joe_geezer

Wrong again, Jaydee are popular, try and find one for sale on the 2nd hand market, yes theres one in the whole world now on reverb for £4500 which is double what they cost brand new.... John could easily charge double but he chooses not to, let that sink in - he choose not to... i wonder why that is? And I'm not an antiques salesman, doctor or lawyer, i have no interest in buying an instrument as an investment, i want to play it! Thats why i'm asking , should Wal scale up their operation or sell the brand to someone thats can produce reasonable priced instruments & that can produce Wals that are as good as the originals (not this elusive perfection that no one can put their finger on) but at a reasonable price so that all us real bassist (people that can actually play bass not just gas about them) can enjoy Wals.

Bassists that have played an original Wal: John Giblin (Simple Minds / Brand X) Laurence Cottle (Session, amazing Jazz bassist) Chris Squire Geddy Lee Macca Percy Jones John Entwistle Flea Justin Chancellor .etc Bassists playing new Wals: Martin Kemp Any other notable bassists playing new Wals (no doctors or lawyers, even if they are notable)?

I want a Wal, I have the cash for one but it is too painful to wait 6+ years and £8000.... I had a weak moment back there where in theory I could get one but in reality it's just absolutely outrageous under these current conditions, im mad but not that mad

Price increases since 2010 for a Wal bass: 2010: Prices from £3200. (https://web.archive.org/web/20100206152353/http://www.walbasses.co.uk/Ordering and Pricing) 2012: Prices from £3500. (https://web.archive.org/web/20100206152353/http://www.walbasses.co.uk/Ordering and Pricing) 2013: Prices from £3650. (https://web.archive.org/web/20130602181010/http://www.walbasses.co.uk/Ordering and Pricing) 2014 : Prices from £3850. (https://web.archive.org/web/20140605222820/http://www.walbasses.co.uk/Ordering and Pricing) 2015: Wal 4-string Mk1 - £4050 (https://web.archive.org/web/20150216000620/http://www.walbasses.co.uk/Ordering and Pricing) 2016: Wal 4-string Mk1 - £4450 (https://web.archive.org/web/20160128234324/http://www.walbasses.co.uk/Ordering and Pricing) 2017: Wal 4-string Mk1 - £5300 (https://web.archive.org/web/20170427020827/http://www.walbasses.co.uk:80/Ordering and Pricing) price remains the same until: 2019: Mk1 4-string – from £6050 (https://web.archive.org/web/20200810215913/https://walbasses.co.uk/order-and-contact/) 2020: Price is not disclosed from this point onwards 2022 - If the we take the years from 2017-19 and the price increase of £750 then we can estimate that at least this is added again, possibly even more in 2022 making £6800 - but realistically we are probably looking at £7000+ And compare them to Status basses Status bass: 2010: £1975 S2-Classic 4-string through-neck (https://web.archive.org/web/20090824011929/http://www.status-graphite.com/status/pricelist/Status_Bass_09_INC-VAT.pdf) 2022: £3198.00 S2-Classic 4-string through-neck (http://www.status-graphite.com/status/pricelist/Status_Bass_Pricelist.pdf) I could go and bring up ebay sales from 2010-2022 of used Wal basses and they would probably match the prices of new Wals as shown above...

Wow what a beauty!

If you look at the prices right from when Wal started up again under new owners the prices for an original Wal was around £4000 on ebay & a new Wal was also £4000. The prices now for an original Wal is anywhere from £6000 upwards and a new Wal is £6000 upwards (depending on options). If the price of an original Wal goes up to £8000 (theres one on reverb now for that price) will a new Wal also go up to £8000...? Is the price for a Wal based on the perceived market price rather than the sum of its parts + labour or is this a coincidence and the price increases just reflect inflation?

hhmmm wrong on both points... Status are just taking a break & will be back making basses again very soon. Jaydee's are incredibly popular & there is a waiting list but they have a large enough team to meet the demand in at least half of Wal's turn around time.

haha yea maybe they will release a series iv status bass...

