TrevorR

New Wal history blog looking at the woods used in building a Wal bass... this week the necks, next week the bodies... http://walbasshistory.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/wal-woods-part-1-necks.html

Both my Pro and my Mk1 10 pounders but that doesn't bother my back (thankfully) but Paul is making them light too these days... that brown 5 string up there was featherlight. I was stunned when we were all having the "they're so heavy" conversation and Paul said to us, "Lift that one up..." ... couldn't have been more than about 7 pounds... just saying... Mwah ha ha ha!

Does it happen with just the Microsynth? I.e. bass-EHX-amp

How's a bout these... Foderawal... Seiwal

Lehle. A bit more pricy but bomb proof.

Oh and how about this one?

I like the Mark 1 shape, but then I would, wouldn't I? That bass is faced in Padauk, one of the standard Wal wood options. Mahogany core is the meat in the sandwich with a thin maple veneer acting as the butter. Lots of photos of the bass bash Wals here... https://www.facebook.com/trevorraggatt/media_set?set=a.10154317149360860.1073741848.705595859&type=3 This is the newer Mark 3 model...

[quote name='Chienmortbb' timestamp='1476136077' post='3151744'] If I could afford it I would have tried the Faith. Their 6 strings are some of the best on the market and although not cheap, way lower priced than the M**t*ns and T*yL*rs. Saying the my Washburn £200 job sounds and plays better than some overpriced orange boxes. OK the [color=#434649][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4][b]Greg Bennett Royale RLB-3 is ordered so look out for n NBD post soon.[/b][/size][/font][/color] [/quote] I know what you mean. Mine was on a deal at Andertons which basically knocked a third off the price... which, as you can imagine helped... a lot. That semi looks like a cool little bass though. Will look forward to the NBD review.

[quote name='NickRiffed' timestamp='1476106290' post='3151316'] I know where you are coming from. Bloody M.E. is a complete b*$tard! I thought I had seriously hit the bottom and couldn't see a way out but, very slowly, things picked up a bit. I'm now functioning at around 65% of what I used to. A rehearsal needs a day of rest before and maybe 2 after. I'm just greatful that it improved that much. At least now that PACE has been rubbished they may invest in some research. Take it easy Bud. [/quote] Amazed to see so many of us quoting ME as the reason we dropped gigging. That's what was behind my hiatus from 1992 to the turn of the millennium. Just far too fatigued even to play around the house. I count my blessings every day that I slowly climbed out of it and got pretty much back to normal. Well, except for the lingering effect it still has on my diabetic control making my blood sugars much more erratic than they ever should be. It really is a b**ch of a condition.

I got a Faith Titan Neptune bass which sounds nice both unplugged at home and amped. A Feedback Buster soundhole plug keeps the feedback problems to a minimum.

Nope, its kept at the workshop for YOU to try out... Listen to my voice... you are feeling sleepy... you are feeling sleepy... you want to buy a Mk3... you want to buy a Mk 3...

Playing a couple of Wals the scope for tonal change is quite wide. So, I've got about four or five "core tones" that I'll use by changing various settings on the bass. Then I'll further vary the sound by varying picking technique and position. That gives a huge range of potential tones for a wide range of songs. I'll try to use a tone which, to my ears, seems to suit the song. However, that's a personal and subjective appraisal and not from studying the original record and trying to emulate it. Some will have obvious constituents... if we're doing Dreadlock Holiday or Walking On The Mood it will be deep and dubby not bright and twangy. If we're doing Sweet Caroline or Maggie May it'll be a more trad sound than boosted and active sounding... Beyond that, though, the tone may be unlike the original to some extent. Just so long as it works in context.

My history was checkered... Took up bass in 82. Went to uni in 83 and started playing in the Christian Union meetings and services. Progressed on to playing in three Christian musicals we produced at college and then started playing regularly at a local church. 87-92 I played in a folk rock band around clubs and festivals but a bout of illness meant a break from playing at all from 92-97. From 97- about 2001 just played at church. Then in 2001 decided to join a covers band and played pubs, parties, weddings and functions alongside church until 2012 when our little boy arrived. Since then it's just regular playing at our church as frankly I can't hack the late nights getting back home at 3 in the morning and then being bounced awake at 7. Plus, I now have "better" things to be doing on a Saturday afternoon than packing the car up to drive to Milton Keynes or somewhere. So I guess I've consistently played to people in public all the way along, even if sometimes it's a Sunday morning rather than a Saturday night!

[quote name='GirlOnADragon' timestamp='1476046391' post='3150855'] 2nd forum post. be nice. Picked up my bass again after almost 10 years absolutely determined to gig - 9 months from picking up my bass again I'm pretty keen to get gigging but current commitments mean its difficult to find and fit in a band. That said I'm a fairly tenacious creature and so I will gig - even if to start with the music isn't 100% my cup of tea. Somewhere deep inside is an exhibitionist just waiting to get on stage. [/quote] [quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1476047405' post='3150868'] Go for it! [/quote] My thoughts precisely!

