TrevorR

You’d get a really nice Sandberg for your budget. That would be my pick!

…just remembered, they finished one song, something from Abacab I think, and Phil pointed over to the other side of the stage and said something like “Oh look, Tony’s pulled out a 12 string acoustic… well that can only mean one thing…” The whole crowd were already going ape-poo (saving the filter some work there) before he got the words “Supper’s Ready” out!

Saw them in 82 at the St Austell Colosseum on the warm up tour for the Milton Keynes Gabriel reunion gig. They were spectacular and all the more so being in a modest sized hall, not too far from the stage. This medley was on the set list along with a rare 80s appearance of Supper’s Ready (practicing for Pete). The gig was the perfect combination of prog and pop Genesis. One of my all time favourite gig experiences.

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.

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!

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.

On 02/08/2024 at 17:47, Bassman68 said:

Damn the Sandberg configurator..

Trying to talk myself out of pulling the trigger on one of these?
 

Sorry to resurrect a bit of a zombie  but thought I’d share my nice new Sandberg here… loving it!Not usually a big relic fan but this is just a fabulously playing and sounding machine. The relic is a bit more realistic than many I’ve seen too, which is nice.

6 hours ago, JohnFitzgerald said:

Having had my £350 Wal in the 80s, I knew I was never getting one of those again, since prices went into the stratosphere.

That's why I had this homage built, which bears a vague resemblance to a Wal, late last year.

With the multi coil pickups and LPF based preamp, it nails that sound.

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!

17 hours ago, grapefruitmoon said:

Is that Jerry Douglas on dobro?

It certainly is. He was master of ceremonies for the evening along with Aly Bain. Fabulous players both. They’ve been the heart of TS for 30 odd years now.

Transatlantic Sessions at the Royal Festival Hall last night. Great evening of Celtic and Americana music. It featured the absolute cream of Celtic and Americana musicians sharing one stage - including guest vocalists Julie Fowlis and Loudon Wainwright III... just stunning!!!

6 hours ago, howdenspur said:

Still recovering from a "double header"...well almost. Saw John Shuttleworth at The Ropery Hall on Sunday - well observed humour, very funny and then, by way of contrast, Transatlantic Sessions at York Barbican last night. Fantastic evening, quite mesmerising. Featured, among others, London Wainwright III and Julie Fowlis.

Seeing the Transatlantic Sessions at The Royal Festival Hall on Sunday night. Can’t wait. Wainwright and Fowlis is quite the guest vocalist pairing.

At the other end of the venue scale, just back from seeing Carrie Martin and Tomorrow Bird at Runnymede Folk Club. Fabulous evening of music!

On 29/01/2025 at 22:45, Norris said:

My Aria Pro-II SB-1000 was made in 1980 - the "batwing" headstock, before they had a battery indicator LED and before the jack socket was recessed. I bought it from Humbucker Music in Leicester in 1985 and played it as my only bass for the next 10 years

My SB700 (my first ever bass) is a couple of years younger - open book headstock and recessed jack. Fantastic bass but HEAVY! Still play it regularly thought. Love it!

…but they have just officially announced the full supporting line up…

BLIMEY!!!!! Three of my all time favourite artists together on one bill, and all ones I have yet to see in concert. I’m totally blown away by this line up. I saw a rumour about it last week but didn’t want to get my hopes up without an official announcement.

Well, that’s “Trevor’s GIG OF THE YEAR” settled six months in advance.

Saw this posted up by FTJ - such a shame that he’s laying his (live) bass down. But your health is your health. Hope that his health improves without the stresses of road life.

On 27/01/2025 at 20:04, dudewheresmybass said:

where have you seen them for £865 pls?

On 28/01/2025 at 10:04, LemonCello said:

They have an Oak one for £865 and a Walnut one for £955 in Bax Music.

25% discount on the Oak colour one. 
 

https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/complete-assortment?keyword=Aria sb

Was looking at them in Rose Morris the other week when wandering past Denmark Street. They look very nicely put together and really very similar to my ‘82 SB700

On 06/10/2024 at 16:35, AMV001 said:

Have you just made all that up?

