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The wal factor


tubbybloke68
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To be honest I prefer the simplicity of the controls on the passive.im no tech head and I love my wal 5 but in my opinion every setting, whatever you choose is very useable on the passive,whereas not so on the active.I find the same with my alembic actually. The output and 'girth' of sound from the single pup never ceases to amaze me! And nothing else has ever come close to offering that fat ,creamy smooth and definition of note sound .

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[quote name='tubbybloke68' timestamp='1375473621' post='2162060']
To be honest I prefer the simplicity of the controls on the passive.im no tech head and I love my wal 5 but in my opinion every setting, whatever you choose is very useable on the passive,whereas not so on the active.I find the same with my alembic actually. The output and 'girth' of sound from the single pup never ceases to amaze me! And nothing else has ever come close to offering that fat ,creamy smooth and definition of note sound .
[/quote]
How does your Wal 5 compare to your Alembic tone wise? I found that my Wal could do everything my Alembic could do...easier and at half the price!

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If you excuse the terminology,I've come to look at the alembic as more of a ' sports car' in terms of useability for me in recent times.personally for slap style and sheer ergonomics it has no equal.mine has proved to be tempromental at times but having said that I play in an acdc tribute act and have used it many a time to good effect.I've never really thought of comparing it to the wal but I'd have to agree with your findings to some degree.much easier to dial in a useable sound on the wal .for everyday giggingthe wal gets the nod every time .now if I could get an alembic (small body signature shape) with wal pups then.........mmmm:-)

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[quote name='tubbybloke68' timestamp='1375458943' post='2161755']
Oh wal!! Just got the my passive 4 back from Paul Herman. What a difference! General make over / set up etc . The man's a genius and a really nice bloke too. Couldn't be happier! The best just got better, In my opinion :-)
[/quote]

I must contact him about some spares for my Wal.
To save me looking it up, where are they based these days?

I love Alembics and Wals but it's a surprising choice of instrument for an AC/DC tribute :D

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Paul Herman is based at ,
The old cattle shed,
Barracks farm
Cobham road
Fetcham
Surrey kt22 9tp
Yeah I guess an alembic does seem strange for AC/dc stuff but hey , it works/worked pretty good but like I said the wal gets the nod most times these days, the alembic being a bit 'toppy' for me . The wal sound is totally unique I think. It certainly works for me . :-)

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im not knocking Wal basses but when i played one a few years ago, the tone was a very uninspiring thud. it was beautifully made but apart from that i really couldnt see the appeal from the tone. but the feel of the bass was amazing

Edited by bubinga5
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[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1375529078' post='2162532']
im not knocking Wal basses but when i played one a few years ago, the tone was a very uninspiring thud. it was beautifully made but apart from that i really couldnt see the appeal from the tone. but the feel of the bass was amazing
[/quote]

I've never encountered the words Wal and thud in the same sentence :)

Must have had very dead strings or a seriously duff amp/cab.

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I once emailed(as no answer on phone) Wal saying I had %50 deposit ready and wanted to make an order....

i got an answer 7 month alter asking if I was still into ordering one... well no... if that's how much you care about customers....

At that time I had two wal, i emailed them too (as no answer on phone) about question regarding servicing.... never got any answer....

Wal are now off my list...

P.

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Yes it took along time to get email response from Paul on another matter previous that I enquired about but then my financial position changed and I had to leave it anyway. But my experience upon dropping my bass off to him / meeting him and the work he done on it has only been positive. I'm sorry yours hasn't been . Incidentally I emailed mica at alembic a good while ago regarding a new jack socket. She got back to me initially and asked for pictures, which I sent but since then nothing. I did send her a reminder but nothing still. Guess people get real busy sometimes with other stuff, who knows ??

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[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1375529078' post='2162532']
im not knocking Wal basses but when i played one a few years ago, the tone was a very uninspiring thud. it was beautifully made but apart from that i really couldnt see the appeal from the tone. but the feel of the bass was amazing
[/quote]
Wow...never ever heard anyone say this before! Wow. Ah well...horses for courses.

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This is just my personal experience, I am not slagging the guy down or what ever. As i Honestly don't care.

Yes it seems companies who are totally established think it's ok to leave customers "out drying" when they exist thanks to us musicians (pro or not) , the people playing their instruments.

