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Building a Wal....ish


funkle

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15 hours ago, ltank said:

 

I guess you could get the mounting ring from Chris turner. I recently bought a pair of SEP multicoils from him and I got the mounting rings along with them. It seems like you could fit any MM style pickup in it, but I don't know if slot depth could become a problem. But I could be very wrong..


Hope you’re enjoying the pickups!

 

While the pickups with rings will fit into the same route (standard MM shape), they’re physically different in order to accommodate the mounting rings.  So, the rings alone aren’t compatible with the pickups that have the MM covers.

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Had the pickups on my mk2 up and down trying to make it produce a bit more high frequency ... only makes it louder and quieter, and more or less likely for the strings to hit the pole pieces.

 

Very bassy bass that mk2 5er; doesn't seem to have the mid range "quack" of the mk1 whatever I do with it.  I'm loathe to believe its the shorter wider body, the longer neck or the different face wood ... different pickups I guess.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Morning all. Just wanted to post an apology for less activity. 
 

Turns out the gastroenteritis I thought I had was actually a form of colitis. Bit of a rough summer with a few trips to hospital, tests, etc etc.  However I’m coming back to life again and will shoot some video and post some updates. I’ve had a while to live with the bass as it is and it’s been useful. 

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1 hour ago, funkle said:

Morning all. Just wanted to post an apology for less activity. 
 

Turns out the gastroenteritis I thought I had was actually a form of colitis. Bit of a rough summer with a few trips to hospital, tests, etc etc.  However I’m coming back to life again and will shoot some video and post some updates. I’ve had a while to live with the bass as it is and it’s been useful. 

Glad you’re getting better - that’s the main thing

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8 hours ago, funkle said:

Morning all. Just wanted to post an apology for less activity. 
 

Turns out the gastroenteritis I thought I had was actually a form of colitis. Bit of a rough summer with a few trips to hospital, tests, etc etc.  However I’m coming back to life again and will shoot some video and post some updates. I’ve had a while to live with the bass as it is and it’s been useful. 

Sorry to hear you've been ill dude.

Good to know you're on the mend though.

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On 17/08/2023 at 08:22, funkle said:

Morning all. Just wanted to post an apology for less activity. 
 

Turns out the gastroenteritis I thought I had was actually a form of colitis. Bit of a rough summer with a few trips to hospital, tests, etc etc.  However I’m coming back to life again and will shoot some video and post some updates. I’ve had a while to live with the bass as it is and it’s been useful. 

Glad you are on the road to recovery bud. 
 

I just saw your video on YouTube regarding this build. Found it rather interesting so I will follow the progress. 
 

hope you are well 

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Gonna have to read this thread (and YouTube content) from the beginning. Was thinking about either modding a Schecter P4 Exotic with some of the Turner multi coil pickups in a Wal-like config or building a new bass with them.

 

Not going for a Wal replica by any stretch but it'd be cool to get in a similar ballpark.

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  • 1 month later...

So as I think I threatened earlier in this thread, today I’ve finally had a chance to reinstall the Overwater filter preamp in my Original series five string. I had removed this to install a John East Uni-pre as I felt I couldn’t get a tone I liked out of the bass in comparison to my John East J-Retro equipped five string Overwater Jazz. However, recently I’ve been playing a lot of passive bass (both fretted and fretless) and I’ve come to realise my tonal tastes are changing away from the deep dark bass I had tended to favour since first putting a J-Retro in a Fender Jazz five string many years ago. 

The preamp went back in without much of a fight, and initial impressions are that there is now a boat load of tones on offer. Control set is master volume, pickup pan, and two filters which work in parallel across both pickups. I’ve had a little play and I’m looking forward to giving it a good run through later. Oh and I’d forgotten how good a 36” scale low B sounds 😎

IMG_8017.jpeg

IMG_8016.jpeg

Edited by JPJ
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So I’m at a bit of a crossroads on what I want to do for my Wal rip-off project and have 2 options. Just as a caveat my goal isn’t an exact Wal sound, more just an excuse for some Turner pickups and Lusithand preamp.

 

1) Get a good deal on something like a Yamaha BB, probably the 734a. I’d then strip the paint, pop in some cavities for the Turner pickups and patch if needed. I’d probably make a new scratch plate to fit better with the new pickup config. It wouldn’t be cheap and would require a fair bit of effort but pretty manageable. 

