Hi folks,
I honestly don't believe I'm doing this, but I'm putting my recently acquired, Wal 5-string back up for sale. I was lucky enough to buy this locally, a few months ago, but after a few band rehearsals and plenty of hours in the bedroom, I really don't dig it as much as my pre-Gibson Tobiases, so it's best to pass it on to someone that will really enjoy it and create some great music with it!
I won't bore you all with another Wal history lesson, so here's the specs and more importantly, the pics, man, the pics!!!
Made in 1988 at the Electric Wood factory in the U.K, serial #3014
Brazilian mahogany core, American Walnut top and back
Maple and mahogany neck, Indian rosewood fingerboard
Original Wal humbucking pickups
Original Wal pre-amp - volume, balance, dual low-pass filters with push/pull boost, pick-attack/treble boost.
Original Wal bridge - recently stripped down, cleaned and re-assembled
Original Wal hardshell case
Purchased from the 2nd owner, who had it for the last 15 years. I suspect he'd never cleaned it in all of that time, so the first thing I did was to dismantle the bridge saddles & screws, gave them a good scrub with some WD-40 and reassemble. Much better! Also oiled the board with lemon-oil, waited overnight, then strung the bass up with some Labella Hard Rockin' Steels...smokin'!
Condition-wise, the bass has a bit of finish wear on the body, in the usual spots, but really not much for a 22 year old bass! As you can see from one of the pics, there's a small chip in the headstock through the Wal sticker, probably from a fall, many years ago. The neck is nice and straight, adjusts well and there is minimal fret-wear. The rear, plastic control cover has a small section missing from where a previous owner over-tightened one of the screws and there's one pickup screw missing, but I'll try and get a replacement before selling. One of the latches on the case is also a bit dodgy, but it's still quite usable.
But how does it sound, you ask? Like a great Wal bass should!
Tight, punchy, strong, clear, with an incredible range of tones! Moves a serious amount of air and with the pick-attack engaged, has a great sound for pick-playing or slapping. All the trimpots work properly and there's no hiss or hum of any sort. I was told that this is one of only 3 or 4 *fully working* Wal basses in Australia, so pretty rare, indeed!
Or is that
I'm just asking what I paid for it, AU$6000, including AU$200 worth of free shipping. (Buyer pays any excess shipping over that.) The bass is currently in Sydney, Australia, but I'm happy to ship internationally, just let me know your approximate address if you want a quote. I have my own Fedex account with permanent discount, so happy to pass the saving onto you. (I also have plenty of packing materials and a good box for it, all included.) As usual, buyer is totally responsible for any duties, taxes or charges relating to importing the bass into their own country.
Probably best to email enquiries to
levisj125@yahoo.com.au, in case I don't get to check back here often.
Cheers,
Justin
