£12,500 Wal at The Gallery - damn

[Rich]

Please tell me that this isn't going to turn into yet another "how can Wals possibly be worth it" thread.

 

22 hours ago, Kev said:

It also makes me sick as a pig that I sold my Wal for £3.6k 7 years ago (which I thought was mad at the time, easiest £1k profit I've ever made) and, if i'd have sat on it, I'd be in a rather nice position right now.

 

I was in dire financial straits a few years back and came within an ace of putting my beloved Wal up for sale purely for the money. I knew I couldn't do it when simply writing the advert made me blub. Thank got I didn't, it's doubled in value since then.

[Kev]

11 minutes ago, Rich said:

Please tell me that this isn't going to turn into yet another "how can Wals possibly be worth it" thread.

 

 

I was in dire financial straits a few years back and came within an ace of putting my beloved Wal up for sale purely for the money. I knew I couldn't do it when simply writing the advert made me blub. Thank got I didn't, it's doubled in value since then.

Turn into?  It's literally how the thread began

[Guest]

L’OreWal - because you’re not worth it.

[Shaggy]

51 minutes ago, Kev said:

Turn into?  It's literally how the thread began

 

Tue, and it’s become more of an interesting thread now back on topic for a while; initially it was heading the way that every thread about Wals seems to inevitably and tediously head; ie:  “I owned / tried a Wal one - didn’t like it.” (your point is?) Or:  “I bought a Wal back in 1985 for £1.50, traded it for a packet of pork scratchings.  Wish I’d kept it”.

 

There may be a few of the proverbial bankers / dentists buying Wals purely for investment, but I personally doubt that this is much of a factor - the smart money would be in schemes realising very, very much more more profit.    More likely it’s well off amateur musicians buying the dream bass of their formative years (in the same way that born again middle aged bikers buy Harley Davidsons, thereby inflating the price of a agricultural product with a strong perceived lifestyle image), or gigging / recording musicians who simply need “that sound”.    

In the rarified air of top end instruments very small margins cost thousands; £12,500 might be half the price of my first house, but it’s about what a concert guitarist would expect to pay for a decent classical guitar, and a violin or cello for a performing artist could easily be £50K or very much more, despite the fact that an instrument around the £1K mark would do a fine job.

 

 

[fleabag]

If Carlsberg Stradivarius made basses, they'd probably be the best basses in the world.

[Chris2112]

5 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 Sei bass took almost 2 years and herein lies a cautionary tale:

 

In the early 2000s I joined a new band and it soon became obvious to me that fretless bass would be ideal for many of their songs. After spending over a year trying every fretless I came across in shops and at musical instrument shows, I came to the conclusion that the only way I'd get the instrument that I really wanted was to have it custom made. I then spent almost another year researching luthiers before settling on Sei, and placing my order. The bass when it was finished was everything I was looking for. Unfortunately the band folded six months later and my requirements for fretless bass have been minimal since then (I've used on the recorded versions of two songs and that's it).

 

 

 

Sell it/send it to me and I'll make sure it gets played 🤣

[BigRedX]

2 hours ago, Chris2112 said:

Sell it/send it to me and I'll make sure it gets played 🤣

 

Unfortunately already sold in my last big clear out when I got rid of everything I wasn't playing often enough to justify still owning it (which also included most of my guitars and synthesisers).

Edited January 13, 2023 by BigRedX

[Chris2112]

5 hours ago, Kev said:

Turn into?  It's literally how the thread began

 

Pretty much, yeah. I'll admit that I was quite surprised by the price. 

 

Moreso than that price (the highest I've seen for a Wal without say, a Live Aid connection), I really just wanted to get across how cool The Gallery is and what a sound dude John Chapman is. I didn't want to pick anything up for fear I'd end up buying it, but they have a Streamer Stage I and an NT Thumb in which were both very reasonably priced, I thought. 

 

On top of that, I do really need to get a Sei but I'm yet to start GAS'ing hard after getting my Basslab last year. So far I'm mainly thinking about getting another Basslab! 

[NickA]

Price of collectables aside... The gallery is an excellent shop. They let me sit in a corner and try every stingray in the place and the prices of those were all quite reasonable.  Didn't buy one mind ... bought the mk2 Wal instead!

[Chris2112]

28 minutes ago, NickA said:

Price of collectables aside... The gallery is an excellent shop. They let me sit in a corner and try every stingray in the place and the prices of those were all quite reasonable.  Didn't buy one mind ... bought the mk2 Wal instead!

 

Where did you get that Dolphin though, that's what I want to know. 

[NickA]

21 hours ago, Chris2112 said:

 

Where did you get that Dolphin though, that's what I want to know. 

Basschat .... where else?!! 

 

Doesn't get played much tbh as I rarely need a fretted bass and the Wal has a useful extra string .. and a heftier sound.  The dolph is easier to play tho ( thin neck, great ergonomics. )

[NickA]

On 13/01/2023 at 10:53, Woodinblack said:

 

apart from tool who actually plays them now?

