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Wal Bass Club.

#10,341
rogerbmiller said:
I will share my experience and opinions with the understanding that they are just that, and like all things, tone and play ability are somewhat subjective.

If you want a super racehorse type bass, Wal probably shouldn't be the first choice, though I do find their 4 strings to be incredibly playable for me. The string spacing feels good, there is no excess string tension owing the great design, and while some might not love the deep neck profile, I find that it works well for me and plays pretty fast. But Wals don't feel sleek per se- they are substantially hefty instruments.

As for the tone, Wals do what other basses don't because each pickup has its own filter. This means you have a tremendous tonal range from eliminating all the high end to get the tubbiest dub sound't you've ever heard, to that very active "I have water in my ears" sound, to the grunt of Flea's sound on BSSM.
If you wanted to come close to what I consider the sound active sound of a Wal you could accomplish that by using a bass with filter-based electronics. It certainly won't sound it won't have the same circuit and pickups (also a huge part of the Wal tone recipe) but it would give you a similar ranger.

For me the ultimate poor-man's Wal is the Heartfield DR series. It's a much simpler filter and there is only one global filter for both PUPs, but it does give you that signature active tone.

Other basses that feature filters- the older Ibanez SRs with the Varimid electronics and Alembics.

Lastly, there is an aftermarket preamp called the ACG EQ-01 deigned by John East for @Skelf at ACG. It is modeled after the Wal preamp and does give you an individually adjustable filter for each pickup. It is an expensive unit (about $360) but worth every penny, especially if you want to port the tone and flexibility of a Wal into a different bass that is more familiar to you or more to your liking for playability. I dropped one into a John Suhr era Fender DLX JV and it is awesome. I wrote a review about it here:

Fender Suhr era DLX J V + ACG preamp = KILLER Bass!!!

Hope this is helpful. Again, just my experience but hopefully this information is of some value to you.

Good luck.
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Thanks Roger, that's all great info! It's funny how we often don't know what we want until we find it. I don't think I want a racehorse bass but that Mayones was just that and I fell in love with it and so it made me question what I'm actually looking for. I might love the Wal too, or even more, for other reasons. I just have to spend a little time with one to find out. Does it play closer to a J or a P or something else? Are they generally able to be set up with low action without fret buzz? I don't really care about neck size, for example, as I've played thin necks and thick necks that I both love and don't like. I just need to get a feel for how the entire package presents itself.
 
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#10,342
Shlabotnik said:
Perhaps it's that Mayones that I'm meant to be with!?!? Destiny???

I'll get to the point…. I'm wondering if there are any Wal 4 string owners anywhere in New England who might allow me to stop in and play with their instrument for 20 to 30 minutes. This would allow me to come to some conclusion as to whether I'm putting all of this financial effort into something that might not be right for me after all. If so, then first of all thank you so much and second of all, please PM me! I would appreciate it so much and, of course, I would work completely around your schedule. FYI, I am a middle-aged IT worker and parent… Just in case you're worried that I may be some dirtbag whippersnapper who wants to come over and cause trouble! I would be happy to share my Facebook profile before I come over so you know what you're in for! Thanks in advance for your help!!
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South shore music??

19669232674_4889540574_b-jpg.2417807
 
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#10,344
I asked a similar question to "how it plays" when I first placed my deposit on my Wal. They suggested I try out a Rickenbacker, that the Wal's neck was quite chunky and wide, similar to a standard Rick bass.
Knowing it would be extra difficult for me to even coax someone to allow me to try their Wal, I just ended up buying another one (when one became available) to find out if a Wal would work well with my hands. And yes, it worked absolutely fine. I have small hands compared to most guys, when I switched to Wal from jazz basses it was a smooth transition.

Here's a little something to persuade you to buy a Wal anyway...

IMG_20190820_181115.jpg
 
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#10,348
LowEndHum said:
I asked a similar question to "how it plays" when I first placed my deposit on my Wal. They suggested I try out a Rickenbacker, that the Wal's neck was quite chunky and wide, similar to a standard Rick bass.
Knowing it would be extra difficult for me to even coax someone to allow me to try their Wal, I just ended up buying another one (when one became available) to find out if a Wal would work well with my hands. And yes, it worked absolutely fine. I have small hands compared to most guys, when I switched to Wal from jazz basses it was a smooth transition.

Here's a little something to persuade you to buy a Wal anyway...

View attachment 3539624
Click to expand...
My main bass these days is a 4003S which I love so that bodes well for me! Thanks for the feedback!
 
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#10,352
Shlabotnik said:
Thanks Roger, that's all great info! It's funny how we often don't know what we want until we find it. I don't think I want a racehorse bass but that Mayones was just that and I fell in love with it and so it made me question what I'm actually looking for. I might love the Wal too, or even more, for other reasons. I just have to spend a little time with one to find out. Does it play closer to a J or a P or something else? Are they generally able to be set up with low action without fret buzz? I don't really care about neck size, for example, as I've played thin necks and thick necks that I both love and don't like. I just need to get a feel for how the entire package presents itself.
Click to expand...

It's not like a J or a P, it is it's own thing. It has a pretty deep neck profile, like a deep profile 70s J. It has 19mm string spacing like a P. The nut width is a hair over 1.65 (it's technically 42mm), similar to a J. Very playable specs and great execution. And I do think that the action gets super low without buzzing. Does on all the 4 strings I have ever owned anyway. My earlier comment is more about the general ergonomics of the bass. They can be a bit hefty so they don't strike you as being easy basses to play but they are.
 
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#10,353
My MK1 feels more like a heavy draft horse, but I like it for that. Is is heavy (well over 10lbs) and it sounds heavy. The neck and fretboard are a joy, action is pretty good, but I have some basses that go way lower, like the Stingray or Rick. Since I play the Wal a lot with a pick, a bit higher action is actually preferred.

That sound though. Theres nothing like it.
 
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