Butchered Wal

[rubis]

He's right, there aren't many like this around [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WAL-Bass-guitar-/150990377394?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2327ba51b2"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WAL-Bass-guitar-/150990377394?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2327ba51b2[/url] I feel like crying

[franzbassist]

Yes, I saw that too, horrible.

Straight back to Paul for a full refurb methinks...

[gary mac]

Yes spotted this the other day and found it a truly unsettling experience

Why would anyone do that?

[Cairobill]

Horrible! What a shame

[TheGreek]

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1360399707' post='1969734']

Why would anyone do that?
[/quote]

My thoughts exactly....

Surely doing something like this justifies bringing back the Death Sentence..

[Happy Jack]

[i][size=5][font="Trebuchet MS"]It was bought without the original pickups, controls and XLR output, and was refurbished by an experienced luthier.[/font][/size][/i]

I'm guessing that's your answer.

Owner X decided to strip out the Wal electronics, maybe to try them in another bass & see what it sounded like, leaving Owner Y to buy a bass with no electrics.

Having a full set of Wal electronics installed has never been cheap, even during that period when Wals fell out of favour and could be had for peanuts, so Owner Y has gone with the SDs instead.

In al fairness, it's not a a bad job at all. Just won't sound remotely like a 'real' Wal.

The most astonishing thing about that listing is that he thinks he'll get £1750 for it.

[Wolverinebass]

This is a crime. The only thing I could think of that could be more insane would be someone selling a Status having removed the neck and replacing it with a neck from a squier precision and still thinking they'll get what they paid for it....

[BigRedX]

Until recently if you didn't actually have the pickups and electronics there probably wasn't much else you could have with this other than scrap it.

The only real crime is that fact that seller thinks they can get £1000 more than it's realistically worth in its present state.

[shizznit]

That's like buying a Ferrari and then replacing the engine with a motor from an Austin Allegro. Such a shame.

[mikhay77]

[quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1360421012' post='1970102']
That's like buying a Ferrari and then replacing the engine with a motor from an Austin Allegro. Such a shame.
[/quote]
You mean more reliable? lol

[yorks5stringer]

I was wondering if this is actually owned by a fellow Basschatter, "... in Somerset."...?

Edited February 9, 2013 by yorks5stringer

[paul_5]

I just looked at the listing. Now I'm sad.

[waynepunkdude]

Wal's are f***ing ugly anyway.

[mushers]

is it just the plugs in where other pots should be ? or am i missing something

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='mushers' timestamp='1360448923' post='1970762']
is it just the plugs in where other pots should be ? or am i missing something
[/quote]

The central section of the body has had a new piece filleted in (different colour wood so it's pretty obvious) in order to take the SD pickups, plus another piece of wood has been filleted in to fill the hole left by the XLR socket.

The woodwork generally looks pretty neat to me, judging by the photos. I think what's causing the sadness is the replacement of the Wal electronics (the bits that actually make it sound like a Wal) with something very generic. If I could pick that bass up and play it, my guess is that it would sound very much like a bog-standard Jazz bass with SD pickups.

It's not [i][b]quite [/b][/i]the end of civilisation as we know it.

But it's close ...

[lowregisterhead]

Ended with no bids (not surprising) and just been relisted with a starting price of £1450... I don't think that's going to result in a sale either somehow...

[tauzero]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1360500705' post='1971237']
The woodwork generally looks pretty neat to me, judging by the photos. I think what's causing the sadness is the replacement of the Wal electronics (the bits that actually make it sound like a Wal) with something very generic.
[/quote]

I'm surpised that the overseer or the experienced luthier didn't go for pickups which were at least similar dimensions to the originals so the body didn't need significant modification.

[rubis]

Quite right!
And why did he cut away the section between the pickups?
And what's the point of transferring the hardware to another bass?
Wal's not well made enough? Or nice enough to play?
Sheesh!

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1360592223' post='1972892']
I'm surpised that the overseer or the experienced luthier didn't go for pickups which were at least similar dimensions to the originals so the body didn't need significant modification.
[/quote]

Probably customer chosen pickups.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='rubis' timestamp='1360598413' post='1973052']

And what's the point of transferring the hardware to another bass?

[/quote]

I can remember reading at least one interview with someone who transferred Wal electronics to another bass (may have been a Jazz?) to see whether the recipient bass would then sound like a Wal.

Think of it as an extreme variant of the old "wood makes no difference to tone" argument.

The annoying thing is, I can't remember what the conclusion was.

Unless reversed later, of course, this would result in a Wal with no electronics eventually coming onto the market.

[EBS_freak]

I always think as soon as a bass becomes active, the wood has less of a role in the tone of the bass.

I remember Bernie Goodfellow saying to me, "I could put my circuit and pickups in that table over there, string it up and it sound like a GB. It'd be a right b4stard to play though."

[MB1]

MB1.
Refurbishable?
The man from Wal Monte...says ???

[BigRedX]

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1360602643' post='1973159']
I always think as soon as a bass becomes active, the wood has less of a role in the tone of the bass.
[/quote]

I don't get this at all.

That's saying that the tone shaping circuit in the active bass is having more effect than the tone shaping circuit in your amp. To me suggests that you don't have the right amp.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1360647946' post='1973908']
That's saying that the tone shaping circuit in the active bass is having more effect than the tone shaping circuit in your amp. To me suggests that you don't have the right amp.
[/quote]

That's odd, Mike.

I read it as saying that the tone shaping circuit in the active bass is having more effect than the tone shaping circuit in the passive bass, leaving less 'room' for the wood to exert an influence.

Not sure where the amp comes into it?

[chris_b]

[quote name='rubis' timestamp='1360397096' post='1969715']
....He's right, there aren't many like this.... I feel like crying....
[/quote]

That's also my feeling when I see all these "I'm gonna mod my bass" threads!!!!