admiralchew

It dropped around 1.12pm but they were gone in less than a minute. Hopefully we’ll see more. It’s great that there will at least be more Grand Tarkins in the world.

They sold out in less than a minute it seems. It’s great to see more of Tom’s designs though.

Anyone manage to get one?

Interesting! I’ve not heard that before. It sounds a little like a PLL, as ably played by Nate Navarro here:

Thanks for the kind words, all. @Shaggyand @TrevorR, I’m enjoying the tales of recognition and non-recognition. @TrevorR, the guitarist picked just the right person to chat to you about it. That’s interesting that the guitarist was knowledgable. I rarely expect anyone to know anything about basses.

Thanks for the tip! I’ll give it a try. I’ve enjoyed using the OBNE Procession for reverb duties. It’s not that flexible compared to, say, an Empress or Strymon, but it’s great at what it does. This thread is not one for avoiding GAS. Thanks guys!

I think that’s a great shout but they are extremely rare. I’ve been on the lookout for one for about a year and a half and have only seen about three in the wild.

Oh yes! I think I may even have commented on your dual-channel Moose! That looked amazing! Have you got any demos you’d be willing to share? Why did you go for what you went for and are there other pedals/brands you’d recommend? I’ve only tried the Nomad octave fuzz but I really like it and I’ve been considering trying the Sledge Hammer or something similar. The Sledge Hammer appeals as some of the early architecture seems to have been based off a collaboration with Nick from Dunwich. I like Nick’s circuits, and bought Nightowl, Doesitdoom and Magic Pedals pedals because of his involvement in the design. The Nomad is earmarked as my next IG post. You’re the second person this week to recommend the Lusithand Alma to me and I’ve only seen positive things. The Wetter Bass Channel did a feature on it, I think. His reviews are great, as are Hondo Felder’s. Other companies I’ve got pedals from recently that are a bit more off the beaten track but worth checking out are Kink, NRG, Mask Audio and EAE (popular on here I think). Good comment on Warwick. I still love them though!

That’s very kind, thanks! I think Darkglass captured a moment and they’re a premium brand just for bassists. They strike me as being like a boutique Boss or MXR in the sense they can be found in a lot of high street stores but have a bit of mystique in comparison to the usual suspects. They do sound good too. I’ve tried most flavours but I still have the Alpha Omicron and ADAM and the Element is invaluable. The Hyper Luminal was a surprisingly good compressor too. Amos Heller does some great demos. Damnation Audio and Nightowl made two of my favourite overdrives too. I’m not sure if they were based on anything or were new circuits. Frost Giant just came out with their Osiris too, which is a new design.

Agree with @itu especially on Iron Ether. Pladask Elektrisk and Montreal Assembly too. In terms of evolutions and build quality, Sushibox FX do good things with tubes and the Origin Effects guys have been killing it with their BassRigs. I’m also a bit fan of everything Josh Broughton touches. He was involved with the Southampton Utility Knife too, I believe, one of my favourite modulators.

I put mine after everything other than reverb and delay. I really like overdrive into a flanger but sometimes also run octave and envelope into it too. The overdrive just gives it more to play with.

Thank you for the kind messages. @NickA Great story about the professional jazz player asking for a go. Did you let them and what did they think? I’m very fond of Warwick basses too but they are different beasts as I’m sure you know very well. The only other bass getting a look-in at the minute is my Streamer. I did check the database and found it invaluable. It’s amazing how many Wals have been refinished and changed over the years. This one is about 20 years old but is in pristine shape (well, until Wal take a look and tell me otherwise). The previous owner(s) definitely seemed to look after it, and I’m grateful for that. A maple MkII 4-string would be lovely but I’m not so much of a Tool fanatic that I can’t see that this has everything I’d look for in a bass. I’ll never play like Justin Chancellor, Geddy Lee or any other celebrity Wal user, so I won’t try to mimic their Wal basses when this lovely bass is out there. Geddy’s jazz may be a different matter though! @TrevorG I don’t really want to talk exact prices but I bought it in December during the same few weeks that I saw four or five other Wals sell through Bass Direct and Bass Bros (typically they’re on Instagram and never even make the website, and were a mix of MkIs, MkIIs, fretted and fretless) and I’ve seen several more go there and elsewhere in the last couple of months. Prices have been around £6,500-£9,500 and this was in that range. Given that even if you’re on the list and can place an order next week you’re looking at about £8,000 for a base model 4-string, for the right bass the used prices aren’t always crazy. I’m not sure I could want a bass more than this so getting my dream bass now for what I considered a reasonable price (for that bass, rather than a comment on whether such sums are every reasonable) seemed a price worth paying.

Thanks very much!

I’d be worried about a dog using it as a big stick!

Yes, too right. Happily I didn’t pay as much as some of the Wals that have been sold recently in the stores so I insured it for its purchase value. It does mean that I’d struggle to get another though. I also have a non-Wal case for it as walking around with a Wal logo seemed like an invitation for trouble.

Mine too. I had to look it up. I’ll be using that a lot now! Thanks all for the kind words in addition to the vocabulary expanding ones.

Haha, that’s not exactly how I would characterise it - I was selling my flat anyway for non-bass-related reasons - but the commitment to the gas is definitely there. Thanks everybody for the kind comments, and to @TrevorR for the endless resources of Wal knowledge!

I’ve not written a new bass day post before but if I don’t do it for this bass I’ll never do it. I sold my flat at the end of 2022 and my partner and I are now renting somewhere together (i.e. a home that could house two people and bass gear) while we save for a new place together. I figured that this is probably the only time I’m likely to have the cash balance to justify acquiring my dream bass (even if only for a while) so I went for it. Shortly before Christmas, I was lucky enough to have my prayers/wanted ad answered by a kind member of this forum and acquired my holy grail bass: Please meet the newest member of the family, a beautiful Wal Mk III 5-string with shedua facings. It’s absolutely thunderous and everything I hoped it would be: the preamp is a dream, the B string has the smoothness of my Warwick Streamer’s mixed with the raw aggression of a Stingray, and the gorgeous tiger-esque facings seem to move in the light. I’m sure like many folks on here, I’m a big fan of Justin Chancellor’s playing with Tool (I tried quite hard to avoid saying I am a big Tool fan/fan of Tool there) and the preamp gets me in the tonal ballpark (my playing is miles away from his though, sadly). While not really on topic for the NBD post, I was lucky enough to bump into Justin Chancellor when Tool were in London last year. I was entirely starstruck and stunned into incapacitation for a short while before recovering my senses enough to ask him if he wouldn’t mind signing a wedding card I was carrying for my brother and his now wife as they met owing to a mutual Iove of the band. He was very gracious and my partner and I seem to take it in turns to wear my/her hoodie that he gave to me at the show. Anyway, back to the post… If you happen to see me posting basses and pedals in the classifieds over the next few months, this is the reason why. A big thanks to those that helped make this happen, particularly @dyerseve and @TrevorR. May you all get your holy grails in 2023!

I bought a Blackstone overdrive from Ander and the whole thing was a breeze. Communication was good (and very pleasant) and the pedal arrived very quickly in the condition expected. I wouldn't hesitate to recommended Ander as a seller (and a seemingly top bloke).