bassaussie

2 hours ago, Bassassin said:

I'm fairly confident the round-end J pickups were used by different manufacturers, having owned 4 or 5 different basses fitted with these.

Despite years of research the vintage MIJ community has found very little info on different electronics & hardware suppliers during the 70s / 80s era. We're pretty much limited to Nisshin Onpa (Maxon) and Goto/Gotoh for pickups - simply because these have brands marked on them. There's a vague assumption that Matsumoku wound their own pickups because many late Mat instruments have MMK-stamped pickups - but that's not exacty conclusive.

Hardware's the same - we know Chushin & Gotoh made tuners, bridges & other fittings only because they put their brands on the parts. Chushin was also a major instrument manufacturer in its own right so it's possible they produced in-house electronics too.

I think it's beyond doubt there were numerous other, smaller manufacturers of components, just as there were numerous instrument builders that are now gone with little or no record.

Thanks for the info Bassassin. I find this period of manufacture so fascinating, but it's a little like trying to research some parts of ancient history - there's these gaps in information that'll never be uncovered.

I actually have a friend locally who's also really into this sort of investigation, and a while back he said "wouldn't it be great to write a book on this", and I remember thinking "sure ..... if you want to go insane"!!!

I've seen a few of these basses, both in real life and on the interwebs.

One thing I always noticed was that the pickups are very rounded on the corners, and I remember that this shape was the same as the shape that some of the earlierr Cimar basses had. I don't know if this gives any hint to the origin of the instruments, as it's possible that different companies sourced their pickups from a single supplier, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

I'd love to own one of these. The first time I ever saw one, the instrument was offered to me for sale, however, the effects weren't working at all, and the seller said something like "oh, I'm sure it's an easy fix, probably just a wire needs to be re-soldered", and I thought what I always think in situations like that - "if it's so easy, why didn't you do that yourself"?!!!! So I passed on the sale, but always hoped I might come across another.

34 minutes ago, Monkey Steve said:

I'm not sure that it's easily available info - they have always been a custom shop, and never seemed that bothered about publishing stats for how many basses they've made.

there is this: https://www4.cs.fau.de/~koesters/Privat/Wal/walspec.html

Which is very far from official - seems to be a list of instruments that the site owner has been told about, rather than anything comprehensive.  But may give you a flavour of the fretted to fretless ratios for the period

Thanks for that. You're right, it's not 100% conclusive, but it certainly gives a feel for what they were doing. And they were definitely doing a good proportion of fretless basses.

Hi all, I've been fascinated in watching a number of Wal fretless basses pop up in the classifieds area, and it got me thinking. What proportion of Wal basses were fretless? I'm talking about that late 70s, early 80s period. I don't know how accessible this information would be, but thought maybe there might be someone on here who'd have an idea.

Part of the reason I ask was my experience with an Australian brand, Maton (obviously from my name, I'm Australian). Back in the late 70s and 80s, they made a bass called the JB4. I think all up, they made about 1000 instruments, but the interesting part was that around 40% of these (possibly slightly more) were fretless. I think this was a comment about what was happening in the bass world at that time - Jaco had hit the scene, and a lot of good fretless players were appearing, and these smaller companies were making good quality instruments in response to that. When I look at Wal, they remind me of Maton - not the instrument itself, but that they were a smaller company responding to the need for good quality, yet local instruments.

8 hours ago, WHUFC BASS said:

There was something about Status basses along with a Trace Stack back in the 80s which was the pinnacle of bass gear excellence. There was a connection between the two companies too both being based in Essex, UK. I remember going up to Witham in Essex to get my Trace Elliot head serviced and in the factory were a number of Status basses that they used to test the amps out.
At the time, I'd go as far to say Essex was the centre of the bass universe - certainly in Europe!

I thought the same thing. It was so expensive to get their gear in Australia. I ended up getting a Mark V AH250 and a 4x10, and they were incredible. Never had a Status until many years later, and I had the priveledge to own fretted and fretless Series II basses from the 80s. Amazing basses, but I foolishly let the fretted one through my fingers - I could live without the fretless, I'm rubbish at fretless, but I should've kept the fretted one.

