I don't believe so.
Take a listen to Marathon - its Steinberger. Sounds completely different to Big Money, for instance.
Also to most of Hold Your Fire
Short of being there personally at The Manor Studio, I can emphatically say Power Windows was recorded exclusively with Peter Collins' Wal. I don't have the sources here (most are in storage), but the various interviews/articles I read all stated that Ged had started basic tracking with the Steinberger and that Collins had recommended Ged try a track with the Wal and had fallen in love with it. He then began doing A/B tracks with Steinberger/Wal and always chose the Wal. He eventually quit A/B-ing as it was clear the Wal was more to his liking/style at the time.
re: Marathon specifically, to my ears it's clearly a Wal... I mean, at 2:55 when the bridge kicks in that Wal-ish honk/quack/mid-tone clank is just JUMPING all over that tone. Which goes to the heart of why I think (imho) Ged chucked the Steinberger -- rag on the Wal all you want (you meaning TB or anyone in general), there's a certain type of 'articulation' the Wal affords that the Steinberger tone does not. It fit Ged's hyper kinetic funky stuff perfectly. To my ears, when I hear Ged play PW songs on the PW tour with his Steinberger they just sounded... cumbersome, lumbering. Powerful, ballsy, etc? Sure. Just not as articulate.
FWIW, it was one of the reasons I sold my Steinberger (well, my divorce being the primary reason, but one of my babies had to go and it was the Steinberger).
Sorry if I came off as a Richard Von Döûché, I'm just slightly passionate about this.
re: the difference between the PW and HYF tone... other than going from Peter Collins' Wal (which was a natural walnut finish) to Ged's black and gold bass, I have to wonder what the difference in tone was since they were both MKIs. I recall Ged mentioning a slight difference in tone from an interview ca. 1987 but I don't recall his exact comments. HYF sounds a bit more open and less clenched to me, but I suppose in two years time A/D and other stuff improved exponentially in the recording realm.
ok, one last Wal (non-Ged) story: back in the late 80s my girlfriend and I were huge Fixx fans, and I really thought bassist Dan K. Brown's playing was awesome in a pop context.
We go to see them in a small club, and we're denied because it was over 21 (we were only 19 at the time). So we're hanging out by the side of the club, girlfriend in tears, the band is loading into the back and sees us and we must've spoken with them for an hour before the show. I got to speak with Dan Brown at length about his basses (he also used a Steinberger and a Wal) and his playing, recording techniques, etc.
Check this out -- he got his Wal for *free*. The Fixx were in the recording studio and Waller walked in and was chatting with the producer and engineer. When he saw Dan he handed him a Wal and said 'here, do you want this? It's got a dead spot, I can't sell it in good conscience.' (paraphrased)
Brown was blown away. He said the dead spot was so minimal it wasn't even funny.
A free Wal!
