philw

[quote name='walbassist' post='1004745' date='Oct 29 2010, 08:51 AM']Hi Phil

My Brook came in a [url="http://www.jhs.co.uk/kinsman.html"]Kinsman[/url] case from JHS. It does the job. Looks like they're around £55 online.

Why do you need to ship your bass? Is it damaged?

Cheers

Gareth[/quote]

Gareth,

No, not damaged, it's still as gorgeous as ever. Trouble is, I've been made a tentative offer for it that I can't really refuse and, although I dearly want to keep hold of it, needs must. At least I have a Paris on the way in a month or two.

Phil

PS. Thanks all for the suggestions.

All,

Anybody have experience of hard cases for acoustic basses? I need to find a good, sturdy (and inexpensive) one so I can ship my Veillette acoustic. Any recommendations?

Phil

[quote name='mandomicky' post='996282' date='Oct 21 2010, 07:36 PM']--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[size=2]hi
check these out it might make you happier about the bass



www.LowEndBassShop.com :: View topic - Wal 4 string



these have one up for sale now for £1899 and fretless
www.bassdirect.co.uk[/size][/quote]

Hmm, yeah I'm not sure Bassdirect are really playing that Wal with an entirely straight bat. It's not a Mk1 it's a Pro One (and it's a shame about that ugly thumb rest). Still a lovely instrument, but not quite the same thing. I also wonder if permission was sought and granted for the pictures that appear to have been lifted from the Wal web site.

P

Should be coming, along with the trusty Wal Mk 1 Custom Fretless, the gorgeous Veillette Fretless Acoustic Bass and the very small AER Amp One combo.

Phil

All

A friend of mine in Brighton needs his old double bass fettled and valued. I'm sure I read a thread here recently that described having a new DB set up by a luthier in Brighton, but I can't find it. Did I dream it (which would be weird)?

Phil

[quote name='TheGreek' post='995933' date='Oct 21 2010, 01:52 PM']You may be right but since I've been diagnosed with Carpel Tunnel and may need an operation on my hand I'm not gonna get the enjoyment from it for some time. In the worst case scenario it may be that I won't actually get to play it so would end up losing a not unsubstantial amount of money on it. What should have been a pleasant experience may turn out to be something other than...

Just out of interest what was the price new??[/quote]

Oh that's a bugger. I hope you get over it and get the chance to play that lovely collection of instruments you have.

You'll hate this but my Wal new in 1983 was £595. Not such a bad buy as it turned out.

Phil

Mick,

I'm fortunate enough to own a Mk 1 Fretless Custom that I bought new in 1983 and the enjoyment and fun I've had from it (and still have) is immeasurable. The vast majority of folks will never be lucky enough to own a Wal, so if I were you I'd not worry too much now about how much you paid for it. I'd just get on and enjoy it.

Yes, the Pro series pre-dates the Custom series (although their was some crossover and a small batch of Pro's made much later) and was Wal's attempt at a production-line bass (although most I believe were still hand made by Pete and Wal). They are lovely high quality instruments and some would argue more of a purist, "players" bass than the Custom with all its bells and whistles. Think of them as Wal's P-bass. You're a lucky man.

Phil

[quote name='walbassist' post='979255' date='Oct 6 2010, 11:27 AM']Funnily enough, I may have just found the answer in the NS Electric Bass Cello Set.[/quote]

I was just about to suggest that Gareth.

P

I suspected this was going to be a bit of a Marmite™ bass, that's kind of why I posted it.

I'm going to sit on the fence. I admire the ingenuity of the construction (clearly the work of a deranged mind that's outrageously good with numerous little bits of wood), and I'd love a go on it, but I don't really see the point – there's many much easier ways of making a chambered/semi-solid bass.

Phil

PS. The rest of thelowend.net is worth a look. Lots of very nice, and a few very odd, instruments.

[quote name='silddx' post='979301' date='Oct 6 2010, 12:18 PM']I'm sorry too, it looks f***ing vile.[/quote]

Awww come on silddx, get off that fence and tell us what you really think

P

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='978743' date='Oct 5 2010, 08:11 PM']A Wal is something i need to tick off my list.

I'd love to sit with a Mach 1 for a couple of hours...

Flea used one throughout BloodSugarSexMagic, and his sound is so thick on that album!

I'm led to believe you can get pretty much anything out of them.

I won't be ordering/buying anything for at least 18 months, so i've got time to go searching.

