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Wal Bass Club.

#4,181
Hi everyone! I have a question for those of you that have played a number of different Wals. Have any of you come across some Wals that were noticeably brighter or darker in tone? Is there something in the pickups themselves that would vary to the point of making the bass sound noticeably darker or brighter? I love my Olive Ash MkI, and the classic Wal tone is there, but I find that I have to crank the upper midrange when recording (sometimes as much as 9 - 10 dB) to really hear those frequencies as much as I'd like. Without that upper midrange boost, the bass has a really thick low end and low midrange. Thanks for any insight you guys can provide!
 
#4,182
:thumbsup:

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#4,183
Toolmybass said:
I believe they were Maple or Olive facings on a mahogany core with a trans red finish.

Pretty sure he only used the red one on a couple of songs for the lowB and used the black MKI for the rest of the tunes for HYF and RTB
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Yeah I think I could see maple in that

And his trans red MK2 was a 4 and he got it after presto and used it all the way through roll the bones. He had an MK2 5 that he never used live and he used it throughout hold your fire. I've always wondered what it his 5 string was like but I can't find any info on it other than the fact he used it for hold your fire
 
#4,186
bigsnack said:
Hi everyone! I have a question for those of you that have played a number of different Wals. Have any of you come across some Wals that were noticeably brighter or darker in tone? Is there something in the pickups themselves that would vary to the point of making the bass sound noticeably darker or brighter? I love my Olive Ash MkI, and the classic Wal tone is there, but I find that I have to crank the upper midrange when recording (sometimes as much as 9 - 10 dB) to really hear those frequencies as much as I'd like. Without that upper midrange boost, the bass has a really thick low end and low midrange. Thanks for any insight you guys can provide!
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Have you tried adjusting the trim pot inside it? Pole pieces? I mean besides that i'm assuming it must just be the combination of your amp, cabs, strings, amp Eq, bass setup etc etc. I understand all wals have the same pickups and preamp and I would find it very hard to believe the top wood could make a noticeable difference in tone. I cant imagine 2 wals would sound different because one had a wenge top and one had a walnut top. That being said, I do understand your curiosity because sometimes I hear peoples wals and they sound like they get tones mine cant get and I get tones on mine that I have never heard on anybody elses haha.
 
#4,187
rusheroo said:
Ohh I didn't know the poly over the mahogany would do such that, thanks for the info. And yeah I have the funkmasters on my Schecter Diamond Custom 4 (my cheap $500 Wal haha) and it does help get sorta a rubber band tone but Geddy used the same strings on the MK2 but it didn't have much rubber band sound even though it was poly but I don't know what kind of timber was used under that trans red coat

This might be kinda off topic but even though I have the funkmasters on my Schecter, it doesn't have the same twang as Geddy's Wals, I guess I could call it like a sort of a jingle bell twang if anyone knows what I mean, but is that just my bass or are the strings messed up?
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Technique and settings have a lot to do with. Once you play a Wal you'll gain a better understanding.
 
#4,188
At the end of the day your fingers and personal touch, strings, amp, cabs, pedals, and how you shape all your EQ and place your settings are gonna affect the tone so incredibly much that I think it's hard to compare any specific bass tone between 2 players with different rigs. Different setups, Different hands. Etc
 
#4,189
bigsnack said:
Hi everyone! I have a question for those of you that have played a number of different Wals. Have any of you come across some Wals that were noticeably brighter or darker in tone? Is there something in the pickups themselves that would vary to the point of making the bass sound noticeably darker or brighter? I love my Olive Ash MkI, and the classic Wal tone is there, but I find that I have to crank the upper midrange when recording (sometimes as much as 9 - 10 dB) to really hear those frequencies as much as I'd like. Without that upper midrange boost, the bass has a really thick low end and low midrange. Thanks for any insight you guys can provide!
Click to expand...

I've found that pickup height settings make a big difference on stuff like that. Closer to the strings gets more bite.
 
#4,190
Musicman1901 said:
I would find it very hard to believe the top wood could make a noticeable difference in tone. I cant imagine 2 wals would sound different because one had a wenge top and one had a walnut top.
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Facings on a Wal, or any other instrument for that matter, absolutely have a distinguishable impact on tone. I've owned two MkI's, one was Lacewood and the other was Maple, they were set up the same way and sounded noticeably different, the maple is brighter. The same applies to core woods and fretboards as well.
 
