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The bass centre wapping!


Highfox

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Yes, that place, who remembers it?

Just came across an old and tatty receipt I had for the Warwick I bought from Wapping.

Think I told the tale before, went there with the anticipation of buying a MM 4 HH they didn't have any so walked out the door with a Streamer. used it for a solid 15 years  so no regrets.

receipt ok.jpg 

Warwick Streamer.jpg

Edited by Highfox
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Barry is still going strong, but is now based in Bagshot, mostly as a distributor and dealing with online sales. 

I popped in there a few years ago and had a great chat with him. He said they the Bass Centre simply couldn’t compete with online stores so changed their business model.

We talked about the Bass Centre range and he told me about working with Bill Wyman when they built his Tribute Bass. As you can imagine, it was quite a story :)

I told him one of my Bass Centre stories which seemed to please him (“I love hearing people’s Bass Centre stories”) and as we parted he gave me a free set of Elites Flatwounds...lovely guy 

Edited by Old Horse Murphy
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In the mid to late 80's I joined a band and we used the rehearsal studio on the ground floor. That's when I discovered the Bass Centre. Later they moved down to the ground floor but when I first went there they were upstairs.

What an Aladdin's Cave of bass gear and the first time I'd seen more than a couple of basses and amps in one place!  Over the years I bought several amps and cabs from Nick, Grant and Alex and used to drop for a browse on many occasions.

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An establishment I still hold dear in my memories - spent loads of money in there. Strings, a Trace Elliot bass rig, my first 5 string, my first ABG, repairs to bass gear, and copies of Bass Player mag... And an Alain Caron clinic 😊 The Wapping store was a great place to visit in the mid 80's to early 1990's, especially when the likes of Pino, and MK were pushing bass to the forefront in music. The staff were absolutely brilliant too.

Happy days! 😊

Edited by louisthebass
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5 hours ago, Frank Blank said:

I bought a black Jaydee Supernatural from there in the very late 80s, a bass I sorely regret selling.

I went there in the early 90's to try an Alembic Stanley Clarke (only place in the country that had one), I had a Jaydee Supernatural at the time & thought the Alembic would be an upgrade. Got to test the SC against a Jaydee roadie they had in & the Jaydee was IMHO much better!!! Whilst there I tried a Graphite neck Vigier that had just the sound I wanted at the time but it was fretless, they didn't have a Status in at the time but I got to try one later in Birmingham & fell in love!!

Great shop, great staff very helpful & just let you try stuff. Those were the days!! Wouldn't of had the chance to compare & find out without them. 

Still got My Jaydee & still play Status to this Day

Brendan

 

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22 minutes ago, Sonic_Groove said:

I went there in the early 90's to try an Alembic Stanley Clarke (only place in the country that had one), I had a Jaydee Supernatural at the time & thought the Alembic would be an upgrade. Got to test the SC against a Jaydee roadie they had in & the Jaydee was IMHO much better!!! Whilst there I tried a Graphite neck Vigier that had just the sound I wanted at the time but it was fretless, they didn't have a Status in at the time but I got to try one later in Birmingham & fell in love!!

Great shop, great staff very helpful & just let you try stuff. Those were the days!! Wouldn't of had the chance to compare & find out without them. 

Still got My Jaydee & still play Status to this Day

Brendan

 

Nice one.

I have been gasing for a Jaydee for a good while now! Great to hear people are still happy with them :)

One day!

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Ah memories. Been a resident of the same London borough for nearly 3 decades now. Got me a 12 string acoustic from there in the days when my view of bass guitar was err.. for folk who couldn't play proper geeetars. Oh how the mighty are fallen! 😂

Edited by Al Krow
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I loved The Bass Centre in Wapping. I used to visit all the time. When I signed my record deal in 1998, we negotiated a chunk of money for each band member to buy new gear. I got £5k and headed to The Bass Centre and got me my dream bass, a teal green Stingray. I was in heaven 😁 Plus a Hartke HA5500, Hartke XL410, Hartke XL115, Status Shark and some acoustic bass.  Used to love going up there to nose at all the gorgeous basses and leave with a set of Elite Stadiums 😊

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5 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Don't leave us hanging! So what's the backstory and what happened next?!....

Oh don’t say that, it always kills the next chapter dead, but, I must admit I’m Basil Brush eager for then next instalment...

Edited by Frank Blank
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I only went there once, when I was rehearsing nearby with a band based in Acton - we'd all pile into a van and drive through the centre of London to use a downmarket rehearsal studio in Wapping, so I had to pop in - and popped out with a new Trace Elliot combo. I can't remember the type now, but it was a 4 x 10 and bloody heavy. I lived on the third floor of flats in Acton then, and there was no lift, so I had to carry the damn thing up and down the stairs all the time. Sounded great, though! 

Pretty sure the Bass Centre was up some stairs then, or maybe just the amps were. Would have been about 1983/5, somewhere around then, anyway.

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35 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

Pretty sure the Bass Centre was up some stairs then, or maybe just the amps were. Would have been about 1983/5, somewhere around then, anyway.

I'm certain the BC was at street level.  Wasn't there the Acoustic Centre upstairs.

I remember my first time up there, Wapping High Street.  Coming out of the Tube, you're just expecting this bustling street, but it was deserted; it wasn't really gentrified, from memory no real shops...a narrow road and if memory serves me correct, the street was cobbled?

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