White Cloud

For their time Wal was just IT. I switched to Wal during the 80's and I was just blown away by the sound quality. Its odd that, for a time (quite recently) nobody wanted Wal basses yet now they are back in vogue. I almost pulled the trigger on a brand new Wal build when Paul Herman started the ball rolling again...but after negotiations with my better half I eventually had to settle for a house renovation instead (new kitchen, bathrooms etc etc). I did consider a divorce and selling my children...but decided it would be better karma if I saved for a few years instead!

Yes indeed, incredible tones. For me the only bass on the market that could compete sound wise was the Alembic Series 1....and the Wal is infinitely easier to use, and much, much cheaper to buy. For me Geddy Lee had his best ever sound with the Wal custom. Listen to "power windows" to hear his optimum recorded bass sound using his Wal - especially the track "Big Money". Just awesome! [url="http://youtu.be/BAvEiLpboqk"]http://youtu.be/BAvEiLpboqk[/url]

The elecs are indeed complex but as a non tech guy all I cared about was that mine sounded AMAZING. Very huge and dramatic tones available via the filters. Loved the "pick attack" available when the vol was pulled out. The neck is quite meaty...kinda old school "V" precision'y type!?!? Mine looked and sounded incredible. Playability on mine was good as opposed to fantastic...took a bit of getting used to, but worth it. The action went quite low but not mega low. Dowbside; mine weighed almost the same as my family car at the time & hurt my shoulder after each gig. Despite that I still consider trading it against a Jaydee as the single biggest folly of my entire life (the neck on the Jaydee failed and ended up with a back bow to rival Robin hoods weapon of choice). Great basses. Sublime tonality!

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1355991248' post='1905290'] Please don't tell my wife. [/quote] Lol, that what its all about...a nice xmas present to yourself!

Looks like the Letts fretless has sold. Someone got the bargain of 2012 with that bass!

Agree with previous poster...4 strings for a beginner every time. Regarding the bass and amp I also suggest buying 2nd hand as there are some insane deals out there on ebay etc. Things have changed in a big way over the last 20-30 yrs regarding instruments. I just dont think you can buy a really "bad" bass these days. I recommend you have a look at Ibanez, Yamaha, Squier for your bass and buy a 15w practise amp to see if you are going to stick with the bass long term. Good luck.

[quote name='jahfish' timestamp='1355615026' post='1900692'] Well done getting a 605 for under £300! I'm on the look out for one, or a 705 - though I'm not massively keen on the Transparent Black that we get [/quote] Lol, bit of a story with the 605. I tried a "new" one with a very distinctive grain pattern in Guitar Guitar in Glasgow and fell for it. It was £586 new. I hummed and hawed and came within a pubic hair of buying it there and then...but didnt. A few days later I was on their website and I saw that they had an immaculate "used" 605 in the Glasgow store for £299...so I snapped it up. Cut a long story short it arrived the following day and it was the exact "new" instrument with the distinct grain pattern that I had played and almost bought for full price 3 days previously. Now, far be it for me to cast aspertions upon Guitar Guitar...but they tried to sell me a pristine used bass at a new price imho. Anyway...fate dealt me the bass at a great price. I just noticed that weight is an issue for you in your previous post. Obviously each individual instrument varies but both of my SR5's come in around about the 8lbs mark. Very light for 5ers.

[quote name='skidder652003' timestamp='1355644388' post='1900783'] You did me a favour there! Ive been looking (and bidding) on some squier VM fretless but these look amazing. Has anyone tried/got one? Are the pups beefy enough? Im thinking of saving up some more gig dosh a little longer now. [/quote] Honestly, give Jon a call and speak to him. The stuff he is producing is of an amazingly high quality. Every pickup he uses is hand made by his good self. He is based in Leicester...and has a nasty habit of (for him) of underpricing his beautiful basses! Oh I should also add that if I still played 4 string I would have snapped up the Letts fretless weeks ago. I am currently saving up for a commisioned 5 string single cut!

Well done, I have looked at those before and they look really good for the cash. Enjoy the new bass dude!

I seem to recall that 5 string Ken Smith basses had a spacing similar spacing to 16.5 but I may be wrong.

