Basses you hardly ever see for sale

[itu]

Lane Poor Minima

Stambaugh

[Hellzero]

You can also add Acacia (I owned one) and David King (I owned two) basses.

[HeadlessBassist]

On 14/05/2025 at 14:22, oldslapper said:

Status Groove Basses. Best neck profile for my hands. Massive regrets selling mine. Never see them come up. 
 

All that aside….great to see Dave Grohl playing drums again. 😂

 

There seem to be a few around at the moment. Here's one at the Gallery which isn't massively overpriced.

 

https://thebassgallery.com/products/status-the-groove-iv?variant=46633760096489&country=GB&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&srsltid=AfmBOopiVE_OhOYCJI10FBQKQCVp94KLIt_xYO2A1eqkpV2Q84UAe-LKR94

[Hellzero]

A funny anecdote:

 

As, back then, nobody wanted a Wal anymore, I traded my MkI fretless for a fretted Trace Elliot T-Bass (excellent bass) and I should have kept it, I mean the Trace Elliot, not the Wal even if they are highly overpriced these days.

[HeadlessBassist]

Those cheap "Flea Bass" models in lurid colours that were truly awful to play. Hopefully they all ended up in a skip [trans. dumpster].

 

Big Block Precision - always wanted one and recently missed one on the 'Bay.

 

90's Dean basses. I had a couple of pupils who had them and they always seemed like pretty nice things.

 

 

Edited Saturday at 08:11 by HeadlessBassist

[HeadlessBassist]

3 hours ago, Hellzero said:

A funny anecdote:

 

As, back then, nobody wanted a Wal anymore, I traded my MkI fretless for a fretted Trace Elliot T-Bass (excellent bass) and I should have kept it, I mean the Trace Elliot, not the Wal even if they are highly overpriced these days.

 

I can understand that completely. The T-Bass was always a fantastic instrument. If you know, you know.

 

As for WAL, huge respect and huge values, but rather meh to play. 

Edited Saturday at 11:29 by HeadlessBassist

[W1_Pro]

Greco GOB 700 and 900 (I think single and twin pick up models)? Headstock redolent of an eighties Ibanez. Excellent build quality. Mostly a Japanese domestic thing I think as they are like hens teeth in UK/Europe...

[prowla]

45 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

A funny anecdote:

 

As, back then, nobody wanted a Wal anymore, I traded my MkI fretless for a fretted Trace Elliot T-Bass (excellent bass) and I should have kept it, I mean the Trace Elliot, not the Wal even if they are highly overpriced these days.

TBH, I never much connected with Wals.

But now I'd have one because they are desirable.

Ain't that a thing...

[Terry M.]

There's so many basses mentioned on this thread that I've literally never even heard of much less seen 😂 

[prowla]

11 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

There's so many basses mentioned on this thread that I've literally never even heard of much less seen 😂 

Hence why you hardly ever see them for sale! 🙂

[HeadlessBassist]

1 minute ago, prowla said:

Hence why you hardly ever see them for sale! 🙂

 

Possibly a good thing for us lot - Out of sight, out of mind (and hopefully less out of pocket!)

[Jonesy]

You don't see much MIJ G&L gear, unfortunately. I saw an ASAT last year and was gutted to miss out on it. 

 

 

[Ruarl]

8 hours ago, HeadlessBassist said:

Those cheap "Flea Bass" models in lurid colours that were truly awful to play. Hopefully they all ended up in a skip [trans. dumpster].

 

 

I spotted on of these in a local music shop the other day. Sadly, it was the only notable bass in the shop. 

[Boodang]

9 hours ago, HeadlessBassist said:

As for WAL, huge respect and huge values, but rather meh to play. 

Of all the Wal basses I could have bought back in the day, it’s a green single pickup fretless that I wish I’d bought. It was in a small music shop in Hanwell, very west London, and £500. I’m a fan of Wal basses when they’re at that price, but a penny more and they’re not worth it. 

[Terry M.]

1 hour ago, Boodang said:

Of all the Wal basses I could have bought back in the day, it’s a green single pickup fretless that I wish I’d bought. It was in a small music shop in Hanwell, very west London, and £500. I’m a fan of Wal basses when they’re at that price, but a penny more and they’re not worth it. 

