wombatboter

I just got a bit confused because I was pretty sure about the price at the time but indeed times and rates change...
Not that it matters now, I think it is a rather good price for this excellent instrument although I do realise this is a lot of cash to raise.
I wish it would end up in the hands of a dedicated Wal-addict who uses the bass to its full potential...
Thanks for the info, Pete and Spinal !

Hi Pete,

I was a bit puzzled by the price you think I paid so the past half hour I have been going through my accounts from last year... Unfortunately the invoice for the bass is at my accountants..
I was pretty sure about my price and I found some evidence on the Dutch bass-forum in the month of december where I posted that I had bought a Wal 5 for 3250 euros (2763 £+ extra shipping). Not that it wasn't worth it but for the price you recall you couldn't even get a four string Wal at the time...
I remember that together with the shipping it was nearly 3450 Euros...Probably the exchange rates changed a lot...
This is my post I wrote last year on the Dutch bassforum around the 20th December...

Deze Wal MK II ('89 African Padouk) is onderweg vanuit de UK.
Heb ondervonden na een lange zoektocht dat ik eerder behoefte heb aan een solide Rolls Royce dan aan een blitse Ferrari (die ik toch nergens kan laten racen...)
Kostte wel wat geld (3250 Euro) maar alleen Wal genereert dat soort mid-klank dat ik prefereer

translated : This Wal MKII is on its way from the UK
I found out that after a long search I feel the need for a solid Rolls Roys instead of a shiny Ferrari(which I can't try out anyway...)
This costs a bit of money (3250 euro) but only Wal generates the sort of mid-sound I prefer...

I bought this bass about a year (?) ago from a London bassplayer Pete Collins (maybe he is around here somewhere :-)) but sadly I don't play 5 string enough to justify having this bass. I have gigged with it twice this year and otherwise it has just been standing in a rack next to my other basses and that it is a shame since it should be played...I also have to admit that this is a heavy bass.
I would like to have 2730 £ for it which is what I paid...
Wal W3263 from July 1989, padouk facings, Brazilian mahogany core, Indian rosewood, in excellent condition.
This five string has a bit more "body" in its tone and sounds just a bit more deeper but it has all the Wal ingredients which are well known I guess.
It comes with a non original case and I would actually prefer a local pickup (the Eurostar stops at 20 minutes from my door). Shipment might be possible but I would prefer a pick-up. (I have been a victim of a Wal-scam which costed me 1800 euros and it just brings back memories).
For more pictures or info : feel free to send me an email.
I have used Pete's pictures since I am a lousy photographer but I can send other ones (of the cavity for instance) if you want to..
This bass doesn't really have to go since I luckily don't really need the money but I just don't play it enough and I don't want to collect basses. I don't want any trades either..
Best regards
Geert

I have always been a really huge Police-fan so I went with really high hopes to their concert a year ago in the Sportpalace in Antwerpen. I regret it a lot.
The whole concert sounded like they came straight out of the rehearsal-room although they had been touring for months..
A lot of mistakes, no chemistry at all between the band members (Summers was just awful with meaningless solos, I only enjoyed Copeland when he played the percussion behind his drumkit, bass was not audible and that means something since us bassplayers have the ability to pick up basslines through bad live-mixes).
Halfway through the concert Sting made a sign to the others (thumbnail across his throat) meaning that he had lost his voice resulting in singing the vocal parts lower than normal...Painful..
Serious mistakes at the beginning of "Every Little thing she does is magic" : Summers starts the guitarpart but Copeland misses the "1" and starts on the "2" and Sting just doesn't know how to start his vocal in the chaos but has to... Audience had to stop clapping with the rythm because something's really going wrong and only gets fixed when the chorus starts and Sting gets the "1" back again... The whole concert was sloppy and a disgrace towards the audience (84 euros for a ticket), no proper endings but always the "iooooo" solution..
I enjoyed "Fiction Plane" a lot more actually and his son sings like Sting used to sing but cannot anymore...
I saw the live dvd which has been released but it is a big difference with the awful concert I have seen... I met no one who was pleased in the audience that night...
I wish I hadn't gone and only lived with the memories of the records...

I noticed that you put this neck for sale on German ebay.... a daring BIN -price must I say.

Maybe a bit off topic but we had a Bass meeting in Holland with more than 100 bassplayers (everyone brought basses along so there were hundreds of different basses to try out)... Great thing that Michael Manring was passing through Holland and was so kind to give a clinic and talk to the bassplayers (I went to a restaurant with him and some other bassplayers).. This is a picture of us all (if you can spot Manring in the middle, he wears a baseball-cap)
I'm at the left side of the picture holding up the "highest" bass (My Shedua Wal MKI)
What a day !

