Wal copies - and they look amazing

[TheGreek]

Apologies to all the non FBers...some beautiful examples of the Octave bass Wal copies.

 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064669306656&name=xhp_nt__fblite__profile__tab_bar&profile_tab_item_selected=photos

 

 

[TheGreek]

I'll post the price list when I get it.

[Doctor J]

The electronics are the important bit, what are they putting in there?

[diskwave]

Agree with the Doc. The shape and look have nout to do with the Wal mystique. The leccys are the secret sauce which no one sems to be able to replicate. 

[Mykesbass]

Shame they've gone authentic and kept that hideous headstock! 

[Guest]

The body shape is the desirable bit of a Wal? Huh. 

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

I presume Wal haven't done anything to protect their instruments shapes?

[Mokl]

34 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I presume Wal haven't done anything to protect their instruments shapes?

I'm not sure there's much can be done to protect a double cutaway electric guitar design these days? Maybe someone more enlightened than me could shed some light on this?!

[meterman]

Not so keen on the colonoscopy finish on that last one. 🤔

[Mykesbass]

6 minutes ago, meterman said:

Not so keen on the colonoscopy finish on that last one. 🤔

Not going to unsee that now 🫤

[itu]

But why, oh why, they have to be copies? Wasn't there anyone with pen and paper and some graphical education? Wish we could see something original instead of one more copy, although not a P nor a J.

Edited September 7 by itu
removed a useless so

[neepheid]

7 minutes ago, itu said:

But why, oh why, so they have to be copies? Wasn't there anyone with pen and paper and some graphical education? Wish we could see something original instead of one more copy, although not a P nor a J.

 

All the original designs which were going to sell in any significant numbers have been designed

 

[meterman]

59 minutes ago, Mykesbass said:

Not going to unsee that now 🫤

Sorry 😔 But I bet the person who thought that finish looked cool, or ehrmazing, has never had one. Urgh.

[Mykesbass]

16 minutes ago, meterman said:

Sorry 😔 But I bet the person who thought that finish looked cool, or ehrmazing, has never had one. Urgh.

Too recent a memory for me 

[meterman]

1 minute ago, Mykesbass said:

Too recent a memory for me 

Yep, twice a year for me. I never have the drugs beforehand though. I've seen YouTube videos of drooling colonoscopy patients and thought, "nah". I'm all over the place as it is.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

59 minutes ago, itu said:

But why, oh why, so they have to be copies? Wasn't there anyone with pen and paper and some graphical education? Wish we could see something original instead of one more copy, although not a P nor a J.

From where I'm sitting, it's the lead time on the build (currently several years - if you can get a slot) combined with the high price, pitched against those who are willing to compromise on not having the definitive article and accepting something that looks like it/having a sound that's in the general ball park. It has nothing whatsoever to do with not being able to come up with an original design. It's the lure of ££££/$$$$ and nothing more.

 

They can do one as far as I'm concerned.

[Kiwi]

They don't really sound like Wals too me.  Too bright.

[Chiliwailer]

A Wal is like…

where as a clone is more like…

 

[Russ]

On 07/09/2024 at 08:41, Doctor J said:

The electronics are the important bit, what are they putting in there?

I think it's Turner multicoil pickups and the Underhill modular preamp. 

 

Lusithand have just put out a new version of their filter preamp that has the "pick attack" treble boost, so expect to see more of those around amongst those who are looking for that Wal-esque tone. 

[Russ]

20 hours ago, itu said:

But why, oh why, they have to be copies? Wasn't there anyone with pen and paper and some graphical education? Wish we could see something original instead of one more copy, although not a P nor a J.

In this case, I kinda understand it, since new Wals start at nearly £8,000 and have a six-year waiting list. There's no cheaper import versions, and used ones are rare and just as expensive. 

 

If someone is making a bass that gets you 95% of the way there in terms of tone and looks, then I think it's probably a good thing, if you want to get that Justin Chancellor / Mick Karn / Geddy Lee / Nick Beggs / Percy Jones look and tone.

 

Paul Herman isn't hurting for business right now, hence the waiting list. The real Wal guys, who won't accept anything that doesn't have the logo and wasn't made in Weybridge or Cobham, will still spend the big money and wait years.

 

The guy who makes the Octave basses is only doing 4-string Mk2 copies right now anyway. So anyone who wants more strings, or wants a Mk1 or Mk3 shape, are out of luck. 

[itu]

Maybe I would have studied the original instruments, and made a refined version, if I was good enough with wood. But that's me, not a luthier, not even a copycat. I hate P pickups, Fenders and Yahayas in general, and most of the copies that have stuck in the past.

[NancyJohnson]

On 07/09/2024 at 13:45, diskwave said:

Agree with the Doc. The shape and look have nout to do with the Wal mystique. The leccys are the secret sauce which no one sems to be able to replicate. 

 

Isn't this the same with every copy bass?  Lost count of the posts I've read here and elsewhere (for instance) extolling how a £125 Harley Benton Stingray clone growls as much as the real thing or how Rockingbetter clones clank like the real thing etc.

 

I think usage of 'special sauce' wins Basschat for today.  "Oh, your Epiphone is fundamentally all round better than the '60s Thunderbird it's copied from, y'say?  Does it have the special sauce?"

Edited September 9 by NancyJohnson

[Russ]

15 hours ago, itu said:

Maybe I would have studied the original instruments, and made a refined version, if I was good enough with wood. But that's me, not a luthier, not even a copycat. I hate P pickups, Fenders and Yahayas in general, and most of the copies that have stuck in the past.

That's not a million miles away from what Alan at ACG did - he offers his own multicoil pickups and filter preamp combo that definitely get you in the Wal ballpark, tone-wise, but his body shapes are more contemporary.

 

Maruszczyk will do you any of their range with the Turner pickups and the Lusithand or Underhill preamp, anything from a traditional P to an exotic-wood single-cutaway beast, and get you most of the way there. Once Turner starts offering 6-string pickups, that's what I'll be doing.  I've already got my 6-string Frog specced out! And, of course, those pickups and circuits are available to anyone who wants to order them, so your luthier of choice can build you whatever you want with them, or you could retrofit them into anything you've got. 

 

But some people must have the whole package - the electronics, and the look. Wal has that distinctive look that only British luthiers in the '70s and '80s had - think Shergold, Burns, Shaftesbury, even the older Overwater models. Doesn't matter that they weighed a ton, often balanced badly, and any number of other issues that more modern designs have addressed.

 

[slowburnaz]

On 08/09/2024 at 09:27, Russ said:

I think it's Turner multicoil pickups and the Underhill modular preamp. 

 

Lusithand have just put out a new version of their filter preamp that has the "pick attack" treble boost, so expect to see more of those around amongst those who are looking for that Wal-esque tone. 

 

While one customer that I know of the asked for my pickups in their Octave bass some while ago, he normally puts his own in-house pickups and preamps in them. 

[Russ]

15 hours ago, slowburnaz said:

 

While one customer that I know of the asked for my pickups in their Octave bass some while ago, he normally puts his own in-house pickups and preamps in them. 

Cheers Chris, thanks for clearing that up. Didn’t know he made his own.