#4,191
Thanks guys, I appreciate the input. I would expect that the wood facings would make at least a subtle difference, but I wouldn't think it would take a normally aggressive electronics setup and put a pillow over it. When that bass setup information from Paul made the rounds on this thread, I set up my Wal per his specs. That being said, I'll tinker with the heights and see if I hear a difference. Does anyone have a simple, DI only recording of a Wal that they have recorded? I'd be curious to use something that someone else has recorded as an a/b against my bass. I'm willing to accept that I have unrealistic expectations, but this is something that has been eating at me for a while.
 
#4,192
I use the same technique as Geddy and I put on the same pickup blend as him with 2 emg humbuckers and have rotosound funkmasters and I can get in the general area of that Wal tone but I love how his tone has good bottom end yet twangy highs that I can't get anywhere near on my Schecter
 
#4,193
Types of strings and size also plays a factor. Truth be told each my Wals have different strings on them and I'd hate to waste strings that work perfectly well, but between Wals, I find that the solid Mahogany on a black poly Wal does have an affect the tone. Has good weight to it too..... I bet that black Geddy Mk II 5er has to weigh at least 12-13 lbs.
 
#4,194
bigsnack said:
Thanks guys, I appreciate the input. I would expect that the wood facings would make at least a subtle difference, but I wouldn't think it would take a normally aggressive electronics setup and put a pillow over it. When that bass setup information from Paul made the rounds on this thread, I set up my Wal per his specs. That being said, I'll tinker with the heights and see if I hear a difference. Does anyone have a simple, DI only recording of a Wal that they have recorded? I'd be curious to use something that someone else has recorded as an a/b against my bass. I'm willing to accept that I have unrealistic expectations, but this is something that has been eating at me for a while.
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This is when a Wal GTG event would be cool!!!
 
#4,196
Maedros said:
Facings on a Wal, or any other instrument for that matter, absolutely have a distinguishable impact on tone. I've owned two MkI's, one was Lacewood and the other was Maple, they were set up the same way and sounded noticeably different, the maple is brighter. The same applies to core woods and fretboards as well.
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I totally believe it for core woods and fretboard wood. Absolutely. I just have a hard time believing a tiny tiny thin little layer of something on the face and back of the instrument can change the overall tone in a noticeable way. I mean I have nothing to compare to so I have no room to talk that just seems so wild to me. You have 2 wals so I believe you I just find that very strange. I wouldn't think that would make the tiniest difference. I always that of it as purely cosmetic.
 
#4,197
bigsnack said:
Thanks guys, I appreciate the input. I would expect that the wood facings would make at least a subtle difference, but I wouldn't think it would take a normally aggressive electronics setup and put a pillow over it. When that bass setup information from Paul made the rounds on this thread, I set up my Wal per his specs. That being said, I'll tinker with the heights and see if I hear a difference. Does anyone have a simple, DI only recording of a Wal that they have recorded? I'd be curious to use something that someone else has recorded as an a/b against my bass. I'm willing to accept that I have unrealistic expectations, but this is something that has been eating at me for a while.
Click to expand...
I could do a recording for you of my wal DI out straight to the board with nothing else in between. No amp. No preamp. No pedals. Just wal to board. Give me an idea of a few things your looking to hear. It would take a 30 minute recording to cycle through all the tones haha. Walking, slapping, picking? With all the push pull knobs and pickup pan and stuff I could record a video and you would have a hard time comparing unless our settings were all the same. You know what I mean?
 
#4,198
The facings aren't so thin, if I had to guess, they're probably 4mm thick. Wood is naturally resonant, there's a good video on the PRS site that shows how different even woods of the same type can sound. The differences aren't drastic, but there's definitely a perceptible tonal variation between laminates.
 
#4,200
Maedros said:
The facings aren't so thin, if I had to guess, they're probably 4mm thick. Wood is naturally resonant, there's a good video on the PRS site that shows how different even woods of the same type can sound. The differences aren't drastic, but there's definitely a perceptible tonal variation between laminates.
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Well that's actually pretty cool because it gives everybody's wals a different taste. Since they all have the same electronics and body wood it is kinda cool that the top wood can change the tone a little. I wouldn't have thought it did anything more than make it look nice
 

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