They were in fact, extremely unfashionable at one point and that fall from grace put the original Wal/Electric Wood business under considerable strain. After enjoying a period of being very much in demand in the 80's, the wheel had begun to turn in the 90's and they were seen as quite naff. Put to me, in rather unflattering terms, as the prize of every gigging pub bassist who had won a bit on the pools and wanted to live in the fading glory of that 80's sound.
I recall, before the stratospheric appreciation, that The Gallery in London had a mk2 in stock for £1250, in decent shape, about eleven or twelve years ago. Funnily enough, it seemed to be a lot of Tool fans in America that suddenly rushed to drive demand when Wal ceased production. I found it most ironic that the figurehead player that 'saved' Wal could have really been playing any old bass. Wal basses have a fairly distinctive sound which Justin Chancellor had distorted and buried. However, if it wasn't a Wal it wasn't right for these superfans (and I absolutely love Tool, I must say).
The sudden revival of Wal values was surprising. Even as a new product, they're priced to the levels the used market has risen to. £4500, was a quote I was looking at for a new one. That's insane, to me, and the production of the new Wal basses seems pretty slow. I assume the demand is all that high which props up used values, which in turn gives New Wal a reason to keep their new prices high...
I say this not because Wal aren't great basses, I think they're mint. But aside from their proprietary electronics, they're very simply crafted instruments and in mk1 guise, feel quite dumpy and old fashioned. The market has also outpaced them by a good degree. FWIW, I think ACG has the Wal package absolutely whopped with their own filter-based preamp and pickups, for instance.
If I were choosing between a pimped Jazz and a Wal I'd go for the Wal every time. Unlike the Jazz, I'd expect to lose very little money if I wanted to sell it. If you buy a Wal and find it's not to your taste, you'll always find a seller, but beware before you do hunt a Wal down: their reputation and price may well inflate your expectations beyond what they actually deliver. They're not the holy grail and I expect, if they hadn't closed down in the first place, they'd be worth about half of what they are now.