2 minutes ago, WHUFC BASS said:

I remember the interview with John Entwistle in which he explained some of his techniques on what I think was a black Buzzard bass (could be wrong). He reffered to slap bass as "that thing" and proceeded to launch into a killer riff. I also remember Ian Paice form Deep Purple on there giving a drumming demo like a boss.

I'm assuming you didn't check out Bros and their Status bass offerings from Craig Logan. I don't think I ever saw it plugged in! 

 

I forgot about him! I remember seeing him in another video, and he was using a Fender P, and I thought "what's he thinking?!!!!"

In my mind, at that time, if you had a Status bass there was no reason to use anything else.

After I put that post before, I decided to look up "Love Like Blood", and there's Raven with his Status in front of the classic Trace stack - AH500,, 2 quad boxes and 2 15s. The mightiest rig.

30 minutes ago, WHUFC BASS said:

Thanks for that!

I remember Rockschool really well as it goes and watched it when it was on TV - I was about 13 or so at the time. I remember Henry Thomas and his Westone Thunder III as I had a Thunder IA at the time. They interviewed some great muscians at the time. Shame there's nothing like that on TV now as it was really popular.

Mate, I was exactly the same! Henry Thomas and his cool basses! I always remember when they had Larry Graham on, explaining the funk. Absolute God.

I think by the time I got to see the series (this is in Australia, mind you), a few years had passed since it had been made. So by that time. I'd already discovered and fallen in love with Status basses. I remember the episode seeing the Status guitar, and I was absolutely gobsmacked. This was after years of gluing my nose to the TV every time the video of Tears for Fears "Shout" came on, which had some of the best shots of a Status bass ever in a music video. Or Killing Joke's "Love Like Blood", with Raven rocking a Status Series II.

God the 80s had some cool bass gear!

If you want to see one of these in action, try to find some episodes of a BBC show called "Rock School". It's from the early 80s. It was a tutorial sort of series, I think there was only about 6 episodes made. Anyway, in at least one episode the female guitarist used a Status guitar.

I did some research on these at some point, and if I remember correctly, there were only a handful made.

OK ..... so being the OCD person I am, I found the video on Youtube! Go to about 2:00 for a good view.

48 minutes ago, Old Horse Murphy said:

I struggled with bottom end too when using a 3eq. I found it very insipid and quite difficult to hear myself when playing in a moderately loud band. 

The 2eq Rays however are superb instruments and I'd love to own one again. 

I used a 3 band eq live for a long time, and I think there was always a temptation to use the mid control to cut that part of the sound when it wasn't necessary. It's what I call "the bedroom sound" - a bass can sound amazing in the bedroom when you're just playing by yourself, but in a band scenario, a lot of the bandwith you tend to cut in the solo scenario is exactly the bandwith you need to be heard when playing with a band.

15 hours ago, Mudpup said:

3 band eq.....thats the issue

Try a 2 band - it'll take your fillings out

I agree with this. The 3 band eq is a great bass, no question. But if you think "nah, this is not for me", don't write Stingrays off until you at least try a 2 band, as it's a different animal. The same basic sound is there, but there's something about the 2 band eq that seems to have more oomph than the 3 band.

Having said that, another poster above suggested that maybe it's just not for you, which is also a possibility. Nothing wrong with that, that's why the bass market is full of so many great options.

Thanks ikay. Clears it up a bit, probably as much as Hofner want it cleared up!

Hi. Could someone give me a definitive answer on what the difference is between the Icon and Ignition basses? Thanks.

There was a brand called Quest that made an Explorer/Destroyer shaped guitar that could've been what you were looking at. To be honest, I can't recall if they made a bass version, but might be worth checking out. For some reason, I think Quest was related to Daion.

This sucks. Have a bump. Probably won't help, but truly, my heart goes out to you.

I don't condone theft in any form, but there's something particulary sh*tty about stealing instruments from a muso. We battle to get these instruments, they're not cheap, and we make all sorts of compromises to get them, then to have someone treat it like a bloody high end TV or laptop is infuriating.

3 hours ago, Marcus said:

After much deliberation and literally dozens of PM’s regarding the 62 Jazz and Pre EB Ray I’ve decided to keep these 2 Basses.... I could have sold them both 20 times but they are keepers....