I'm a huge Bona fan and I am always amazed by his playing... What bothers me sometimes is that I don't have a clue what he's singing.. Although you can feel the emotion in his voice it would be nice if I would be able to understand what he is singing about. After fifteen minutes of "yousoulouka nbugu es tgolla" or something (?) in that high voice I'm a little bit bored actually. He could be singing about the lack of garlic when he's cooking something and it still would be ok... But as a bass-player he is one of the strongest voices ever. That Fodera !

PM send...

I still wouldn't be surprised if it would turn out to be Eddy Murphy who would pop up from under Anthony's latex skin disguise...

Nice to hear that I drew some attention on someone who seems to deserve it a lot...Respect !

Tourist traps ? I went to the bass shops over there twice in my life when I visited London and everytime it struck me that it's not an advantage to be a Belgian bassplayer.
I'm sorry to say but most of the time I was treated like some foreign disease they had to endure.
I had the money in my pocket but I wasn't very eager to take it out when I saw the reactions whenever I asked something. I think I'm a rather polite easy going person but I want to be treated with respect and that was hard to find. I'm sorry to say but also in the Bass Centre in Wapping I wasn't taken serious and no one showed any intrest in helping me out...

The band was so tight that I got through that....I also gave Robin a bit more credit, together with his brothers he made a lot of classic songs. He gets my respect for that.
You missed something if you switched off during Robin.....I've played Disco Inferno with various coverbands and I can't stand the song anymore but the version of the song during this show was éxcellent...
"You should be dancing" (played with a pick) featured a great bassline too...
I really get energy from performances like this.. Just proves the power of pop when you least expect it.

Thanks a lot for the quick response....it was indeed this bassplayer I saw and heard.
Great tone, excellent musician and really smooth and groovy playing...a joy for the ear.

I don't know if this is the right place to post this question but I watched a TV show on the BBC last saturday night when I came home from a gig.
It was around midnight and it featured some artists unknown to me here in Belgium but they did songs from Saturday Night Fever with a big orchestra. Guests I did know were Robin Gibb and Sharleen Spiteri. The band was superb and they showed how complex the arrangements of these popsongs were..
Does anyone know who the bassplayer was...already in his 40ties (fifties ?) but he played really well on a red Fender Precision. The bass-sound he had on "Jive Talkin'" was mindblowing and was the best "synth"bass-sound I have heard on an electric bass.
I heard a really good version of "Disco Inferno" by an unknown singer (Christopher ?) but in fact everyone was good...Pity it was interrupted by Razorlight...
So if anyone knows who the bassplayer was ?

Finally ! I already thought it was unbelievable that someone from Belgium had to add Paul McCartney on a British bass-forum !

Paul McCartney
Mark King
Pino Palladino on fretless

I really enjoyed the "live in Verona"- dvd until I noticed that at a certain moment the bass just goes on while Nick is holding his hands clapping...
It just spoils the fun when I realised that probably the bass parts are done again in the studio..
Was already thinking that it sounded too good to be true.
Great gig though and I admired Jaykay's act in the pouring rain..

[quote name='acidbass' post='301591' date='Oct 7 2008, 05:29 PM']Alan Partridge! Brilliant show, that clip still cracks me up [/quote]

Although I'm Belgian and my language is Flemish I do appreciate British comedy (got the complete "League of Gentlemen" "Fast Show" etc...) I do not suggest Belgian Comedy !

I grew up with the fretless Pino like so many other bass-players...
Since his "change" to fretted bass I have been trying to connect but he sounds like somebody else to me.
I listened to his work with John Mayer, D'Angelo, Paul Simon, etc...but not once was I touched like I used to be when I heard him play.. Sure it's all well played and there is some serious groove playing going on but his phrasing seems to touch me more on a fretless with all the glissandos, harmonics...His Precision sounds like so many other Precisions and you couldn't say that about his fretless work.
In an interview he was saying that he started to repeat himself on fretless and I can understand that dilemma. Although he is still a strong voice in bass-land I still prefer the other Pino...
I recently listened to "I Assasin" (Gary Numan) which features a very busy fretless Pino and I loved it (was introduced to this album through a tv thing with Steve Coogan in which he plays a dj : Not really obvious stuff for Belgian viewers...:-))

I came home late at night just in time to catch the very last song of David Gilmour...
I went to bed after hearing one of the best guitar solo's I have ever heard in my life..
I think the song was called Mr. Blue and the sound, the phrasing and the intensity were mind-boggling...What a fantastic musician he is and he only gets better and better.

I never have the feeling that I 'm actually watching a music-show whenever Madonna's on stage.
It always looks like some sort of dance competition and the emphasis is certainly not on the musicians or the music..
When I watched the "In bed with Madonna"-thing it was all around herself and her dancers but the musicians are just dark shadows in the back...
Meanwhile there's Madonna in the front trying hard to sing while she's performing some tune which is constructed by a hip producer who had to take care of the emperor's new clothes...
There used to be some nice tunes though like "Cherish", "Live to Tell" and "Like a Prayer"..
The new stuff is just an insult to my ears and a pathetic attempt to stay "in touch" with modern "music"..
Could be any bass-player in the back..his musical personality certainly doesn't count.

