littleal Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='EBS_freak' post='619423' date='Oct 7 2009, 11:27 AM']OK... but [i]which[/i] tone?[/quote] I've had four wals in the past, two custroms & two pro1's fretted & fretless, & it seemed to me that whatever you do with the pickup pan & tone filters you still get that wal honky bark (it's hard describing sound) with a different flavour on top as you tweak the controls but it's alway's there, i love that sound & i can get close to it with my warwick nt6 fretless biased towards the bridge pickup, bass boost flat & treble boost almost off, but it still hasn't got that wal vibe, Does that make any sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bh2 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='littleal' post='619434' date='Oct 7 2009, 11:40 AM']I've had four wals in the past, two custroms & two pro1's fretted & fretless, & it seemed to me that whatever you do with the pickup pan & tone filters you still get that wal honky bark (it's hard describing sound) with a different flavour on top as you tweak the controls but it's alway's there, i love that sound & i can get close to it with my warwick nt6 fretless biased towards the bridge pickup, bass boost flat & treble boost almost off, but it still hasn't got that wal vibe, Does that make any sense?[/quote] What doesn't make sense is you longer have them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleal Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='bh2' post='619435' date='Oct 7 2009, 11:42 AM']What doesn't make sense is you longer have them?[/quote] I know The last one i had i sold around 5 years ago but they didn't command such a high price back then, i want another one so badly but finances just wont allow, Selling my wals is my biggest regret. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purpleblob Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='EBS_freak' post='619423' date='Oct 7 2009, 11:27 AM']OK... but [i]which[/i] tone?[/quote] They are versatile, it's true ;-) But a Wal definitely has it's own voice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='Kev' post='619120' date='Oct 6 2009, 10:50 PM']With all due respect, if a basic website puts you off buying a wal, i don't think you should be spending thousands of pounds on a bass.[/quote] I was being facitious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 PS. I've just realised that Paul Herman fellow is the one who discovered the sycamore [i]in a skip[/i] in [i]Leeds[/i]...that's the sycamore that sports the front and back of my bass! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='Spoombung' post='619451' date='Oct 7 2009, 12:08 PM'][/quote] Nice.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleal Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='Spoombung' post='619451' date='Oct 7 2009, 12:08 PM']PS. I've just realised that Paul Herman fellow is the one who discovered the sycamore [i]in a skip[/i] in [i]Leeds[/i]...that's the sycamore that sports the front and back of my bass! [/quote] Thats an odd shape for a wal?? Lovely bass though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjb Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Pricey for sure, but if demand is there then why not? They'll be built like tanks so the second hand market should open out a bit in a few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='littleal' post='619455' date='Oct 7 2009, 12:13 PM']Thats an odd shape for a wal?? Lovely bass though[/quote] Wal used to offer a Fender body option. I was one of the few people who took it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleal Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='Spoombung' post='619467' date='Oct 7 2009, 12:25 PM']Wal used to offer a Fender body option. I was one of the few people who took it up.[/quote] I didn't know that, So that must make your bass very unique & very rare & very nice too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassmingo Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='BigRedX' post='619392' date='Oct 7 2009, 10:53 AM']For those who need a Wal bass that's the price they are take it or leave it. For those who just want a custome bass there are plenty of other luthiers that can build you something of quality for less. None of them will will have all the features that make a Wal bass what it is though.[/quote] this. although theres a poster over on talkbass who's currently reverse engineering a wall pickup/preamp so he can build his own version. you'll be seeing wal soundalikes soon..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='Spoombung' post='619451' date='Oct 7 2009, 12:08 PM']....I've just realised that Paul Herman fellow is the one who discovered the sycamore [i]in a skip[/i] in [i]Leeds[/i]...that's the sycamore that sports the front and back of my bass!....[/quote] Paul also signed off my bass in 1996. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='Bassmingo' post='619511' date='Oct 7 2009, 12:59 PM']this. although theres a poster over on talkbass who's currently reverse engineering a wall pickup/preamp so he can build his own version. you'll be seeing wal soundalikes soon.....[/quote] I'm not sure that's the case. That guy has been working on it for ages now and still hasn't even got a working model. There's a lot of mouth but not much trouser going on in that Talkbass thread. The thing to remember is the Wal pickup works in a perfect symbiotic relationship with it's preamp. Both are ingenious and devilishly complicated to reverse engineer because of their complexity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='littleal' post='619502' date='Oct 7 2009, 12:50 PM']I didn't know that, So that must make your bass very unique & very rare & very nice too [/quote] I guess so. Other basses have come and gone but my Wal has stayed for 25 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Spoombung' post='619708' date='Oct 7 2009, 04:24 PM']I'm not sure that's the case. That guy has been working on it for ages now and still hasn't even got a working model. There's a lot of mouth but not much trouser going on in that Talkbass thread. The thing to remember is the Wal pickup works in a perfect symbiotic relationship with it's preamp. Both are ingenious and devilishly complicated to reverse engineer because of their complexity.