I ask out of genuine ignorance as I've yet to play one. What's the hype surrounding them?

[binky_bass]

4 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

I ask out of genuine ignorance as I've yet to play one. What's the hype surrounding them?

A fairly unique sound. Much like the appeal of a Rickenbacker and Warwick. They have their unique tone which not many other basses do a good job to replicate. 

[Boodang]

29 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

I ask out of genuine ignorance as I've yet to play one. What's the hype surrounding them?

They have a unique tone but, imho, that's due to the pickup design and electronics and not the magic fairy wood used to make the basses from. I once had a Westone Thunder that I put a Wal style pickup on (made in Germany, eight individual coils, two per string) and it sounded like a Wal. 

[kodiakblair]

On 15/05/2025 at 17:52, Boodang said:

I remember reading a review on one, they don’t have truss rods so it was only playable under certain atmospheric conditions.

Reviewer was talking absolute bollocks.

 

Reason Wishbass don't have truss rods is they don't need them. Steve uses old timber for his basses so it's long settled down, then does a 5 or 7 piece laminate which pretty much locks it straight; separate fretboard also adds strength.

 

The final safeguard being his necks are thicker than most, whereas a chunky Fender P-bass might be 24mm thick at the 3rd fret and 26mm at the 12th that's a skelf compared to a Wishbass; 33mm and 36mm is what you get from Steve.

[HeadlessBassist]

Didn't they have a sort of primitive parametric eq too?

[kodiakblair]

On 16/05/2025 at 03:01, ARGH said:

USA made higher end Peavey stuff either.

Most of them were in my spare room cupboard 😀

 

Had at least one of every model, US and overseas, released between the years 1978 and 2010. Total was 68 basses so luckily I had a very big spare room cupboard 😁

 

Only 51 manage this photo op.

 

 

[rwillett]

8 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Most of them were in my spare room cupboard 😀

 

Had at least one of every model, US and overseas, released between the years 1978 and 2010. Total was 68 basses so luckily I had a very big spare room cupboard 😁

 

Only 51 manage this photo op.

 

 

 

Good job it wasn't an obsession otherwise it would have got well out of hand

 

I was looking to cull my 14 (guitars and basses down) but now I think I'm simply not worthy....

 

Rob

[Boodang]

24 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Reviewer was talking absolute bollocks.

 

Reason Wishbass don't have truss rods is they don't need them. Steve uses old timber for his basses so it's long settled down, then does a 5 or 7 piece laminate which pretty much locks it straight; separate fretboard also adds strength.

 

The final safeguard being his necks are thicker than most, whereas a chunky Fender P-bass might be 24mm thick at the 3rd fret and 26mm at the 12th that's a skelf compared to a Wishbass; 33mm and 36mm is what you get from Steve.

Interesting. For some reason I’ve always wanted to give them a go but have been put off by the lack of truss rod. After reading this I might get one. Don’t mind a thicker neck as I come from a DB background. 

[Terry M.]

23 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Most of them were in my spare room cupboard 😀

 

Had at least one of every model, US and overseas, released between the years 1978 and 2010. Total was 68 basses so luckily I had a very big spare room cupboard 😁

 

Only 51 manage this photo op.

 

 

Good god and my wife wants to know why I need to have 3 basses 🤣

[kodiakblair]

11 hours ago, Boodang said:

After reading this I might get one.

If you're thinking of buying new then best get your skates on; start of the month Steve was talking about shutting up shop 🙁

 

Should you be in sunny Scotland anytime give me a shout, be happy to let you loose on a Lobe 👍

 

[snorkie635]

12 hours ago, Terry M. said:

I ask out of genuine ignorance as I've yet to play one. What's the hype surrounding them?

I think you nail it with the word 'hype'. They're good enough basses, but IMHO, no better than many other flavours out there. I've owned three of them and sold each, as they just never made the cut when times got hard financially and things had to go. They had very comfortable necks and stable tubers; the bridge was rock solid and the controls top quality, however, I always found the tone controls fiddly and difficult to dial in a useable tone quickly on the fly.

BTW, my first Wal cost me £50 (not a typo), when I bought it second-hand, as the guy selling it loathed it with a passion!