I Really Really Really Really Really want a Wal

[Kiwi]

Wal'[size=4]s are wonderful. One of the few instruments I've played where there is really some indefinable magic about how they sound and feel. And they're so consistently good as well. I really don't know why I never owned one.[/size]

[CamdenRob]

[quote name='EMG456' timestamp='1387407942' post='2311765']
Camdenrob, what options have you gone for?
[/quote]

It's early days at the moment so I've not nailed everything down on the options yet. I wanted a MK3 6 string fretted so that's settled. Also, Paul mentioned that the Brazilian Mahogany they use for the body cores varies quite considerably in weight from piece to piece, so he recons he can find me a lightish one... having said that sixers are always going to be heavy!.

I'd be happy with the common American Walnut top... considering a matching headstock too.

It's so far off actually being finished, I'll work with them depending on what suggestions they make. It's the sound I'm after and they know more about how to get that than I do by selecting random woods that look nice. Paul said when the neck is done (3 months or so) I'll go down to their workshop and he'll go through various top wood choices etc depending on what they have got available as he might have some one off tops in there.

I'm going to attempt to get back in touch with the old bass tutor at my collage and find out what options he had on his, as that's the sound I've got in my head. I wonder if he's a member here... or even still alive... Jack Monk he was called, I've no idea who he played with in the past but If I could sound half as good at this guy and his Wal I'd be a happy man.

*Edit* After a bit of googling it would appear its spelt Monck and he has a wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Monck) He is still teaching at the collage I went too... email sent, hope he gets it, this guy is my bass hero...

Edited December 19, 2013 by CamdenRob

[Fozza]

There is a brief interview with Jack Monck (with his Wal) on his work with Syd Barrett on this documentary. From 40:00.[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4m9pmSGWtk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4m9pmSGWtk[/url]

[CamdenRob]

[quote name='Fozza' timestamp='1387442707' post='2311902']
There is a brief interview with Jack Monck (with his Wal) on his work with Syd Barrett on this documentary. From 40:00.[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4m9pmSGWtk[/media]
[/quote]

Wow... Thank you so much for digging this out for me... amazing...

I might have to feign illness at work so I can go home and watch this.

You know he never name dropped or gave the impression he had ever worked with anyone prestigious. A gentleman and the best player I have ever seen in the flesh.

Edited December 19, 2013 by CamdenRob

[mikeswals]

[quote=DrTStingray]- the one thing I found a little disconcerting was the neck and fretboard - I found it reminiscent of a Warwick - basically not what I'm used to but at the same time it didn't hinder me - the frets seemed a little closer together than I'm used to. [/quote]


DrT. The frets aren't any closer than a StingRay or Precision...something about the neck profile only makes them feel that way. I layed the other basses ontop my Wal comparing frets, they're spaced the same. Maybe it's the very flat-ish fingerboard.

Edited December 19, 2013 by mikeswals

[White Cloud]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1387416409' post='2311830']
Dingus you were making serious money to have a Wal custom at 21!
[/quote]
Well, I'm going to black cat Dingus...I had a new MK1 in 1986 when I was 18! I was a low earner and was literally dirt poor...because I had bought a Wal on the never never. I called it dedication at the time, but in hindsight it was probably madness.

Nowadays I earn good money, own 2 nice cars and a gorgeous house in an affluent area...but can't afford a Wal. Life is strange!

[mikeswals]

The first time I got to see an actual Wal in person was at the (other) Bass Centre they built in Hollywood in the States way back in the earlier 90's. I was about 21 at the time. Brand new black poly Geddy style MkI, $3200 dollar price tag! No way I could afford such a beast at that age. I had to wait until my late 30's before I could afford buy the same black bass at $4500 dollars preowned!

