Wal Bass Club.

[ampegfuzz]

They sounded great out of the gate and came to pitch very quickly. I didn't have to take a ton of slack out and stayed in tune extremely well. Unfortunately after 1 show and a jam they are getting dull. I usually only need to change dunlops for fear of breaking since they are super consistent with their tone. They just don't carry them local any more.

 

[mikeswals]

I am not one that has sweaty hands to kill string, I use DR highbeams and can get 5-7 months of hard use per set. I gig about three weekends a month and those are 4-5 hr gigs. Some of my lesser used basses I can get a year on DR's.
Slinkys have always died very fast for me, like 1-2 weeks.
I tried the Dunlop superbright nickels too, they last a few weeks then die to super dull.

The one other string I really liked is SIT, and I've had these on my StingRay for 1.5 years now and they're still bright.

But as they say, it's all subjective, and YMMV.

 

[LowEndHum]

The real question here is... whether or not anyone has tried Kalium strings on a Wal yet...

 

[ampegfuzz]

Man, K strings were awesome on my ric. Haven’t orders a set in ages

 

[ampegfuzz]

They too bright?? I run my bass wide open with all the knobs pulled.

I am not one that has sweaty hands to kill string, I use DR highbeams and can get 5-7 months of hard use per set. I gig about three weekends a month and those are 4-5 hr gigs. Some of my lesser used basses I can get a year on DR's.
Slinkys have always died very fast for me, like 1-2 weeks.
I tried the Dunlop superbright nickels too, they last a few weeks then die to super dull.

The one other string I really liked is SIT, and I've had these on my StingRay for 1.5 years now and they're still bright.

But as they say, it's all subjective, and YMMV.

 

[Ccarson26]

Clearly the Tool guys have never had GAS..

 

[mikeswals]

The real question here is... whether or not anyone has tried Kalium strings on a Wal yet...

Id been meaning to use some Kaliums, especially since Skip lived not far from me. But after he moved away I kinda forgot about em.

 

[Toolmybass]

There was a lot of folks that didnt know 46&2 was not recorded with a Wal. It was a StingRay
Here is mine with old EB Slinkys and a crappy camera.

 

[Les Fret]

I don't the find the Tool bass sound typical a Wal sound. It's a good sound but not what I associate with Wal. But other people might think different.

 

[Toolmybass]

I don't the find the Tool bass sound typical a Wal sound. It's a good sound but not what I associate with Wal. But other people might think different.

Its with any well known recording(s) with Wals, they all sound a titch different. If you own a Wal and start messing with the tone knobs this becomes very prevalent on why. There is such a parametric sweep on the tone knobs that can also be pulled, it leaves with dozens of different sounds. But still, owners of Wals can always hear that distnctive Wal as the "base" of the sound. Nothing is similar.
An example of the sweep (its only used at the beginning)

 

[djaxup]

interesting, I always use the neck pickup only, pick attack engaged for that Patient intro. Without it I don't get the nice high pitched metallic sounds in the delay.

I don't the find the Tool bass sound typical a Wal sound. It's a good sound but not what I associate with Wal. But other people might think different.

I guess it's just a matter of what kind of Wal sound you heard first or fell in love with first. To me that grunt is THE Wal tone. You also don't need much more than a Wal and a heavy pick attack (not the knob ) to achieve that.

 

[Les Fret]

I guess it's just a matter of what kind of Wal sound you heard first or fell in love with first. To me that grunt is THE Wal tone. You also don't need much more than a Wal and a heavy pick attack (not the knob ) to achieve that.

I agree with you on your first sentence. What I find typical Wal and the sound I like is that ‘British’ 80s honky mid range sound like Mick Karn or Percy Jones or some Roxy Music albums for example.

I think the Tool sound can be achieved by almost any other bass. Because you hit it hard with a pick and use overdrive and maybe some other effects. You will hear less what the bass really sounds like. It is just not my thing. I know for a lot of people Tool is the reason to buy a Wal. But for me it is not a very distinct Wal sound. It is not that I dislike Tool or that sound or anything. And I own two Wals.

 

[10cc]

Roxy Music is what brought me to Wal.