 

2) Build a bass from scratch, have a rough design for what I’d be doing. Black limba body possibly a pale moon ebony top and wenge fretboard, not sure about neck. This will be a very time consuming and expensive project but the end result will be pretty incredible! (Headstock is just a placeholder)

 

Don’t want to hijack the thread but this seems like the perfect hive mind to help me pick a direction!IMG_7712.thumb.png.3ffbb2ca18559e7e67fb709124adb427.png

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Apologies for delays in posting more video - I am literally just editing the next video now. The next two videos after that are mapped out too - one with a new preamp, then another with a new set of pickups and another matching preamp. 
 

@MrDinsdale I’d be very tempted to hack up a project bass first. A bunch of the Yamahas are basically ideal, mainly because they feature multi laminate necks and (sometimes) mahogany bodies already, depending on the model. 
 

The custom instrument route is much more expensive. And you have to know *exactly* what you want. Most people don’t, really…or it changes as things go on…

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I was going to reply but Funkle said exactly what I was going to … unless you are really good and can already make a nicer playing neck than Yamaha… mod something existing…. I’ve done enough builds to know that the reason that I don’t play things is that the neck and playablity isn’t as good as things I already have 

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39 minutes ago, funkle said:

The custom instrument route is much more expensive. And you have to know *exactly* what you want. Most people don’t, really…or it changes as things go on…

I knew EXACTLY what I wanted when I commissioned my mind-bendingly expensive custom bass. I also knew what I wanted when I changed the pickups in it twice and the preamp in it 3 times. Then I knew that I did not know what I wanted. It was an expensive lesson.

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Fortunately my dad was a luthier and has all the gear an knowledge to help out. The bass I built when I was 16 has one of the nicest playing necks I’ve tried, just a shame I’ve gone off 5 string.  16 year old me had very different aesthetic preferences too 😂

 

PXL_20211018_095535262.thumb.jpeg.264494a61544da0e5430f313b8df00da.jpeg

PXL_20211018_095548031.thumb.jpeg.b4fa3d7f7cfc5222a5f2167181df378c.jpeg


So yeah price wise it ain’t gonna be cheap, at least £300 on woods alone before hardware. It does mean I can get all the luminlay in there and make something really special worthy of those pickups and preamp. 

 

Time is my biggest concern though, with work, the child, the band and just general life stuff it’s gonna be little bits when I can! Modding an existing bass at least means I’ll have something I can actually play with a few months. 

 

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11 minutes ago, MrDinsdale said:

Fortunately my dad was a luthier and has all the gear an knowledge to help out. The bass I built when I was 16 has one of the nicest playing necks I’ve tried, just a shame I’ve gone off 5 string.  16 year old me had very different aesthetic preferences too 😂

 

PXL_20211018_095535262.thumb.jpeg.264494a61544da0e5430f313b8df00da.jpeg

PXL_20211018_095548031.thumb.jpeg.b4fa3d7f7cfc5222a5f2167181df378c.jpeg


So yeah price wise it ain’t gonna be cheap, at least £300 on woods alone before hardware. It does mean I can get all the luminlay in there and make something really special worthy of those pickups and preamp. 

 

Time is my biggest concern though, with work, the child, the band and just general life stuff it’s gonna be little bits when I can! Modding an existing bass at least means I’ll have something I can actually play with a few months. 

 

A dolphin thumb reverse explorer thst got drunk - I like it 

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It’s been a journey for me too …I am very emotionally invested lol.
 

I’ve learned a lot. Not only have I had to make sure all the bass tech work is done and I can actually play properly…which is agonising as I get ‘red light syndrome’…I’ve had to learn how to speak to the camera, scripting, lighting, mic placement, more about proper sound editing, video editing (ongoing), loudness mastering for different services, how to manage YouTube in general including branding and artwork…still though I love it now!

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It’s paid off, excellent quality and the bass looks great! Looking forward to the Lusithand special preamp as that’s what I’ve got my eyes on. You’re an influencer now 😂

 

I’m still on the fence between hacking up my p-bass vs a getting a BB734. Keep looking at this which is pretty inspiring https://www.instagram.com/reel/CkyHPtOJ3vd/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

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2 hours ago, MrDinsdale said:

It’s paid off, excellent quality and the bass looks great! Looking forward to the Lusithand special preamp as that’s what I’ve got my eyes on. You’re an influencer now 😂

 

I’m still on the fence between hacking up my p-bass vs a getting a BB734. Keep looking at this which is pretty inspiring https://www.instagram.com/reel/CkyHPtOJ3vd/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==


I’d hack up a cheaper bass wherever possible…the BB734 is not cheap!

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