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What is it about wals?


greyparrot
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If Fender is [i]your[/i] sound and the only sound you like, then don't get a Wal, it won't even come close.
But, Wals are beautifully made, with low production runs to predominantly customer orders, with many "name" players and a great sound (it's in there, you've just got to be [s]good[/s] patient enough to find it). It’s enough to make Wals sought after, expensive and loved.

Edited by chris_b
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[quote name='mike257' post='429161' date='Mar 9 2009, 11:16 AM']He offered me it for £700 at the time though, so I kick myself now every time I see one sell for a couple of grand on here :)[/quote]

Same here - The Bass Centre in Manchester had a pair of 5's for a while. The fretted one didn't last long, but the fretless hung around with an £800 price tag. I thought that the electronics suited the fretless great, but £800 seemed a lot at the time ........

I thought that Laurence Cottle's sound was down to the Wal he used for years. I've seen him live a couple of times recently and he wasn't playing a Wal - and still sounded the same (and awesome).

Don't think I'd pay £2-£3k for a Wal, but I'd definitely pay £2-£3k for Cottle's fingers!!

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[quote name='chris_b' post='429443' date='Mar 9 2009, 03:13 PM']If Fender is [i]your[/i] sound and the only sound you like, then don't get a Wal, it won't even come close.
But, Wals are beautifully made, with low production runs to predominantly customer orders, with many "name" players and a great sound (it's in there, [b]you've just got to be good enough to find it[/b]). It’s enough to make Wals sought after, expensive and loved.[/quote]
I'd have said 'patient' rather than 'good'... but apart from that, hear hear. :)

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I have played a Wal (4string Custom Fretless) pretty much exclusively now for 23 years (in two weeks time :rolleyes:) and it delivers what I want every time. There are a couple of points I would make in defence of these great basses.

I find that they allow you to be you; every Wal player I have heard sounds different. A 'Wal' sound is, for me, the sound of the player and not necessarily the instrument. A lot of basses sound like, for instance, a Fender, an Alembic, a Warwick etc (I have not played any of these for more than a few minutes in total so do treat my opinions with a pinch of salt) and they all sound like the manufacturer intended. My Wal, on the other hand, sounds like me (see my 'Wal Street Crash' mp3 posted here). I have played it through lots of different amps (SWR, Eden, GK, Trace Eliot, Frunt) and it always does what I want it to - if there is anything missing, it is me not the bass. As for slap; I don't so why would I care :)

I would point out that I am a great believer in loyalty and intimacy with an instrument and, above a basic manufacturing standard, my perspective is to work with the bass to find your sound and not to expect it to 'deliver' something when you pick it up for the first time. For the record, I tried 3 Wals out before I bought mine (25th April 1986) and was so impressed with the consistency that I bought my current bass by mail order (I did the same with my Gibson ES175 and Takamine CD132SC) with no regrets. Other basses have come and gone but they never got anywhere near the airing that the Wal did and I can now honestly say that I haven't gigged with anything but the Wal for years. I also have no real urge to replace it (other than with a 5-string Wal). People are generally very complimentary about my sound at gigs etc and that is with jazz, funk and Latin outifts so versatility is also a plus.

I love them. And, as for looks, have you seen my avatar?

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[quote name='bilbo230763' post='429476' date='Mar 9 2009, 03:43 PM']I would point out that I am a great believer in loyalty and intimacy with an instrument and, above a basic manufacturing standard, my perspective is to work with the bass to find your sound and not to expect it to 'deliver' something when you pick it up for the first time. For the record, I tried 3 Wals out before I bought mine (25th April 1986) and was so impressed with the consistency that I bought my current bass by mail order[/quote]


Thats just it, you get a good Fender jazz and ..............................hmmmm! I take your point about you can creat your own sound with it though.

Nice carrots by the way!

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Bang on bilbo...

...and before anybody says anything, it's the 4 string headstock that I don't like. The 5 string Wal I think looks great. As for the 4, it's just the headstock. Not that anybody should care what I think anyway!

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A posting from two years ago by Antipodean on the Rickenbacker forum:

[i]You haven't lived until you've played an etc. An obscure brand made by the even more obscure one-armed luthier Jiacomo Luigi Etc, of Roma, Queensland. The hollow body is formed by allowing a large colony of termites to infest a selected piece of mahogony for 6 months. A carefully trained echidna then extracts and consumes the insects, and the body is carved to shape using a 19th century surgical hacksaw. The 37 fret rock maple quarter-sawn neck is attached to the body with high-grade staples and fishing line. The neck has five truss rods in order to facilitate a full range of adjustment. The seven passive EBO style humbuckers (with coil tapping) allow the player to achieve an amazing array of sound, from muddy to extremely muddy. The hardware is created from melted-down beer-bottle tops and chewing gum. Jiacomo has recently expanded the range to include 1,2,3 and 15-string variants. Available in a range of colours, textures and aromas, the etc is perhaps the most individualistic instrument on the planet.[/i]

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Wal's I love them....

