Wal alert for any interested parties

[Cosmo Valdemar]

That's a pretty overpriced place - a pretty tatty '05 Gibson SG bass, £1300?!

[Bass Culture]

2 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

That's a pretty overpriced place - a pretty tatty '05 Gibson SG bass, £1300?!

Yep, the stock was impressive, the prices less so - apart from the mispriced Wal, anyway!

 

[AndyTravis]

Maybe they gave £3500 for it and gave away their trade in price in error.

 

Dunno. 
 

Still fuming 😆

[Cosmo Valdemar]

18 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

Still fuming 

FUMMING

[Mokl]

Based on my chat with the owner ( yep I was one of those hoping for a bargain!) I suspect they probably didn't realise what these go for - and prompted by the mass response decided to take a closer look (although why you wouldn't do that first is a touch baffling). Either way, I don't blame them for selling at a price that's still pretty good given the current rate. I hope the new owner enjoys it.

 

I would have gone over to get it on Wednesday morning if it'd been 3.5K!

[NickA]

On 08/05/2024 at 16:32, Maxwellwoodger said:

Thanks for this, I have contacted the shop… and it will soon be mine!

Congrats... welcome to the world of Wal.  Silly prices these days but still beautifully made and a joy to play.

 

.....and minutes after you posted a " MK2 Wal wanted" request in the items wanted thread! 🤔. 

 

 

[Misdee]

The moral of this story is, if it seems too good to be true then it probably is.

 

 I remember when a new four string Wal cost £880, and you could get a deal on that price for cash. Allowing for inflation, that's £2560 in today's money. (GigSounds in Streatham did them for  £729 without the case, which would set you back another £90.) I also remember when used Wal basses were hard to sell, and you could pick up a decent  one for £600, no problem. Mid to late 1990s.

 

They are without doubt magnificent-sounding basses, but definitely a niche product and not likely to suit everybody. Anyhow, I hope the new owner is delighted with his purchase. Nothing sounds like a Wal,  you've either got one or you haven't.( I haven't.)

 

 

[Burns-bass]

5 hours ago, Misdee said:

The moral of this story is, if it seems too good to be true then it probably is.

 

 I remember when a new four string Wal cost £880, and you could get a deal on that price for cash. Allowing for inflation, that's £2560 in today's money. (GigSounds in Streatham did them for  £729 without the case, which would set you back another £90.) I also remember when used Wal basses were hard to sell, and you could pick up a decent  one for £600, no problem. Mid to late 1990s.

 

They are without doubt magnificent-sounding basses, but definitely a niche product and not likely to suit everybody. Anyhow, I hope the new owner is delighted with his purchase. Nothing sounds like a Wal,  you've either got one or you haven't.( I haven't.)

 

 

 

 

The "it cost less in the past" game can get boring and obviously price doesn't necessarily reflect value.  But, as someone who has recently been through a fairly traumatic experience buying an old bass (and subsequently discovered it was stolen) I would agree with the statement that if it appears too good to be true it probably is. 

 

In the end, the used price here is probably still less than the new price. 

 

 

[Misdee]

The point is not so much "it cost less in the past" so much as that Wal basses were much more available. They were always great instruments, but they weren't Holy Relics like they are now. I remember Barry Moorhouse at the Bass Centre in Wapping saying how they had sold 11;Wal Basses in a week and then sent the van up to High Wycombe collect more. They had a display stand with several Wal basses every time you went in the shop.

 

I don't think the new Wal basses are particularly overpriced in relation to the competition like Fodera ect.  But you can't buy one anyway. They are definitely proportionately more expensive than they were,though. In a discussion abou the used price of Wal basses that is perfectly relevant. And as to this bass being costing less than a new one...it isn't a new one! 

 

 

[Misdee]

And if the new owner has paid £6000 for this bass, in the current market he has done very well indeed. If it was my bass I would have expected at least a grand  more than that in my hand before I would let it go. I hope he has a lot of pleasure from playing and owning it. Very special basses for sure.

[Maxwellwoodger]

Thank you so much everyone for posting about this bass, it looks like I’m going to be the new owner! I’ve wanted a Wal bass since I started playing bass guitar when I was 16… I’m 34 now. I’m a huge fan of Flea/RHCP, he is why I play bass and I love Tool/Justin Chancellor and my old bass tutor is a big fan of Rush, we saw him do a talk together last yet… I have my own alternative rock band called Earls of Eden

https://www.instagram.com/earlsofeden 

https://www.facebook.com/share/iTN6fLnVYZxkh2Zt/?mibextid=LQQJ4d

and we have our debut album coming out later this year so give us a follow! I own quite a few basses including an Alembic Europa, Rickenbacker 4003, Music Man Stingray Special, American Standard Fender Jazz & Precision basses. In “real life” I work in HR in a bank - the day job pays for the hobby! Would love to be a full time rockstar but happy to just for fun.

