Wal Bass Club.

[Smogcity]

Well, if its just the 'look' you're going for, then mostly yes. Sunburst finish is no problem, he's done it recently. Except it will be a Mk1 with a pickguard and a Mk1 headstock shape, but no toggle switch.

It would look just like this but sunburst.

View attachment 4121158

Awesome! Yup that would totally work for me. Thanks!

 

[kulit17]

5 string Wal available in Japan

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Jeff Sarsippius]

5 string Wal available in Japan

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Yep: if anyone wants to jump on this, I can say after living in Japan 27 plus years that used gear here in "A" condition might as well be considered like new as Japanese customers and shop staff are ultra OCD

 

[mikeswals]

Isn't this the same fretless 5'er that was recently sold out of Germany last week?

 

[Jeff Sarsippius]

Isn't this the same fretless 5'er that was recently sold out of Germany last week?

Nossir: this has been up for many months now here in Japan.

 

[kulit17]

Isn't this the same fretless 5'er that was recently sold out of Germany last week?

The Germany one title said it was a 93 I think.

 

[mikeswals]

Ah okay.

I see the serial is only 9 digits away from my 91 5 string.

 

[bassballs27]

This bass isn't for sale...but it certainly makes great photos! Show some love for 5 string Wals!
Happy Monday!

 

[mikeswals]

5 string Mk2 with two necks on Ebay UK.

The fretless neck is original. However that fretted neck is a fakeroo.

Wal Fretless 5 string bass with extra neck | eBay

 

[bassballs27]

I'm a little "Fodera heavy" right now, I'm digging the baritone E to C tuning but I like them...and of course Alleva Coppolo...

 

[bbocaner]

5 string Mk2 with two necks on Ebay UK.

The fretless neck is original. However that fretted neck is a fakeroo.

Wal Fretless 5 string bass with extra neck | eBay

What makes you say that? tuning machines look to have been swapped out, but the construction looks right, nut, string retainer, decal. Am I not seeing it?

 

[Janforth]

What makes you say that? tuning machines look to have been swapped out, but the construction looks right, nut, string retainer, decal. Am I not seeing it?

I'd say that dot inlay at the first fret position and the stringers look wrong

 

[bassballs27]

What makes you say that? tuning machines look to have been swapped out, but the construction looks right, nut, string retainer, decal. Am I not seeing it?

The nut isn't brass on the fretted neck which is normally the case on the 5 stringers.

The owner also confirmed to me that he didn't want to wait to have the neck built.
Oddly enough, he's had the bass for a long time....so it must have been way cheaper to have made way back when.

 

[2112]

I'd say that dot inlay at the first fret position and the stringers look
wrong

12th fret marker dots seem awful close to each other... and no double dot marker at the 24th fret.

 

[2112]

The nut isn't brass on the fretted neck which is normally the case on the 5 stringers.

The owner also confirmed to me that he didn't want to wait to have the neck built.
Oddly enough, he's had the bass for a long time....so it must have been way cheaper to have made way back when.

Because the seller wasn't up-front about this very important detail in his listing, I would have major reservations about buying from him.

 

[bassballs27]

Because the seller wasn't up-front about this very important detail in his listing, I would have major reservations about buying from him.

Yeah, it did take me to make contact to find out that information.
But I've experienced this in many transactions.
It's always great to ask, but sometimes people forget these details.
And they're definitely important.
That fretted neck certainly looks like a half decent copy and to someone that doesn't know Wal that well, they probably wouldn't be happy if they found out after they already owned it.

Leaving any neck sitting around with no tension is not the best thing either.
I wonder if the truss rod works on the fretless neck?
Heck, leaving a bass with the strings on and not playing it for decades is bad enough.
So, who knows what could happen with this bass, it could be great too.
And being a 1986 with the two pots instead of the four pots, well, for a 5er, more pots are better for the low end control. For fretless, maybe not so much as the mids will probably be abundant enough in that bass.
I guess this bass is going to have the smaller pick-ups too like my 1987 MK2 5 fretless conversion and 1988 MK2
Polyester Black Wals had. They were fun basses!

 

[bbocaner]

I see it now, the width of the stringers is a little weird. It looked like a brass nut to me, but the photos aren't great and it looked like the edges were square instead of rounded like the wal brass nuts I've had. Re: inlays, people often have special requests or new fingerboards get put on, so I wouldn't say it alone was definitive.

 

[bassballs27]

I see it now, the width of the stringers is a little weird. It looked like a brass nut to me, but the photos aren't great and it looked like the edges were square instead of rounded like the wal brass nuts I've had. Re: inlays, people often have special requests or new fingerboards get put on, so I wouldn't say it alone was definitive.

Check out the profile of the fretted neck versus the fretless neck too.
It's definitely shaped differently, even though I suppose some can have them with a custom shape.
Taking a look at the neck joint, just look how the neck is contoured right at the joint, see how it's kind of rounded around where it meets the neck pocket? The fretless neck doesn't do that.
Scroll up and look at my bass....it doesn't do that either.

The devil's always in the details.

 

[bassballs27]

 

[bassballs27]