 

[djaxup]

I agree with you on your first sentence. What I find typical Wal and the sound I like is that ‘British’ 80s honky mid range sound like Mick Karn or Percy Jones or some Roxy Music albums for example.

I think the Tool sound can be achieved by almost any other bass. Because you hit it hard with a pick and use overdrive and maybe some other effects. You will hear less what the bass really sounds like. It is just not my thing. I know for a lot of people Tool is the reason to buy a Wal. But for me it is not a very distinct Wal sound. It is not that I dislike Tool or that sound or anything. And I own two Wals.

I guess we got to agree to disagree then. Thats just like saying the Wal mid honk can also be achieved by a bridge pu nasal J-Bass and some filter, and you are there (not the case imo). I get it, you are not into scooped sounds and therefore don't care too much about the finer parts.

You can get a general Tool ballpark sound by just about any bass and a sansamp and a pick. It just depends how willing to compromise you are. There are people saying to get a P-Bass esque tone you just have to dial your Jazz to the neck pickup. Yes it will broaden up the sound, and most likely function in the same kind of music. But does that really get you a P-Bass tone? Again, it depends how much you are willing to compromise.

Justin Chancellor doesn't use all that much overdrive/distortion or effects for his signature tone. It's a wide open Wal with a pick. My Wal sure sounds like that without fancy pedals. You need those for the according parts, like the Schism solo part, but not for the basic tone - that he uses most of the time.



that - to me - is unmistakably a Wal tone.

 

[Les Fret]

So what knob/filter/ pick attack etc. positions do you use exactly to get the signature (cleaner) Tool sound? Like in the above video. Want to try on my Mk1.

 

[Toolmybass]

I think the Tool sound can be achieved by almost any other bass. Because you hit it hard with a pick and use overdrive and maybe some other effects. You will hear less what the bass really sounds like.

Im pretty sure you own a Wal?, which really confuses me on your above post. Did you listen past @1:08 of my video? My Rat pedal is at 1. Almost as low as you can put it. There are no other effects except eq'ing post recording. That sound at 1:09 is unattainable with a raw recording with another bass unless heavily manipulated post production.
To get that sound on my Wal was not easy. Many trial and error set-ups...sensitive mic placement. When you combine a Wal, and 12" MB speakers, there is a "sweet spot" when the speaker is pushed a little bit, and an aggressive picking style. Not too mention the Wal knobs have to be set perfect or that distinctive Tool "squishy growl" disappears.
YRMV

 

[Toolmybass]

So what knob/filter/ pick attack etc. positions do you use exactly to get the signature (cleaner) Tool sound? Like in the above video. Want to try on my Mk1.

My onboard settings are
Vol 9.5 (pick attack pulled)
Balance, one notch on the trebel side
Neck pup 6.8 (not pulled)
Bridge pup 9 (pulled)

On Intension, I would have my pup blend on 2 notches past center on the treble side

Also my bridge pup is raised higher than neck. There is a guitar mag issue where it shows a long haired JC with the Wal on his lap....you can see the big dfference in pup height)

Edit:.i should also note that my trim settings in preamp are mostly maxed

 

[Les Fret]

Ok thanks. By one notch at the treble you mean one line from BT towards T (just to be sure)?

Did you find these settings your own or did you see them from JC somewhere?

 

[Toolmybass]

Ok thanks. By one notch at the treble you mean one line from BT towards T (just to be sure)?

Did you find these settings your own or did you see them from JC somewhere?

Correct!

The settings were after years of knob twisting (bass-heads-pedals) and the 1,000's of possible combinations. But when you find it?...its like wow!, what a difference.

 

[djaxup]

gotta try that, my very mid heavy MK1 is usually set like this:

Balance: 1 notch to the bass side / neck pickup - this scoops the sound out, when I mix 50/50 the sound is very aggressive mid sounding.
Bass filter: pulled at 10.
treble: pulled at just under 8.

no Pick attack, or pick attack turned low with the trim pot.


very different from your settings.


My first Wal was an irish yew one, that had a more balanced sound. My current walnut one is mid heaven.