So... Wal, eh?

[largo]

If it's an consolation, I used to own a Wal mk1 back in the early 90's. I was drawn to the looks but knew a lot of the big name pop bassists were playing them too. After playing it, I couldn't understand the hype & it was easily the heaviest bass I've ever owned, including the 5 strings I've played. I wouldn't have another. Does that make it any easier for you....

[TorturedSaints]

For the OP, the owner at Ayr Guitar owns an early Wal (Geddy Lee era) and has it on the wall - it's not for sale though as I think it would be in the many thousands of pounds price range. He let me have a play when I took my ACG in for a setup. It was nice, but not that nice. As Largo says, it was very heavy. I also got the impression that it was a bit of an unforgiving bass to play - I'm sure it sounds great for a great bass player, but as it was me it just highlighted my technical deficiencies and it didn't really sound or feel great for me compared to my ACGs.

Perhaps a trip to Ayr to chat with the owner might cure the GAS? Although actually they have a nice selection of basses (not Fenders) as you would expect from a bass-playing owner.

P.S. despite sharing the same first name as the bass player mentioned in the original post, that wasn't me!

Edited October 11, 2016 by RalphDWilson

[RhysP]

[quote name='largo' timestamp='1476193932' post='3152164']
If it's an consolation, I used to own a Wal mk1 back in the early 90's. I was drawn to the looks but knew a lot of the big name pop bassists were playing them too. After playing it, I couldn't understand the hype & it was easily the heaviest bass I've ever owned, including the 5 strings I've played. I wouldn't have another. Does that make it any easier for you....
[/quote]

I'm the same. I've owned one (an old Pro model with a scratchplate) and played lots of them (the shop I used to work in in the early 80s stocked them) & have never been able to see what all the fuss is about, especially since the secondhand value of them went crazy.
When I bought my Levinson Blade B4 from the bass centre in the late 80s it was the same price as a new Wal & I chose it over all of the three Wals I also tried that day because I thought it was a much better instrument.
I've often wondered whether there would be all this hype around them if Wal was still alive.

[TrevorR]

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!

Edited October 11, 2016 by TrevorR

[Highfox]

I guess all the fuss and hype is in the sounds you can get out of them. Not for everyone but if you like it nothing else will do

[neilp]

The sounds are part of it, but there's more to it. I feel like mine inspires me, I'm a better player with the Wal strapped on than with anything else I've ever played. It changes the music I play for the better.

[deksawyer]

I have a 1980 Custom, and it does sound great - it sounds very compressed on the bridge pickup fully on with a very nice attack/bite to all the strings - I rarely use the neck pickup although I sometimes blend a wee bit in to add a bit of girth. No other bass sounds like it, although a Stingray can sound close (ish) in my opinion, but is a bit more aggressive. My Stingray (and my RAY34 for that matter) feel nicer to play as well, and the weight is not so bad with a neoprene Mega strap.

I'm gonna have a local builder make me a fretless neck sometime...

D.

oh, and here it is..

Edited October 11, 2016 by deksawyer

[NickRiffed]

Hmm.
Not too sure what to say about this.

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252557958084

[mcnach]

[quote name='deksawyer' timestamp='1476199967' post='3152235']
I have a 1980 Custom, and it does sound great - it sounds very compressed on the bridge pickup fully on with a very nice attack/bite to all the strings - I rarely use the neck pickup although I sometimes blend a wee bit in to add a bit of girth. No other bass sounds like it, although a Stingray can sound close (ish) in my opinion, but is a bit more aggressive. My Stingray (and my RAY34 for that matter) feel nicer to play as well, and the weight is not so bad with a neoprene Mega strap.

I'm gonna have a local builder make me a fretless neck sometime...

D.

oh, and here it is..


[/quote]

That is a beauty!

[thodrik]

I lusted after a Wal for several years. I eventually tried a Mk 1 with the intention of buying it. It was a very nice bass but I didn't think that it was worth the money, which was £2000 at the time. It would probably be worth about £3000 now given current marketplace demands so I lost out on potential 'sell on' profit. However, I didn't think that it was worth it at the time, as I already had two basses which I considered to be equally as nice sounding and nice to play as the Wal. It was still a cracking bass though and I still think that Wals are among the most beautiful basses on the market.

[Kev]

No question, my Wal was the best sounding instrument I ever did own. Sadly, it was only a 4 string and a few aspects of is playability didn't agree with me and as such I moved her on. Finances have since significantly worsened so I cannot see me being able to afford a 5 string version anytime soon.

