silverfoxnik

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='259402' date='Aug 10 2008, 04:52 PM']Operator error, I reckon... [/quote] Yep - definitely was... Marcus, I was using my Fender Roscoe Beck V which is passive?? [quote]That sounds like EBS to me! Good gear but predominantly focused on the 'modern' sound (which ironically is now arguably the dated '80s sound). Alex[/quote] Alex; I think you've got a point there... That is the GB/EBS sound I suppose.. I am definitely an old-fashioned git as I don't particularly like that sound.

[quote name='Gwilym' post='259397' date='Aug 10 2008, 04:42 PM']hey Nik, it sounds like you should try the Fafner, there was plenty of warmth when I tried one some time ago. I've been gassing for one ever since but have yet to pull the trigger, so to speak. I suspect that it may, sound wise, be my ideal head, but the size and weight (relative to all the lightweight gear now on the market) just puts me off. and the chicken head knobs are also an aquired taste.[/quote] Hi Gwil, Just had a look online.. very nice!! I see what you mean about the chicken head knobs but that's modern-day bass marketing for you! Nik

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='259369' date='Aug 10 2008, 03:57 PM']One man's heaven is another man's hell...[/quote] It certainly wasn't hell; that would have been using the Berhinger rig that was there!! It just wasn't absolute, tonal heaven that I was expecting...

[quote name='dub_junkie' post='258654' date='Aug 9 2008, 02:06 AM']+1 on Bill Nelson. 20 odd years ago I bought his album "Chimera". Loved his work ever since.Massively talented and even more prolific. other guitarists I like for being a bit different are Robin Simon(Magazine/Ultravox),John McGeoch (RIP)(Magazine/Banshees) Will Seargant (Echo & The Bunnymen) Johnny Marr (The Smiths,Electronic etc)and Charlie Burchill for his early work with Simple Minds Drummers I like would be Steve Jansen (Japan) and Budgie (banshees) from a songwriting point of view...John Foxx (saw him doing the metamatic album at the Barfly Glasgow last year and it was fantastic)the guy from Anthony and the Johnsons and The Blue Nile I'm not really up on other instruments but i always liked Andy Mckays sax and oboe on the early Roxy music stuff and Billy Currie's keyboard and violin with Ultravox[/quote] +1 for Bill Nelson, the late, great John McGeoch, Budgie, Stewart Copland and Andy Mckay amongst many others.. I've always had a liking for pianists, singers and songwriters and Prince is oustanding in all three of those skills.. And in this area, Stevie Wonder and Kate Bush spring to mind too. I've always been a Carlos Santana fan on the guitar front and love Paco DeLucia also. But the great thing (when you think about it) is just how many wonderful, talented and inspiring musicians there are out there to give us something to enjoy and aspire to!

Hi Folks, We did an outdoor festival yesterday and the bass player in the band before me had the full Bernie Goodfellow/GB Guitars works; lovely hand made GB 4 string all-singing, all-dancing bass, plus an EBS 650 head with a 210 and 115.. To save time with changeover in between their set and ours, the guy very kindly offered me the use of his rig..And bearing in mind the rig provided by the organisers was a Behringer head & cab, I thought I'd suddenly landed in bass heaven. But when it came to setting up I've got to say that I was pretty underwhelmed by the sound of his EBS rig!! At first I thought I was doing something wrong but it really didn't blow me away tonally at all!! It certainly wasn't the best of circumstances in which to try it out and I have heard a similar rig at Bernie's place sound good.. Thinking back, I can only describe it as very 'zingy' tone; sort of glassy highs and bright upper-mids but there didn't seem to be any inherent warmth to it.. I had to use the tube emulator and the 'character' setting to get any of the warmth and depth that I prefer and once I'd done that, it was OK. But I was expecting more?? I know all you EBS users are going to take me to task over this and I feel almost 'Judas' like in offering up a more negative view on what is very highly regarded gear.. So, I'm hoping there'll be something similar at the SE Bash next month so I can try out the EBS stuff again in much better surroundings. No doubt someone there will want to show me the error of my ways.. Nik