It'll take some balls (and saving) if i do like them, as £3200 is the [i]starting[/i] price, i can only assume they're well worth it, as they don't stick around long, even at silly money.[/quote]

Andy,

If you're ever down Brighton way you're welcome come and sit with my old Mk 1 fretless (bought new for £595 in 1984) for at least a couple of hours.

Phil

[quote name='Chris2112' post='978689' date='Oct 5 2010, 07:28 PM']Trends are of course trends, no matter how long they last. I think one day Wal basses will be uncool. Remember the Warwick boom at the turn of the millenium? People realised the old ones were the ones to have and their values rose, people bought the new ones by the shedload and they commanded good prices used. Now they're doing extremely badly on the used market. A good Thumb NT will struggle to make £800, Streamer Stage 1's seem to do pretty badly too. Wal were once in this position themselves![/quote]

Apart from fashion, surely the biggest factor in the drop in Warwick used prices is one of supply and demand. And there's many, many more used Thumbs out there on the market than there are used Wals. Used Wal prices at the moment do seem a tad over-hyped to me, but I can never imagine a time when you'll be able to pick one up for £800. Even if they go out of fashion, there'll just never be enough of them around.

Phil

[quote name='Stacker' post='978212' date='Oct 5 2010, 12:27 PM']Wow. Are these basses for sale, do you know? Or is that just a gear porn page?[/quote]

They're very much for sale. Brian Barrett, who runs The Low End, is a well known US dealer of high-end new and used instruments.

Phil

One of my favourite work-avoidence, GAS inducing, web sites for occasional browsing is thelowend.net.

I spotted this the other day: www.thelowend.net/gallery/viewtopic.php?t=5084

and thought such an extraordinary instrument deserved a basschat audience.

Enjoy (but make sure your credit card is well hidden).
Phil

[quote name='Clarky' post='976312' date='Oct 3 2010, 07:17 PM']I've no idea whether right or wrong but I would say it sounds logical that greater headstock mass reduces dead spots. My logic is as follows: well known players like Leland Sklar (who knows a thing or two about bass) use the clamp thing on the headstock which adds mass and clearly believe in it, thus a headstock with more mass/weight will replicate this better than a downsized headstock, all else equal. Probably b*llocks but makes sense to me.[/quote]

It's an enormously complicated phenomenon, but bead spots in a neck are influenced by not just the mass of the headstock but by at least five other parameters also: the mass of the body, the rigidity of the neck (and truss rod), string tension, the mechanical damping inherent in the neck, and the rigidity of the neck/body join (actually there's other factors, body rigidity for example, but those six are the major ones). The basic requirement for no dead-spots is to get the fundamental headstock-neck-body resonance above any of the resonant fundamentals of the strings (i.e .the notes!) So, what works for one bass in terms of headstock mass may be wrong for another bass. As a general rule however, reducing mass in a resonant system will increase its fundamental resonant frequency, so a lighter headstock (or no headstock) would seem to be preferable. However, it's also possible that a heavier headstock might on some instruments be beneficial through the phenomenon of "mass damping" where a mass compliantly attached to a resonant system can be tuned to act as a mechanical energy "sink" and kill the resonance (which is probably what Leland Sklar discovered).

Phil

PS. I don't know about Bass Guitar Mag but most magazines use external photography studios. Review samples will usually go to be photographed before they are reviewed too ('cause reviewers are notoriously bad at returning review samples on time). So in the case of the Manson and it's incorrectly installed G string, it's probable that the bass was photographed before anybody from BGM saw it. Some luthiers slacken strings when shipping instruments too, so the G could quite easily have popped out of its saddle. The only crime here is that the picture editor on BGM didn't spot it (or maybe they did and simply didn't have time to re-shoot or re-touch).

[quote name='Rich' post='965234' date='Sep 23 2010, 08:10 AM']OK, if you want to do that, do it via PM. See Buyers guideline no.5, as quoted by birdy above.[/quote]

OK, OK, but being told once would have been enough

Many apologies of course for transgressing but it seems I'm too late. There was a knock at the door earlier and a bunch of mean looking guys in mean looking uniforms are waiting for me to finish this before dragging me off to the cells.......

P

PS. How long has the "don't mention the price" rule been in place? Is it new(ish)?

PPS. This:

[url="http://www4.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/~koesters/Privat/Wal/walspec.html"]http://www4.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/~ko...al/walspec.html[/url]

is always interesting as a first stop when talking Wal serial numbers.