The 4 string models are more love/hate than people may expect; the neck is a v shape, the fretboard edges are not rolled and can feel quite sharp and the pickups make for difficult thumb anchoring. All of those disagreed with me, however the five string model has a C neck and thumb-friendly pickups, but I try not to think about that!

I don't think any model is in any way fugly. The new MK3 is definitely my least favourite, the MK2 shape is just perfect!

[funkgod]

[quote name='deksawyer' timestamp='1476199967' post='3152235']
I have a 1980 Custom, and it does sound great - it sounds very compressed on the bridge pickup fully on with a very nice attack/bite to all the strings - I rarely use the neck pickup although I sometimes blend a wee bit in to add a bit of girth. No other bass sounds like it, although a Stingray can sound close (ish) in my opinion, but is a bit more aggressive. My Stingray (and my RAY34 for that matter) feel nicer to play as well, and the weight is not so bad with a neoprene Mega strap.

I'm gonna have a local builder make me a fretless neck sometime...

D.

oh, and here it is..


[/quote]


Now that is nice
and interesting, .... wal never made alot of basses with multi body cent lines,
and definitaly not with twin ( triple really) sandwich layers between the core and top, each side. ??
i think he made about 6 brothers, yours if the same is only the 3rd one i have seen.

this looks like a LH version of my old one which i had for a while and sold to mike G, USA
Think he still has it.
which was the Last Pro bass made number PB1859,
is the back the same as this ???

[url="http://www4.cs.fau.de/~koesters/Privat/Wal/walspec.html"]http://www4.cs.fau.d...al/walspec.html[/url]
(pics taken by me)
[attachment=229721:PB1859.jpg]

[attachment=229722:PB1859-2.jpg]

Edit,,, sorry another question,
Mine and the other one i have seen were both hand waxed french polished and not lacquered,
(as is the one i still have now).
when pete refinished PB1859 for me he did say the others were hand polished.
Is yours ?

Edited October 11, 2016 by funkgod

[gjones]

A Wal MK 2 is the only bass that I have ever stopped and spun around, mid conversation, at a sound check in Whistlebinkies and went 'What the hell is that bass!'.

[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

[deksawyer]

[quote name='funkgod' timestamp='1476210803' post='3152405']
Now that is nice
and interesting, .... wal never made alot of basses with multi body cent lines,
and definitaly not with twin ( triple really) sandwich layers between the core and top, each side. ??
i think he made about 6 brothers, yours if the same is only the 3rd one i have seen.

this looks like a LH version of my old one which i had for a while and sold to mike G, USA
Think he still has it.
which was the Last Pro bass made number PB1859,
is the back the same as this ???

[url="http://www4.cs.fau.de/~koesters/Privat/Wal/walspec.html"]http://www4.cs.fau.d...al/walspec.html[/url]
(pics taken by me)


Edit,,, sorry another question,
Mine and the other one i have seen were both hand waxed french polished and not lacquered,
(as is the one i still have now).
when pete refinished PB1859 for me he did say the others were hand polished.
Is yours ?
[/quote]

No, the back is as per pic below. I know Pete was experimenting with laminates back around the time this was made with a few different ideas kicking around, there's a couple on the Wal database - yours is likely there?

With regards to the finish, I don't think it's lacquered, as it's not too shiny - a lot of the sheen, especially on the front appears to have faded in the near 37 years it's been around. This is P.B 1848. Did yours have a switch on the Vol control?



Basking in the sunlight

[deksawyer]

Trev, what about a wee feature on these "crossover" models, showing the experimentation Electric Wood were doing in those years before the std Custom recipe was found?

Happy to provide better pics..

D.

[funkgod]

[quote name='deksawyer' timestamp='1476295075' post='3153162']
No, the back is as per pic below. I know Pete was experimenting with laminates back around the time this was made with a few different ideas kicking around, there's a couple on the Wal database - yours is likely there?

With regards to the finish, I don't think it's lacquered, as it's not too shiny - a lot of the sheen, especially on the front appears to have faded in the near 37 years it's been around. This is P.B 1848. Did yours have a switch on the Vol control?



