purpleblob

What a shame. I was a big Gamma fan back in the day.

[quote name='urb' timestamp='1330164208' post='1553500']
I know most of you will have watched Viacelsav's videos and I just wanted to give the guy a little love for the fact he's a purely amateur musician but brings an incredible amount of passion and enthusiasm to his playing - and far from being some technical w***-fest, the guy is obviously hugely in love with playing bass - and for me that's incredibly powerful and inspiring. Music today has in a lot of cases become massively cynical and depressing - and while this guy hasn't 'made it' in the traditional sense, he has more than 'made it' in the true sense in that he's totally created his own style that's driven by a love of melody, the fact that he makes Flea look a little lame is beside the point

Anyway enough rambling from me - here's a couple of vids I like - I'm not a fan of loads of slap bass but I think what Viacelsav is doing is beyond that, it's just highly skilled/passionate playing at its best.
[/quote]

+1 on all of the above.

Watched this guy a few times and the passion and pure enjoyment definitely comes through along with some great playing.

My goodness, a year already. Absolutely brilliant guitarist, sorely missed.

This is very sad news.

Unfortunately I never met Pete (although I did have the privilege to meet Ian a couple of times) but there's now doubt that Pete & Ian shaped my sound and playing every bit as much as Stanley Clarke, Mark King, Jaco, Geddy et al. by creating such wonderful instruments. I've owned my Wal Custom MKI since the 80's and its still the standard I compare others against.

RIP Pete.

[quote name='ped' timestamp='1323600693' post='1464771']



[/quote]

Glad you put these pics up ped, my picture server is down at present so I couldn't post anything myself.

Yes indeed it was two years back (well near enough ) I bought this beauty off you, such a fantastic range of tones, very unique. Lovely instrument.

That's excellent.

That was very enjoyable !

[quote name='spiritchaser' post='1372224' date='Sep 13 2011, 06:04 PM']very soon in Germany:[/quote]

That is lovely.

[quote name='RonC' post='1374138' date='Sep 15 2011, 10:33 AM']Could it be this one?
At the 12th of august i picked up my MK1 sycamore Wal at the workshop, which looks a bit like flamed maple.
I totally agree with you about Pauls craftmanship!


...[/quote]

Ooo, it could have been but either way that's another beauty.

I'm embarrased to say I've never heard of Shuya Okino (or is it Okino Shuya) but that's some nice music. Definitely going to check out some more from this artist - thanks for sharing.

Fantastic stuff. Really enjoyable.

How could I forget Phil

Thanks for sharing the link - she's awesome and I love Tony Grey's playing and sound, mind you guitar and drums and pretty good also

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1350198' date='Aug 24 2011, 01:15 PM']However much it costs so long as I can afford it. There is no upper or lower limit. If there's an instrument I like and want to own and I have the spare cash, then I'll buy it. I've yet to spend £3000 or more on a bass, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't at some point in the future. At the same time if I see something cheap that I like I'll buy that too.

As Clarky says people spend far more money on things with massive depreciation and don't blink an eyelid.[/quote]

This

[quote name='Highfox' post='1350204' date='Aug 24 2011, 01:18 PM']Whatever I can reasonable afford or save up for with out putting my Family in strife.
If you have the money then why not (just that I don't)[/quote]

And this.

With regards to W&T Zoid in the original post, I seem to recall one (or maybe it was that one) on sale on BC a year or so back - lovely looking bass.

Excellent job.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1345053' date='Aug 19 2011, 07:44 AM']Yamaha TRB is always what comes to mind when I think of a good six string on a budget. I believe there is also a 6 string Spector on the boards at the moment for not much more, which will be an incredible bass.[/quote]

Those Yamaha's are probably one of the best value 6 string basses out there. I tried one back in the days of the Bass Centre at Wapping and was amazed at how light and how easy to play they were. Fantastic sound as well - and no I don't have one for sale

Interesting read - what it does demonstrate is how different each Wal is and/or how different we are in our requirements.

My MKI was purchased in the early 80's and I played metal/heavy rock with it, funk, fusion, pop and assorted covers when doing the club scene and I never found it wanting. Looks wise, they're not as radical as Alembics or Sei's (for example) but I like them. Sound wise, they are so very versatile. In terms of weight, I've always heard that they're heavy, but my MKI is solid but I never felt it to be heavy. The other issue often levelled at Wal's is the chunky neck, but not everyone likes thin Jazz type necks - so you'll like them or you won't. Since I first bought my MKI I always wanted a fretless and recently got a MKIII which balances better than anything else I've got, sounds better than any other fretless I own (my Vigier comes closest) and is a joy to play. (EDIT: Oh and I was amazed how light it was)

So what can we conclude from all this - I obviously like the look and the sound and the feel of a Wal. Somebody else may or they may not.

[quote name='Green Alsatian' post='1342425' date='Aug 16 2011, 09:19 PM']It's probably a thumb plectrum - I used one for a bit years ago when I was learning:



Nice bass tone on the vid.[/quote]

Definitely looks like one of those.

But thanks to the OP for posting the video, I remember buying the 45 when it was released, great song And nice Vigier.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1339201' date='Aug 13 2011, 11:14 PM']Ripper/Grabber[/quote]

Yeah I was thinking Grabber.

That's brilliant !

Very interesting stuff.

[quote name='nottswarwick' post='1338408' date='Aug 13 2011, 08:14 AM']Jimmy Cliff - top attitude :-)[/quote]

^Totally.

Pretty tame some of those stories, although Will Young paid in chorizo's seems about right to me. Actually being paid in Tapas doesn't sound half bad to me

[quote name='spiritchaser' post='1337431' date='Aug 12 2011, 11:32 AM']Great Wal 5 man! Congrats! Paul is a real master of the craft and it's always a pleasure to talk to him.

The flamed maple MK1 could be mine which is due this month - did it have a black neck and was the finish somewhat light brownish?

I can hardly wait for it to be ready and compare it to my white MKII which you can hear and see live on stage here:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5fC2CTYt5k&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5fC2CTYt5k...feature=related[/url].

At around 1:30 into the clip you can hear it soloed.

tc Oliver[/quote]

Sorry, I cannot recall if it had a black neck or not (and yet I did see a neck near it - damn my poor old memory). If it's yours then wow, it looks awesome.

[quote name='AndroWal' post='1335978' date='Aug 11 2011, 02:04 AM']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]

[quote name='lozbass' post='1336165' date='Aug 11 2011, 10:04 AM']Wow!!! Absolutely beautiful - the basses coming out of Paul's shop are simply fantastic - testament to his skills and extraordinary attention to detail. As an owner (of a 6 I can'tplay) I would say that, but in all seriousness, new Wals deserve serious consideration from anybody in the market for the higher expression of the bass building art. Purpleblob - yours is a fabulous example![/quote]

Guys thanks for the kind words.

So far I have nothing but glowing things to say about the quality, the look, the feel and the sound of this instrument. You're absolutely spot on AndroWal, the ergonomics and the balance, weight etc. make this the most comfortable instrument I own (I admit I'm in the honeymoon period at the moment so I probably would say this ).

lozbass, totally agree with you. Paul is producing some awesome instruments. Also if you talk to Paul you get the feeling that he's somebody who really cares about what he's doing and strives to produce the best.

Whilst I was at the workshop Paul appeared to be putting the finishing touches on, what I think was a flamed maple bodied, MK1 - it was absolutely stunning.

Anyway, I suppose I'd better start saving for a fretted MKIII next

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)

Lovely. My fav. Adamovic shape.

This is the one from the Fray's Bass corner website I guess. Very nice.