But they are ,or were,studio Bass's...remember an often awful tone plugged in,can be a godlike one in recording...Wals were known for that..heavy as sin,but sturdy and reliable...and ALOT of options to sculpt tone

Bilbos right ,there ISNT a Wal sound per se,just the player,Percy Jones's sounded different to Karns,to Geddys,to Newsteads etc etc.

Very much a player to player instrument.

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[quote name='greyparrot' post='429646' date='Mar 9 2009, 06:42 PM']This has turned into a bass slaging match!.....................[/quote]

Its these tempramental expensive types of bass ...... get two of in the same room together and they are both vying for top spot..... Like supermodels ! (you know the handbags at dawn types....... :) )

Why they cant just accept they are both gorgeous but in different ways I'll never know!

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I must admit the Wenge top one in the For Sale forum did look nice. Maybe it was because a Wal was my second bass - saved up the £1100 (back in 1986 when the Bass Centre stocked them) hoping to get that Geddy Lee tone, only to find that it sounded nothing like him. A cautionary lesson in buying a bass just because someone else plays it... Paduak top and mahogany core it was, and after a couple of years I traded it for a 5-string fretless Status (number 0005). If only for what they go for now I wish I'd kept it! I met Pete the fish a few times too, very nice guy and very accommodating.

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I've played a few Wals, too. Last one I played was in the summer at a BCer's place. I actually went to look at a JayDee (that I didn't end up buying), but was most intrigued by a lovely Wal he had. I liked the filter preamp a lot. So many sounds - Yes, it wasn't quite as hifi as my basses, but it did have an array of very pleasing sounds. I think I'd like one at some point, but wouldn't go out of my way to sell any of my gear to get at one.

The prices are mainly (as others have said) due to the rarity of Wals. Yes, there's always one or two knocking around for sale, but the fact that the company owner is no longer medically able to build the instruments that many people love to play/own has pushed the prices skywards.

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I've owned and tried a lot of different Wals over the years and found that, like most basses, they vary a lot in tone and playability, so you have to try a few before you find 'the one' that suits you best as a player.

My personal favourites are the early Pro models which have an ash body, don't have the 'filter' e.q. and are more gutsy sounding than the Custom models in my opinion.. They also have the big headstock (which I love) and weigh a ton and have bad neck dive.. But it doesn't matter to me because I just love the tone/look of them.

Isn't it great though that there are so many fantastic basses to choose from these days; whether you like Wals, GBs, Sei's, Overwater, Status, Shuker etc, etc, the custom bass market in the UK just has so much to offer it's brilliant!

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[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='429998' date='Mar 9 2009, 11:31 PM']I've owned and tried a lot of different Wals over the years and found that, like most basses, they vary a lot in tone and playability, so you have to try a few before you find 'the one' that suits you best as a player.

My personal favourites are the early Pro models which have an ash body, don't have the 'filter' e.q. and are more gutsy sounding than the Custom models in my opinion.. They also have the big headstock (which I love) and weigh a ton and have bad neck dive.. But it doesn't matter to me because I just love the tone/look of them.

Isn't it great though that there are so many fantastic basses to choose from these days; whether you like Wals, GBs, Sei's, Overwater, Status, Shuker etc, etc, the custom bass market in the UK just has so much to offer it's brilliant![/quote]

Very true. The first Wal I had was originally a fretted; it was then defretted and was fretless (er yeah!) when I bought it, I then had it refretted and to be honest, it didn't really float the boat for me as an all round bass - and yet the twinneck Wal I had was awesome - just too big to use live! Yes, even in these difficult times we still have a fantastic set of luthiers here and the choice of instruments is staggering.

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The "lust value" that Wals have had recently is down to three things - firstly, the tone. Thanks to the filter preamp and custom pickups, there's a lot of tones you can get out of a Wal that you can't get out of everything else. Secondly, there's the rarity value, thanks to there being no new Wals for the past few years. And thirdly, name players - Justin Chancellor has a lot to answer for. :rolleyes: People wanting that cool Tool bass tone are craving Wals and forcing the asking prices right up. I remember going to the Bass Centre back in the late '90s, and Wals were about the least fashionable bass in the world at the time - they used to have trouble shifting them. Sure, Geddy Lee, Mick Karn, Nick Beggs, etc were all well-known Wal users back in the day, but Wals were still in production then (and hence available for a reasonable price), and none of them seem to have had the same impact on their desirability as Justin Chancellor has.

Tip for Paul Herman - when you're coming up with the inevitable Mk4 Wal, please come up with something that's lighter and a little more ergonomic. The Mk3s back in the day were a step in the right direction, but get it right and I'll be in the queue for a new one. :)

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