 

Anyway, I’ve been hunting for a 4 string fretted Wal MK2 for several years now. 2 years ago I emailed Wal to enquire about pricing and Wal owner Paul Herman said they are not taking any new orders and have a backlog over 4+ years long… I’ve emailed them a few times since and they just don’t even reply anymore so I figured getting a new one now is just impossible… so I’ve been searching online the past few years on every guitar shop website and reverb trying to find one. The handful of Wals I did find were all either MK1s or Fretless or left handed or 5 string MK2s ranging from £6-12k. I tried out a Wal MK1 in denmark street last week and they were asking for £10K!? Fretted MK2s seem to be very very rare and sell almost as quickly as they appear online in minutes…

 

So I was on the Facebook group “Bass Players” https://www.facebook.com/share/grWV6JkPGoL4nUsS/?mibextid=K35XfP and I noticed on Tuesday someone had made a post asking about how long it takes to order a Wal bass… https://www.facebook.com/share/p/rxY21NrA5VMrchkD/?mibextid=WC7FNe I then from that thread started chatting to a guy called Michael who had just bought a 2nd hand Wal MK2 from someone off this bass chat website and suggested I check there so I made a login on Tuesday night around 10pm…

 

…Then on Wednesday afternoon while I was working at home on my laptop, I was bored so browsed basschat, noticed this thread talking about a fretted Wal MK2 in a guitar shop in Wales and I was excited and shocked… I immediately called up the shop at 3.20pm (they closed at 3.30pm), spoke to the owner saying I wanted to buy the Wal. He said he had already sold it to some American. I said I would pay more and it’s easier to send it & sell it to me in London than a dude in the USA. The owner said he would think about it and call me later. That evening at 9pm he called me and gave me a price to outbid the American and we agreed. The shop owner from Wales is actually coming to deliver me the Wal in-person next week… (he needs to be in London for his band’s producer apparently so an excuse for a visit haha). I’m so happy and I almost can’t believe it!!! Thank you again everyone, I’ll send a pic once I have it in my hands!  

[Reggaebass]

27 minutes ago, Maxwellwoodger said:

I’ve been hunting for a 4 string fretted Wal MK2 for several years now

 Great post maxwell, congrats on finding what you’ve been looking for, it’s nice when things come together , look forward to seeing some pics 

[Bass Culture]

Should have put my hand in my pocket last Saturday! 😁

[NickA]

We have a "Wal Bass Lovers of the World Unite!"  FB page btw. Full of advice & opinions (and disagreements). One member has 12  (?) Wals. Probs the best place to buy and sell Wal basses too. My Mk2 came from there.

[OliverBlackman]

10 hours ago, Maxwellwoodger said:

Thank you so much everyone for posting about this bass, it looks like I’m going to be the new owner! I’ve wanted a Wal bass since I started playing bass guitar when I was 16… I’m 34 now. I’m a huge fan of Flea/RHCP, he is why I play bass and I love Tool/Justin Chancellor and my old bass tutor is a big fan of Rush, we saw him do a talk together last yet… I have my own alternative rock band called Earls of Eden

https://www.instagram.com/earlsofeden 

https://www.facebook.com/share/iTN6fLnVYZxkh2Zt/?mibextid=LQQJ4d

and we have our debut album coming out later this year so give us a follow! I own quite a few basses including an Alembic Europa, Rickenbacker 4003, Music Man Stingray Special, American Standard Fender Jazz & Precision basses. In “real life” I work in HR in a bank - the day job pays for the hobby! Would love to be a full time rockstar but happy to just for fun.

 

Anyway, I’ve been hunting for a 4 string fretted Wal MK2 for several years now. 2 years ago I emailed Wal to enquire about pricing and Wal owner Paul Herman said they are not taking any new orders and have a backlog over 4+ years long… I’ve emailed them a few times since and they just don’t even reply anymore so I figured getting a new one now is just impossible… so I’ve been searching online the past few years on every guitar shop website and reverb trying to find one. The handful of Wals I did find were all either MK1s or Fretless or left handed or 5 string MK2s ranging from £6-12k. I tried out a Wal MK1 in denmark street last week and they were asking for £10K!? Fretted MK2s seem to be very very rare and sell almost as quickly as they appear online in minutes…

 