[quote name='birdy' post='964787' date='Sep 22 2010, 07:06 PM']I think you are supposed to PM members regarding price.[/quote]

Maybe if you're negotiating yes, but I'm not. I'm just opining that the bass is a bit on the pricey side.

P

PS. Just saw the pics. Really lovely bass but that's not wenge – looks quilt maple to me. I also wonder if Pete was doing gloss finish in '87. I thought that came rather later.

I'm sure it's a desirable bass and I too would love to see some pics (my Mk 1 is wenge and you don't see many)

Phil

[quote name='TheGreek' post='956266' date='Sep 14 2010, 05:29 PM']I was tempted but I found out on Friday funding for my job has been withdrawn so I'm out of a job as of 1 Oct...also Import duties last time were nearly £200[/quote]

Sorry to hear that Mick. No consolation I know, but there's a lot of it about.

Phil

All,

I just stumbled upon this slightly incongruous but wonderful example of understated bass playing (the song took me back a bit too).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEYepr0Zm1E

Phil

[quote name='TheGreek' post='949919' date='Sep 8 2010, 09:32 PM'][center][size=3][b]Anybody serious about buying one of these beautiful creations should follow this link.

[url="http://www.enginessuperstore.com/?keyword=veillette"]http://www.enginessuperstore.com/?keyword=veillette[/url]

There is a 1981 burgundy 4 string No 288 with a serious history (anybody know Art Fulman?) - see attachment[/b].[/size][/center]

Phil, I don't know if you want to let Joe know - she's a late one - possibly one of the last..[/quote]

Mick,

Sorry, only just noticed your post. I'll let Joe know. Are you going to buy it?

Phil

[quote name='walbassist' post='948170' date='Sep 7 2010, 12:06 PM']Hi Phil

Well, small world eh? I grew up in Oxshott too, moving to Stoke d'Abernon when I was 11. We lived on The Chase off Wren's Hill; went to Royal Kent, and then on to St Andrews in Cobham.

The band was: Nic Ford on guitar, Ric Phillips on Drums, and Phillipa Grundon and Lisa Tickner shared vocals. Ring any bells?

Cheers

Gareth[/quote]

Very, very small world then Gareth. I went to Royal Kent also, then on to Hinchley Wood – my Mum and Dad didn't fancy St Andrews. I lived down the cheap end of Oxshott (Waverley Road) and I reckon I'm a little bit older than you (51 the other day) so we probably don't share too many contemporaries. I'm afraid the names don't ring any bells.

How weird is all that eh?
Phil

[quote name='walbassist' post='948144' date='Sep 7 2010, 11:43 AM']First song I ever played was an end of year school concert, Cobham in Surrey, 1981.

The song was "Since You Been Gone" by Rainbow, and I was playing a blond Satellite (remember them?) P bass with maple fingerboard and black nylon strings through an HH Bass Machine Combo.

I remember it really clearly, and can still recall the names of the rest of the band too!

Cheers

Gareth[/quote]

Who else was in the band Gareth? I'm from Oxshott originally so knew loads of people around there. My Mum's in a nursing home in Cobham (just past the petrol station on Stoke Rd) so I'm up there visiting pretty often.

Meanwhile, back on topic. My first gig was in a pub in West Hampstead called the Railway. It was probably 1983. The band was The Lemming Glass Company and I can not only name all the members, we're all still occasionally in touch. I played a fretless white Washburn (no idea what model but it had P & J pickups and buzzed horribly). Can't remember what the bass combo would have been. The song we started with was probably "A Twist of Lemming". I can still remember the bass part too.

Phil

Mick

A bit too far for me I'm afraid, but I'll let you know if I'm passing.

I'll past your compliments on to Joe. He's always interested to know where his instruments end up. Let me know if you do any recording with the bass – I'll pass it on to him.

Phil

Mick,

More from Joe. Looking at the old completion logs has obviously got him thinking.

First, there were around 60 basses built like yours so it's a pretty rare beast. Second, I was wrong about the wood – Joe now confirms it is all maple (is it heavy?). The fingerboard is rosewood. All the hardware except the tuners was made in-house by either Harvey or Joe – even the pickups were wound and cast in-house ("No wonder we went out of business." says Joe). Seems to me you got yourself a really nice bass there – and a bit of a bargain.

You're nowhere near Brighton by any chance are you? I'd love to get a look at the bass.

Phil