Poor man's Zon Leagacy / Wal

[Jim C]

Lately, I've been listening to Roxy Music as well as Bryan Ferry solo records, primaily with Alan Spenner and John Whetton on bass.

I beleive both played a P-Bass and Alan also used a Wal and John a Zon. This is based on a Whikki search so not 100% sure of this.

In any event, there are bass tones that don't sound like an EQ'd P, but rather an active bass with a dull top end and a very intersting mid toanilty. Somewhat like a J bridge pickup with lots of bass / low mid boost.

I'm assuming the above mentioned basses might have played some part in this role although either bassist would have sounded brilliant regardless of equipment.

Any suggestions on how to get close to this sound on the cheap? My stock 70's J nor my Dimarazio J will get close to this regardless of EQ.

I had read that somet believe that a Peavey Cirrus (or other Peavey active 2 pup models) get close.

Anyone have an opportuity to compare a Legacy or Wal to a less expensive instrument with similar tones?

I've only owned Fenders or Stingrays. TIA

[Stealth]

The best I could suggest is a MusicMan pickup in the sweet spot (wired in parallel as is standard on a Stingray), but with a SVF (state-variable filter) preamplifier such as a cAMPus instead of the usual MusicMan Stingray/Sabre preamp. The cAMPus is a free design that can be made on a protoboard (i.e. you can buy all components and build it at home), but it's not perfect and sucks at the battery a bit more than the usual.

The reason why I mentioned those two is the following. A Wal pickup is a low-impedance design, and a MusicMan pickup wired in parallel has the lowest impedance of the commonly used pickups. A cAMPus is based on the same principle as the Wal signature preamp, that is, it's a filter that simulates having an infinitely finely variable capacitor and tone control pot. That lets you change the resonance ("peak frequency") of your pickup, which is the most prominent frequency that gives the pickup its characteristic sound.

[exidor]

I had a G&L-L2000 tribute I called it my poor mans Wal with the rear pickup & treble boost
on it sounded very Wal ish to my and other ears.

[two fingers]

I'm not sure what you mean by "on the cheap". The difference between a low-end Ibanez and a Wal or Zon leaves a wide grey area. But you could do a lot worse than a Roscoe Beck sig Fender. That bridge pickup in series mode is really punchy and can be dialed in to cop a MM pretty well, or a Jazz very well in single mode. It can also be run a parallel mode so the options are there. Plus, the neck in single cops a P pretty well. In series it does the mudbucker thing. and with the neck in single and the bridge in series run at the same time, it's just punchy and HUGE.

[grendle]

peavey g bass with emg's?

[FunkMetalBass]

Originally Posted by Stealth

The best I could suggest is a MusicMan pickup in the sweet spot (wired in parallel as is standard on a Stingray), but with a SVF (state-variable filter) preamplifier such as a cAMPus instead of the usual MusicMan Stingray/Sabre preamp. The cAMPus is a free design that can be made on a protoboard (i.e. you can buy all components and build it at home), but it's not perfect and sucks at the battery a bit more than the usual.

The reason why I mentioned those two is the following. A Wal pickup is a low-impedance design, and a MusicMan pickup wired in parallel has the lowest impedance of the commonly used pickups. A cAMPus is based on the same principle as the Wal signature preamp, that is, it's a filter that simulates having an infinitely finely variable capacitor and tone control pot. That lets you change the resonance ("peak frequency") of your pickup, which is the most prominent frequency that gives the pickup its characteristic sound.

I've been looking for the cAMPus schem, but the only google results I've found have all led me to your posts about it. Is there any way you can link to it? Thank you.

[Jim C]

+1 on search for cAMPus specs

[P. Aaron]

Love those 2 bass solos on Out Of The Blue.

[Stealth]

Original design by Mr. Helmut Lemme.