn't read like that... And vintage or not I reckon there's a Wal shaped space in most places. But I am biased... Very biased.

Yeah, my Boss chorus got glued from day one. Been having the problem with bare metal, powder coated etc. Maybe the stuff bundled with the pedalboard was just a bit sub standard quality? Anyhoo, sorted now...

[quote name='Jebo1' timestamp='1461970759' post='3039324'] Good story. Problem was, I had changed the battery, done the sound check and all the rest of it. Wasn't the first time I'd done a big gig. And if I looked down at a Wal I'd mostly be thinking: "crikey this is an over-engineered and massively heavy plank of wood that's beautifully made and stunningly finished." [/quote] Oh dear, properly bad luck then... Funny, when I look down at my Wal I think, "Crikey, this is beautifully made, ergonomically designed bass that hangs just nicely, feels perfect in my hands and serves up every tone I've ever wanted it to make... " but then again Your Milage May Vary, horses for courses, one man's meat, each to their own, takes all sorts and all that malarkey...

OK, so is it just me or is the velcro you get to stick on the bottom of pedals just not sticky enough? I've got completely fed up of opening the bag for my pedalboard and finding pedals which have slipped all over the shop while their velcro remains stuck resolutely stuck in the place it was left. I know... first world problems... Well, after a fun evening spent with a couple of tubes of Bostick Contact Adhesive, hopefully the velcro is now solidly welded onto the bottom of the pedals and they will be staying exactly where I put them...

When I got my LMII I went for two 8 ohm Traveler cabs. For big clubs, outdoors and back line only both came along, for smaller gigs, acoustic nights, rehearsals the 2x10 came and the 1x15 stayed at home. I like the versatility and it was plenty loud in either config. Also, I got one of the rucksack cases for the amp. Dead handy!

[quote name='Jebo1' timestamp='1461437693' post='3034682'] Imagine the scene: Me at the Royal Albert Hall, venue all sold out. I'm proudly stroking my 1988 Warwick Streamer, we do a line check ready to start and there's some piercing feedback on stage. Look at the Warwick. Look around the stage and realise it must be me. Warwick dispatched to its case, Fender plugged in and gig is played. [/quote] [quote name='Jebo1' timestamp='1461439407' post='3034697'] I couldn't really stop the gig and go and get a battery, so I plugged in a passive Fender. Problem solved, Warwick sold. Extreme example and certainly nothing to do with the quality of Warwicks, I just won't use them after that. Superstitious nonsense I'm sure. [/quote] Imagine the scene: Me at the Royal Albert Hall, venue all sold out. The night before I'm proudly looking at my active Wal basses and think, "Huge gig tomorrow, I don't reckon it needs it but I'll change those batteries just in case." I've been playing an active bass since 1988 and never had a battery go down in a gig. Mind you, I've always maintained my basses well and changed batteries on a regular (although not that frequent) basis. Goes with the active territory. A cheap multimeter from Dyas or Screwfix is a dead handy bit of kit... [quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1461501479' post='3035155'] "PPPPPP", as they say: (Edit:Prior) Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. You should sack your Guitar Tech! [/quote] With the Wals I got into the habit of changing the battery every time I do a string change so they were swapped every six months or so. Their power draw is stupidly low given how the power and versatility of the active circuit. A case of "once a year whether it needs it or not!" Of course, now I've gone over to flats that approach goes out the window... Even with that low draw the battery isn't going to last four or five years! ;-)

Three for me. First off, my two Wal basses. Simply because they are my perfect basses and I cannot conceive of universe where I wasn't playing them as my two main basses... And finally, for hugely sentimental reasons, my Aria SB700. It was my first bass and my 18th birthday present from my mum and dad. Given that I've owned them since 1982, 1992 and 2001 respectively I think I can be pretty confident in the "not going to sell them" stance...

Makes sense adding up the numbers on the years. Good to see that they are still approaching it the same way he did.