So I was on the Facebook group “Bass Players” https://www.facebook.com/share/grWV6JkPGoL4nUsS/?mibextid=K35XfP and I noticed on Tuesday someone had made a post asking about how long it takes to order a Wal bass… https://www.facebook.com/share/p/rxY21NrA5VMrchkD/?mibextid=WC7FNe I then from that thread started chatting to a guy called Michael who had just bought a 2nd hand Wal MK2 from someone off this bass chat website and suggested I check there so I made a login on Tuesday night around 10pm…

 

…Then on Wednesday afternoon while I was working at home on my laptop, I was bored so browsed basschat, noticed this thread talking about a fretted Wal MK2 in a guitar shop in Wales and I was excited and shocked… I immediately called up the shop at 3.20pm (they closed at 3.30pm), spoke to the owner saying I wanted to buy the Wal. He said he had already sold it to some American. I said I would pay more and it’s easier to send it & sell it to me in London than a dude in the USA. The owner said he would think about it and call me later. That evening at 9pm he called me and gave me a price to outbid the American and we agreed. The shop owner from Wales is actually coming to deliver me the Wal in-person next week… (he needs to be in London for his band’s producer apparently so an excuse for a visit haha). I’m so happy and I almost can’t believe it!!! Thank you again everyone, I’ll send a pic once I have it in my hands!  

I’m glad it’s in the hands of a player rather than someone who could potentially be a collector or seller, but it’s bad of a shop to renegade on an agreed sale.

[Burns-bass]

44 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said:

I’m glad it’s in the hands of a player rather than someone who could potentially be a collector or seller, but it’s bad of a shop to renegade on an agreed sale.

I’ve had this happen to me and it’s really gut wrenching too. Bad form for the shop to do so. That’s noted.

[Maxwellwoodger]

On 10/05/2024 at 22:11, Maxwellwoodger said:

Thank you so much everyone for posting about this bass, it looks like I’m going to be the new owner! I’ve wanted a Wal bass since I started playing bass guitar when I was 16… I’m 34 now. I’m a huge fan of Flea/RHCP, he is why I play bass and I love Tool/Justin Chancellor and my old bass tutor is a big fan of Rush, we saw him do a talk together last yet… I have my own alternative rock band called Earls of Eden

https://www.instagram.com/earlsofeden 

https://www.facebook.com/share/iTN6fLnVYZxkh2Zt/?mibextid=LQQJ4d

and we have our debut album coming out later this year so give us a follow! I own quite a few basses including an Alembic Europa, Rickenbacker 4003, Music Man Stingray Special, American Standard Fender Jazz & Precision basses. In “real life” I work in HR in a bank - the day job pays for the hobby! Would love to be a full time rockstar but happy to just for fun.

 

Anyway, I’ve been hunting for a 4 string fretted Wal MK2 for several years now. 2 years ago I emailed Wal to enquire about pricing and Wal owner Paul Herman said they are not taking any new orders and have a backlog over 4+ years long… I’ve emailed them a few times since and they just don’t even reply anymore so I figured getting a new one now is just impossible… so I’ve been searching online the past few years on every guitar shop website and reverb trying to find one. The handful of Wals I did find were all either MK1s or Fretless or left handed or 5 string MK2s ranging from £6-12k. I tried out a Wal MK1 in denmark street last week and they were asking for £10K!? Fretted MK2s seem to be very very rare and sell almost as quickly as they appear online in minutes…

 

So I was on the Facebook group “Bass Players” https://www.facebook.com/share/grWV6JkPGoL4nUsS/?mibextid=K35XfP and I noticed on Tuesday someone had made a post asking about how long it takes to order a Wal bass… https://www.facebook.com/share/p/rxY21NrA5VMrchkD/?mibextid=WC7FNe I then from that thread started chatting to a guy called Michael who had just bought a 2nd hand Wal MK2 from someone off this bass chat website and suggested I check there so I made a login on Tuesday night around 10pm…

 

…Then on Wednesday afternoon while I was working at home on my laptop, I was bored so browsed basschat, noticed this thread talking about a fretted Wal MK2 in a guitar shop in Wales and I was excited and shocked… I immediately called up the shop at 3.20pm (they closed at 3.30pm), spoke to the owner saying I wanted to buy the Wal. He said he had already sold it to some American. I said I would pay more and it’s easier to send it & sell it to me in London than a dude in the USA. The owner said he would think about it and call me later. That evening at 9pm he called me and gave me a price to outbid the American and we agreed. The shop owner from Wales is actually coming to deliver me the Wal in-person next week… (he needs to be in London for his band’s producer apparently so an excuse for a visit haha). I’m so happy and I almost can’t believe it!!! Thank you again everyone, I’ll send a pic once I have it in my hands!  

So I met with Chris today (from the  Wyefret Guitar Shop in Wales), he came to London and gave me the bass in-person at a cafe at Acton Town. Lovely chap. 

