Basses in the 1980s

[JohnFitzgerald]

On 11/02/2025 at 17:01, TrevorR said:

So glad I got my Mk 1 back in the early 90s (personal ad in the back of Guitarist) and my Pro2E back in 2001 (randomly turned up in a local guitar shop - both for about 500 quid) before the prices got silly!

That's a crazy thought to have snagged them for that sort of money.

[TrevorR]

3 hours ago, JohnFitzgerald said:

That's a crazy thought to have snagged them for that sort of money.

Yeah, they were my two main basses that have come to a bazillion gigs with me. Some folks have said to me “…but how can you bear to take a couple of 5 grand basss to clubs and pubs?” Thing is I wasn’t taking 5 grand basses out for most of the time I’ve owned them… they’ve just been my basses… the ones I love playing. Back then they were pretty unfashionable basses and that was a decent, reasonable second hand market price at the time. It was only when Pete started getting ill in the early 2000s and then stopped building a few years later that the prices started to skyrocket.

[Russ]

4 hours ago, TrevorR said:

Yeah, they were my two main basses that have come to a bazillion gigs with me. Some folks have said to me “…but how can you bear to take a couple of 5 grand basss to clubs and pubs?” Thing is I wasn’t taking 5 grand basses out for most of the time I’ve owned them… they’ve just been my basses… the ones I love playing. Back then they were pretty unfashionable basses and that was a decent, reasonable second hand market price at the time. It was only when Pete started getting ill in the early 2000s and then stopped building a few years later that the prices started to skyrocket.

It also coincided with Tool’s Aenima coming out, and everyone wanting Justin Chancellor’s bass tone. All of a sudden, the nerdy British studio musicians’ tool of choice became the coolest bass with the most coveted tone in the world. With only Pete involved in building Wals at the time, it was impossible for him to keep up with demand for new basses, and so the prices of used models went stratospheric. Then he retired, and sadly passed away. Before Paul Herman picked up the reins a couple of years later, there were no new Wals to be had at all, which added to their scarcity value.

[TrevorR]

5 hours ago, Russ said:

It also coincided with Tool’s Aenima coming out, and everyone wanting Justin Chancellor’s bass tone. All of a sudden, the nerdy British studio musicians’ tool of choice became the coolest bass with the most coveted tone in the world. With only Pete involved in building Wals at the time, it was impossible for him to keep up with demand for new basses, and so the prices of used models went stratospheric. Then he retired, and sadly passed away. Before Paul Herman picked up the reins a couple of years later, there were no new Wals to be had at all, which added to their scarcity value.

Yes, and the fact it’s a two man, hand building business with a very limited output hasn’t helped se and hand prices any! Not to mention the closed order book and waiting list!

[Russ]

2 hours ago, TrevorR said:

Yes, and the fact it’s a two man, hand building business with a very limited output hasn’t helped se and hand prices any! Not to mention the closed order book and waiting list!

That’s part of the “mystique”.  

 

On one hand, Paul could have made an absolute fortune if he decided to introduce an import range to fulfil demand, but that might devalue their brand, and dilute some of that mystique and rarity value that Ian and Pete spent so long building up before him. 

 

Personally, I think they should do a Spector-style approach - yes, have an import range, but that would still be high-end, maybe made in Central/Eastern Europe. Cheaper and with higher availability than the UK-built instruments, but still built to a quality that wouldn’t impact their brand. 

[TrevorR]

9 hours ago, Russ said:

That’s part of the “mystique”.  

 

On one hand, Paul could have made an absolute fortune if he decided to introduce an import range to fulfil demand, but that might devalue their brand, and dilute some of that mystique and rarity value that Ian and Pete spent so long building up before him. 

 

Personally, I think they should do a Spector-style approach - yes, have an import range, but that would still be high-end, maybe made in Central/Eastern Europe. Cheaper and with higher availability than the UK-built instruments, but still built to a quality that wouldn’t impact their brand. 

Pete did toy with that overseas budget model concept before he retired and was in discussions with a corporate partner. Ultimately he didn’t trust that the Wal brand wouldn’t be diluted with Wal badged basses featuring stock aftermarket pickups and BBOT bridges. He pulled the deal in the end before they reached agreements.

 

Paul simply isn’t thinking in terms of higher volume and outsourcing. Not his ethos. He just wants to hand building the highest quality instruments. Like when he first moved on from Wal to hand build arch top jazz boxes… it’s all about the art and the craft.

 

 

 

[Jerry_B]

On 06/02/2025 at 09:30, Twigman said:

Whatever happened to Westone?

 

A school friend of mine had one  - it was the first bass I played - i really wanted a Thunder 1A but I couldn't afford one.

 

My first proper bass was a 1985 Westone Spectrum DX, which I bought in 1989. I say 'proper' as my first one was an Indian-made Jazz that was barely playable. I got the DX second-hand for 20 quid from a shop in Weymouth, but some dingbat had spray-painted it with green car paint and filed off the serial number. The paint was a bugger to strip off and when removing it the original red paint went too. So the whole thing was given a coat of beeswax and it's been the same way ever since:

 

 

It's been a solid bass over the years. The only thing I've ever had to do with it was put in some new tuners and had it refretted about 3 years ago. I am a die-hard Westone fan. I have a few more:

 

 

This site has a lot of details pics etc on the various Westone basses and guitars. The other 80s basses I have are an Aria Pro II Laser Electric Heritage from 1985 or so, and a Hohner B2 headless from about the same date or a bit later. Both of those are good fun too.

Edited February 14 by Jerry_B

[Jerry_B]

Oops - forgot to mention I also own this monster from 1983 (my brain still thinks of this as being a 70s bass, for some reason or other):

 

[BigRedX]

1 hour ago, Jerry_B said:

Oops - forgot to mention I also own this monster from 1983 (my brain still thinks of this as being a 70s bass, for some reason or other):

 

That's because the design originated in the late 70s.