Presume it's still Malcolm Newton who is running it. Used to use their guitar strings on all my guitars. I recall that I had ordered a few sets many moons ago and they were taking a few days longer to arrive than usual - though not enough for me really to have noticed. I got a phone all from Malcolm to apologies that he was a week or so behind on order but he would have them in the post tomorrow... Because he'd been in hospital after having a minor heart attack. And of course if I wanted to cancel the order he would totally understand. He was really worried that the weight would be an inconvenience and imposition on me. Of course I told him to not to be a daft h'a'porth, that there are things more important than whether I had to wait a few days for a set of strings. Lovely bloke, top strings too. Sorted me out with odd orders like, custom weights, 8 string Celtic bouzouki sets and stuff...

Aaah, original but pug ugly... Definitely buying it then...

[quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1461268062' post='3033230'] They're where the mutes would have been attached originally, and someone has put those screws in to cover up the holes. [/quote] Yeah, I thought about mutes. It's just I've never seen anyone do anything quite so awful looking to disguise some inconspicuous little holes before. Just dim!

So very many but I'll go with... Mr Blue Sky - ELO The Boys Are Back In Town - Thin Lizzy Heartsong - Gordon Giltrap Tom Sawyer - Rush I Should've Known - Aimee Mann And I'll add two just bubbling under... Cruel To Be Kind - Nick Lowe Waiting For The Wheel To Turn - Capercaillie

I'm probably being a bit dense... but what are those great big screws on the front of the bass between the bridge and pickup? Also by "seamless repair" do they mean that big blob of red paint on he back with some glued in wood behind it?

[quote name='Deep Thought' timestamp='1461190701' post='3032400'] Westone Concord 1, bought from Andy Pascoe's Modern Music in Truro (he's still there) about 1984. Still got it, although it doesn't leave the house these days, just sits by the sofa for unplugged noodling whilst watching TV. [/quote] Andy sold me my Aria SB700 two years earlier when he was working at the shop which had the guitar section on the first floor, up the top of St Clement Street. City Electronics? Opposite where they built the first big Tesco. He gave us a great, great deal on it and we always suspected he was just trying to maximise his commission to get enough cash together to set up his own shop. About a year later... Viola!! Modern Music!!!

All my electric basses have Dunlop Straploks (bar the Aria - Grosch but will upgrade when I get around to it...) and I wouldn't have it any other way. Personally I prefer the Dunlop system to the Schaller so I've stuck with that. However, while the engineering used by the Dunlop system allows you to flush mount it has always seemed to me to be addressing an aesthetic and engineering problem I have never had and does come with practical downsides. On the OP's future sale question I guess the answer must be... "For Sale: Warwick Bass, strap included."

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1460552659' post='3026729'] At the SE Bass Bash last year we did a cab shootout using the Puma 500 as the stock amp - due to it`s clean sound - and many of us (make that all) were very impressed at the pairing of that with the Super Midget. [/quote] Careful Lozz, this could start up a conversation that leads inexorably to a trip to Maplins! :-) PS really sad to hear that you're not around to demo more of your slap skills for the SE Bash this year. I had been wondering what this year's shootout might be. :-( Wouldn't be the same if we tried to do one without you.

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1461004785' post='3030589'] To be honest I hate the fact it's a copied design most basses out there look the bloody same because of it. And I dislike all these pseudo "custom" basses that look pretty much like a p or jazz apart from the headstock. Try coming up with something original eh! It's fair enough pickup placement and other essential hardware bits, but having the near enough the same body shape, the same pick guard and control plate etc is so boring. The only basses that should resemble a p bass or jazz is a Fender or Squire. [/quote] It is purely down to economics and what will sell most. After all, these are big companies who are chasing profits and shareholder dividends. The fact is that taken across the market at any particular price/quality point X, if you have a catalogue dominated by Jass and Recision basses which clone the classics you will sell more units than if you have a catalogue dominated by individualistic looking basses which deviate from the norm. In some ways we should be thankful that some manufacturers do choose to exploit the niches of the market place where folks are looking for something a bit more individual rather than simply going for a safe lowest common denominator. It's like mass market magazine covers. Why do similar types of magazine all look the same? Because they gravitate towards what they know sells. I recall David Hepworth and Marc Ellen chatting about this on a Word podcast once. They said that the sad fact was that if they had yet another cover with Springsteen, Bowie, Lennon, Dylan etc on it they would probably sell out of that issue. If they had put on Rickki Lee Jones or Toumani Diabaté (of whom Hepworth was a huge, huge fan) on the cover they would end up with a warehouse full of unsold returns at the end of the month.

