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Wal Bass Club.

#7,642
Well, that particular 5 string in the classifieds already has a replacement neck on it. I know who the original owner was (it was not Leo, he's 2nd) and the car it was travelling in got rear ended destroying the original neck. The bass got rebuilt and it got a replacement fretted neck, and then that neck got replaced with the fretless its wearing now.
 
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#7,643
mikeswals said:
Well, that particular 5 string in the classifieds already has a replacement neck on it. I know who the original owner was (it was not Leo, he's 2nd) and the car it was travelling in got rear ended destroying the original neck. The bass got rebuilt and it got a replacement fretted neck, and then that neck got replaced with the fretless its wearing now.
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Oh wow, this bass has been to hell and back to say the least haha
 
#7,648
mikeswals said:
Well, that particular 5 string in the classifieds already has a replacement neck on it. I know who the original owner was (it was not Leo, he's 2nd) and the car it was travelling in got rear ended destroying the original neck. The bass got rebuilt and it got a replacement fretted neck, and then that neck got replaced with the fretless its wearing now.
Click to expand...

Are you sure about this? the previous sale ad here indicates that the finish cracking on the back of the neck (which is still there) was caused in that accident. But, at the same time, it also mentions that the fretless fingerboard is different (ebony instead of rosewood) from the original fretted one. Which only makes sense to me if the whole neck was replaced. Frankly I'd rather have it be "the neck was completely replaced after the accident, with a fretless neck, and there's since been some finish cracking".

TRADED - 1987 Wal MK2 Fretless 5 string - A piece of Canadian History

Anyway, I just bought it. . . so I'll get what I get :)
 
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#7,651
kasroc said:
Really? You found the facings to affect the sound that much, huh? Most Wal owners say that they all sound very similar due to the preamp. The fretboard material from what I hear makes the noticeable difference if any. I haven’t played enough Wal’s to compare though.
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mikeswals said:
I have had four solid mahogany body Wals, and they definitely are a little bit darker sound.
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To be honest, I think most would say that they sound distinctly like a Wal but with a different flavour on top. So the pickups and electronics will define the main tonality of the bass but there are nuances from everything else. I chatted to Paul about this when I did the feature on Woods a while back...

A HISTORY OF WAL BASSES: Wal Woods Part 2 - Bodies

There’s a quote from Paul in there which is illuminating when folks start discussing tone wood differences like wood was a uniform medium...

Ian and Pete also, famously advocated American Walnut as, quite simply, the best wood to use for a fretless. Paul agrees but also concedes that, in a complex world there's no simple formula and American Walnut is by no means the only option. "Yes, in general, but to counter the theory we’ve had some great sounding hard faced (like wenge) fretless basses through here – more aggressive sounding though. Also, you mustn’t forget that the density and grain structure can vary even from one end of a single board to the other. There can be a lot of variables even on two basses with exactly the same spec."
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#7,652
TrevorR said:
To be honest, I think most would say that they sound distinctly like a Wal but with a different flavour on top. So the pickups and electronics will define the main tonality of the bass but there are nuances from everything else. I chatted to Paul about this when I did the feature on Woods a while back...

A HISTORY OF WAL BASSES: Wal Woods Part 2 - Bodies

There’s a quote from Paul in there which is illuminating when folks start discussing tone wood differences like wood was a uniform medium...
Click to expand...
And here are my and Paul’s takes on the tonewood/Wal sound question...

All this begs a question which is debated hotly across guitar and bass Internet forums. Apart from the look, does all this make any difference? Many might contend that all that matters are the strings and pickups. Having played a variety of different Wals with different woods, passive and active electronics (of all generations) it's clear that they all have a certain "Wal sound" to them. The dominant factor in creating their tone does seem to be the unique Wal pickup. But to stop there seems to ignore the wonderfully complex physics going on inside a musical instrument. As much as the nut and bridge transmit vibrations into the body and neck those vibrations resonate through the body, are modulated (depending on the structure of the bass and the materials used) and transmitted back into the strings. These reflected vibrations create complex overtones in the strings which contribute to the tonal subtleties sensed and transmitted through the pickups.