[quote name='gary mac' post='258867' date='Aug 9 2008, 03:42 PM']Hope someone can help a stressed out bass chatter. I've just taken delivery of a pair of Wizard pickups for my Jazz and decided I fancied the challenge of installing them myself. So, yesterday I purchased a soldering iron and this morning started the procedure. I am starting to wish I hadn't now. Finally got it all soldered up and put back together, but the neck pickup is not functioning. Checked it all out again and the problem seems to be with the white cable that I've soldered to the middle lug of the neck pot. Just can't seem to get it right. If I attach the white cable to the lug with the red cables (That feed off to the bridge pot) it works but with no control to the volume. Hope I have explained myself clearly, any help would be hugely appreciated. Cheers, all the best Gary.[/quote] Sorry to hear that Gary! I know the feeling - happened to me reinstalling the original p/ups in my Fender Jazz 5 in January.. I am not able to help you I'm afraid as I'm pretty useless at this sort of stuff. But hopefully OBBM, The Burpster or some of the other very clued-up guys will be along soon to advise.. Good luck with it, Nik

The Grabber & the Blazer are great! Nice spector too... But how do you find the time to play when the dog needs so much care & attention?

Outrageous quantities of porn and very nice it is too!!!

Some lovely basses folks! I think real credit must got to Mr Shuker (John??) for his versatility! Love OHM's P5 as I'm a traditionalist at heart, but the sheer variety and craftsmanship is stunning, particularly when you see them all together like this.. If Rich does join in the Status thread as well as this one and the Wal thread, then we might as well all pack up and go home now because that's tooooo much!!

I think from looking at the headstock shape it was a Wal Custom.. Is it just me, or is the singer in the clip really, really irritating??

[quote name='leftyhook' post='257625' date='Aug 7 2008, 09:55 PM']Hi My Wal Custom looks like it's on it's way to Holland. Does anyone know the weight of a wal Custom 4-string with fibreglass case? Need to know to price postage cost from UK Thanks for any help Joe[/quote] Hi Joe The bass itself will be around 10-12lbs maybe and, with the case and all the packaging, I'd say you'd be looking at around 20lbs + all in which is about 9kgs. Then it'll be a matter of whether the actual weight is more or less than what couriers call the 'volumetric weight', which they determine by multiplying the Width x Height x Length of the parcel... You could use the Parcelforce site and play around with their on-line calculator which works all that stuff out for you... Hope that helps? Nik

[quote name='Doctor J' post='256881' date='Aug 7 2008, 08:15 AM']Something like a Lakland 55-02 or a G&L L2500 would be worth checking out too, both very versatile basses.[/quote] +1 Very versatile basses the G&L L2500s and good for a covers/function band I would have thought.. But every bass mentioned in the OP is a quality instrument so i would try as much as possible to try each one out first hand if you can.. Then it gets down to such personal issues doesn't it; what the neck feels like, weight & balance, looks even... Good luck with it!

[quote name='Rich' post='255958' date='Aug 6 2008, 07:21 AM']Here's PB1533, resting on my terrible lawn... [/quote] Lovely....

[quote name='bassplace' post='255024' date='Aug 5 2008, 02:47 AM']Thanks. I think it is a bit of a "parts" bass in Wal terms and is possibly the only rear loaded ProIIe. It was completed in March 1981 right when they were switching to Customs. Even has a left over JG plate for the SN. The trans-white is a refinish though. It was fretless and had a serious ding next to one of the knobs when I got it so I had Greg Curbow fix that and refinish it. I had always wanted a trans-white since seeing a P-Bass with the finish when I was a kid. Definitely a bass I would never willingly sell![/quote] Very cool! As is the Entwhistle bass....

[quote name='BassBod' post='255657' date='Aug 5 2008, 06:32 PM']Nice to see Ian remembered here - never got to meet him, but I have met Pete a few times and he was always very helpful, even with basses that had been round the houses more than a few times. Anyone know anything about the future of Wal? I read somewhere (here?) that Paul Herman may take it on? A 21st century Wal...now there's something to look forward to??!! BB[/quote] Pete's retired now, not very well apparently but word is that he is handing over the reins to Paul, who is an excellent choice to take the Wal bass forward.. as you say, into the 21st Century! More news to come soon I believe, probably through Chris Franklin at Harrow Audio who is often in touch with Pete. As you can imagine, there's certainly a lot of anticipation out there amongst Wal owners about this development.. BTW, chris_b & 99ster, your basses look pretty good to me from where I'm sitting!! We definitely need another WalFest sometime...

[quote name='overwater#1' post='255659' date='Aug 5 2008, 06:38 PM']...and I wasn't even born This one does seem heavy, but I personally feel better playing a heavy bass. I have played much lighter basses, and never feel comfortable with them...Heavier feels more solid, I don't know, its a personal mentality, much the same as why I prefer to play 6 or more strings, I like the size and the feel of a wide neck in my hands, although the two extra strings are fantastic! I probably wont be saying that about weight in 20 or so years time, but at 17, Im making the most of it! [/quote] 17 I love your sense of ambition!! Just wish I'd been the same at that age....