Yup! The Aria SB700 namechecked in my sig below. It was an 18th birthday present along with a 75w Laney Linebacker amp. More photos here... http://walbasshistory.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/my-basses-non-wal-basses.html

Call me shallow but it would have an effect on me too. Cool aesthetics wouldn't make me buy an amp, however if I was considering two similarly specced amps that fitted my various sound, weight etc needs then the one that looked like a dogs breakfast would certainly get some serious down marks. I'm not so sure about the comments that distinctive amps are destined for the garage once fashions change. My main amps over the last 25 years have been a TE combo (now sadly deceased) and a bumble bee MB rig. I'd happily play either irrespective of what brand is flavour of the month for bassists. We often talk about how only a tiny proportion of our audiences can discern the sound nuances we bassists obsess over. Even fewer have the first clue or care about what amp brands and styles are flavour of the month.

[quote name='moooper' timestamp='1460558529' post='3026804'] Basically they are saying yeah we probably broke it but you should have packed according to the abuse we were gonna give it. It was packed with a huge amount of bubble wrap a thick padded cover (very nice one) and double layer cardboard. I'm dealing with it as I organised and paid for it to be picked up [/quote] They're just hoping you'll say, "Oh well..." and give up at this point in the claims process. Your next reply should state that "the force needed to cause the damage was such that no reasonable amount of packaging would have prevented it, it could only have been caused by dropping it from a significant height, not by automated handling equipment. This is not in line with the duty of care whichisexpected of the company and their staff. Liability rests with them and you are consulting your solicitor to see how you can pursue the matter further on a formal legal basis." - even if you're not. It may be enough to move them onto the next stage of the process rather than just hoping for an easy win.

[quote name='Cato' timestamp='1460871782' post='3029397'] He's got a couple of gems from his solo albums but ,for me, Victor's best work is with the Flecktones where he's very much a bass player in a band as well as a virtuoso musician showing off his best chops. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tq7Bm6IM-g [/quote] True, as a Flektone acting as a band member/sides man his playing is a different kettle of herring altogether.

[quote name='sunburstjazz1967' timestamp='1460897959' post='3029590'] The stuck on stencil relicing on the Rory strat is awful imo,have you seen one in the flesh? [/quote] [quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1460902451' post='3029634'] Sadly sunburst jazz guy is right, they look pretty awful in the flesh. And if you've been lucky enough to see the original it'd be game over! [/quote] That was my thought too when I saw the Rory reviewed in a magazine. When I saw one in the flesh it looked a 1000 times worse. Fakest relic I've ever seen, like a 10 year old stencilled it!

01. Hamster - 02. Silverfoxnik - BC Rich Eagle, Hayman 4040, Schecter Diamond P5, Ampeg V4BH amp & 115 Classic cab 03. TheGreek - not sure what I'm bringing yet... 04. Happy Jack - I'll be there with a love that will see you through 05. JapanAxe - probably everything in my signature. HERBIE FLOWERS - woot woot! 06. Macdaddy. 07. obbm 08. Billy Apple. Spectors, Marshall valves and EAD 09. Nancy Johnson; Thunderbirds/Whatever amps I'm running. 10. TrevorR - Wal MK 1 Custom, Wal Pro IIE (well, I had to...!), Ariapro2 SB700, Markbass LM2 and Traveler 2x10 and 1x15 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.