The list of people I never got answer from , is huge and I have lost count...

It is nice to see companies like Fodera after all the thing they've been through, answered me in 37 minutes some months ago...

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[quote name='pierreganseman' timestamp='1375552784' post='2162868']
This is just my personal experience, I am not slagging the guy down or what ever. As i Honestly don't care.

Yes it seems companies who are totally established think it's ok to leave customers "out drying" when they exist thanks to us musicians (pro or not) , the people playing their instruments.

The list of people I never got answer from , is huge and I have lost count...

It is nice to see companies like Fodera after all the thing they've been through, answered me in 37 minutes some months ago...
[/quote]
I understand what you mean, very frustrating. I think the fact that Paul has enough pre-orders to keep him busy for the next 3-4 years is a contributory reason for the lack of response...but it's no excuse really.

To play devils advocate I contacted Paul to inquire about placing an order about 12 months ago and he replied within 24 hours. Perhaps you have been unlucky?

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[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1375553603' post='2162879']
I understand what you mean, very frustrating. I think the fact that Paul has enough pre-orders to keep him busy for the next 3-4 years is a contributory reason for the lack of response...but it's no excuse really.

To play devils advocate I contacted Paul to inquire about placing an order about 12 months ago and he replied within 24 hours. Perhaps you have been unlucky?
[/quote]

Probably I have been, but the fact that the guy has enough back orders for the next 2 + years to come should not be an excuse to ignore some one saying "i have £2000 to give you as a deposit".... but that's maybe just me. This is valid for wal and a few more companies....

Wether a company is fully established or starting, every single customer should be considered / treated the same

anyways, i know its bad on forums to give names when you are not happy about something , as some people always end up taking it personally for some reason = mess... so i will stop here....

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I've just bought an old Pro IIE (which I'm yet to get my mitts on) and Paul answered a phone call straight away, emails within a couple of days, and was very helpful. He's on the pricey side though; for a basic set-up and electrics check he quoted me approx £200 which is 3 times what I'd expect from the Gallery.

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Paul did an amazing job in refinishing my Mach 25 string a couple of years ago. He always responded quickly to my emails and answered his phone - and this was when he had just taken over and things at Electric Wood must have been chaos. It was bloody expensive though, but the results were stunning. From this:
[url="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/mokl/media/IMG_3114.jpg.html"][/url]

To this:
[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/mokl/media/IMG_3435.jpg.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v473/mokl/IMG_3435.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Edited by Mokl
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[quote name='Mokl' timestamp='1375632320' post='2163663']
Paul did an amazing job in refinishing my Mach 25 string a couple of years ago. He always responded quickly to my emails and answered his phone - and this was when he had just taken over and things at Electric Wood must have been chaos. It was bloody expensive though, but the results were stunning. From this:
[url="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/mokl/media/IMG_3114.jpg.html"][/url]

To this:
[url="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/mokl/media/IMG_3435.jpg.html"][/url]
[/quote]
WOW. Awesome job!

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I know Paul from back when Electric Wood were at Wycombe and he is a top bloke and an excellent craftsman , too . It's really not his style to be offhand in his responses to anybody , and I am sure any delays or oversights on his part are entirely due to the fact that he is essentially a one -man operation nowadays , probably with just about as much work as he can possibly handle , judging by his waiting times . Wals are indeed uniquel and wonderful basses,, and are still worth the money that they cost new nowadays when you compare them to other similaly-priced high-end bassses , most of which sound two-dimensional in comparison to a Wal

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[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1375646639' post='2163889']
I know Paul from back when Electric Wood were at Wycombe and he is a top bloke and an excellent craftsman , too . It's really not his style to be offhand in his responses to anybody , and I am sure any delays or oversights on his part are entirely due to the fact that he is essentially a one -man operation nowadays , probably with just about as much work as he can possibly handle , judging by his waiting times . Wals are indeed uniquel and wonderful basses,, and are still worth the money that they cost new nowadays when you compare them to other similaly-priced high-end bassses , most of which sound two-dimensional in comparison to a Wal
[/quote]
Nothing sounds like a Wal. I only ever mourn one bass that that I have sold/traded & it was my Wal. I was all set for a Sycamore faced MK1 just after Paul took over until fate intervened & I was left broke. Ah well, one day!

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