admiralchew

You do make a very compelling point.

I very rarely do new pedal day posts but I think the circumstances justify it here. Last week I received a package from Guptech containing the Bass Edition of their A(((ole))) / Death By Unicorn Reedition ‘22 that my partner gave me for Christmas. The pedal itself is a take on the Life Pedal and a good one at that. The EQD Sunn O))) Life Pedal v3 was one of my favourite pedals of 2022 and there’s a lot of overlap here. The architecture is similar, being a heavy distortion/octave/boost, albeit the A(((ole))) has a clean blend between the distortion/octave and the clean signal. I love the Life Pedal through a cab sim, it absolutely crushes, but I prefer to use the A(((ole))) without a cab sim. The reason that I’m so excited though is that the very kind folks at Guptech adapted their usual cover art from this: To this: Because: This is Ampigalei, my partner’s Greek cat. Given the pedal is usual called the A(((ole))) it seemed too fitting, with this being the result: I wanted to say a big thank you to Guillaume and Emilie at Guptech, particularly the latter for cutting the vinyl to so perfectly recreate Ampigalei. They’ve been a pleasure to deal with and I’d recommend them highly.

A similar thing is happening with Noble Pres. As soon as one is delivered it is worth more because there’s a year long wait or a big up-charge to get one in six weeks. Like basses with long wait times, some of it is the impatience factor. I suppose basses are a bit different though as Nobles all work the same way whereas someone after a bass may want different woods or finishes that can’t be had from Reverb and the like.

In addition to vintage/quasi-vintage instruments, it’s possibly also worth noting how much other basses have gone up in the same period. I ordered a StingRay HH in 2021 which was 50% more expensive than the store was selling it for in 2019 and was being sold by the same store for £200 more by the time mine arrived. I wouldn’t say Wals are common, even if they can be found for sale. I’ve only seen a couple of MkIIIs and MkIIs for sale. MkIs I see much more often. I know historically though that they’ve had periods where they could be picked up easily. I think some are looking for Wal and Pete made basses too, with both having sadly passed away. Paul isn’t making many and those who have one won’t part with it other than for a top price because they know how hard getting a new one will be. These things may be fashion-related too though and an expensive bass today may be difficult to give away in future. In my case, I’m just grateful to the BCer who sold me the bass for a fair price.

I actually bought a lovely Wal bass from a fellow BCer just before Christmas and hope to do an NBD post soon. A Wal was my holy grail bass and I’ve not been disappointed. As @bloke_zero says, Wal basses are specific bits of kit. I’ve been after the Wal tone and nothing else has really given me that. I think prices have gone up because they can’t be ordered and, even if a bass could be ordered, delivery would be 2027ish. I also think that there’s a generation players that grew up listening to Geddy Lee and Justin Chancellor’s Wal tones that have hit that point in their lives where they may have a bit more disposable income. I’d just sold my flat and figured I wouldn’t be this liquid again for a while. these factors possibly make the current pricing a blip. I should say though, five Wal basses came up for sale on Bass Direct and Bass Bros over the Christmas period priced around the £7k-£7.5k mark, with all but one selling. This suggests that The Bass Gallery six string is right at the top of the market in terms of price but I’ve not seen a fretless six for sale and I’ve been watching a while. I didn’t pay anywhere near £12.5k. Don’t get me wrong, it was expensive and is my most expensive bass, but to me it has been worth it. I understand why people baulk at the prices though, particularly as there are so many good basses out there to be had at a tenth or twentieth of the price.

I may be incorrect but it’s my understanding that there isn’t currently a way to order a Wal bass. There is a waitlist for making new orders and, according to another forum, the build time for those most recently ordered is four years, with starting prices north of £7k. This, and the rarity of six string Wals, may explain why The Bass Gallery thought they could charge £12.5k.

With the 1 November batch he said more were coming soon. They arrived on 1 December but there’s been nothing to say there will be another T-16 batch I’m aware of. However, I’m really hoping for more Cog pedals in the future and just happy he’s back building. Tom has made some of my absolute favourite pedals.

The OBNE Procession reverb and flanger is nicely beige (with Dune graphics) and is a great pedal too. Moose Electronics have a lovely ebony Sundrive which I would be grateful if somebody could buy before I’m tempted.

Great demo, thanks for putting it together! Nice playing and clear narration, too. I have an HH in speed blue and love it. I’ve recently been moving to a 5er but the HH Stingray Special was my largely unchallenged number one for a long while. I typically found myself using either the classic Stingray bridge pick-up only or the two inner coils but I appreciate the flexibility. I’ve read about others having issues when playing slap; I don’t really play enough slap to have suffered with it but other’s mileage may vary. Thanks again for the demo!

Congratulations to whoever beat me to it! I was in under three minutes but that’s too long in Cog world. They’re absolutely worth it though. Thanks to @GrammeFriday for making them available, too.

I recently bought a bass from Chris and he was a pleasure to deal with from start to finish. He answered all of my questions about the bass (and I had a lot) and had clearly looked after it well. Had a nice cuppa and said hello to a dog too!

Wow! Fantastic! PM sent regarding the Tarkinfall.

Another vote for the Broughton. Josh makes some great kit and his mastery of HPFs and LPFs is arguably how he’s made his name. He just gets them right. He usually posts and gets it to the UK in about a week but not sure if it’s different near Christmas.

@jimbobothy wow! Nice minis board. I like the ordered nature of your line-up too. Separately, this thread is terrible for GAS.

Loving the shelves @ped! I was playing my Prunes & Custard yesterday. It’s a very odd beast but quite cool, not least because of the Datsuns song about it that I listened to on repeat when it first came out. I use the P&C as a kind of tone thickener so everything sounds fat and lo-fi. I’m not sure that’s what it was intended for but I like it a lot.