Edited December 19, 2013 by mikeswals

[4000]

[quote name='leftyhook' timestamp='1387408814' post='2311773']

So, a Wal may not be your bag, but the only way it could be a ''bad one' is if someone has tampered with it in a careless way. Absolute craftsmanship cannot be denied.
[/quote]

My first one (a Custom, in the '90s) had an uneven fingerboard - not the frets, the actual board - from factory, so that's not entirely true. It was impossible to set up how I wanted. I sold it to someone for whom it wasn't a problem and he eventually had it redone when he sent it for an overhaul.

[Bassman Sam]

There is a nice 1990 4 string MR1 on Bass Directs facebook page. Lovely.

http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Wal_MKI_Fretted_1990.html

[White Cloud]

[quote name='Bassman Sam' timestamp='1387490308' post='2312720']
There is a nice 1990 4 string MR1 on Bass Directs facebook page. Lovely.

[url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Wal_MKI_Fretted_1990.html"]http://www.bassdirec...etted_1990.html[/url]
[/quote]
+ 1

[drTStingray]

Thank The Lord it's not a 4 or I would have had a serious problem with this bass

[Dingus]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1387378260' post='2311286']


Ever since I've been going through every type of bass possible thinking that I would find something as good and in truth I never have.

So this morning I placed my order... Summer 2015 I'll have what I should have ordered 15 years ago...
[/quote]

That's really exciting news, Rob. Good for you.

It might seem like a long wait now , but it will give you plenty to think about and look forward to in the meantime, so try and enjoy the anticipation as well as actually getting the bass.

[White Cloud]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1387545088' post='2313172']
That's really exciting news, Rob. Good for you.

It might seem like a long wait now , but it will give you plenty to think about and look forward to in the meantime, so try and enjoy the anticipation as well as actually getting the bass.
[/quote]
And +1 to this also.

[philw]

Reading the couple of recent Wal themed threads made me wonder if we shouldn't try and do a Wal themed bass day? We'd get as many Wals as possible together in the same room so that folks who have always wanted to have a go on one but have never had the opportunity could do so. It'd also be fun for us Wal owners to see and hear our own instruments in the context of a whole bunch of their relatives. I wonder how many we could get? We might even get Paul Herman to come along as Pete and Wal's representative on Earth.

Phil

[CamdenRob]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1387545088' post='2313172']
That's really exciting news, Rob. Good for you.

It might seem like a long wait now , but it will give you plenty to think about and look forward to in the meantime, so try and enjoy the anticipation as well as actually getting the bass.
[/quote]

It seems like an age away! I'm looking forward to going down to the workshop next year sometime and going through the various options.

I went for it in the end as I could have been waiting forever for the right one to come up on the second hand market... and to be honest the prices aren't that different for new vs used anyway...

[CamdenRob]

[quote name='philw' timestamp='1387547124' post='2313217']
Reading the couple of recent Wal themed threads made me wonder if we shouldn't try and do a Wal themed bass day? We'd get as many Wals as possible together in the same room so that folks who have always wanted to have a go on one but have never had the opportunity could do so. It'd also be fun for us Wal owners to see and hear our own instruments in the context of a whole bunch of their relatives. I wonder how many we could get? We might even get Paul Herman to come along as Pete and Wal's representative on Earth.

Phil
[/quote]

Where do I sign up?

[Dingus]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1387416409' post='2311830']

Dingus you were making serious money to have a Wal custom at 21!

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1387457399' post='2312145']
Well, I'm going to black cat Dingus...I had a new MK1 in 1986 when I was 18! I was a low earner and was literally dirt poor...because I had bought a Wal on the never never. I called it dedication at the time, but in hindsight it was probably madness.

Nowadays I earn good money, own 2 nice cars and a gorgeous house in an affluent area...but can't afford a Wal. Life is strange!
[/quote][/quote]

Life is indeed strange, and few have been stranger than my own.

I started saving for a Wal bass when I was still in the Sixth Form at school , and my goals for the rest of my life when I left a school consisted of buying a Wal , establishing a physical relationship with the the girl who worked in the delicatessen and saving up a thousand quid. It is that kind of career-mindedness and emotional depth that have enabled me to become the success I am today. ( I only achieved two of those ambitions, by the way.)