Great idea Matt! Just to say that Walbassist's & Cetera's are lovely basses and I've may have played one of them before at the Walfest in January 2006 IIRC... Anyway, with apologies for the poor picture quality throughout, here's a few Wals I've owned over the years.. First up, a Wal Pro1E s/n: PB1264 that I bought from Mgauction (Mike G) over in Phoenix, only to sell it back to him a year later! Great way to meet and get to know one of the nicest persons on the planet (and who also happens to have an amazing collection of Wals too..) [attachment=11613:recorded...11th0112.JPG] Here's the only photo I've got of JG1123 a passive Wal Pro2E that I owned back in the '90s. One of the legendary 'leather scratchplate' models that formed the first batch of Wals ever made. When I bought this it came with flightcase, DI box, the works and was amazing. But hard times in 1998 forced me to have to sell it. I was lucky enough to be able to sell it to a mate of mine, Leigh Gorman of BowWowWow who first got me interested in Wals back in 1980. Leigh still has this bass and tours the States regularly with it these days with a reformed line up of the band, as you can see here: [attachment=11614:JG1123.jpg] Here's the only Wal 5 string I've ever had, W3000. It was one of the first 5 strings Wal made with the old Mach I body shape; very heavy and for some reason I never got on with it so I sold it on.. [attachment=11615:5_String.jpg] This was my second Wal Custom, W28899, bought in 1987 to replace the first one I had from 1983 that was stolen. I had a small clear plastic scratchplate fitted near the neck to simulate the effect of having the scratchplate on the Pro models, which for some odd I reason, I find more comfortable to play: [attachment=11619:Custom_W2889.jpg] Again, for some inexplicable reason, I didn't get on with it so I traded it in for this Pro 2E (PB1169) at the old Bass Centre in Wapping. The photo is terrible quality, but of all my Wals over the years, this was my favourite.. I made a couple of albums with it and still to this day wish it hadn't been stolen when we had our studio broken into in 1993! [attachment=11621:Pro_2e__PB1169.jpg] Here's a picture of my present day Wal, PB1354 bought from Gwilym in 2005. Barring nuclear war, great depression or some other unforeseeable tragedy, this bass ain't going nowhere!! [attachment=11622:Wal_Pro_2e_edit.jpg] Lastly, I thought it might be nice to put a couple of other Wal related pictures in here: Taken at the 2006 WalFest, Adam's amazing Wal double-neck, MIDI bass!! [attachment=11623:Adam___t...MIDI_Wal.jpg] Also at the WalFest, the 'wall of Wals': [attachment=11629:Stars_of_the_show.jpg] And here's Ian 'Wal' Waller & Pete 'the fish' Stevens in their workshop back in the early '80s. Coincidentally, Wal died 20 years ago last month so this thread is a good way to help celebrate his fantastic contribution to the development of classic custom-built British bass guitars! [attachment=11633:Wal_1980s.jpg] [attachment=11634:Wal___Pete_1980s.jpg] Cheers Wal!!

[quote name='Stan_da_man' post='254795' date='Aug 4 2008, 07:31 PM']It sounds pretty good I think. Very good rock tone.[/quote] Definitely... I just checked a clip out on YouTube and it sounds pretty good!

[quote name='overwater#1' post='254834' date='Aug 4 2008, 08:43 PM']What are the signs of transistor degrading? When I pluck very hard, there is some distortion... maybe a duff battery though I think. The plastic is in A1 nick, battery cover is fine.. !! The knob on the bottom right of the bass is actually damaged slightly. There is no connection between it and the pot, although the pot is fine, and can be adjusted with removal of the scratch plate I believe. I think a connection between that and the pot needs replacing or fixing some how, but I haven't dared to remove the scratch plate to see how it could be fixed.[/quote] Matt, It could be a number of things.. If the battery is going then there is a tendency for distortion to start creeping in to the sound as the battery loses it's charge.. However, the Pro basses have a very high output normally, so it might be that if you really pluck the strings hard, then it might be overloading your amp input.. I'm not sure if any degradation in the transistor(s) causes that to happen as it's not happened to any of my basses so far.. Regarding the faulty pot, it's quite a tricky repair as I understand it as the pot is wired direct to the PCB which is fitted underneath the scratchplate. It can also be a bit fiddly getting the scratchplate off as well.. There's often a lot of discussion about these issues on the 'walbassesnaturally' forum on Yahoo, so you could look there for more info.