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The answer is in his TB name.I'd like to know, too
KoaFodera
Commercial User
Hawaiian Koa from Oahu. Thanks to Paul for allowing my special request to use this for my Mk ll.
Just wondering...how many previous Wal basses have had Koa facings?
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Nice timbre! That looks incredible!! You doing standard hw or doing gold or black?
Lol also, I'm sure you meant Paul right? Unless you some how resurrected Pete to make your bass
KoaFodera
Commercial User
Brain fart, yes I meant Paul. God bless Pete and Ian for their vision to start Wal.
I'm going with black hardware which looks great with Koa. The only other change was Pau Ferro for the f/b which was done back when Indian Rosewood was on the CITES list.
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Your future Wal is going to look incredible Dave! Super jealous!!!
Paul's latest builds are worth every penny spent if you handle the wait.
I say this having never done it, but it's getting more appealing by the day.
Having owned both a 2015 (still own) and 2018 (now sold) builds has confirmed this to me. I've said it before and will say it again, I plan to always own a Wal for my lifetime.
Awesome! I've been partial with having black hw myself past couple of builds. If I were to jump in again, I'd probably do gold with a natural finish. Your build is gonna be awesome, congrats!
That's so cool that you chose Pau Ferro for the f/b it sounds closer to Ebony to me than Rosewood IMO and that Koa top you chose is spectacular!
I seriously considered Koa for my Mk3 build. There's a guy based in England who harvests Koa from fallen trees and it wouldn't be difficult to order and have him send directly to Paul.
KoaFodera
Commercial User
The main reason going with Pau Ferro was the CITES factor at the time I submitted my deposit, Dec 2018. The up-charge for PF was the same price as the paperwork to facilitate shipping IR out of England. NS-2 basses always sound great with their Pau Ferro boards so I reasoned it would also sound real nice on a Wal. Paul had recently started offering these as an alternative to IR and liked the end result.
If your guy can get legally sourced Koa, that would be great. My guy lives on Oahu and shipped my facings right over to Paul. I lucked out with a really unusual set.
KoaFodera
Commercial User
KoaFodera
Commercial User
Paul wasn't able to find any Koa so I offered to source out a set. PM me if you want my source. Bart in Oahu was awesome finding me an even better set than I expected.
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I remember some people griping on TB about Fender using pao Ferro in place of Rosewood thinking it was a cheap inferior wood. I don't think Paul, Vinny Fodera or Stuart Spector would use it if that were the case.
Same as my Dingwall...infact I love the grain texture it has as well.
Hi,
a friend of mine would like to place an order for a new mkII.... since the prices disappeared from the Walbasses site (Paul also explains the reason why), does anybody know the current price for an mkII 4 with sapwood padouk facings?
Thank you
a friend of mine would like to place an order for a new mkII.... since the prices disappeared from the Walbasses site (Paul also explains the reason why), does anybody know the current price for an mkII 4 with sapwood padouk facings?
Thank you
I am not aware of any previous wals being made with koa. I don't think it's very common to find in the UK. I always thought it'd be a great choice and would love to hear it. Musical instruments are now exempt from CITES but that wasn't the case in 2018 of course. I think pau ferro makes a great fingerboard that sounds a lot like ebony but looks more interesting.
KoaFodera
Commercial User
Totally understandable Paul not being able to offer a definite price given the lead time has now stretched out to 36 months. Somehow that sounds better than 3 years. Hopefully someone who has a Wal on order with sapwood Padouk facings can post if there was an up-charge. Then add that to 6,650 British pounds.