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1476029837' post='3150594'] Not sure how to do it I'm afraid. [/quote] Quite easy if you know where to click... Edit your first post in this thread. Look at bottom of the page and if you see a link that says "Open Full Editor" click that. A new screen will open up. Look near the top where your Thread Title is, just to the right will be a link called "Manage Polls" Click that and a pop up box appears which asks you to enter Q1, then there's a link to add extra questions - the Poll Wizard will walk you through it...

This clearly calls for a poll... Gigs Regularly/Not gigged in several years/Only jam nights, not playing for an audience/Never Gigged or played in public

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1475012593' post='3142381'] I`ve not used the regular VT, but the VTDI is a great pedal, and it`s always worth having a good DI pedal as a backup so that would get my vote. Plus our old producer was Ampeg mad, and when we recorded using my VTDI he was raving about how good it was. [/quote] Mostly playing amp free at the mo and the VTDI is my amp tone. Like it so much I'm now using it as the front end to my amp when I do have a backline. Love that pedal.

[quote name='fleabag' timestamp='1475594403' post='3147213'] I checked out the options and you're right , there's no Ash body / Rosewood FB model. You have to go to the Alder bodied models to get a Rosewood FB [/quote] To be honest, I've been sorely tempted to buy two, swap the necks and sell on an Alder/Maple bass!

We always started with Brown Eyed Girl. Punters love it and it's more pacey. Doing weddings we'd do the bride and groom's opening dance and by the end, the obligatory number of reluctant dancers had been coaxed onto the dance floor. By the time we'd said "Ladies and Gentlemen, Mike and Debbie... Mr and Mrs Bloggs" and led a round of applause half of them were usually sloping off already. Then we would launch right into BEG. By the time we'd finished the intro they had pretty much all done a 180 and we're happily jigging away, singing along. Always found it a good gig starter.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1475924116' post='3149780'] Pete Stephens wasn't very well towards the end but thank goodness he still cared enough about his company to ensure that its heritage and pedigree was maintained, and not sold off to the highest bidder (which was on the cards). Paul Herman was/is the best person to take WAL on and maintain the continuity and quality for such a world class brand. [/quote] Amen to that! Ther were a few of us holding our breath back then. The idea of a budget Korean Passive Reissue Pro would have been interesting (a la Overwater by Tanglewood) but he idea of a big corporate watering down the Wal bass... still just don't want to think about it. There's an alternate universe out there somewhere where mass produced Wals now have one piece maple necks, basswood bodies, Schaller bridges and Bartolini pickups... Or worse... imagine Gibson had bought the brand and done a Trace Elliott to it!!!!! Pete absolutely made the right choice. Paul da guy!

[quote name='Spoombung' timestamp='1475750992' post='3148412'] Blimey, sorry I missed it. Any idea who owns the Wal Mk3 4-string? (sycamore/maple facings). I've always wanted to try one of those... [/quote] Workshop model so currently available... you know you want to...

[quote name='NickA' timestamp='1475786622' post='3148832'] I was with mine (a 1980s 4 string mk 1 fretless) in bass direct this week, where they had a Mk1 and a Mk2 for sale at around £4500 (!!) they told me the new ones are about £5000 and have a two year waiting list and "anyway wouldn't be the same as an old one", hence the increasing value of the original Mk1s. Any truth in that? [/quote] The first half of their statement is true... £4500 starting price and approx 22 months lead time. The second part is TOSH. As anyone who was at the SE Bass Bash the other week will tell you the basses Paul is building are absolutely toppest of top notch. If I dare say it, I'd actually say that the build quality has increased a smidge with him. To me those Bass Direct ones looked about a grand overpriced maybe for a 2nd hand Wal, looking at current prices on eBay. Just my opinion, though. And I'm not particualry aware of Mk 1 prices spiking against other models. Sales poppycock/deeply held opinion [delete as applicable] As to old quality vs new... Let's face it, Paul knows Wals. He started working there a few months before Ian Waller passed away in the late 80s and was working there until around 2000 so most of the basses around will have had him working on them anyway.

I use OnSong and really like it. Very powerful. Not free but very well specced.

I use OnSong all the time on an iPad 4 Retina and love it. Some of the features are a bit hidden or obscured but once you get to know it the programme becomes quite intuitive. I suspect that an iPad 2 is just getting too far away from the current iOS minimum requirements etc. for it to work effectively.

I'll definitely take a view on the asker and decide on that basis. Have said "Yes" have said "No". Always officiate, though... place the bass around their neck and help them take it off. That way, I know it's not going to get dropped or whacked into the drummer's crash cymbals. It can have nice paybacks too. Remember doing a 50th birthday party once. The birthday boy asked if his nephew and friends band could do a couple of songs at the end of the barbecue break. We said, fine. Bless em, the kids were all about 14 or 15 and they were stoked to be able to play on a Wal bass, a Gibson Les Paul Studio, a Takamine Acoustic and a Premier drum kit rather than the £100 instruments they were used to playing. They weren't half bad in a strummy kind of way for some teenage kids starting out and I don't think they'd ever touched, let alone played instruments like that. The look on their faces when we said, "Nah just use ours..." All of us really earned some karma points on the cosmic balance sheet that evening. It was great watching some kids having such a treat too.