Shaggy

If you can stretch to the Spoiler I’d say go for it, as ‘bics really do have that special “extra” quality, and you’d pay the same as that these days for a ‘70’s Fender or MM Stingray. Or if not, to be honest I’d be looking for a nice old Jaydee - boutique hand-built, very ‘Alembic-ish”, and can still be sometimes had for not too much moolah Edit: sticking with vintage Japanese; the Kawai F2B was effectively an Alembic series 1 copy - I’ve no experience of them but owners seem to love them, and they generally go for around the same as an Ibanez MC900

Bolan was an unfulfilled genius; unfortunately the image-making rather took over from the music, but had he lived who knows what he would have gone onto create. I’ll always respect him also as an early supporter of punk / new wave. I really love some of his more offbeat stuff, eg:

No experience of Aria SB’s, but they seemed to be the more ubiquitous of the two in mainstream music in the early ‘80’s. The Ibanez Musician MC900 is the only bass out of a crazy number owned that I ever bought brand new. Beautifully constructed, really nice to play, but I didn’t bond with it for whatever reason; I think I just found the tone a bit bland and characterless. Probably if I’d tried it with other amps and strings I’d have found the combination that suits (being only 18 at the time I was pretty clueless....) - I know it’s one of the favourite basses of Dave Swift (Jools Holland’s band), think he has a few of them. When I finally was able to acquire an Alembic S1 I realised it was everything I’d wanted the Ibanez to be, but I know that’s raising the stakes to a whole new level!

I think Mick Karn was still using his until the end (the recordings with Japan were mainly with a Travis Bean of course), though in general I’d agree with you re early Wal players moving onto other basses. I’ve only seen pics of Severin with the black headstock Wal - I’m sure the provenance for the OP bass is lost in the mists of time.....

I use Tannoy Mercury M1’s for my hi-fi, which are just ridiculously good for the size.......👍

I only have one, but it exists in 17 different dimensions simultaneously, so to the untrained eye it superficially appears to be 17 different basses. I did try explaining this to Mrs Shaggy.......🤔

Just as a heads up; Sky Arts channel is showing “A saucer full of secrets” (Nick Masons side project) doing a gig at the Roundhouse, this Thursday 11:30pm. Nick, Guy Pratt, Gary Kemp, and someone else. I’ll give it a go as I love the early Floyd stuff.... Haven't heard the song in the OP yet, (will do now) but Wright and Waters were always the guts of the band to me after Syd left,

The Skids - What a band; saw them live in Liverpool Uni circa 1979. Have to say I wasn’t quite such a fan of BC, although a really unique sound, and what a golden era of Scottish music that was: Simple Minds, The Associates (with the fabulous and equally tragic Billy McKenzie), Orange Juice, Altered Images, the Blue Nile, etc etc The good die young ☹️ Listen and enjoy:

Just bought a lovely Warmoth bass neck off Brian- really smooth deal with great communications; the neck arrived almost immediately in bomb-proof packaging. As posts above show, Brian is definitely one of the good guys on BC 👍

If weight isn’t an issue there is only one cab to rule them all...... Mesa Boogie Diesel 1516

As has been said frequently on this forum; for sheer portability and sublime tone I reckon it’s impossible to beat the Mesa Walkabout (a hybrid I know, rather than all SS). I’ve tried so many others, and keep coming back to it. Like you my main gigging amp used to be a Fender 135 (acquired for a princely £50....), also been through Ampeg SVTII, Orange 100W valve, Trace Twin Valve, and Mesa D180 (which I still have). Try the Walkabout, and I think you’d find the 135 would become the backup - it’ll drive your cabs with ease. if I didn’t already have 3 Mesa’s I’d be pulling the trigger on this;

I wouldn’t regret it - they’re rare and “collectible” now, and like most ‘80’s British built gear it’s bulletproof. When the range came out the cabs and amp cases were clad in rather natty pale grey tolex; not sure why they later changed to the more boring black. A guitarist mate had the Silver Jubilee 50W all-valve combo (in the pale grey with chrome facia) which was probably the best sounding guitar amp that I’ve ever heard - hence my later acquiring the 3530 on likewise rather an impulse!

I recently bought a set of pre-cut markers via their eBay shop, but just checked the listing and as you say; they’re no longer shipping to UK. I don’t suppose you’ve a relative or friend in another country that you could order through?

I’ve had the 300W 3530 head for many years; it’s currently my rehearsal amp, but have gigged it - only replaced it in that role as I needed a head with DI out and more power. The bit of research I did when I got it suggested that they’re put together with very high quality components and sound really nice, but are rather underpowered for their rating. Which I’d agree with - the 3530 feels more like a 200W head, my Mesa Walkabout (also nominally 300W) absolutely stuffs it. However, I’d imagine the 600W version would have plenty of power! Good score 👍

Loving that - I have an Antoniosai mandolin; decent enough as an instrument, but the MOP / abalone inlay work is just incredible.

Aesthetics is a priority for any bass I acquire, but the only one bought purely on looks alone - a mid ‘60’s Vox Wyman Bass; I’d always loved the teardrop shape and funky “f” hole. Fairly horrible playing ergonomics, but surprisingly big, punchy sound.

Aw, end of an era....... I know your list of basses in the OP wasn’t exhaustive Chris, but you missed out the 1957 Precision and a couple of Wals! Good luck with the DB mate, also with the house move of course. I was getting right back into my fiddle playing during lockdown and didn’t expect to pick up a bass guitar again, but a new band project means I’ve been sucked back into it - for a while anyway. So no more trades at “The Harbourmaster”. Maybe. To paraphrase Carl Perkins; “You can take the boy out of bass.......”😉

Another vote for TI flats; lovely strings on any semi 👍

One comes to mind; a few years back I was in a band that regularly played outdoor summer fetes in the local towns and villages; quite a big scene in the S Wales Valleys. We arrived at one place we were booked at and hadn’t played before, found the stage where we were to set up, and asked the organiser where the electric power supply was. He helpfully pointed to a single socket connected to a long, long domestic grade cable trailing across the grass. We followed it back to a tiny wooden shed, and found the other end plugged into a mains adapter connected into several other mains adaptors plugged into a single socket, along with at least 4 other cables trailing elsewhere. I should add that our PA was rated at 2.5 kW, never mind the stage amps and lighting. Without saying a word, we quietly went back to the van and drove away.

I believe the term applies specifically to the English 😉

Mine was a mid-‘60’s Kalamazoo KB-1, bought in 1977 (when I was 16) for £25. Like in the pic below, but mine was rather badly sprayed black and previous owner had added a Hofner mini-humbucker in the bridge position. Kakamazoo was Gibson’s US based budget brand in the 1960’s. The KB-1 was a short scale budget model in 2 body styles; one like an EB-0 / SG, the other vaguely like a Fender Mustang (as mine). Body was made of a kind of compressed MDF (subcontracted to a manufacturer of toilet seats), neck was very decent maple / rosewood, and the hardware (except for the Japanese tuners) was Gibson, exactly the same as on the EB-0. So not a bad starter bass, and being in a punk band it really looked the part too. The hot output and low frequencies from the mudbucker blew the driver in my puny first amp the first time I used it. Dismantled when I acquired my first long scale bass a couple of years later (a vile Columbus Jazz bass copy), with a kind of notion to lake a custom out of it with a Ric shaped wood body - I really wanted a Ric. I put the big mudbucker on the Jazz copy in the neck position to make a kind of dub-monster (which got swapped for a bike). The rest stayed in my parts drawer until very recently; mini-humbucker went on a bitsa fretless, neck and bridge went on BC, still got a few bits and bobs from it all these years later.