I do often forget how much Bernard Edwards influenced my playing....He was one of the best bassplayers there has ever been. Killer sound, tremendous grooves, great technique (the slap bass on Baby Doll)..
Like someone already mentioned : hurray for Nile Rodgers too...
Saw him a couple of years ago in a Belgian TV show where he had to play some live songs..
Probably he wasn't too pleased with the local rythm section and decided to play the Chic songs only with his guitar and his two backing singers...
His groove was so tight and tasteful that he managed to pull it off by himself and even without bass and drums "Le Freak" was incredible..
Some musicians like Rodgers/Edwards for instance are truly blessed...

[quote name='flippyfloop' post='279798' date='Sep 8 2008, 04:26 PM']Hi fellow bass peeps.
A five string Wal bass ( same age/ better condition ) just sold on eBay for £3,750.00 !
I may put my Wal on eBay very soon.
Offers ?[/quote]


Sometimes it's really hard to predict what prices are going to be...
About two years ago I was able to buy a fretless Pro Wal Bass on the German ebay for a great price (641 £).
I didn't use it a lot (I had four other Wal basses) and decided to sell it (an instrument needs to be played).
I didn't want to make a big profit out of it and put it back for sale in Holland and Belgium for 800 £... I hardly got three reactions and they all made a lower bid...
Finally I sold it to a bassplayer with a big love for Wal-basses for 700 £...
Just proof that you never know what the response is going to be...

I bought one about twenty years ago....
I was motivated but still found it a really hard instrument to master : the different tuning (in fifths on the one hand), the combination of the two hands working seperately, two amps for each signal..
I played it for a year but found out that if you want to play it really well that you have to sacrifice a lot of time which you normally use to play bass..I sold it.
If you want to be a good stick-player you should make it your main instrument...Sure you can play like Tony Levin which is great but then you' re not using the full potential of the instrument since he mainly uses the bass-side...
I also think that it might be an easier start for a keyboardplayer or a guitarplayer who have the advantage of working with chords or two hands working individually...
I found myself playing mainly on the bass side of the stick which was nice (totally different tuning though) until I thought to myself that I could do the tapping on my normal basses too without the difficulty of the stick. Sure, the sound of a Stick is great and sounds punchy and percussive but the question remains if this is so big an advantage that you have to sacrifice your bass for that... And on top of all : do you have a band or the music to fit a Stick in ?
I tried it again two years ago and bought another Stick and sold it again after six months, too much for me and I'd rather play bass than a Stick...
Think well before you buy one because it is really difficult imho and it might end a lot quicker in a corner than you would think and that would be a waste of money...

Yesterday I drove to the south of Belgium to pick up a fretless Status bass which I had bought on ebay..
I arrived at a beautiful house in a valley and I was welcomed by the seller..
He showed me the Status S2 which I had bought and I asked him why he was selling it..
He said that he had bought it but had never used it since he had another bass which he loved and mainly used..
He opened a case and showed me a fretless '63 Fender Jazz...beautiful.
He asked me if I wanted to try it and I was very eager off course..
While he handed it over he asked me if I knew who had played this bass...
I didn't know and then he told me that Jaco Pastorius had played it when he came to Brussels for a concert in 1985... The seller himself had bought it for 520 Euros...
I was struck by the karma of the instrument and felt really honoured to play this instrument for a while..
I have to admit that it actually didn't sound too good because of the terrible amp the seller had ànd the strings which were too thin to give a good sustain and tone.
But it made my day ànd my week and my month...

[quote name='leftyhook' post='257427' date='Aug 7 2008, 04:47 PM']Hey guys
I posted on a few other places and I have had interest, mostly from a guy in Holland who is stil in contact, but until I'm absolutely sure then I have to keep my options open, though I am a man of honour. If he comes up with a definate plan to pay for and receive my Wal very soon then it is his.

Joe[/quote]

I just heard from the bass-player in Holland that you pulled back from the deal although he had already paid you through Paypal (he had to pay 170 Euros on top of the price for the Wal to buy British Pounds on Paypal)...
He was awaiting the shipment and really looking forward to have the instrument of his dreams ( a lefty Wal is hard to find) and already proudly posting pictures of his bass to fellow-bassplayers on a Dutch bass-forum when you told him that you didn't want to send the bass and that you would refund the money...
He is very very disappointed that you called this off in the last minute but if you are indeed a man of honour (whom I think you are) you should also refund the extra 170 Euros he had to pay since it is not his fault that he didn't get the Wal...
It isn't a nice thing you did but if you don't take the financial responsability for your actions, that would be even worse imo..
I hope you deal with the whole situation as a gentleman would and that on top of his disappointement the Dutch bass-player doesn't have to live with a financial hangover too, due to your indecision...Thank you...