Most luthiers would seem to ascribe to that more complex world view - as did both Ian and Pete. Asked about the difference that wood facings make Paul shared his insights. "The standard bodies all have a central Mahogany core and the facings add character to the overall tone. So regardless of facing choice there is a consistency running through by using the same core timber. As a general rule, the harder facings such as wenge/padauk (wenge being slightly harder) tend to be slightly brighter and punchier giving more attack and reflection - often selected for fretted basses. At the other end of the scale are the softer/less dense timbers like American Walnut, which is favourite for fretless instruments and players who prefer a rounder less aggressive sound."
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#7,655
geshel said:
Are you sure about this? the previous sale ad here indicates that the finish cracking on the back of the neck (which is still there) was caused in that accident. But, at the same time, it also mentions that the fretless fingerboard is different (ebony instead of rosewood) from the original fretted one. Which only makes sense to me if the whole neck was replaced. Frankly I'd rather have it be "the neck was completely replaced after the accident, with a fretless neck, and there's since been some finish cracking".
Click to expand...

Congrats on buying that bass! I have other irons in the fire otherwise I would have wanted it. The story has been scrambled a little over the years. I had known Leo was friends with Laurence Cottle. I ran across a pic of this shedua bass with Leo from circa 1990 with a rosewood fretted neck. so I dug deep and asked Leo about the specifics and if this bass had any Cottle ties.
Now as a back story on the first few 5 string protos went to working session players that were Wal artists. This shedua bass went to Laurence Cottle. The next one was santos rosewood and went to Rob Burns. I have one after Rob's that went to Mark Smith.
Anyway, Leo confirmed the shedua bass was crushed in the accident while owned by Cottle, as far as I know Pete made him another bass as a replacment (the replacement bass has a serial well after my feb'86). The original eventually got fixed up with a few things and new fretted neck and Leo bought it...however it still has the 1985 2-trim preamp that the protos all had.
Then Leo said his friend Mr Cottle needed a fretted neck and had a spare fretless neck kicking about, so he traded the fretted neck for Laurence's fretless neck around '91 after his black Mk2 5 arrived.
I'm sure the original case got crushed too because after '86 the case changed latch positions and the shedua bass has the later revised case.
Dont know what to tell about the install of the hipshots...those tuners came out way later than the accident. The 1990 pic still had the schallers...maybe Leo had a tuner fail in the mid 90's?
So from what I gather, the only original things were the body wood, the preamp boards, and the bridge.
 
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#7,656
mikeswals said:
Congrats on buying that bass! I have other irons in the fire otherwise I would have wanted it. The story has been scrambled a little over the years. I had known Leo was friends with Laurence Cottle. I ran across a pic of this shedua bass with Leo from circa 1990 with a rosewood fretted neck. so I dug deep and asked Leo about the specifics and if this bass had any Cottle ties.
Now as a back story on the first few 5 string protos went to working session players that were Wal artists. This shedua bass went to Laurence Cottle. The next one was santos rosewood and went to Rob Burns. I have one after Rob's that went to Mark Smith.
Anyway, Leo confirmed the shedua bass was crushed in the accident while owned by Cottle, as far as I know Pete made him another bass as a replacment (the replacement bass has a serial well after my feb'86). The original eventually got fixed up with a few things and new fretted neck and Leo bought it...however it still has the 1985 2-trim preamp that the protos all had.
Then Leo said his friend Mr Cottle needed a fretted neck and had a spare fretless neck kicking about, so he traded the fretted neck for Laurence's fretless neck around '91 after his black Mk2 5 arrived.
I'm sure the original case got crushed too because after '86 the case changed latch positions and the shedua bass has the later revised case.
Dont know what to tell about the install of the hipshots...those tuners came out way later than the accident. The 1990 pic still had the schallers...maybe Leo had a tuner fail in the mid 90's?
So from what I gather, the only original things were the body wood, the preamp boards, and the bridge.
Click to expand...

Wow an interesting life it has had! Thanks for the info!
 
#7,657
Hey everyone I stumbled upon this Mk3 and noticed it has a switch of some sort near the control knobs. It seems interesting. Any information on what this is for?

14766766162_ce3d365707_h.jpg
 
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