Shaggy

Have to say I feel the same about this as I do the new - Chinese? - MG cars (I used to own a '72 MGB Roadster) - if the new product bears no relation whatsoever to the old product and what made it uniquely appealing, then why not just call it something else entirely? Wal basses were one way the Hayman / Shergold design evolved, but there were potentially other ways - keep the multi-string formats, keep the multi plug-in module model with modern module options such as MIDI, synth, headphone amp, bass modeller etc, keep the original body and headstock design but make it a bit sleeker with modern finish options like flip metallic paint and funky stained hardwood. Also agree with @AndyTravis about the short scale thing - always needs to be an option of course, but are players getting smaller these days or what?

PM'd

1977, aged 16, a school rock opera production of "Far from the madding crowd" which we'd done as a class for English Lit. O level and had grown to heartily detest. First song was "Brown sugar" (Stones) but re-titled "Bathsheba". Though thinking about it now, I was also in the warm-up act, a motley Prog group created mainly from the weirder members of the school orchestra, so technically my ever first song on stage was "A trick of the tail" (Genesis). Never played it since.

With parachute jump He who dares......

I think for the "stealth" look you need DR Black Beauties........ Actually, genuinely really great strings!

I'll have to check that out! Can't remember exactly what they have at IWM Duxtord; used to be there frequently whenever I visited my folks in Cambridge as my youngest was nuts about the place. Best known for their WW2 aircraft still in flying condition (mainly Spitfires). I think the 2 planes they have that impressed me the most were the US "Blackbird" high altitude stealth bomber - it looks created by some alien technology - and the BAC TSR-2 fighter / bomber - a UK project developed in the 1960's but shelved by the British government when the plane was pretty much fully developed. Generally regarded as "the best plane the RAF never had" and even today looks cleanly graceful and futuristic. (edit: apologies for derailing the thread, Chris. And I'm sure your bass was not created by an alien technology. well fairly sure.....)

Tried similar, and they're great for a while, but with my sweaty hands they tend to detach after a while. Good if you want to keep a vintage / valuable bass all original though. Big fan of Luminlay - fitted them to both my gigging basses.

That's actually a better haircut than his one in the OP video......

Incidentally, a great place to see one of the old Vulcan bombers (amongst many other old beauties) is the Imperial War Air Museum at Duxford, near Cambridge. No longer flying I think, sadly, but the sheer size of these beasties up close, and their sleekly functional if rather menacing beauty, is amazing.

Absolutely stunning bass Chris; very individual but I can see how it would appeal to you on so many levels, and Status build quality is impeccable. I guess it needs a "bespoke" case? Having moved to playing Warwick Streamers a few years ago after a several decades of playing big vintage basses (mainly Gibbo RD Artists) I have to say I often miss the sheer physicality of playing a big bass! (coincidentally, the RD Artist was developed with John Entwistle's input, with him in mind as a signature type instrument, but I believe he distanced himself from it before launch. A shame, as despite its flaws - mainly weight - it was a stylish, wonderful sounding, and innovative bass). And - just wanted to be the first to say this - we'll all be looking out for the FS thread, maybe in the New Year........???

Wow - absolutely sublime; a new one on me, had to watch it twice. The Who a full on rock band by then I guess, but what a combination of that sheer visceral power with Townsend's quirky Mod - and for me quintessentially English - song writing. Townsend the best rhythm guitarist ever bar none; he never rated himself as a lead guitarist and I'm sure channelled much of his frustration with that into pure angst driven energy. Roger Daltrey's contribution often overlooked , but I think it was around this time that he hit his true form in the band, and for me no other singer could really do justice to the emotive and often complex vocals in Townshend's songs. And yes; the most distinctive and innovative virtuoso rhythm section ever. Interesting to see that JE left the pickup cover of his P bass on, given his very physical stye of playing; personally it's the first thing I take off.

Interesting indeed - he clearly felt that the neck mudbucker was something missing from the original (basically Thunderbird) pickup placement. As a big fan of Thunderbirds, but also of humbuckers placed right up at the neck, I've been very intrigued by the Mike Lull Tom Petersson model - anyone tried one? Mike Lull Unveils Tom Petersson Signature Bass – No Treble

Never tried one and probably never will, but Elvis Costello in his early years playing his similarly styled Jazzmaster was for me the epitome of cool.......

My memory of the older Patrick Eggle instruments is that the guitars were very decent indeed; the basses (Milan etc) looked nice but were sonically pretty bland. These don't even look nice; a shame as the original Shergolds always looked classy.

I'd agree with both of those opinions. I assume they were probably trying to make the design sufficiently different from the Wilcock Mullarkey; itself very derivative of the original Shergold body design, with the DNA that led to the Wal Pro basses. A bass version of their new Masquerader guitar would be quite tasty, mind.

Lovely plumage - bubinga? Great story