BassBod

There's only two things to go wrong. Either the groove in the inset is worn and not holding, or the little ball bearings in the the strap part are not moving as they should. Might be worth a small squirt of WD40 or light oil into the bearings on the strap attachment - that may be enough to get them locking again (sparingly..and remove as much oil as you can before re-attaching or trying out the lock). Plugging the holes and fitting other standard buttons isn't that complicated, its worth seeing if there's a local repairer who could do it in a hurry? Long term I'd go for the Dunlop "dual" version that has a more standard button, with the hole for the strap lock mechanism. If you forget your strap (or have problems) you can use any strap without having to re-fit the locks.

Recently bought an old GK combo from David. He was very understanding while i tried to scratch the money together, and it arrived very well packaged and protected. Condition was exactly as expected (amazingly good for its age) and it performs exactly as its supposed to (none of that "yes , its all works, mate...but you just have to push the button a certain way" you often get with older amps). Communication was very good throughout, and always in good time. Pleasure to deal with, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy again

I only realised a while ago that he uses a filter/wah type effect a lot in the later Brand X/Wal stuff - but its blended with his direct sound so it doesn't give the effect of turning a pedal on...as we were all used to back in those days! Its much more subtle. My favourite sound is the Wal - with the Pbass coming a close second. I saw him years ago with a re-formed Brand X and the Ibanez just didn't sound like him..boom and scratch, not much warble. Mind you, the guitarist was trying to deafen everyone, so I'm sure that didn't help. Still love the sound, if not the music.

I never heard any difference at all when changing the valve in an Eden WT400...I mean nothing. I could hear a difference in other amps/preamps, but not the Eden. I even put a nasty Groove Tube in (very brittle and hard in SWR and Alembic) but it sounded fine. No idea why... Edit - back to topic: I got a GE 5751 from Watford several years ago, and its the cleanest clearest preamp sound I've ever got (out SWR/Alembic). Not sure it would qualify as HiFi but its certainly clean and almost impossible to drive hard.

Congratulations on the deal, I've never owned an Overwater, but I've liked the few I've picked up..also met Chris at the workshop a few years ago. Seemed like a very decent person and not at all phased by the presence of my (6 months old?) son. Sounds like a 32" scale PJ would fit nicely, with those discreet and musical active electronics. No one seems to mind active basses, if they look like they could be passive? I wouldn't ask your manager's opinion, except for the colour...maybe. Hope it works out well

Look out for an SWR Bass(ic) 350, the red faced one. Simpler preamp, more horsepower..but some have got the noisy fan as well. Would love to try one with a single Bag End one day.

I've used mine a lot for smaller gigs - and also as a light power amp for an Alembic preamp. Gets decent volume without cranking through a single 1x15 (nice Bag End, cheers Chris!) or 1x12. Wouldn't use it for a Goliath 4x10...its not up to that without some help.

I'd have to ask a lot of questions - looks like its been re-wired and re-finished. I'm always surprised how the "original" word can be used with so many qualifications.

I think the main thing is just use big fat humbuckers..and have their internal coils wired in series. Go for the darker/honky tone, then use whatever filter type circuit you can get. A lot of the Wal sound is those huge peculiar pickups (especially the older Pro basses without the variable filter gubbins).

Bought gig bag from Stan recently - easy transaction, arrived in good time exactly as described - nice one.

I ordered some extra-long strings for my 36" scale bass at around 4pm Friday using Overwater's on-line shop - and they just landed on the doorstep at 10.30 Saturday morning. That's Carlisle to Bristol overnight. I probably couldn't have driven it quicker...with a coffee break or two. Impressed.

Sorry HJ...I should be clearer. The Midget can indeed rock...just not ROCK!. Nothing wrong with the sound, it give you what you send it, but for me it just barks too much when you really push it. And of course it looks a bit silly sitting on a big stage. Looks like you forgot something.

I've been using a Midget for over a year now - has been fantastic (with EA Micro) for all my gigging. It isn't a ROCK! cab...but does cope with louder function type gigs on its own. With a DI into a decent PA it would be fine as a stage monitor. Tried an early Compact when it was sent around the country...from memory, it has a more traditional rounded sound (the Midget is a bit "barky" by comparison) but I can't think of a situation where it wouldn't work. For a lot of my work its too big...but I play in a lot of small places. Not tried the two together, but I suspect they would complement each other very well. My only concern would be the relative volume of each cab if being driven by one amp (so you can't balance them to taste), but I'm sure Alex has thought about that...

Will work fine..but use thin brass sheet instead of tape?

Its worth trying to decide what the issue was on that gig - I always favour a "post eq" send for DI, and its never really caused a problem (just a few grumpy engineers, but they've usually been fine once they see a "known" DI box). I don't use any extreme eq settings...I'm sure that helps a lot. The usual issue with built in DI outputs on amps is background noise (hisses and/or hums) that can't be removed, or very high or low output - not really crap sound. I wouldn't be assuming there is anything wrong at this stage. If you want a plan B, then get a simple good quality passive DI box (Radial Pro?) and run it from a jack output from the amp, effects send or preamp out..or between your bass and amp..if your bass is active and you like the sound without any amp eq added.

The hum is inherent in all J single coils (even Jaco's!). Bear in mind that Fender never intended a P and J pickup to go together, in fact the single coil J was designed as a humbucking pair, so it cancelled hum when used with its partner..but only if they were at the same level. Turn one down...and up comes the hum...but only sometimes. I'd suggest changing both pickups for a pair that are designed to work together, and also has a humbucking single J. DiMarzio's are great, so are the Sadowskys - there are plenty to chose from. Chances are just a good humbucking J will do the trick, but if you can afford it think about changing the P as well. Keep all the original pickups in case you want to sell the bass later - it always helps on a high value bass if you can revert it to factory condition (even if modified is better!)

Having had a think about it...if I had a Wal fretless with an ebony board I'd leave it, but experiment with different strings. Coated boards for me are the way to get more of the Jaco sound...but that's not what Wals are about. I'd rather have fretless fun with black plastic strings or Thomastik flats - enjoy the wood!

I've seen Tru Oil (polymerised Tung) recommended as a good finish to toughen rosewood or ebony boards - but I've never found it here in the UK. Can't imagine it would modify the sound much, just make the board more resistant to deep wear marks. I've also done a few superglue coatings over the years - its a slow process with obvious hazards...but you can get a very thin coating which is very strong and really brightens up the mmmwwwaww (for want of a better word). Not really instant Jaco in a tube, but it does change the character of the fretless into a brighter more singing sound than wooden boards (even ebony). A friend of mine has a great factory fretless Wal ProIIE - the board on that was called "parrotshit" by Pete the Fish. Looks like rosewood, but its not - it is a whole lot tougher and hardly shows much string wear after at least 25 years of solid playing. Sounds lovely (when he plays it).

I'n not a shop...but you're welcome to pop round and try out my Clifton EUB. I'd really recommend trying out as many as you can. I'm on the outer fringes of Bristol...just PM me?

Try running into the effects return...it will be lower level, but hopefully the power amp is ok and will work. EA may still be able to supply parts (they are a very responsive company). You haven't said which version it is, but that may be the deciding factor in whether its repair or replace