Basking in the sunlight

[/quote]

Pb 1848, only 11 away im not sure if the alleged 6, were in the format of body stripes on front and back
as after a quick check pb1633 was the same, and the earlyst one on the database, so looking like more than 6 ( the number 6 came from notes from Mick Cookson about pb1859)

Yes there are a few of mine on that database including 1859.

yes Wal and pete were experimenting with all sorts about that time as i also had a bass pete called the "TUFA" a one off during that time they were toying with laminate tops this being one of the ones done to test the stresses and strains of the construction, very nice playing bass with the pro neck which i think had the two pegs you could see at the end of the head stock
where the two carbon strips under the fretboard terminated,
Has yours got these ?
when i took it to him to be refinished he was gobsmacked it was still around, i cant remember why he called it " tufa" im sure he said tufa wood top but cant find any wood calld tufa, only volcanic rock, something to do with the weight of the dam thing maybe .
yes pb1859 had a battery off switch on the vol pot,
its looking then yours is hand french polished the same, and not refinished ( thank god),

As you prob already know Wal and pete kept a book with all sorts of info in ( his wal Bible) im not sure but im guessing paul will have this now, if you contact paul he wil have the right info on your bass, including who originally purchased it and finish.

Very nice to see it, made my day when i saw it,

Edited October 12, 2016 by funkgod

[pineweasel]

Interesting reading regarding the "crossover" era. Here's my example, PB1805, which has a solid body of, I think, mahogany, and inlaid stripes on the front and back. I've never seen another Wal quite like it

[attachment=229846:Wal.jpg]

[funkgod]

[quote name='pineweasel' timestamp='1476376027' post='3153803']
Interesting reading regarding the "crossover" era. Here's my example, PB1805, which has a solid body of, I think, mahogany, and inlaid stripes on the front and back. I've never seen another Wal quite like it

[attachment=229846:Wal.jpg]
[/quote]

Wow they are all coming out now, noticed yours has the pro2E jack casting, does it have the earth lift flip switch on it ?
is it also french polished ?

I think if i had one made it would be a MK1 and would have to have the stripes on the body,
thats Fab.

Should start a PB porn thread,

Edited October 14, 2016 by funkgod

[deksawyer]

[quote name='pineweasel' timestamp='1476376027' post='3153803']
Interesting reading regarding the "crossover" era. Here's my example, PB1805, which has a solid body of, I think, mahogany, and inlaid stripes on the front and back. I've never seen another Wal quite like it

[attachment=229846:Wal.jpg]
[/quote]

Mhhhh...nice neck!

And, further to my other posts, mine has Niangon facings.

D.

[sblueplanet]

Best fretless I ever played was a Wal. I owned a fretless Steinberger L2 at the time but the Wal just blew it away. Sadly I couldn't afford it.

[three]

I've played loads and owned two or three (a Mk2 and Mk3 at least - ridiculous that I can't remember). They're a bass that I've always wanted to love, then when I get one, I don't. I used to play a lot of the Pro models (I lived near the distributor) and remember a pronounced v profile to the neck - I liked it a lot, many years ago, maybe not so much now. Possibly my technique, but I manage to make Wals sound much thinner than they sound in my memory.

[pineweasel]

[quote name='funkgod' timestamp='1476448388' post='3154403']
Wow they are all coming out now, noticed yours has the pro2E jack casting, does it have the earth lift flip switch on it ?
is it also french polished ?
[/quote]

It doesn't have the switches. I guess they just were just using up remaining parts when they built it.

I think it's probably french polished. Certainly doesn't look lacquered.

[TrevorR]

Might be the standard Wal Mk 1 Matt lacquer which is very thin and allows the grain to show through a bit. Very unusual, quite unlike a poly or nitro-cellulose gloss finish. As I recall it was melamine based.

Of course, without looking it's difficult to tell and in that transitional phase who knows what Ian and Pete were trying out. Still, the level of work required in a shellac finish does make it seem an unlikely choice. Never know, though.

Edited October 15, 2016 by TrevorR

[bassjim]

About 25 years? ago I was offered one in exchange for stupidly small amount of money as the owner wanted a Warwick, as Warwick had just become the new must have. Stupidly, I too wanted a Warwick and turned it down. £500.00.

Oh to be young and fashionable .

Ah well..........you win some you lose some........

Fair amount of head banging against a wall ever since.

I saw Laurence Cottle play his 5 string Wal in Brighton many years ago and instantly wanted one very badly. Fortunately I haven't seen anyone recently wielding one in the flesh to start that depressing "if only..maybe if I sell off..ect"