mikeswals

You're right about the variance in build of the old Wal era. I too have had to do some fixes on old ones I've bought. Most I've liked, only a couple I was happy to sell on. However, I've now had six of the new era Wals, and Paul builds them like never before. He builds perfect Wals. Every one of his I've had has laser straight consistency. When I visited the workshop he showed me how he had to redo jigs and other keep things in tight tolerence. You can also be specific about weight and neck shape with him too. I do have respect for say AGC, but in the end it still doesn't look like a Wal, and it won't retain the same value down the road.

Being in the US, I remember in the 90's when we couldn't give away used Kubicki, Steinberger, and any 70's Fenders. Spectors were cheap as were preEB Musicmans. For well over the decade all have majorly jumped in value. So that really doesn't mean anything... These are the best basses I've ever played though. They're very touch sensitive, so they let me play with less effort than any other bass. The filter electronics are genius; you can shift the tone around and also pan between pickups without dropping or boosting volume setting compared to conventional active preamps. The Mk2 and Mk3 are shaped to fit your body and stick to your rib cage and no awkward reaches or hand angles (Alembic I'm looking at you!). In my casino band I'm required to do silly dance moves and lots of hand claps, and going back to the touch sensitive the bass stays silent when I take my hands off of it during doing these things, whereas my other conventional basses would vibrate and 'wooom wooom wooom' sounds coming thru the amp during hand claps. The pickups are clearer than anything else, You can strum chords on all 4 string and you will hear each string clearly...never get away doing that on my Jazz or Ric! I love my Jazz, StingRay and Ric, but they cant cop the Wal. Quite frankly nether can the half dozen G&L's I've owned or any other 'in the ballpark' bass I've bought and tried.

Does anyone here have a midi 5 string MB5? And/or does anyone here have old or dead modules or other midi parts?

Yes, my 65 and 69 Jazz Basses and 72 P basses all adjusted fine by only removing the pickguard.

I've owned lots of different basses, and will continue to do so. with that said, I've never had to take off a neck to adjust the rod on any old Fender...you simply take off the pickguard and there's lots of accessibility. That's really like only taking off twice as many TRC screws.

I've got one of these AC's. This bass comes factory supplied with treble bezels you install yourself, as I'm sure they knew the buying public would not want two treble pickup covers in their way. At first I was only going to install the rear bezel but decided do both for now to explore the whole playing field comparing it to my regular 4003. The new bridge is a great feature, but the bass came setup and intonated perfectly I didn't have to adjust anything.

I'll let you in on a little secret. If you are on Facebook and go join the page called; pre Ernie Ball Music Man Stingray Bass fans. There is a man there named James, he bought all of Leo's (CLF) shop and paint shop records from 76-79. Those docs show how the bass left the workshop and if it was ever sent back under warranty. He can look up your serial. His docs do not say where the basses went. Since CLF and Musicman were kept as separate companies, James only has the workshop records til about mid 79.

It only listed some, so many large gaps between most of the serials. That page was created by someone at a university for a very short time, then was locked out, and only represents about 15% of Wals. Of the 12 old era Wals I've had, only 2 are listed in there.

It likely is a replacement neck, but its an early Mk1 (Custom series) neck. that single rivet next to the logo indicates this is an 81-83 neck, those original had one small string tree only for the two middle strings. And when someone installed a 2nd tree with them relocated to the mid 80's position, it was typical for Wal to plug the headstock hole with one of the body indicator rivets for the control knobs.

Ben Hall is pretty much running things at Ric these days. Thats probably why we're seeing new things coming out.

^ this is probably your best solution...put it back in the bag during breaks. The tri-pod stands are just an accident waiting to happen, no three legged thing where axes sit tilted is safe. Only safe(r) stands are those large touring square/rectangle that sit flat on the floor with large footprint.

My maple Mk3 4 string in the group picture above got sold. Then a Mk2 fell in my lap to replace it.

The Bass Centre they had here in the States in Hollywood, I started shopping there when I was 17-18 and could take the car for the 3hr drive each way; in '91/'92 the prices for a Wal were already nearly $3 grand for a 4 string, and almost $3500 for a 5 string. The black Mk1's I was looking at (because I hated the natural wood look with visible core) was $3200. So Wals were always expensive 'over here'.

the genius there is the rest of the band doesn't stop playing; guitar still keep a pumping rhythm you can bob your head to, drum accents, keys keep chords going. What irritates me is most of the time a bass solo the whole bands completely drops out to nothing but a snare hit. then you have a mood killer.

how many more do I need to make a wall? 😆

'65 Fender Jazz '06 Squier Jazz 5-string '78 Musicman StingRay '90 Wal Mk2 midi '00 Wal Mk2 '01 Wal Mk2 5-string '10 Wal Mk2 '16 Wal Mk3 5-string '16 Wal Mk3 5-string '18 Wal Mk2

Wal. Mk2 if we're talking 4-string. Mk3 if we're taking 5-string.

Yes, the Flea bridge is the same layout as the current Classic series bridge, and the mute kit fits. The mute kit will come with the thumbscrews. you simply ditch the allen head screws they put in to fill the holes. It is much easier to loosen the bridge to slide in the mute plate so you don't scratch up the finish trying to slide in position.

Musicman did not own OLP. totally separate company that makes copy instruments. They also made a Spector bass copy along side the MM style instruments.

If they even sell it to the public. High profile Musicman Artists get their basses and guitars however they want: necks, custom finishes and colors that didn't exist, electronics, discontinued features. Been this way for many years. So far, none of the others have gotten their custom model sold as a production item. Musicman also snagged Timmy C back into fold (his best bass tone was Rage's first album), and they also snagged Stefan Lessard. So they've gained some good visibility recently.

I for one did not like the sound of flats on a Jazz Bass. Recently tried it again on my 65 Jazz....nope, was like throwing a blanket over the bass.

I flew over to collect my new Mk2 at Wal HQ. Was a wonderful visit with Paul, and got to see some neat basses in progress and other timbers that would be just awesome future basses. Lots of tempt for sure!

Forgot to post the result of the new red Mk2. And it has joined its siblings in the stable.