AndroWal

[quote name='purpleblob' post='1335797' date='Aug 10 2011, 02:10 PM']Well I've finally got myself a Wal fretless. Only taken me something like 20 years (not the build time, just the time it's taken me to actually get my butt in gear and order one ). Anyway here's a pic Paul sent me prior to pickup. Picked up from Paul at Wal HQ on Saturday... Just want to say what a top guy Paul is. Kindly showed me around his workshop demonstrating to me how the instruments were made and answering my dumb questions and my gushing at some of the instruments on show or my excitment of seeing the Wal twin neck template (yes sad I know, but last time I saw an actual Wal twin neck up close was Jonas Hellborg's, and that was a long long time ago) [/quote] Beautiful! You are going to love that bass. The sound and the ergonomics. The Mark IIIs are the most comfortable basses I've ever played. Perfect balance, weight, positioning.

[quote name='littleal' post='1262859' date='Jun 9 2011, 08:18 AM']Here's a quick vid of me & my wal 6, I was trying to sell it but now I've seen the light [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTja2oHCctU&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTja2oHCctU...be_gdata_player[/url][/quote] Great Wal Growl! Seems you'll be keeping it....nothing else sounds like them!

[quote name='bremen' post='1225060' date='May 9 2011, 05:25 AM']I find it ever so slightly creepy that he keeps referring to it as 'she' and describing it as 'beloved' (not so beloved that he isn't pimping her out, mind).[/quote] 5-string Mark "II"....not "III"!

[quote name='RhysP' post='1202429' date='Apr 17 2011, 02:39 AM']Yes he did. His fretless Zon is unusual (maybe unique) in that it has a real wood fingerboard rather than the usual Phenowood board.[/quote] Anyone have picture or video of John with the Zon?

[quote name='dmccombe7' post='1201727' date='Apr 16 2011, 04:14 AM']Great link. Big fan of John's from Brand X era. Those basses in your avator look very like John's originals and very like the lined fretless I had in 1980 ish (flame sycamore if memory serves correctly) Bringing back some great memories Very Nice. ! Dave[/quote] Dave, The fretless is sycamore. The fretted is maple. Love my Wals. I have fretless and fretted 5-string Mark IIIs also, and they are the Wals I play regularly. The Mark IIs in the photo have spent the last few years mostly in their cases. All have the Wal sound, but the ergpnomics differ greatly between the Mark IIs and Mark IIIs....of course the necks are the same shape, size and the string-spacing is the same. I believe John Giblin moved from Wals to Zon for his fretless playing. I saw a more recent video of him in the studio playing a Zon. I've tried to find it again to post it here, but to no avail.

[url="http://wn.com/John_Giblin"]http://wn.com/John_Giblin[/url]

[quote name='henry norton' post='1123059' date='Feb 10 2011, 11:24 AM']Ayyyy Missus!!!!!!! [/quote] Sound clips please!

Yes it is gone! Wonder why. I checked right after I saw your post and it still came-up as active...but now it is most certainly gone. It was just a day or so until ending and the price was around $2650. Not much so far for such a beast, although from experience we know that these can go up substantially in the last seconds.

Maybe the link didn't work well... I looked again... [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/Wal-Mach-III-5-string-Bass-Shedua-Mahogany-SKB-hardcase-/330500887951?pt=Guitar&hash=item4cf363558f"]http://cgi.ebay.com/Wal-Mach-III-5-string-...=item4cf363558f[/url] Still there!

Just saw this...not much time left and looks in great condition: [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/Wal-Mach-III-5-s...item4cf363558f"]http://cgi.ebay.com/Wal-Mach-III-5-s...item4cf363558f[/url] I am not affiliated with the seller! Just a Wal user that loves them and knows there might be others interested. I already have one just like this from 1996!

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='994467' date='Oct 20 2010, 01:28 AM']and for those into this sort of thing - [/quote] Wonderful! Great accomplishment! Well done!

GremlinAndy, I know timing may be difficult, but do try calling. I had to leave numerous messages, but did reach them by telephone many times. Half the time I got to speak with Joe Zon when I did get a pick-up.

[quote name='purpleblob' post='915643' date='Aug 5 2010, 01:11 AM']That is absolutely beautiful ![/quote] Thank you! It is one of the easiest basses to play. The neck is a bit wide, but lines come so easily...action is really low, it is really fast....great sing, punch and of course growl.

My Custom-made Sonus....

[quote name='Nostromo' post='903965' date='Jul 24 2010, 05:05 AM']Can any of you WAL owners out there have a go at describing the WAL neck profile ? Is there a custom order neck profile choice or are they all more or less the same ? Ive never even seen a Wal in the flesh, let alone played one, but am really intreagued to know what the neck profile is like ?[/quote] Here you go! It is quite like this....

DR Hi-Beams....been using them on my Wals and others for years. Just tried the LoRiders....a stiffer stainless steel from DR. Their OK, but not as bright or articulate as the Hi-Beams to my ears. Love the Hi-Beams. They haven't chewed-up my fretless Wals at all...and I play fretless almost exclusively.

[quote name='WalMan' post='813754' date='Apr 21 2010, 05:40 AM']When I was having problems with my left shoulder a few years back (before the metal was put in) and when I was only using my Wal I got a [url="http://www.sliderstraps.com/"]Slider Strap[/url] which helped enormously. I've said it in similar posts before, but they do change the angle of dangle of the bass, which takes a bit of getting used to, and as both the Slider Strap and the similar one mentioned above are just webbing that can bunch up it is worth spending a couple of squid in Halfords to get a set of padded seatbelt restraints to add. That said as a way of continuing to use your basses they are well worth a try before starting the endless GAS round to find a lighter bass[/quote] The Slider looks great. I have a similar issue with weighty basses. I'm going to try one of these. It would be great to play my heavier basses again without issue. Otherwise...I have to add my support to SR series basses from Ibanez. Especially the Prestige models. They are a bit lighter....but coming from 11 lbs. basses to the 9 lbs. range...I think this lower range is actually light! So the basses you have don't seem to be very heavy ones. The strap may do it for you also....I'll report back how it goes.

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='702140' date='Jan 5 2010, 01:12 PM']Thanks for the link; really enjoyed 'Sing'! Hope you don't mind me saying but your playing reminds me of the chap who used to play on all the early Kate Bush albums..[/quote] Thanks for listening. I really enjoy "Sing"...great to play and play over. Wrote it way back in 1983! I don't mind you saying at all. I am not familiar with Kate's early stuff as I first learned of her from her duet with Peter Gabriel on his "So" album, but she has had some great bassists with her and I'll take your saying as a compliment! I just found Del Palmer's myspace page and have listened to one song thus far. Sounds good and his fretless is there. I also remember listening to Eberhard on some instrumentals a long time ago. Also impressive, substantially melodic and improvisatory...both which I like. I hope to get more stuff posted but have to learn how to use my Logic first! Best, Andro

I've posted some tracks on my myspace page with me playing my Wal Mark II Fretless 5. It has sycamore facings and I am using just the bridge pickup with eq flat and pick-attack engaged. There are a couple of solos where the sound is quite exposed for Wal sound listening pleasure. Please excuse the rough nature of the tracks. They were just trial-runs of a couple of compositions and an in-studio improv based on a composed theme. [url="http://www.myspace.com/androkotula"]http://www.myspace.com/androkotula[/url]