TrevorR

Indeed... in fact this pic of “one of the basses they can make for you” (yeah, sure!)... ...is actually scanned from Wal’s own promotional leaflet. You can even see the writing on the other side through the paper! Here’s the original scan from my website with all the same wrinkles in the paper!

He said that he had set himself a random date of around the new year after which he'll presume that no-one's coming out of the woodwork and count it as properly his... Patience Mr Fox!

Can’t help you on the treasure hunt but they are wonderful basses. I love my 700 - my first ever bass and I’ll never make the mistake of selling it. Does it have to be your actual SB700? You see them coming up pretty regularly. Would a brother or sister bass scratch that itch?

Gordon did three prog albums in the 70s - all great but this is my absolute fave (Perilous Journey and Visionary are the others). His more recent fingerstyle stuff is great too. Check out Last Of England and Shining Morn.

Absolutely. I’m going to sit here at home playing my absolutely genuine Custom Series Wal that I got brand new for just $400! What a classy piece of work by Paul, eh? http://www.rareguitarheaven.net/mobile/goods.php?id=1018

Sorry, sorry... FIVE! Five albums! I can whittle it down to five albums. How could I have forgotten this one? One of my all time favourite albums. My all time favourite guitar player. A band that features a teenage Simon Phillips on drums, John G Perry of Caravan on Wal bass, Morris Peart on percussion... Plus one of the UK’s most accomplished fingerstyle folk guitarists rocking in full on prog mode... Gordon Giltrap - Fear Of The Dark

Oh, I’ve whittled it down to four and I can’t choose between them so here goes... Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous. But if only studio albums were to count I’d choose Jailbreak Electric Light Orchestra - Out Of The Blue. So many great pop songs on that album, and not just the ones you know. Horslips - The Book Of Invasions (probably - The Tain would be a close run thing). Folk influenced Celtic rock from the 70s. Tribes, Scribes and Vibes - Incognito. Not a single less than amazing track on it. Perfect acid jazz and funk with some sublime playing from Randy Hope-Taylor!

Not as awful as I expected but still entirely unnecessary.

Yes, Fiona Bruce would DEFINITELY convince me to go to more car boot sales!

Yeah, Stu. You've already gone way above and beyond. Looking forward to the pics when you're ready to share and for your big "Tah-dah!" when you reveal what you actually paid for it. Lol. Like @Highfox and @bassjim have said just don't disclose the serial number. If someone emerges who does want to claim it as their own the two pieces of proof needed would be "What was the serial number." "Can you show me a photo of you playing it so we can compare the wood, the grain, the figuring and any other identifying features." You bought it in good faith, the burden of proof to show it is the bass that was stolen and not just a.n. other Wal rests on them. Personally, I really can't see someone putting their hand up and claiming it's theirs. In the meantime, enjoy your Wal...!!!

Quality music. Apparently it’s a duo called Banks & Wag who’ve done lots of pop as well as TV and film work. Singer is a vocalist called Sharleen Linton. Great set of soul pipes!

And if there are bits of that surface you like then listen to those bits. Let’s face it there are some bits of rock or pop you like and whole swathes you don’t. Jazz and classical are no different. Listen to what you like. So if you do want to explore a bit and like Bach and Barber try some Vivaldi/Haydn and some Elgar/Copeland. If you want to explore deeper and think, “I’ve never listened to any Bruckner” a perfectly valid outcome is, “Well, done it once, never have to listen to Bruckner ever again”. Plenty of rock bands I have filed in that bin!

OK, mind officially blown. A bit of internet digging and several sources suggest the guitar is by a guy called Vic Elms, the drums are by Steeleye Span’s Liam Glenocky and bass is, wait for it, John McCoy later of Samson, Gillan and, was it, Mammoth?

This may just be my favourite ever TV theme. Some great piano, drum and double bass playing. Odd to think it had a life before Barry Norman or that Nina Simone did a vocal version of it!

Shout out for CBeebies Show, Go Jetters. Teaching the nation’s 5 year olds about geography and cultural heritage AND turning them on the disco and funk. They are a team of global adventurer superheroes who are led by a disco unicorn who wears a white sparkly glittery flared jump suit. Ubercorn always has funky facts about the place they visit each episode... surreal genius The theme is like the Wonder Woman Theme on steroids. CBeebies have also done a series of adverts which pastiche famous funky tunes... enjoy...

The little black discs next to the letters A & B are trim pots. Plug your quietest bass into channel C then use the trim pots to reduce the volume of he basses in the other channels to match it. V easy. I’ve got the old model where the trim pots were inside so you had to take the top of the pedal off to adjust them. The second gen ones have a much more sensible design. So, I’d have the passive Aria in Channel C and the Wal in Channel A with the internal trim pot turned down as necessary. I used Channel B as a mute channel as I only took the two basses to gigs.

There's a great acid-jazz version of this by Snowboy...

This is what I use, also not cheap but bom proof and really great quality... https://www.andertons.co.uk/lehle-3at1-sgos-switcher-with-midi-for-three-instruments-(stereo)-to-either-amp-or-tuner-3at1?LGWCODE=3AT1;56375;6335&gclid=Cj0KCQiAjO_QBRC4ARIsAD2FsXMY_jKDziEgHfiEvxZvh4zcANQDnJRJinlJBAqfjey-bX7PxjgQ3XQaAqzOEALw_wcB

That about sums it up for me!

Once you've optimised the pickup heights, get a switcher pedal that allows you to adjust the different inputs so you can balance the basses output against the Mike Dirnt and present your pedals/amp with a consistent input level. Alternatively get a clean boost pedal for the Dirnt to lift its output to match the other basses... That's what I did when I was gigging a high output active Wal alongside a passive Aria SB700 - brought the output of the Wal down so that when I hit the switcher pedal the volumes were consistent.

William ploppedner Sorry, totally random and OT but fascinated to see what the profanity filter did, having just had to re-edit “ass-hat”...

Fair enough, but the tone (from some) went from 0 to “He’s a troll/con artist” in under three seconds. I reckon there’s a really interesting bit of Basschattery to be had here if we’re all a bit more open and welcoming to a noob and dial down the “a$$hattery” a smidge.

For me it’s Thin Lizzy. Always my favourite. And Gordon Giltrap. Next year marks my 40 year as a Giltrapophile! But closely followed by ELO, Rush and Horslips.

Now now now chaps. Before jumping to conspiracy theories you might try finding some facts. Been chatting to Stu by PM and to be honest if you want to label him as anything you can accuse him of being a “lucky bu£&er”. I know that every time I walk by a junk shop or go to a car boot sale I imagine I’m going to come home with a 59 Les Paul that I paid the princely sum of £100 for. And if I did I’d probably wonder if I’d just unwittingly done a shonky deal, because I’m pretty sure I’m not that lucky! Once in a while someone is... and the worst you can accuse them of being is a “lucky bu£&er” and you can hardly blame them for being a bit bewildered!

http://walbasshistory.blogspot.co.uk/