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haha Well i'll be damned , you learn something new everyday

I don't understand why you think i'm trying to make decision on behalf of the present owner of Wal lol crazy world! Here, check this link out https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/hypothetical

Ok , well i disagree, i would rather Wal be in the hands of a great company like Status or Jaydee that could ship out basses at a more reasonable price.

I don't know how old you are but back in the 90s you could buy a Jaydee, Wal or Status for around the same price, if anything Status & Jaydee's were more high end in terms of the pricing.

Unfortunately, for my bank account, I've just had to bite the bullet and put my name down on the Wal waiting list.... still i have at least 5-6 years to save up the £6-7000

Sorry , no offence but I don't understand your answer in the context of my question. I think i may have confused you.

Anyone looking for an alternative Wal might want to checkout these from https://hotwire-bass.de/ Also there was a beautiful new Zoot made Wal bass posted in this forum recently. The prices are around £4300 so not cheap , https://hotwire-bass.de/auf-lager/2020/4/13/inlaw-424 but these are pretty maxed out with some stunning woods.

Haha, im sure you're a great bass player! Would you/we ask the same questions of Fodera? Or Alembic? No, because these basses were always luxary high priced items, Wal were not, Wals were the same price as a Status or Jaydee give or take a couple of 100. Okay, so we have established that the current Wal owner is perfectly entitled to make basses with crazy wait times and prices to match. In fact, if he wants to, he can double to prices and wait times and nearly everyone is going to be 100% behind him, pat him on the back and celebrate his success. Fantastic, hopefully we agree on that. So, let me put it another way then, would you have preferred that another person or team had acquired the Wal brand & been able to produce as good as Status / Jaydee quality (which imo is as good as if not better than current Wal) and prices and sane waiting times...?

Design purely for aesthetics has always been integral to guitar manufactoring, just look at the flying V shape. I think it's a really cool idea to have different woods for the body wings and center, you can build a tonal palette just by combining different woods. And the set neck is what gives Jaydee's their distinctive percussive pronounced mid sound. When Jaco tried out a Jaydee, he loved that mid punch and got John to build him 5 basses, unfortunately he left us before they were completed but if a Jaydee is good enough for Jaco then its good enough for me

I never liked thru necks, no punch. Set necks and bolt ons are the way to go imo. I think that's why Mark King always gravitated to Jaydees for that punchy finger style and slap honk

Does it have the same filter control as a standard Wal? Does Zoot make the pickups & Also, hows the weight? Thank you!

Yea sorry I have no idea, the middle thru section is made up of 3 different woods , so one could be mahogany? but I' m not sure about the other 2... please see pic attached..

My 4 Yamaha TRB Japan made MK 1s : - The brown 'distressed' bass is my main bass for nearly 20 years, spent 7 years with this on the Jazz scene in Paris as well as busking in the Metro & playing many gigs over Europe. The preamp broke at some stage and had to do a salvage job, I call this my "Sid Vicious" bass It's still the best sounding TRB i've ever tried. - The Blonde bass I bought about 4 years ago from USA ebay, it is has the mother of pearl Yamaha inlay in the headstck and blue laminate strip. Very nice playing and sounding bass. - The 5 string bass I got a year ago and that was owned by Eric Claptons ex bassist, sounds and plays amazing. Not sure if this is due to Eric Clapton having great bass techs lol This also has the mother of pearl yamaha logo - The blue bass was advertised on here & Its my most recent purchase, i actually got this from the seller on ebay as thats where i saw it first. Its a very light bass but needs a set up . but plays and sounds great. As you can see, my preference is for the natural finishes and not the gloss finished mk 1's.

I'd be really interested to see if they introduce any new models or if they re issue one of their older designs. Since Mark King has recently switch back to Jaydee maybe they are revamping their bass line.

He uses the regular woods but not maple, I think it's oak that he used instead but don't quote me on that