[Jerry_B]

Yep. I almost bought a quite battered 1979 model on Ebay before I spotted the one I have now, which I bought from someone here on BC in 2010. It's crazy how the price of T-40s has rocketed since then.

[HeadlessBassist]

On 29/01/2025 at 14:43, markorbit said:

Just reminiscing. There were some crackers weren't there. I remember visiting the Bass Centre in Wapping numerous times and seeing Steinbergers, Status's and Wals. I bought a lovely Wal Pro 2E Cherry second-hand for I think... 300 quid.
 

If I had a time machine and some funds I'd go back and get a Status S2000 in black weave preferably with the script font on the brass bridge plate. I love the look of early Status basses. All shiny and new.

We were spoiled.

 

I played an S2000 at BassBros in Warwickshire last weekend, and was reminded how ballsy and powerful the original 2-band preamps were in those things. Just a pity that it was nearly £3000 in 2025 money. *Sigh*

[crazycloud]

29 minutes ago, HeadlessBassist said:

Just a pity that it was nearly £3000 in 2025 money. *Sigh*

I won't tell you what I paid for my, admittedly well used, S2000 then.

I don't think it has anything to do with the preamp, it's just the extremely rigid construction of the monocoque.

[HeadlessBassist]

3 minutes ago, crazycloud said:

I won't tell you what I paid for my, admittedly well used, S2000 then.

I don't think it has anything to do with the preamp, it's just the extremely rigid construction of the monocoque.

 

Even scarier, I bought the one-off 2019 KingBass MkII 5-string that he had in stock. I am now officially poor.

[crazycloud]

2 hours ago, HeadlessBassist said:

Even scarier, I bought the one-off 2019 KingBass MkII 5-string that he had in stock. I am now officially poor.

I can hear my wallet sobbing in sympathy from the next room.

[HeadlessBassist]

15 hours ago, crazycloud said:

I can hear my wallet sobbing in sympathy from the next room.

 

Mine has disowned me. 

[shoulderpet]

On 30/01/2025 at 11:00, BigRedX said:

Unfortunately the only nice thing I can say about Elites is that they were more consistent than Rotosound if you needed 5-string and alternative scale-length sets. I haven't looked back since I switched to Newtone strings is the early 90s.

I only used Elites once and they literally went dead overnight, I was 15 at the time so wasn't playing gigs and was tbh a bit lazy with practicing so between the time they were fitted and when they went dead they had all of 20 mins play on them, how they went dead overnight is a mystery but it's the only set of strings that has done that (I killed a set of Rotosounds in 1 gig once but tbh the venue was so hot I don't think any set of strings would have survived)

[markorbit]

23 hours ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

I played an S2000 at BassBros in Warwickshire last weekend, and was reminded how ballsy and powerful the original 2-band preamps were in those things. Just a pity that it was nearly £3000 in 2025 money. *Sigh*

I thought they sold that one. Yes, if I had the money...

[tauzero]

My big regret is that I didn't start learning that there were other basses out there until the late 80s when I was 30. I'd thought Fender was the pinnacle, then I encountered Warwick, then it took quite a while before I discovered much else - I think that after buying the JD Thumb I thought that was the ultimate bass (4-string wise, it still is, in my eyes) and didn't explore anything else until deciding to have a proper go at 5-string, which was around 2007. And so the collection began...

[Jerry_B]

13 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

I only used Elites once and they literally went dead overnight, I was 15 at the time so wasn't playing gigs and was tbh a bit lazy with practicing so between the time they were fitted and when they went dead they had all of 20 mins play on them, how they went dead overnight is a mystery but it's the only set of strings that has done that (I killed a set of Rotosounds in 1 gig once but tbh the venue was so hot I don't think any set of strings would have survived)

 

Strange. I've been using Elites for donkeys years and have never had any problems with them. In fact, they're the only strings I've used that don't go dead or muddy after a lot of playing and as I play with a plectrum I like the fact that they keep their sound well over time. I think one of my basses has a set that's about 3 years old and they're still perfectly useable. Their DBEs are good too. That said, their Detroit Flats are not my cup of tea as they do go muddy - I much prefer Chromes. I think in the late 80s I was using Labella Hard Rockin' Steel strings but I think they were rebadged some time ago(?).

[BigRedX]

37 minutes ago, Jerry_B said:

I think in the late 80s I was using Labella Hard Rockin' Steel strings but I think they were rebadged some time ago(?).

 

They are just called LaBella Steels now. Because LaBella round wounds aren't as popular as their flat wound strings they tend to be quite difficult to get hold of in the UK and, when can find them, they are eye-waveringly expensive. IME most people who like LaBella Steels would be just as well off with Warwick Red Label stings which are about a quarter of the price.

[Jerry_B]

Aha. I've not seen any since maybe 1990 or so. The three music shops in the little town where I was living at the time all stocked them, IIRC.

[Rich]

On 14/02/2025 at 15:48, Jerry_B said:

Oops - forgot to mention I also own this monster from 1983 (my brain still thinks of this as being a 70s bass, for some reason or other):

 

On 14/02/2025 at 16:51, BigRedX said:

That's because the design originated in the late 70s.

And because it weighs 1,970lbs.

[Jerry_B]

I don't mind the weight of the T-40 - mind you, in the event of a nuclear war I'm going to use its hard case as a bunker 😁

[Sarlscharisma]

Got my Westone Thunder Jet back in 84 - the bass I regretted selling!  But still play an 84 Alembic Spoiler.  I remember the bass mags of the time where full of UK made bass gear back then.  Sadly I couldn't afford the majority of it.

 

Ah the glory years of goth and a low slung bass!