spiritchaser Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 (edited) Hi all, I'm so happy I let my luthier sand away the battered black Polyester coating from my 1987 WAL 5. It said "stained English olive ash faces" and not Black Polyester, so I guessed its former owner had not liked the olive wood underneath and let Pete Stevens coat it black. Well, I took the risk of letting Rüdiger Ziesemann of Bassline Basses fame sand it down and refinish it with a translucent red - and it looks like new! And - the bass "only" weighs 5 kgs now. It used to weigh 5.5 kgs. Soundwise there isn't any change noticeable. Well, take a look at the pics ... Cheers Oliver Edited April 16, 2010 by spiritchaser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnylager Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Very nice, good shout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleal Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 WOW, That looks absolutly stunning! Your guy knows what he's doing, well done oliver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Absolutely superb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorick Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I'm not doing a very good job of not drooling. That is a beauty!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cetera Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 That is BEAUTIFUL! Wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh3184 Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 hawt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I told myself not to open this thread. OMG wish I hadn't. It's got me all gassed up again. Going for a lie down now. That's lovely matey. What about some pics of how it was previously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubinga5 Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Superb...one of the best basses i have ever seen!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budget bassist Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 wow, that's gorgeous!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 What they said +100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Good choice me thinks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverfoxnik Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 [quote name='littleal' post='420058' date='Feb 26 2009, 01:30 PM']WOW, That looks absolutly stunning! Your guy knows what he's doing, well done oliver.[/quote] +1 Great colour! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stingray5 Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 That's a beaut! Good decision going for the refin. I'm also just wondering, what strings do you have on there? I'll hazard a guess and say LaBella flats (black natch!), or maybe even some Rotosound Trusound, or...what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiritchaser Posted February 27, 2009 Author Share Posted February 27, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Stingray5' post='420528' date='Feb 27 2009, 01:06 AM']That's a beaut! Good decision going for the refin. I'm also just wondering, what strings do you have on there? I'll hazard a guess and say LaBella flats (black natch!), or maybe even some Rotosound Trusound, or...what? [/quote] Hi all & cheers for the comments! I've strung the bass with DR Black Beauties which are a pleasure to play - only flaw is that the colour fades with heavy use of plecs. However, they sound very well and for a long time also. I've posted some pics of the former paintjob and how it looked like directly after having been sanded down. Also take a look at that monstrous WAL Humbucker. BTW - it wasn't a problem at all getting the electronics out and in again - just a mere plug and play job (apart from soldering the input plug). Going to gig with this killer tomorrow doing 'An evening with Joy Division' - covers - plus a couple of our own stuff in Cologne, Germany. Cheers Oliver Edited April 16, 2010 by spiritchaser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Very nice looking that is indeed! Any reason why you didn't get the neck done as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiritchaser Posted February 27, 2009 Author Share Posted February 27, 2009 [quote name='BigRedX' post='420783' date='Feb 27 2009, 01:05 PM']Very nice looking that is indeed! Any reason why you didn't get the neck done as well?[/quote] I wanted it to stay that way - very nice contrast and great playability. cheers Oliver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 [i][sound of jaw hitting floor][/i] Great. Thanks a bunch. Just when I thought I wasn't GASing for anything, you go posting pictures of this UTTERLY STUNNING bass. Any chance of a big & really sharp pic of the body? I want to use it as PC wallpaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnylager Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 (edited) One of me mates has a 4-string in black poly that was owned [and had a bunch of the poly removed] by some goth band in the 80's. It looks f***ing dreadful at the mo and the edges of the ripped off poly catch yer arm when playing, so he uses his fretless all the time as he's too tight to pay for a strip & refinish. I'll post him a link to this thread... Edited May 8, 2009 by johnnylager Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutToPlayJazz Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Wow! Your luthier did an utterly stunning job on that I've always liked how Wals play, but the finishes have always lacked something for me. Yours is definitely the exception to the rule! Rich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiritchaser Posted February 27, 2009 Author Share Posted February 27, 2009 (edited) [quote name='johnnylager' post='420825' date='Feb 27 2009, 01:49 PM']One of me mates has a 4-string in black poly that was owned [and had a bunch of the poly removed] by some goth band in the 80's. It looks f***ing dreadful at the mo and the edges of the ripped off poly catch yer arm when playing, so he uses his fretless all the time as he's too tight to pay for a strip & refinish. I'll post him a link to this thread...[/quote] Hi there, yes - it's really worth it - I paid around 400€ for the refin job which was a real steal. But be sure to check out what's really below the paint (see electronics cavity cover for details) - I know that sometimes the paints only purpose was to hide some faulty piece of wood beneath and sell it anyway ... I was also pondering on putting some clear coating on the body when I saw that beautiful olive wood, but then there was the problem of the old black poly sticking to the pores of the wood - thus Rüdiger and I decided to give it a new translucent colour. I first thought of blue, but the olive wood'd have been to dark to shine brightly. For that you really need some very nice light maple faces. I feel like I have a new bass now Cheers Oliver Edited February 27, 2009 by spiritchaser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplace Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 [quote name='spiritchaser' post='420975' date='Feb 27 2009, 10:02 AM']Hi there, yes - it's really worth it - I paid around 400€ for the refin job which was a real steal. But be sure to check out what's really below the paint (see electronics cavity cover for details) - I know that sometimes the paints only purpose was to hide some faulty piece of wood beneath and sell it anyway ... I was also pondering on putting some clear coating on the body when I saw that beautiful olive wood, but then there was the problem of the old black poly sticking to the pores of the wood - thus Rüdiger and I decided to give it a new translucent colour. I first thought of blue, but the olive wood'd have been to dark to shine brightly. For that you really need some very nice light maple faces. I feel like I have a new bass now Cheers Oliver[/quote] Well played! Perfect choice for the refin and you were right to do it. I did the same 20+ years ago but not nearly to the same effect. I was going for trans-white. I really like how deep the red is while still being so translucent. I bet it sounds great too! dunc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatboter Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Congratulations, Oliver.... beautiful !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jensenmann Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Wow, well done, Oliver. Your new beauty looks fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh3184 Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 still can't believe how well this turned out, I keep coming back to this thread to oggle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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