CPCustomdubwise

In order of annoyance... The balance; it was one of the first 5 strings....with the Schaller bridge...the tiny body and enormous neck just meant I was always having to steady the blasted thing... Then...the twin emg j piclups very close to the bridge; didn't like the sound and their angled orientation meant they were just a little uncomfortable... then...that sodding " adjustanut"...the B kept falling off it.... which leads me neatly to the B; whatever strings I used it just didn't do what I wanted. I am quite prepared to accept that it was my shortcomings as a player and as a setterupperist that lead to this woeful state of affairs, but, whatever, I sold it to a rabid Jack Bruce fan and bought a Stingray. I think the Thumb is a triumph of overenthusiastic luthiery and design without discipline.... but I don't s'pose Hans-Peter Wilfer will let what I think worry him over much.

I should have gone for the Streamer.... my head was turned by Cass Lewis and his Terence Trent D'Arby gig.... but I hated the Thumb the minute I got it home and continue to loathe the damn things to this day Tje Wal Pro is the only bass from many, many basses that I miss.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing indeed. We could form a club of grumpy old scrotes who idiotically sold all their fantastic basses years ago because some shiny new trinket suddenly appeared hanging on a wall in Wapping or somewhere..... we could call it Basscha...... Oh, wait......

You can get a Yamaha BB234 for 266 quid... Set up properly that bass will cover amything you ask of it. They are consistently well made, very playable and sound great.

My Pro cost £350 in 1983...swapped the Custom two years later for a Jaydee that Mark King donated to a competition in One Two Testing whi h I won....the Jaydee was horrible.... then refused to trade the Pro for a 1963 P bass.... then sold it for peanuts....then traded the Custom for a Warwick Thumb 5 in Allbang and Strummit in 1988; I believe I was given a trade value if £350 for that. A complete litany of daft errors.... amd the Pro was the best bass of the lot anyway. But we won't be told.

This certainly IS an extremely annoying fact of life. Like you I preferred the Pro to the Custom; the Pro was my second bass, after a catastrophic Satellite J copy....and frankly I should have stuck with it. You live and learn....

I emailed Paul Herman with this exact question a few years back. I basically suggested that a Standard model, effectively some reiteration of the Pro model ( somewhere between the first and second types of "Pro" ) would enable ordinary mortals to dip their toe in the Wal pool. I had a couple of Wals, a Pro 1e and a Custom M1, back in the 80s and would love to again, but kids going through Uni makes the very idea impossible. I asked whether something equivalent to the PRS SE models, perhaps manufactured overseas and quality controlled by Wal, might be an idea, and that I was sure they'd sell by the truckload.. Paul politely and very charmingly stated that there were no such plans at present, nor any particular impetus to introduce them in the future. I think the thing is that they have no shortage of customers, they like the business the way it is now and they may even wish to preserve some concept of purity of their product. I get that.....but I'd buy a stripped down £1k Wal " SE" in a flash if one became a thing.

I will work with you, Doctor J ! That guy was Jon Gold, erstwhile proprietor of Allbang & Strummit in Seven Dials, a fine guitar emporium of the time. Jon relieved me of lots of money over the years and was/is a bass-player himself, I believe. Anyways, Jon confidently informed Matthew Kelly, on primetime TV, that he could identify, whilst concealed behind a screen, a selection from an unfeasibly vast pile of bass guitars, purely on the basis of their sound. It didn't go well. Good to know that this isn't all just a product of your diseased imagination, I expect?

Bought Hipshot tuners from Pete. Smooth, fast, well-packaged, exactly as described and, most importantly, clear and very friendly communication throughout. An excellent transaction with a great guy, and unhesitatingly recommended. Cheers Pete, Crispin

I have the 434 and faced the same dilemma - generally great bass; uninspiring hardware here and there. So, ultralites on one end, (which as well as being vastly more solid and precise than the generic tuners, also shaves off a respecfable amount of weight....) and a Yamaha VintagePlus bridge ( same as the 700 series basses and the BBP34/35) from BTN music ( the same fitting, supports the string-thru option and is in every way better. As my bass is the 434M, and therefore the only maple-board option, that was the way I could get my preferences... ) on the other end. Had to order the bridge; turnaround is " three to six weeks "....they were very helpful and the cost with shipping was about 65 quid as I recall; suppose the 5 string version may well be a bit more... but as I have hipshot, schaller and badass bridges on other basses, which all cost more than that, it seemed a decent price to me. I also approached Yamaha; I found BTN cheaper.

A while back ( okay: 1989 ) I was flogging a Fender Jazz made up of a refinished late 70s body and a ( admittedly lovely) 1962 neck, with reissue pups and wiring.... I was approached by a chap who offered me TWO Wals, a fretted and a fretless, plus cases, as a straight swap for the Jazz. I said no.

And yet another satisfied customer ! I approached John about a harness for my PJ bass....as straightforward as you like, except that it wasn't, because I had a few pernickity little extra requirements, meaning he couldn't just send me an off-the-peg one... Still, I sent him the money and 1.5 ( ONE AND A HALF !) hours later he notified me that the completely custom-wired, solderless-terminalled, extremely high-quality- componented circuit was in the post ! It arrived well-packed and quickly, and, as appears to be the universal experience, it has greatly enhanced the sound of my bass. He also offered excellent advice...and I got the little screwdriver too ! I cannot recommend him highly enough and would never go anywhere else for passive circuitry.

I have just bought Niels' fretless Pbass neck. He described an issue with the neck which meant that I had a few questions prior to purchasing; he answered every one comprehensively, and was patient and kind throughout. It has now arrived ( extremely well packed, and at a very reasonable shipping cost) and it is better in every way than he described. Thanks Niels, it's been a positive pleasure buying from you.

I was 15....it took me a while to realise that Mick Jones hadn't actually written the song.... But that combination of punk attitude and reggae/dub bass culture has informed my whole musical life...and what I will experience on friday at the Massive gig follows on from it as night follows day....

That's how I usually am....but I have been thinking I ought to make more of an effort.... Went to see URoy and Junior Murvin in Cambridge a while ago....it was shamefully underattended, and these are princes among men...ever since then, and also missing one of Lou Reed's last appearences...I remind myself that true greatness must be acknowledged....

Massive Attack, O2 London this coming friday...... 21st Anniversary of Mezzanine My Christmas present from my kids, the eldest of whom I used to rock to sleep to "Teardrop".... All kinds of strange - good, though - feelings.

Whoops... sent it again

Pete rediscovered an old Stingray scratchplate in a drawer....I bought it! Seamless, quick, well-packed and courteous - perfect transaction !! Thanks Pete; top bloke to deal with.

Just bought Jack's Musicman bass... Reading the previous post, I can confirm that he is some kind of genius of the art of wrapping, but more than that, there have been fantastically informative and friendly comms, flexibility and patience - all the stuff that makes for a great transaction. Great bass too !! Jack, it's been a pleasure !

Bought Darren's Discumbobulator pedal. From the outset he has been an easy, helpful person to deal with....the pedal is perfect, packaging excellent and superfast delivery. Highly recommended and a top Basschatterer. Cheers Darren, Crispin

Sold John my big box qtron..... He has been, throughout, and despite a glitch on my part, really friendly, reliable and patient, and an absolute pleasure to do business with. His reputation precedes him, but, just in case anyone is still wondering, absolutely recommended !!