Frank Blank Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 (edited) Just posting some pics for a friend @Wal ly of mine who has just joined the forum, hopefully this post will encourage him at least as far as the introductions thread. Anyway he has a couple of choice basses including a Wal that neither of us know much about, like how much these sell for, should it go back to Wal for a check up that sort of thing ... Edited May 14, 2020 by Frank Blank 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 Nice pair! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevorR Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 On the Wal, that's a late 70s/early 80s "Pro Series" bass - if active it's a Pro IIE, if passive a Pro II. From the serial number I'd estimate the bass dates from early/mid 1981 - so quite late in the run of manufacture. They don't go for the same money as the "Custom Series" basses (the ones with no scratchplate and exotic wood tops) but you're still talking £2-3k+ these days. More info here... http://walbasshistory.blogspot.com/p/production-line-basses.html http://walbasshistory.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_9226.html If your chum is on Facebook point them in the direction of the Wal group there. Lots of knowledgeable folks (and potential customers) who hang around there... https://www.facebook.com/groups/2413094311/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 3 minutes ago, TrevorR said: On the Wal, that's a late 70s/early 80s "Pro Series" bass - if active it's a Pro IIE, if passive a Pro II. From the serial number I'd estimate the bass dates from early/mid 1981 - so quite late in the run of manufacture. They don't go for the same money as the "Custom Series" basses (the ones with no scratchplate and exotic wood tops) but you're still talking £2-3k+ these days. More info here... http://walbasshistory.blogspot.com/p/production-line-basses.html http://walbasshistory.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_9226.html If your chum is on Facebook point them in the direction of the Wal group there. Lots of knowledgeable folks (and potential customers) who hang around there... https://www.facebook.com/groups/2413094311/ Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 (edited) The Wal isn’t worth much... I’ll take it off his hands for £1k 😁 ... it’s not like that is the finish and model I have been looking for or anything 😕. To add to that, if Trevor is six months out (not that I’d ever expect Trevor to be a day out with his Encyclopedic knowledge of Wal) it’d be YOB too 😕 Edited May 14, 2020 by CamdenRob 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyJ Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 The Westone is a Thunder 1a, the active version of the Thunder 1, with the "bird"-style logo and shorter headstock dating it to roughly 1983-85. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 Hmmm, yes that Wal is exactly what I had been looking for....timing is likely bad as usual, not that he’s probably wanting to sell. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 1 hour ago, Frank Blank said: Just posting some pics for a friend @Wal ly of mine who has just joined the forum, hopefully this post will encourage him at least as far as the introductions thread. Anyway he has a couple of choice basses including a Wal that neither of us know much about, like how much these sell for, should it go back to Wal for a check up that sort of thing ... Nice pair, why does he want a selling price though, and is there something wrong with the Wal that warrants a check-up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 2 minutes ago, Kev said: Nice pair, why does he want a selling price though, and is there something wrong with the Wal that warrants a check-up? Oh no, just curious. I think he'd prefer a wood finish Wal but I don't think he's thinking of selling, nor is there anything wrong with the Wal, I just thought owners with oldies like these had them checked over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevorR Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Frank Blank said: should it go back to Wal for a check up that sort of thing 24 minutes ago, Frank Blank said: Oh no, just curious. I think he'd prefer a wood finish Wal but I don't think he's thinking of selling, nor is there anything wrong with the Wal, I just thought owners with oldies like these had them checked over. Paul does a really good fettle and check up on his basses. Had him do some work on my Pro a few years ago. He's not cheap though... but he IS good! The one thing to watch out for on the Pro basses which I'd actually put down as a rare bit of bad (well, less than excellent, non-future proofed) design by Wal is the knobs/pots on these basses. The pots are unusual in that the shaft isn't integral. Rather there are small locating holes in the hub of the pot into which a shaft locates with two locating prongs... I suppose it was done to make th eshafts easy to replace in the case of damage. Or something... Over time (as happens with plastics) the two fork/prongs can get brittle/break off. This happened on a few of my pots. AAAAARRRGGHH!!!!! However, I sent it back to Paul and he swapped them over for "normal" posts with the shafts integrated in the pot itself. Rejuvenated the bass and it's still singing like a bird today! Edited May 14, 2020 by TrevorR 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevorR Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 Here's one of those record it on your phone and stitch it all together later on videos which we did for our Sunday morning service the other week which gives you an idea of a typical tone from the Pro bass... a bit stunned how well it came out in the lockdown circumstances... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 2 hours ago, TrevorR said: Paul does a really good fettle and check up on his basses. Had him do some work on my Pro a few years ago. He's not cheap though... but he IS good! The one thing to watch out for on the Pro basses which I'd actually put down as a rare bit of bad (well, less than excellent, non-future proofed) design by Wal is the knobs/pots on these basses. The pots are unusual in that the shaft isn't integral. Rather there are small locating holes in the hub of the pot into which a shaft locates with two locating prongs... I suppose it was done to make th eshafts easy to replace in the case of damage. Or something... Over time (as happens with plastics) the two fork/prongs can get brittle/break off. This happened on a few of my pots. AAAAARRRGGHH!!!!! However, I sent it back to Paul and he swapped them over for "normal" posts with the shafts integrated in the pot itself. Rejuvenated the bass and it's still singing like a bird today! Things like this (before I read about your fix) and the potential for issues with the electronics were other reasons why I sold mine, in addition to the weight. If I do manage to get another though (pretty please) that won’t put me off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.