 

It needs a setup and some new strings…but the Wal MK2 is awesome!!! It’s a bit like a Musicman Stringray but on steroids with clearer upper notes ! Really punchy, Big sound and filter is fun to play with. A happy customer indeed… 🤩🎸

[Lozz196]

That’s a lovely bass. I wonder though, if any of the people who walked past when the photo was taken thought “ah, shame he can’t afford a Fender, maybe one day”.

[Kev]

Wouldn't surprise me if half of the enquiries this bass had was from Wal owners, keen to tell the shop keeper that they need to increase the price.  From my days in the Wal group on Facebook, my word they don't like any notion of the sky high prices of the basses being threatened...

 

A shame the bargain never happened, but congrats on the new bass Max!

[LewisK1975]

12 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

That’s a lovely bass. I wonder though, if any of the people who walked past when the photo was taken thought “ah, shame he can’t afford a Fender, maybe one day”.

I often had this exact thought when I used to take mine on pub gigs in the South Wales Valleys.

 

My muso friends would shudder when I told them, but I used to say exactly that - 'Don't worry - 99.999999% people wouldn't have a clue of what it is or it's value, they just think I can't afford a Fender'.

Edited May 17 by LewisK1975

[NickA]

5 hours ago, Kev said:

they don't like any notion of the sky high prices of the basses being threatened

I've been criticised on there for "talking down prices". 

 

Lots of collectors. One reason the price is so high is that the prices keep going up.  It's a tragedy as so few good bass players can afford one, let alone dare take them out for a play. 

 

My fretless custom is out every week, it gets bashed a bit, I don't care; I'm not going to sell it ever.

 

Great basses, but not THAT great.  And the vaunted Rush and Tool connections are bogus as neither Mr Lee nor Mr Chancellor sound like they're playing one ( all effects and Geddy's weird low action light string setup).  Flea, yes, BSSM has MK2 Wal all over it.

Edited May 17 by NickA

[Kev]

51 minutes ago, NickA said:

I've been criticised on there for "talking down prices". 

 

Lots of collectors. One reason the price is so high is that the prices keep going up.  It's a tragedy as so few good bass players can afford one, let alone dare take them out for a play. 

 

My fretless custom is out every week, it gets bashed a bit, I don't care; I'm not going to sell it ever.

 

Great basses, but not THAT great.  And the vaunted Rush and Tool connections are bogus as neither Mr Lee nor Mr Chancellor sound like they're playing one ( all effects and Geddy's weird low action light string setup).  Flea, yes, BSSM has MK2 Wal all over it.

I feel like its come down from the absolutely bonkers days of £10k basses appearing everywhere, which is about the time I left that group.  Any much more than £6k seem to hang around for a long time at the moment, which gives me hope.

 

I just wish Wal would change their strategy and get a team of builders in and start pumping more out, just to see the collectors panic.  I really loved the sound of my MK2 (huge BSSM tone fan) and have never been satisfied by a "clean" tone since, but I hated everything else about the bass.  V neck profile, distance between strings and body, thumb anchoring, all not me at all. 

 

Perhaps I'm just forever bitter for selling it for £3.5k....

[Piers_Williamson]

On 16/05/2024 at 15:11, Maxwellwoodger said:

So I met with Chris today (from the  Wyefret Guitar Shop in Wales), he came to London and gave me the bass in-person at a cafe at Acton Town. Lovely chap. 

 

It needs a setup and some new strings…but the Wal MK2 is awesome!!! It’s a bit like a Musicman Stringray but on steroids with clearer upper notes ! Really punchy, Big sound and filter is fun to play with. A happy customer indeed… 🤩🎸

 

 

What a great story.  It makes me wonder how many Wals are lurking in Ealing (Confession I have two, but they are both lefties, and I didn't pay really stupid money for them)

[NickA]

On 17/05/2024 at 15:38, Kev said:

Perhaps I'm just forever bitter for selling it for £3.5k....

Hmm ...possibly 🤔

 

they are a bit marmite tho.  The ergonomics don't make playing that easy; my Mk2 5er, in particular, is a big hefty thing with poor upper fret access.  Some adjustments in technique ( floating thumb, never hooking my left hand round the necketc) help and I'll put up with it for the tone ...and it does look nice on the wall 😉.   Worth the £4k I paid?  Yes, but with the proviso I could sell it without losing money. £10k? No way, that's double bass money.

[cetera]

On 17/05/2024 at 15:38, Kev said:

I feel like its come down from the absolutely bonkers days of £10k basses appearing everywhere, which is about the time I left that group.  Any much more than £6k seem to hang around for a long time at the moment, which gives me hope.

 

Glad I got out and sold mine for £11k 6 months ago