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Never seen ziricote on a Wal before--beautiful! And I love the matching headstock!
Hi Guys, been a lurker here for a while and finally thought I'd sign up! This thread is much more active than the one on Basschat, so I'm looking forward to chatting to some fellow Wal enthusiasts.
Nothing compared to the mighty collections some of you guys have but I currently have two Wals;
A brand new MK3 Six with Ziricote facings, picked up from Paul a month back.
and a 2014 fretless mk1 with Violet stained sycamore facings;
I had to move my 95 Shedua sixer on for the fretless but I couldn't justify two sixers right now unfortunately.
I'm chatting with Paul about ordering a fretted Mk3 four string with a trans white finish but details are yet to be finalized... plus it's a 24 month wait!
Anyway I'm new so be gentle
Rob (London-UK)
Thanks for the warm welcome gentleman 
Some astonishing examples posted in this thread on a daily basis, great stuff...
It's a little hard to make a fair comparison as the bass is so new and needs a little playing in for me to really be able to give an accurate answer. Initial impressions are that compared to my Shedua sixer the Ziricote is snappier and brighter, not glassy but just a little more cut... and obviously it still has bags of that trademark growl and punch in the low mids all Wals have.
I wanted to go for a dark wood top and also something a little different and Paul got hold of this piece of ziricote and also a piece of stripy macassar ebony and I agonized over which to go for... very happy with the result but I also know he still has that macassar sitting there tempting me to order up another!
Some astonishing examples posted in this thread on a daily basis, great stuff...
It's a little hard to make a fair comparison as the bass is so new and needs a little playing in for me to really be able to give an accurate answer. Initial impressions are that compared to my Shedua sixer the Ziricote is snappier and brighter, not glassy but just a little more cut... and obviously it still has bags of that trademark growl and punch in the low mids all Wals have.
I wanted to go for a dark wood top and also something a little different and Paul got hold of this piece of ziricote and also a piece of stripy macassar ebony and I agonized over which to go for... very happy with the result but I also know he still has that macassar sitting there tempting me to order up another!
That's absolutely outrageous. It looks like an oil painting. Genius.
On a different note, those of you here who know more about this than me, when do you choose specific facings? I'm approaching 3 months to go on my Mk2 and I was wondering what was sort of standard practice in terms of timeframe.
I chose the facings for my Ziricote a few months before the end but I needed Paul to get something specific in. I got an email four weeks before the bass was finished saying the facings had been joined together, so I think the body is a fairly quick part of the process... neck and electronics / hardware seem to take the time.
What sort of facings are you considering?
Paul sent me a picture of the headstock veneer about two months before I picked the bass up, not long after I'd finally made a decision on the facings. It went on well before the body laminates looking at the dates of various emails I received.
The neck seems to get done first then given time to settle. I took this pic when I was down last month of all the work in progress necks.
Quite a few orders on the go!
I had not heard of Shergold (and I thought I knew everything
)I think there is some history with the Hayman 4040...
For those of you who are/were on the fence about putting money down on a new Wal build........
Rumors were true!!! Prices went up......again!!!!!
Wal 4-string Mk1 - £4450
Wal 4-string Mk2 - £4650 (5 string version optional)
Wal 4-string Mk3 - £4650 (5 and 6 strings versions optional)
Rumors were true!!! Prices went up......again!!!!!
Wal 4-string Mk1 - £4450
Wal 4-string Mk2 - £4650 (5 string version optional)
Wal 4-string Mk3 - £4650 (5 and 6 strings versions optional)
I'd love to own a Wal one day. Seems like it's one of those "will never happen" things. hahaha. I have an MTD 435 right now. Wish I could you know, trade it to someone for one. LOL
Man I had wanted to get a Wal since the early 90's, didn't think it would ever happen, but within the last 3 years I've owned 2, so you never know! These basses are tough as nails too so a used bass with a beat up finish could save you quite a bit compared to a new one.
Rumors were true!!! Prices went up......again!!!!!
Wal 4-string Mk1 - £4450
Wal 4-string Mk2 - £4650 (5 string version optional)
Wal 4-string Mk3 - £4650 (5 and 6 strings versions optional)
Man that price hike of £400 is the biggest increase yet! Ouch!
That pricing is only part of it...Philip emailed me a build out for an MK2 with Zebrano Facings, Ebony fretted with block inlays at £5590 (think there's a picture of it at the top here)...plus £310 shipping to the states. Plus if you do PayPal they request you cover the %5.2 fee (that was the only part I thought was odd for a merchant to request, but I get it...). Having said all this, if Brett hadn't of sold me his I probably would of had a down payment on this monster (even with a total of almost $10k).
It cost £940 extra for the ebony board and block inlays? Or was this prior to the price increase? Either way, ouch, that's close to $1300 CAD (what I paid for my Stingray in 1996 lol). More power to him, clearly doesn't seem short on orders.
For me, going to the bank and doing a wire transfer was one on the reasons preventing me from pulling the trigger on a build years ago....the time it took in the bank, along with the forms was a real PITA....not to mention the fees for a transfer. I did a wire transfer for my black mk3 and that was a PITA, spent about an hour and a half doing it.....not to mention I had to wait more than a week for the seller to finally get the funds in their account.
Paypal is actually easier. Had I known what I know now, I would've gotten a build years ago. It's quick, easy, and the receiver gets the funds pretty much next day. For those worried about the fees....convo me and I'll give you more details on my experience.
I recently saw a used Mk 1 fretless with a wenge top that's exactly what I want, but I didn't have the $3+k. Needless to say, it's gone now. While considerably cheaper than new, they just don't pop up very often or for very long.