Most likely The Chain by Fleetwood Mac, Let It Grow by Eric Clapton or Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word by Elton John

So so sad to hear this sad news. He’ll be so sadly missed by so many people.  Rest In Peace, Nick.

Korolev - Public Service Broadcasting 

I’m not a regular visitor to the NBD posts given that the last new bass (any bass) I bought was a decade ago but last Friday I picked up my new Sandberg VM4 in hardcore aged Marley Blue. I’ve long been a fan of Sandbergs and had had a hankering to get one for a long time. My comment about them was always that I’d never played a Sandberg that I didn’t love. And that’s perfectly true. 

I tried the bass before Christmas and loved it. I had a work event in Holborn and managed to arrive very early. Getting off the tube at Tottenham Court Road it was only right to kill some time browsing idly around Denmark Street before strolling on to the venue. I saw this bass in the bass basement at Wunjo’s. Having been wondering about whether a P bass pickup plus Music Man humbucker was a good alternative combination the fact that the bass had this layout was interesting. So, of course I asked to have a tinkle on it and was very very taken with the looks and the sound. I’m not a relic fan but this seemed to be a bit more restrained than some of Sandberg’s other hardcore jobs. To me it was really quite good looking and authentically done. No huge bits of finish scraped off in ridiculous places you can’t imagine getting regular wear etc. Having tried it out and reconfirmed all my Sandberg prejudices it got me thinking that I’d work up my ideal config (not that different - different blue, no relic, dots rather than blocks, pearl scratch plate, same neck and pickups) and look into ordering one. I finally got round to doing that in the New Year and, having inquired at a couple of dealers, I discovered just how long the lead times are… yikes!  Not quite Wal levels but 18-24 months is a long time. Anyway, having loved this bass when I tried it out before, I decided to check whether it was still available. It was and the price was no different from the configuration that I’d worked out. So that sealed the deal.

The specs are as follows… alder body, maple neck with pau ferro fingerboard, P/H pickups and Sandberg 2 band active/passive electronics. The neck is so comfortable - a shallow rounded C which fits in my hand perfectly and a silky smooth matt finish. The sounds is great too and having tried it out at our regular jam night it played so nicely and sounded beautiful. The pickups are really powerful and full sounding and it was a pleasant surprise that switching from active to passive mode doesn’t cause a particularly noticeable drop in volume - which is a bonus and makes the passive mode al the more useable. The strap lock compatible strap buttons are a  nice “icing on the cake” kind of bonus too (even though I do prefer Dunlop to Schaller). It’s hard to complain when they come as standard.

I’m not someone who names their things (cars, guitars, basses etc) but this one does have a name. It will be unofficially known as “Alfie” after my dad , who passed away last Spring aged 100. I kinda think of it as his last present to me so it’s named after him.

11 hours ago, Richard R said:

Our church verse for the year, Isaiah 43:18:

 

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?"

 

That's going to be my excuse for any "novel" notes on Sunday morning which weren't there at the practice or on the chord chart.

 

 I shall call it "Isaiah Jazz" 😎

 

I will be filing that one alongside “It’s not a wrong note, it’s ’an arrangement’/jazz!” 😉

2 hours ago, Bone Idol said:

A friend of mine told me about a Van Morrison gig that he went to a few years ago...

Van Morrison had just released a new album the week before the gig. He came on stage at the begining and said:

"We're going to play the new album for the first set, then we'll go off for a little break and then when we come back, we'll play some songs that you've heard before."

So they played the new album for the first set... Went for a break... And when they came back... They played the new album for the second set.... And then went home!

Isn’t that an old Neil Young anecdote about the “Tonight’s The Night” album too…?

17 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Last few gigs I’ve done due to my back issues I’ve only taken the one bass. A short scale lightweight Mustang bass in a guitar Mono M80 is just about all I can manage.

Back issues are a pain (pun intended). My brain is trying to compute the image of you standing on stage wielding something that isn’t a full scale P-bass (preferably in black) and it’s just coming back with a repeated “404 - File not found” error!