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Wal Bass Club.

I've seen so many gorgeous, hardly blemished, Wal's here— so I'd thought I'd show what "chainsaw" hands do to one over a 17 year period. It still works beautifully. I ordered it back in 1997 and got it almost a year later. I can't find my serial number on the Wal database however (W25896).

I'd actually like to replace the ABS plastic. But I don't believe one can w/o replacing the whole unit?
View attachment 578109

The scratches above the neck pickup are from metal picks.
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Straight on shot of pick and finger wear.
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End of head stock are teeth marks. Mine.
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Belt buckle.
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Electronics still going strong.
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I do wish I wouldn't of wrote on it, WAY back in the day, but I could never remember the trimpot functions. Until I found the original brochure that came with it in the next pic.
View attachment 578118

My goddamn dog.
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. . . So there you go! The "mint" in mint condition is of no value to me, personally. Simply, playing your heart out until your fingers don't want it anymore and your heart has had it's fill is.
+1 on Scuba Cult awesomeness. Big fan....great Wal playing!
 
walbass_zpsoi82cbpu.jpg


Just about a week away now.
 
I ordered it back in 1997 and got it almost a year later. I can't find my serial number on the Wal database however (W25896).

Mr Scuba, I too have thoroughly enjoyed your music over the last few years. LOVE THE TONE!!!!! Glad you found your way here man!
The database is not info from the factory, that's why it's so incomplete. That old database only existed from Wal owners (at at point in time: early to-mid 2000's) emailing in their bass info to a guy in college. When he left the school he couldn't take the file because it was done on school property.

Don't worry about your Wal, it's beautiful. A lot of them have seen quite a bit of action. I think the 5 string plastic casing is epoxied on. You'd have to send Paul your pickup as an exchange for a new one.
 
Hi All,

I'm very new to this forum, but have learned a lot reading through these threads. I wanted to share my recent acquisition with all of you.

It is a 1989 Wal MkII 5 stringer with flamed Canadian maple facings, Brazilian mahogany core, and a macassar ebony fretboard.

Its by no means in mint condition, but stunning none the less. I've ordered a new truss rod recces boat From Electric Wood to complete the bass. Other than that it is good to go. This bass came from Paris, France and now resides in Calgary Alberta, Canada. I am the third owner of the bass.

I've noticed that the maple facings are de-laminating slightly on some edges. The de-laminated sections are stable and I can't press the facing back onto the mahogany. It looks like it has separated about 1mm if that.

I was thinking I could use some clear wood filler or wood/hide glue to fill the gap and stabilize these sections. Please comment and let me know what you think about this issue, I would appreciate it. I tend to think leaving it is the best option, I don't want to de-value the bass. It cost just over 5,000$ CAD with shipping and import charged to get it to me in Canada. I think I got a pretty good deal. Thanks!

Anyway here it is:
IMG_1826.JPG
 
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Hi All,

I'm very new to this forum, but have learned a lot reading through these threads. I wanted to share my recent acquisition with all of you.

It is a 1989 Wal MkII 5 stringer with flamed Canadian maple facings, Brazilian mahogany core, and a Brazilian ebony fretboard.

Its by no means in mint condition, but stunning none the less. I've ordered a new truss rod recces boat From Electric Wood to complete the bass. Other than that it is good to go. This bass came from Paris, France and now resides in Calgary Alberta, Canada. I am the third owner of the bass.

I've noticed that the maple facings are de-laminating slightly on some edges. The de-laminated sections are stable and I can't press the facing back onto the mahogany. It looks like it has separated about 1mm if that.

I was thinking I could use some clear wood filler or wood/hide glue to fill the gap and stabilize these sections. Please comment and let me know what you think about this issue, I would appreciate it. I tend to think leaving it is the best option, I don't want to de-value the bass. It cost just over 5,000$ CAD with shipping and import charged to get it to me in Canada. I think I got a pretty good deal. Thanks!

Anyway here it is:
View attachment 578997

Go with the wood filler if you want to seriously impact its resale value.

If it were me, I'd leave it to a pro (unless you are one) and have it done properly.

Beautiful Wal by the way.
 
Mr Scuba, I too have thoroughly enjoyed your music over the last few years. LOVE THE TONE!!!!! Glad you found your way here man!
The database is not info from the factory, that's why it's so incomplete. That old database only existed from Wal owners (at at point in time: early to-mid 2000's) emailing in their bass info to a guy in college. When he left the school he couldn't take the file because it was done on school property.

Don't worry about your Wal, it's beautiful. A lot of them have seen quite a bit of action. I think the 5 string plastic casing is epoxied on. You'd have to send Paul your pickup as an exchange for a new one.
I'm very grateful for your compliment and thank you for listening. Also, thank you very much for the information. I've just emailed Paul and awaiting a response. I'll let the forum know what he say's. (I also need some backplate screws).
 
To help out my fellow Wal-nuts just wanted to document this:

So over the weekend i made it a point to work on my Wal preamp on my 89 Mk I Honduras Bass. a couple days ago i was trying out a few things and had it tuned to drop C. when i was playing it, the low C sounded like crap. to make sure it wasn't my rig or the setup, i grabbed my Black Mk I and gave it the same setup and it sounded great! Being an '89, it actually put it at the mark where it should be done anyways.

Here are a couple before pics.
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Here is the old vs new:
just a note that the old is a 4.7 uF 25V electrolytic capacitor.
i replaced it with (2) 4.7 uF 35 V electrolytic capator - which Paul currently uses on all the new builds.

16647497569_63b8a48538_b.jpg


Here is a pic of the finished install:
16832496342_1aa4a7f17d_b.jpg


So in summary, just wanted to post pics for those who have older Wals (80s-early 90s) since this will need to be done eventually, since aluminum electrolytic caps do have a load/shelf life. You can tell it NEEDS to be done if you have the following:
the cap show sign of it detoriating/aging
the sound of the bass doesn't sound like it should
your getting weird popping sound (reported by another TB member)

its also a good idea to do it as preventative work (Caca De Kick), since it will eventually deteriorate/fail (you don't this to happen and muck up your PCB)
capblown_6.jpg


if you are going to attempt this yourself, here is a nice tutorial i had book marked and used for reference back in my hay days at school.


if you feel at all uncomfortable doing it, PLEASE get the work done by a professional.....if ya mess up i think Paul charges £50.00 -£75.00 for preamp repairs.



Did this fix the issue with flabby tone on the Low-C?
 
It did! Sounds like it should now! I had others to compare too :bag: , so it was easy to rule out it was not my amp or cab. I suspected it had to be a failing or faltering cap - after i did this...all was good in the neighborhood!!

Sweet. I still haven't changed mine out yet, but I have new stock of almost everything I should need. I've had one of the first-stage MC549 transistors crap out and one of my OP-AMP chips go out. Fortunately, I found some exact chips imported from China that were simply drop-in replacements.