 

 

Thinking about this ... some really good jazz and session musicians.  Martin Elliot, Rufus Phillpot, Percy Jones with a Mk2 5-string,  Jason Henrie (check out "brief eclipse") has two (as well as an Alembic fretless) .  Go to the Wal facebook pages and there are loads of very good semi pros and amatuers (mostly "of a certain age", admitted) playing them ... along with some (pretty pointless IMO) Rush and Tool Karaoke.  Check this one out (Francesco Pirolo on 5-string fretless Wal)  .. I couldn't find anyone playing a 6! :

 

Edit: oh yes, Francesco IS playing his fretless 6!!! Thanks Luke 😉

 

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by NickA

[TrevorR]

On 13/01/2023 at 10:53, Woodinblack said:

Geddy Lee - used one on one album

…strictly that’s “- used on 5 albums* over a period of around 8 years…”

 

*Power Windows

Hold Your Fire

A Show Of Hands

Presto

Roll The Bones

 

…but, yes, Justin Chancellor is probably the main well known user at the mo. Others who continue to are less well known or their “fame” heyday has passed (Colin Edwin, Percy Jones, Dave Bass, Lol Cottle are probably the current better known users).

 

Also, worth noting that the list on Wal’s website is of those who have bought/been using their basses over the years rather than an “endorses list”. Wal have never offered artist endorsement deals like many other bass companies. 

Edited January 18, 2023 by TrevorR

[LukeFRC]

On 15/01/2023 at 13:19, NickA said:

Check this one out (Francesco Pirolo on 5-string fretless Wal)  .. I couldn't find anyone playing a 6! :

I count 6 tuners…?

[RonC]

7 hours ago, TrevorR said:

 

 

…but, yes, Justin Chancellor is probably the main well known user at the mo. Others who continue to are less well known or their heyday has passed (Colin Edwin, Percy Jones, Dave Bass, Lol Cottle are probably the current better known users).

 

 And don't forget the late Mick Karn..

Edited January 18, 2023 by RonC

[LukeFRC]

11 minutes ago, RonC said:

 And don't forget the late Mick Karn..

In a list of current users… ?

[RonC]

3 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

In a list of current users… ?

 

nope... i think i've misread the post.. 😬 

[TheGreek]

Now on ebay I believe. 

[Kev]

Can't see it?

[three]

Some may be interested to know that a 5 string Mk 2 has popped up at the Gallery for £9.5k.  Much more manageable.  Others may have spotted this so apologies if I missed something in the thread.  If anybody has a Wal to which they're not terribly attached, this does seem to be a good time to be moving on such desirable wares.  

Edited January 18, 2023 by three

[admiralchew]

57 minutes ago, three said:

Some may be interested to know that a 5 string Mk 2 has popped up at the Gallery for £9.5k.  Much more manageable.  Others may have spotted this so apologies if I missed something in the thread.  If anybody has a Wal that to which they're not terribly attached, this does seem to be a good time to be moving on such desirable wares.  

There’s another black MkII for a similar price on Reverb too.

[Piers_Williamson]

If I can add a different angle.  As a lefty I was fortunate to acquire a 4 string and 5 string Wal in lockdown (at not nose-bleed cost).  For a long time I was snotty about Wals (having bought one from Pete the Fish in c 1990 and not knowing what a bargain I got).  I tried all sorts of Wals over the years, mainly at the Gallery and resisted the temptation becasue of my perception of their cost, weight and complexity.  That said, one of the Wals I now have I had de-fretted (by the Gallery) to its original form.  One of the places I practice is a church hall - where when I play the fretless, I sound like Pino.  I took the same bass into a much more constrained practice studio this week (knackered Ashdown rig) and sounded s.....t.  I am sure sound engineers can make Wals sound like Pino (as can great acoustics), but I have learned how much the amp and the acoustics of the venue in which you are playing count (at least for a part time player like me).

 

I love my Wals, but appreciate them as a player, not as an investor.

 

[NickA]

15 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

I count 6 tuners…?

Yes indeed you do!  I posted it as I knew francesco had a six but then miscounted the strings. Senile, evidently.  Worth 12.5k? Hmm.  But a good double bass costs more.

Edited January 18, 2023 by NickA

[Baloney Balderdash]

If I had that kind of money I wouldn't mind that Stanley Clarke Alembic.

Edited January 19, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[Boodang]

On 12/01/2023 at 04:12, Woodinblack said:

I am not sure why it is an issue - if you have £12k for a wal, buy it, you aren't hurting anyone, you aren't forcing other people to pay more for something. It is a crazy price to pay for something like that, but so are vintage fenders etc, all the time people buy them they will go up. 

I think that's the point being made here, by buying this you are making people pay more as you've set a benchmark. You only need one person with more money than sense and that's it, you're never going to see one of these go for less.