JG Special Pt 5: Gallery - JG Basses and their players

A gallery of JG bass owners...

Finally, let's just indulge ourselves with a gallery dedicated to some of the great players who have played JG basses over the years. Given the very short production run it's quite a remarkable roster that reflects how well known and well respected Ian Waller and Pete Stevens were with the musical elite of the 1970s, even in these early days.

John Gustafson

JG basses are pretty rare beasts so, of all those made, only a small proportion of the basses are represented here. The photos come from a wide variety of sources... internet pages, screen grabs from YouTube videos and the like so apologies for the variable quality. I promise that, as more and better photos turn up this page will be duly updated... 

So here are a few of the faces who queued up to order their own JG basses from Electric Wood...

JG Special Pt 4a: Gallery - "Mk 2" JG Basses - the later models

JG1128 - John Entwistle's fretless JG bass

JG1145 - “Snotburst” JG

In the second and third of the JG bass galleries as part of this special feature we'll take a close look at some of the later JG basses which were produced by Wal in late 1977 and through 1978. These are marked on the JG bass order sheet as being "Mk 2" versions. The changes in the basses are subtle but significant and set out the firm template for the Pro Series basses. All the elements are there - the multi-laminate neck and paddle headstocks (although some sported a fancy facing veneer), the distinctive chromed bridge, humbucking pickups and stratchplate shape. Check out the previous posts for the fuller specs.

So we've got a few real celebrity basses to share in these blogs... John Entwistle, Gary Tibbs plus a couple of other beauties... Two of the featured basses are very late models - one so late it already has a Pro Bass decal on the headstock. But it is still 100% JG series. These came to light when their current owners shared photos on the Facebook Wal fan page after JG1117 was put up for auction. Despite the heady final bid which that bass attracted (£7,400!) they were both very clear that their JG basses were definitely NOT for sale!

So let's just work our way through in numerical order...

JG Bass Special Part 1: A masterpiece of design...

Every so often something comes along in life that forces you to reevaluate. Sometimes it's something foundational and Earth-shattering and sometimes it's a tiny tweak in perspective. Over the last few weeks I've had a series of revelations about the nature of one of the early Wal bass designs. I'll leave it to the reader's discretion to decide which camp they fall into.

I have a confession to make. Having never actually had an opportunity to play a JG series Wal bass I had always considered them a bit of a homespun, stepping stone bass. A simple work in progress towards a more sophisticated, complete design - as embodied in the Pro Series bass. I now realise that assumption was very, very wrong.

Over the last few weeks there has been a strange coincidental domino effect of emails popping into my inbox and social media feeds. First an email arrived from a bass player I have long admired and whose playing with Michael Nyman scales pinnacles I can hardly dream of. In it a fascinating anecdote was related and photos of the first true JG, number JG1112 were produced. Then a JG bass suddenly turned up being offered for sale on eBay and flagged on the Wal basses fan group on Facebook. Finally, other JG owners, emboldened by the reaction to that bass joining in an online show-and-tell session showcasing their own instruments. What a treasure trove.

One thing that became clear across these communications - which encompassed the second JG ever made and one of the last - was that my presumptions about the basses were dead wrong.

Special feature: Wal Basses - the early years

Wal Basses the early years

Over the last half a century some incredible bass guitars have come from these shores. From the “yeah baby” grooviness of Burns, to the quirky ergonomics of Shergold, from the Alembic influences of Jaydee and John Birch to the macho 80s lines of Status… all classic designs in their own right. However, perhaps one other British bass stands shoulder to shoulder with them – the instruments made by Electric Wood in High Wycombe: the Wal bass. For much of the 1980s and 1990s a Wal was the must-have bass de jour for the discerning British session player and attracted a wide range of celebrity endorsees (all of whom shared one characteristic… they’d bought their own Wals - the company had a “no freebies” policy). A few years ago the brand ceased production when ill health forced the retirement of founder Peter Stevens. However, in the hands of luthier, Paul Herman, Wal has recently re-emerged so perhaps it’s perhaps an appropriate to have a look back at the birth of the brand. We’ve gathered together some of the characters who were instrumental to the story and picked their brains on those early years.

 Ian Waller - the Manchester years...

Ian Waller (second from left) in the Demons - early 1960s

Ian Waller was an enthusiast. A bass enthusiast and an enthusiastic tinkerer. From an early age he was adept with his hands - playing in bands around the early 60s Manchester scene and building instruments and pedals to power his own music. It’s a matter of record that, with US trade embargoes biting, the availability of decent instruments in the early days of the UK beat revolution was low. Many aspiring players plumped for lower cost alternatives like Hagstroms, Dallas Arbiters and Grimshaws. Others such as "Big Wal", as he had become known around the scene, went for the home-made route. Other members of those early bands recall him as a popular figure on the circuit, the quality of the bass he had made with the assistance of his father always drawing gasps of admiration from jealous musos.

General Wal music magazine adverts from through the years...

General Wal music magazine adverts from through the years...

Throughout their history Electric Wood, the company behind Wal Basses (in effect Ian, Pete and maybe a couple of sleeping partners) took out ads in the national music press. For many years it was just a very bijou Wal add nestling in the paid ads at the back of Guitarist Magazine. Minimalist but with all the info that a keen Wal-hunter needed. However, some where a little more all singing and all dancing. Including those featuring their celebrity endorsers... John Entwistle, Percy Jones and Laurence Cottle.

A few of those adverts are attached below for your enjoyment...

Pro Series Advertising Materials Featuring John Entwistle and Percy Jones

Pro Series Advertising Materials From the 1970s Featuring John Entwistle and Percy Jones

In many ways Wal Basses grew out of Ian and Pete's friendships with the musicians who passed through Trevor Morais' Farmyard Studios. And similarly across the London session scene. Certainly a lot of musicians ended up becoming Wal's official design consultants - John G Perry, Rupert Hine, Pete Zorn and a host of others... However, in those early years only two of their muso friends actually became "official" endorsers of the brand through appearances in formal advertising materials. And the guys couldn't have asked for two more respected and influential spokespersons than John Entwistle from The Who and Percy Jones the Welsh Wizard who played the fretless bass for Brand X.

Both John and Percy had been purchasers of the early JG Series basses but it was propounding the Pro series that they appeared in print.

John Entwistle's Wal JG Series Bass, JG1128

Classic Wal Basses - The John Entwistle Wal JG Series Bass, JG1128

John Entwistle playing one of his Wals at a celebrity gig with
Rick Wakeman, members of Status Quo and others

 The Ox, Thunderfingers, just plain John... call him what you like the Who's bassist wasn't averse to picking up the odd bass or two. Indeed, the Sothebys auctions of his private collection have passed into rock and roll history – for the scale, scope and just plain weirdness of the basses he had accumulated. However, amongst his beloved Fenders, Alembics and Warwicks nestled a couple of classic, custom build period Wals. Well, you'd probably expect that he'd have managed to pick up a couple of everything, wouldn't you? However, Entwistle's relationship with Wal was closer than many of the brands in his collection. In fact, close enough that he agreed to appear in adverts and other promotional literature for the brand.