I could actually have bought a Wal a long time before I was 21, but I was spending a lot of time away from home and going through my vintage Fender phase. Also bear in mind that when I left school a Wal bass cost £790 full retail price, if I remember correctly. Even allowing for inflation , that was not the equivalent of the £3650+ they cost today.

[Dingus]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1387543612' post='2313149']
Thank The Lord it's not a 4 or I would have had a serious problem with this bass
[/quote]

It is a 4 string. It is one of the nicest ones I have ever seen . You are in serious trouble.

[Dingus]

Seeing as this thread is a bit of free-form Wal-orientated love-in , lets have a bit of a Wal-fest:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkxElNZiJew[/media]

Luis Jardim playing a Wal Custom for Trevor Horn :

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THt7o6dzMuw[/media]

Edited December 20, 2013 by Dingus

[Dingus]

The late , great Alan Spenner playing a Wal Custom :

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlPJYXVvimQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlPJYXVvimQ[/url]

And his very capable understudy, Gary Tibbs playing a Wal Pro :

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OfRZ63gLgI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OfRZ63gLgI[/url]

[Dingus]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1387547261' post='2313219']
It seems like an age away! I'm looking forward to going down to the workshop next year sometime and going through the various options.

I went for it in the end as I could have been waiting forever for the right one to come up on the second hand market... and to be honest the prices aren't that different for new vs used anyway...
[/quote]

The basses Paul is building now will probably be equal to the best Wal basses ever in terms of overall quality and attention to detail . The long waiting time reflects that. I think you are better off buying a new bass than paying approximately the same money for a used one.

[Musicman20]

Can anyone comment on how the new ACG pickups compare with the sound of a Wal?

The Wal bodyshape is just ultra cool.

[Dingus]

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1387549233' post='2313260']
Can anyone comment on how the new ACG pickups compare with the sound of a Wal?

The Wal bodyshape is just ultra cool.
[/quote]

Hi Gareth, I've never played an ACG, so this is purely from what I have gleaned from reading about them , but I think the comparisons with a Wal are derived not so much from the tone of the pickups but more from the fact that the upmarket ACG's have a filter-based preamp which is similar in certain respects to the quasi-parametric system used by Wal in their preamp. In case you aren't familiar with them , a filter based system works very differently to the simple cut/boost type preamp on basses such as a Music Man Instead of simply adding bass or treble, turning the knob on the filter preamp sweeps through a defined bandwidth of frequencies , similar to what it sounds like when you depress a wah wah pedal, to give a crude example .

Even without a preamp, the unique design of the Wal pickup gives a pretty huge and fat sound. I really don't know if the same could be said of whatever ACG pickup design. I think Aaron Armstrong builds ACG's pickups for them , and he certainly knows what he is doing, to say the least, so I'm sure they are terrifiic in their own right, but Wal pickups have a very distinctive , heavy , full sound with an emphasis in the low-mids , and I am not sure ACG would necessarily want to copy that kind of very stylised sound for their own basses.

[White Cloud]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1387554330' post='2313332']
In case you aren't familiar with them , a filter based system works very differently to the simple cut/boost type preamp on basses such as a Music Man Instead of simply adding bass or treble, turning the knob on the filter preamp sweeps through a defined bandwidth of frequencies , similar to what it sounds like when you depress a wah wah pedal, to give a crude example
[/quote]
Having owned both Wal and Alembic basses I feel that the filter based system is the absolute best way to go with bass electronics. Much better than the common cut/boost preamps - the downside is the price!

[Noisyjon]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1387547261' post='2313219']
... and to be honest the prices aren't that different for new vs used anyway...
[/quote]
+1
[url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Wal_MKI_Fretted_1990.html"]http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Wal_MKI_Fretted_1990.html[/url]