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Wal Bass Club.

#523
SFX83 said:
Thanks guys, for you comments ;)

Hey, that Pro2E is a rare one. Never seen a white one before, did you have it custom painted? Really cool bass that!
Click to expand...

It's a refinish. I got it around 84 and it had a major chunk of wood missing near the knobs. I also wasn't ready to play fretless so it went from clear finish fretless to trans-white fretted. There are a few original white wals around. What's rare about it is it being a rear-loaded ProIIe. Only one I've seen a pic of although I believe Pete told me he had made 2 or 3 of them. It was completed right at the time the Customs came out in 81.
 
#524
duncbass said:
It's a refinish. I got it around 84 and it had a major chunk of wood missing near the knobs. I also wasn't ready to play fretless so it went from clear finish fretless to trans-white fretted. There are a few original white wals around. What's rare about it is it being a rear-loaded ProIIe. Only one I've seen a pic of although I believe Pete told me he had made 2 or 3 of them. It was completed right at the time the Customs came out in 81.
Click to expand...

Very interesting, thanks for that ;)
 
#526
Well, On further examination the wires go to the following:

Red & Orange: soldered together and taped off

Blue: Tip of 1/4" jack

PU Black 1: Sleeve

PU Black 2: Unconnected

White: XLR Pin 2

Green: XLR Pin 1

Battery Black: Ground post on 1/4" jack

There is also a black lead jumping from the ground on the 1/4" to Pin 3 on the XLR.


How many black wires to you guys have in yours? Also if someone with a same era MKI could chime in that'd be great.

Here's a better picture to help.
bass1.jpg


zombywoof5050 said:
It also looks like the red and orange wires have been disconnected and they wrapped the ends (with something blue on the end of the orange wire and beige on the end of the red wire?). Am I seeing that correctly? Or is the orange wire connected to the red wire (hard to tell from the picture)? On CDK's pic, the red and orange wires are going to the 1/4" output jack (as well as a blue and black wire, which yours still has connected). So I can't tell where that stray black wire is coming from or where it's supposed to go. Perhaps it's been rewired such that your battery is on all the time.

Also, look at the slightly thicker black wire that goes from the XLR jack, and then (behind the circuit board) up directly to the bridge pickup. Hard to tell, but that's what it looks like in the picture. CDK's picture doesn't have that at all, it has the capacitor instead from the XLR to the 1/4". Very strange.

Does your DI output function properly? If the DI does work, does it work without a 1/4" plug inserted? On a correctly wired Wal, the DI won't work unless there is a plug inserted into the 1/4" jack (which turns the battery on). If your battery is on all the time (which IMO seems to be the case), you would not need a 1/4" plug inserted while just using the DI out.

Ok, I just opened up my Wal and figured out that (upon inserting a 1/4" plug) the red wire makes contact with the orange wire in order to turn the battery on. The blue and black wires on the 1/4" jack are just the two normal wires that make contact with the cable when plugged in. There is usually a capacitor (as seen on CDK's picture and missing from your bass) that goes from pin 1 of the XLR to the black (ground) connection on the 1/4" jack. Your bass has a black wire attached to the XLR that seems to go up to the bridge pickup (maybe for a ground connection to the metal casing of the pickup?).

So, my guess is that a previous owner replaced the 1/4" output jack (to alleviate crackling noises from the 1/4" jack, which is a common issue with Wals), and they connected the orange and red wires together to leave the battery permanently on. Are those red and orange wires (with the blue covering) connected together? It's hard to tell from your picture, but I'm guessing that they are because that's what turns the battery on. And that black wire that appears to go from the XLR to the bridge pickup must be a ground of some sort.

This is interesting, please keep us posted with your findings.
Click to expand...
 
#531
Yeah, you need to follow that thick black wire up toward the pickup cavity and find out where it attaches to.
I've had a couple of mine torn down, and the only thing I can think of being near that area is the ground wire for the bridge, but usually the bridge ground is simply wrapped around the threaded shaft of the pan pot.
Either way, that thick black wire isn't original. Neither is the thick white one.
 
#532
the thick black wire in question is the battery lead.
The black wire that's disconnected terminates at the the plug that's horizontal along the bottom pcb.

It seems outside of the orange and red being taped together that the wiring is stock (except for the Jack of course). just one of the black leads is off and I'm not sure where it goes.
 
#533
Substandard said:
the thick black wire in question is the battery lead.
The black wire that's disconnected terminates at the the plug that's horizontal along the bottom pcb.

It seems outside of the orange and red being taped together that the wiring is stock (except for the Jack of course). just one of the black leads is off and I'm not sure where it goes.
Click to expand...

On all of mine ('86, '90, '90) both the red and black battery wires are the same thin gauge and both are soldered to the 1st circut board very near the 'black box'. I don't have any thick wires.
 
#535
The black wire that comes off of the battery should connect to the pcb, as Caca de Kick has indicated. In your case, it appear that it has been soldered to the thicker wire that now extends to the 1/4" jack. The stray black wire that is coming off the horizontal plug originally connected to the 1/4" jack. I wish that I had the necessary electronics vocabulary to explain what is going on but, sadly, I don't. The jack that you now have in place is completing the battery circuit using either the tip or sleeve of the cable end itself. This is not the original design, which may explain why the black wire is no longer run through the board and why the capacitor is missing between the 1/4" and XLR. Again, I haven't an actual clue, but I hope that we are at least leading you in a valid direction.
 
#539
Those who have the plastic Wal/Hiscox cases, how do you like them? Do the basses fit snug inside without moving?

I'm still in need of finding a couple of proper cases. So far the only good fit is vintage Musicman tolex cases, but I need them for my Musicmans!
 

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