Cant pass this thread by without chipping in. I bought an immaculate used SR605 for £299 to dip my foot into the 5 string pool and was so impressed with it that I sold my 4 string gigging Laklands and bought a SR1205 premium . These two basses are now the only basses I own. The overall design template for both basses is incredibly well thought out and works beautifully. Over the last 35 yrs I have literally owned almost every brand from Status, Wal, Alembic, Musicman, Vigier, Fenders, Laklands, Ricks etc etc etc etc...I could go on all day....so I think I know my stuff. For the money the 605 is a gorgeous instrument...light, beautiful construction, great playability and electrics pups. The 1205 is simply stunning..,..easily one of the nicest basses I have owned, and arguably currently giving me my best ever live sound! A 5 string that weighs 8lbs and knocks out absolute killer sounds whilst playing like butter. Build quality is superb. I cant believe how overlooked and underated the Ibanez SR basses are, especially the higher end models. For the record I think the difference in quality between the Premium and Prestige range is negligable. This, for me, makes the Premium range the best value for money of all the SR's.

[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1355561706' post='1899869'] Irrespective of the way the market for handbuilt basses has changed, Alembic's books are still back logged, so despite the fact that better value is available elsewhere, Alembic's business model is still working for them. [/quote] Yes very true....yet on a different tack very few high profile players use them extensively these days. This may however be due in part to the fact that Alembic generally dont hand out freebies to big names. More strength to Alembic. There are obviously plenty of players willing to pay the asking prices. For me personally I wouldnt dream of it...I'd rather have a Fodera and a Smith, etc etc for the same cash.

I'm going to do you a real favour here. Forget the aforementioned options and vist Jon letts website. He currently has an outstanding four string fretless for sale (brand new stock) at an insane £400 including a hard case. If you havent heard of Letts basses then you are missing a trick....every bass is hand built to an exceptional standard. Why opt for mass produced when you can snap up a luthier hand made piece of master craftmanship. Letts fretless basses sound wonderful.

Hi Jazzy. Yes indeed they are absolutely first rate instruments despite every other factor discussed here. My pal has a 78 Series 1 and it is "off the scale" tone wise! My advice would always be to buy second hand.

Lol...yes true. Apologies! For what its worth I dont think you can go far wrong with a bass of that quality. Its horses for courses really. I will share my personal wisdom on the subject of the "what bass is best question" with you....I'm a great believer that the name of the person playing the bass is much more important than the name on the headstock! If you think about it people get so hung up on all the different basses out there - but they are all merely variations on the same theme.

It took me 30 years of playing before switching to 5 string....and I will never go back to 4. I bought a used Ibanez SR605 at a great price to try out the extra string - a fantastic cheapish 5 string. Buy what you want though dude...its your cash. If you want a Fenderish style 5 and have a reasonable budget I personally would go either a Lakland or Stingray.

I agree that this bass sounds great. Nice demo, thanks for sharing.

I have been lucky enough to own an Alembic. They are very much an acquired taste...basses that you either love or hate to be honest. Personally I found the electrics to be absolutely first rate once mastered and the bass itself to feature breathtaking woodworking. Very heavy though so be aware that this is not the brand for those with dodgy back problems. The (big) downside is they are massively overpriced when bought new. Surprisingly enough, considering the multi laminations used in construction, there are also a good number of Alembic owners out there who have had neck stability problems (browse the Alembic club and you will find them)...although some of these may be down in some part to the aforementioned more complicated set up requirements. The neck on mine was almost perfectly straight and the action was crazy low so no complaints here. I think at the end of the day though that the "elephant in the room" regarding Alembic is this; back in the day nobody was doing what Alembic did...but times have changed. There are an absolute myriad of builders making instruments of comparable build/sound quality now - most of them at a price point MUCH lower than Alembic. I could have bought 3 Wal customs for the price of an Alembic Series1 ...and I much preferred my Wal to my Alembic. The bottom line? If you think anything (including an Alembic) is worth the asking price...then for you it is. Just my tuppenceworth.

There is a distinct difference between the two woods when used as fingerboards. Rosewood is indeed harder (despite some assertions to the contrary earlier in this thread) and much more expensive than Maple in its raw state. Maple has a noticeably brighter and (to my ears at least) less resonant sound characteristic. It also offer a completely different mid tonality imho. My preference would be Rosewood every day of the week...however this is entirely subjective. I like the response, warmth and resonance of Rosewood and have always found that Maple does not suit my personal taste/feel. Just my tuppenceworth.

A good friend of mine owns a fretless 4 string Curbow. He absolutely loves it, swears by it and gigs with it regularly. I have played it a couple of times and although I'm not too keen on fretless have been generally quite impressed with it....especially at the price he paid for it (not a lot). I thought the Bartolini pup + electrics sounded good and the playability (despite the smallish body feeling a tad unusual) was good. My mates main bass is a fretted 1978 Alembic Series 1 and the Curbow is his gigging fretless....quite a contrast price wise! Not sure if this helps or not...but I like the Curbow.