[/quote] Mat Larrrivee, of Larrivee Guitars fame popped up recently on the Yahoo Wal group asking US Wal owners if he could borrow a bass and get close-up photographs of the preamp/eq circuits so that he could compare the PCB layouts to the schematic. When challenged on what appeared to be a crude attempt at reverse engineering he said that he was just doing research on a number of approaches to bass electronics as part of a programme to develop some new Larrivee basses. Still seemed a bit odd, not to say naive, though. Seems to me, as has already been said, the unique sound of the Wal is primarily down to the pups and preamp/eq. The lutherie and wood selection, while ground-breaking 25 years ago is pretty common now, but I'll bet a fair slice of dosh that a new Wal will sound very much like an old one (and unlike anything else). Phil PS. I'd forgotten that Fender style body option Pete and Ian used to offer. It looks great, and suddenly I'm regretting that I didn't order mine that way all those years ago. I'm sure Paul H would quite happily offer it to new customers. Hey, I wonder if he'd do me a chambered, single-cut, headless Wal? I'd sever my own hands to own one like that.... Edited October 7, 2009 by philw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB2000 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='Spoombung' post='619708' date='Oct 7 2009, 04:24 PM']I'm not sure that's the case. That guy has been working on it for ages now and still hasn't even got a working model. There's a lot of mouth but not much trouser going on in that Talkbass thread. The thing to remember is the Wal pickup works in a perfect symbiotic relationship with it's preamp. Both are ingenious and devilishly complicated to reverse engineer because of their complexity.[/quote] The Wal preamp isn't really that complicated. I reversed engineered the one on my wall one evening and built copies as spares. The pups are certainly unique though, and using the Wal preamp with a jazz or P style pickup sounds nothing like a Wal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='philw' post='619853' date='Oct 7 2009, 06:44 PM']Mat Larrrivee, of Larrivee Guitars fame popped up recently on the Yahoo Wal group asking US Wal owners if he could borrow a bass and Hey, I wonder if he'd do me a chambered, single-cut, headless Wal? I'd sever my own hands to own one like that....[/quote] More to the point, I think if they could sell the pickups and preamps separately they'd be millionaires in a couple of years. I agree with you; the woods and contruction are great but the pickups and preamp sound quite different from all the other basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='BB2000' post='619863' date='Oct 7 2009, 07:03 PM']The Wal preamp isn't really that complicated. I reversed engineered the one on my wall one evening and built copies as spares.[/quote] I stand corrected! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='philw' post='619853' date='Oct 7 2009, 06:44 PM']PS. I'd forgotten that Fender style body option Pete and Ian used to offer. It looks great, and suddenly I'm regretting that I didn't order mine that way all those years ago.[/quote] When I bought it in '84 it had the original body, you can see it here, ahem: Oh God, look at me; eighties style Erazerhead haircut, ironic Rockabilly jacket, heroes on the wall - Beefheart, Stravinsky, Wilhelm Reich, bits of my quirky pottery...... and my Wal bass. I had the new Fender body made in '94. I remember it cost me £200 which I thought was an absolute bargain - even after trading in the old body to the workshop. In fact I had several changes made to it over the 10 years; neck completely re-shaped (it's thinner than a Jazz), fretlines added and numerous setups and they never overcharged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 [quote name='Spoombung' post='619905' date='Oct 7 2009, 07:47 PM']When I bought it in '84 it had the original body, you can see it here, ahem: Oh God, look at me; eighties style Erazerhead haircut, ironic Rockabilly jacket, heroes on the wall - Beefheart, Stravinsky, Wilhelm Reich, bits of my quirky pottery...... and my Wal bass. I had the new Fender body made in '94. I remember it cost me £200 which I thought was an absolute bargain - even after trading in the old body to the workshop. In fact I had several changes made to it over the 10 years; neck completely re-shaped (it's thinner than a Jazz), fretlines added and numerous setups and they never overcharged.[/quote] In my experience Pete never charged enough. I, err, don't think business acumen was ever really his strength. Hey didn't Mick Karn do quirky pottery? Oh and he had a Wal too? Nooo, you're not really Mick Karn are you? Oh no, hang on, he'd have never been seen dead in a jacket like that. Ironic or not. P PS. Apart from the Wal strapped over my shoulder, I could have been seen reasonably regularly playing at the Rock Garden (and the like) in the 80s in a grey jump suite with red leg warmers (ironic ones of course). Thankfully there are no pictures of the leg warmers. The floor monitors always got in the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 [quote name='philw' post='620061' date='Oct 7 2009, 10:47 PM']Oh no, hang on, he'd have never been seen dead in a jacket like that. Ironic or not.[/quote] No, he'd just be seen dead, full stop: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 I've a slightly uneasy feeling here that we might have drifted a little "off topic". Karn's expression is reminiscent of the look folk would adopt when they first caught sight of my red leg warmers. Oh the things we did in the 80s! What fun! P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Bought my Wal Custon Fretless on 25th April 1986 and it is still my main squeeze. I have other basses for fretted/low B work but have not gigged with another bass since around 1990. It still sounds great and no other bass has turned by head since. If I had the wonga, I would order a fretless 5 today. Hear the bass here! [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42836&st=20"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42836&st=20[/url] And see it here! [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42836&st=20"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42836&st=20[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cairobill Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I recognise the gentleman in the photo above (with his nice new Wal). One of the few bass players who played a fretless and didn't sound like Karn or Pastorius in the process. For those who don't recognise him, Mr Spoombung is a Wal player of note and a central figure in a totally brilliant much missed Anglo/Irish band. We do indeed have some interesting people on this forum Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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