funkle

Ah, that could explain the grit I was hearing. @luthifer is your system designed to have harmonic distortion, or is it cleaner a la the ACG? 

15 minutes ago, slowburnaz said:

Makes you wonder what Wal does currently…

 

Do they have huge stash of those in a secret vault somewhere? 🙂

Yes, I think they do have a huge stash. 

1 hour ago, HotelX said:

Is there consensus in which filter-based preamp is the best, or are they all good yet slightly different?
 

Also a related question, how is the power consumption on them? Are they all fairly power efficient?

I don’t think there’s a full consensus yet. My take is:

The ACG is for a clean and clear sound which allows a ton of adjustability, including control of treble boost/brightness. Seemed power efficient to me when I used it. 

The Lusithand gives grit and allows mainly mid control, though Nuno is going to change the EQ range on the front pickup to go down to 100Hz, but it has no bright switch. Also seemed power efficient. 

The Underhill I have no experience of but actually seems to give some grit I wasn’t expecting in sound clips and has a good deal of adjustability, including an adjustable bright switch. It sounds viable in a Wal project to me. No idea on power efficiency. 
 

The final pre is the mystery maker clone pre I have, which is a modern clone of the Wal preamp, based on the schematics in this thread. I will report on how it sounds as soon as I can, and will comment on power then as well. 

14 minutes ago, Passinwind said:

Putting it in a photo editor and inverting black and white via an edge detection algorithm made it quite a bit easier to read, FWIW.

Can you repost it back up please? I actually tried doing some stuff in a photo editor but then it wouldn't save, for no obvious reason...

Ok guys, this is the best quality scan I can get of the paper copy sent to me of the Wal Custom preamp. It's not ideal as it was printed out lightly to start off with. 

It may have some values for parts not present on @Kinkh's version, I'm not sure. I'm tagging @Kinkh so he can see there may be some updated parts values and he can also update his own schematic/modelling as well. 

Just do what I did. Make your own.

I’ll use the present pickups first, and I don’t know yet, respectively. 

I'm probably not going with the SPPP variant - but otherwise, that's the plan, well, probably, lol. Maybe the mahogany body does enough!

6 hours ago, bornleft said:

So what happened to the guy who was reverse engineering the pre-amp-  the guy who you said had a flood...?

He sent me the Wal clone pre that I showed a photo of, and which I will test out as able. Probably after the new body. 

@bloke_zero Chris ( @slowburnaz) has a clip of the Underhill filter pre with a single MM pickup - 

https://on.soundcloud.com/sv82Q

Sounds great to me. 
 

Chris is getting a wider range of pickups now…I’m going to need him to explain all of the models!

1 hour ago, bloke_zero said:

That looks really interesting - I couldn't see any clips on their site or on youtube - do you have a URL? Thanks!

I don’t have a URL, just a link sent to me by Facebook messenger. I can’t seem to download it or share it, annoyingly - looks like I can only message it to friends on FB. 

53 minutes ago, NickA said:

Oo, a compact surface mount Wal tronics clone.  That would be good to have.  Bit unfair on Electric Wood...but I guess they've had many years to reap the profits of the design work.

Everything electronic eventually gets cloned…especially if there’s no patent…I’m amazed someone in China hasn’t already done this.

But the point of this build is that visually I’m going nowhere near the look, which true Wal-nuts would fetishise…I just want the sound. And therefore Electric Wood will remain secure in their future…even when I get the sound right, no true Wal fan would want it…it lacks the cachet and rarity value of the real deal. I don’t think prices of Wals will suddenly fall. However I think people who could not afford one will have a go a building their own. So a different market segment will be interested. 
 

My own build will have no significant resale value, if I was foolish enough to ever sell it. However it will be perfect for me, once we’ve worked the kinks all out. 
 

Side note, I heard some sound clips of the Underhill filter preamp today and it sounded great. It also had a gritty quality to the sound, which I did not expect. It may be another strong contender. However I don’t know if I can face another preamp test with the present one already waiting in the wings. 

I also have in my hot little hands another full Wal preamp schematic from another source, that may be of interest. Will try to upload it today. 
 

The person who made this second schematic has also made their own Wal preamp clone, and I have this as well. 
 

That is going to be the next few videos sorted…

Wow. Check this out:

@Chopthebassdoing incredible work!!

It already balanced pretty well, so the change made only a subtle difference. But the old tuners felt really cheap and rattled. So these ones are a joy. 

If anyone is interested, I finally got around to documenting this project and recording sounds on Youtube. Enjoy, I hope!

Yes, that’s probably right. Easily 3 months, probably longer. 

40 minutes ago, bornleft said:

Well that is reason enough to celebrate...

When do you expect the new pre-amp?

 I don’t know. The designer is managing a flood in their area right now, so it seems indelicate to pressure them…

11 minutes ago, bornleft said:

Well I believe, please correct me if I am in error, that you are done w/ p/up changes and probably pre-amp changes-

More than likely, you would have not commissioned the body otherwise....

That being the case I am not sure what is left for you to alter... and thus

how much closer you can get...

 

I guess no one stepped up to reverse engineer the pre-amp?

No, this is not right.
 

I commissioned the body with pickup routes that will accommodate future pickup changes, which are at least possible, and from what may happen with the next video, at least moderately probable.  
 

Someone did step up (multiple someones) to reverse engineer the preamp, and I hope to receive an actual prototype Wal preamp clone in the near future (tweaked to allow for a more modern build and different IC etc, as the old one is unobtainium).
 

This took a lot of work behind the scenes, not least of which was me taking the preamp out and checking some connections/parts values for the latest person to put their mind to this. 
 

I will attach an update schematic here once it is emailed to me. 

This is unlikely to be the final phase of the project....the mahogany body is the next step. It will use the same preamp and pickups as I presently have.

However, there are likely to be further changes after that too. We'll just have to see how each video/stage plays out. 

Sold.

I have linked all YouTube videos in this thread…but I will do so again:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSHz31mSGJJw0-byTbltacO0Lw-LLb-19

This will take you to the 3 videos done so far. The latest is the closest to the Wal…but not there yet…

Just what’s online

42 minutes ago, bornleft said:

In terms of the bridge, what do you plan to use?

A Hipshot ‘A’ bridge in brass. I’m sceptical of the tonal benefits…but they’re nice bridges. 
 

37 minutes ago, bornleft said:

After listening to the Maruszczyk demo on page 19 again, I do not find that tone to be close at all...

Do you agree?

It’s good tone, but not that close…

It’s like playing through a PA speaker or a good studio monitor. That can be quite unforgiving though, so I feel like you do need to be a better player and know how to EQ..

The Monaco is a cab with a premium price, no doubt, but I really loved the low end.…I think a lot of people will like it.
 

Stevie has done a great job with these cabs. I’m glad we have UK talent we can buy from!