 

all others for sale....

Regards & Thanks to all who have enquired 

Mark 

Sounds like a wise decision.

Is there any chance you could at least tell us what the story is with the 62 Jazz? I'm sure there's lots of people on here who'd like to know what was on offer.

Nobody's mentioned the photobomb from an amazing old Trace amp.

Do you think this beaten up look is something that only applies to used Fenders, or maybe basses that look they they come from the 50s and 60s?

For some reason, I can't imagine a seller advertising a Warwick Thumb or a Sadowsky and saying "and it has that beaten up look".

Robert Palmer's cover of "Early in the Morning". The bass is amazing all the way through the song, then there's this blistering solo that comes from nowhere! It's around 3:20.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZyD_b3xSzI

And this guy does a great job of breaking it all down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pQHRInI8pY

6 minutes ago, bassbiscuits said:

All instruments are individual anyway, so it's down to whether or not I like the one in my hand (or more likely, whether I can afford it!)

That's exactly my point. Often it's about a certain instrument speaking to the individual. I might think it's a dog, but you think it's great.

I actually thought about this recently, I was watching one of those Youtube clips where they talk to a famous guitarist or bassist about the rig they use. So they go through all this recent gear, then ultimately, they'll pull out some guitar from the player's childhood, and they say "yeah, my mum gave me this guitar on my 16th birthday, and it's the best one I've ever tried". And it'll be some instrument from a year that most collectors go "oh .... no, that's a terrible year"!!! But for whatever reason, that instrument speaks to that player - whether it's truly a great instrument, whether it's simply a matter of the player and the instrument growing old together, whether it's the nostalgia associated with the the instrument, something about it speaks to that person. While that's a little different to what we're discussing here, I think it still showcases the fact that you need to have the instrument in your hands before you can truly know if it's right for you. We can make educated decisions based on collectability, value, all those things, as they're simply numbers. But the feel of it, whether it's going to be an instrument that works for you, that's all down to the connection that happens when the player tries the instrument.

Thanks for all the responses guys. It's great to get both sides of the "if it's in good condition, it's never been played" argument. I think it probably proves, more than anything, that each instrument has to be judged on a case by case basis.

ead - that's a stunning example, and for me, that would be the sort of condition that would appeal to me. I own a 1966 P at present, and the condition is about the same as that, maybe a little more beaten, but not much.

It was actually another Precision that's being advertised in the classifieds currently that prompted this thread. It's a beautiful old bass, at a very reasonable price, but the condition is a little beyond what I am looking for. Reading the thread, though, lots of people love the condition, even saying it's the perfect example (or something to that effect), and it just got me thinking about what appeals to people these days.

Hi all. I haven't participated on here on ages, but always love checking out the classifieds. I'm contemplating a purchase shortly of an older Fender, and have been watching what's available on the forum. One thing I've noticed is the apparent love of "mojo" - basses that might still be all original, but display a lot of signs of use. I'm just curious about what people's thoughts are on this, why they prefer that beaten up look over a more pristine example. Just to be clear, in my mind, there's no right or wrong, I think it's all very personal, although myself, I prefer something that's reasonably clean, with some signs of use.

I've never seen one of these before - really like it, nice design.

Mate, that's some amazing playing. I love listening to a rhythm section that locks the way you guys do - I'm including the guitarist, BTW. Really tight, just fabulous playing.

And the bass ain't bad either!

That's a beautiful finish on the bass. Fender really hit a home run with the trans red they were doing in that period.

[quote name='Musky' post='1350728' date='Aug 24 2011, 08:59 PM'][url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Right-Handed-Semi-Acoustic-Bass-Guitar-/190568454172?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2c5ec3d81c"]Old semi[/url]. I've seen basses like this branded Commodore (I think Nick has/used to have something similar) and it appears to be a Mat build.

It's got a BIN of £150 at the moment, but I'd suggest someone within easy reach of Aberdeen goes for this - I don't like all this talk of bubble wrap and brown paper! [/quote]

That's really nice. My first bass teacher had one just like this, and it was branded Commodore. This was back in 1980 or so. I can't really remember if it was any good or not, but I remember liking the way it looked. We always did lessons on his Fender Precision, so I only played it once or twice.