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Wal Bass Club.

#14,881
Les Fret said:
Yes. Wished Geddy had used the 5 string more often in Rush’s music. Would sound cool for some tracks and it would have given their later music a more modern sound.

But according to that article he didn’t like the 5 string Wal. It was difficult to play and it was too heavy and cumbersome for him.
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I don’t think their music needed it. I’m sure he would have found a way but sonically never needed anything below a low E besides Driven which he just downtuned. Hard enough finding a Wal at a decent price now. Imagine if Geddy represented 5 string Wals too? GedFlation :laugh:
 
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#14,882
bass08053 said:
I don’t think their music needed it. I’m sure he would have found a way but sonically never needed anything below a low E besides Driven which he just downtuned. Hard enough finding a Wal at a decent price now. Imagine if Geddy represented 5 string Wals too? GedFlation :laugh:
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Needed is a big word. But it could have made their work after Hold Your Fire more interesting (for me anyway). They lost me after that album and the songwriting and inventiveness went down hill. Although some of the later songs are nice. But they never reached to the same level again. Too many mediocre songs on each album after Hold Your Fire.
 
#14,883
Ged bass scripture (The Big Beautiful Book of Bass) says this of the Mk2-5:

1986: Wal MK II Five-String Black - It's very rare that I play a five-string bass, but the exquisitely-crafted Wal with the low B string allowed me to ignore the Moog pedals for some ultra low-end parts. Wal made this one for me in 1986, and I used it onstage on the hold Your Fire Tour for "Lock and Key."
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#14,884
Les Fret said:
Yes. Wished Geddy had used the 5 string more often in Rush’s music. Would sound cool for some tracks and it would have given their later music a more modern sound.

But according to that article he didn’t like the 5 string Wal. It was difficult to play and it was too heavy and cumbersome for him.
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That quote is probably the reason why I waited another 5 years before moving to the wonderful world of low B.
 
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#14,887
Les Fret said:
I find it a bit strange that he says that it's difficult to play. Heavy and cumbersome yes, but difficult to play?
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Well, we have to consider how novel 5 strings were in 1986. Very few companies made them and most just stuffed 5 strings into a 4 string design. Not the case with Wals but making that point. And certainly 5 string spacing is notably tighter than 4 string for most makes.

Anyway, consider the novelty and how Geddy played 4 strings for his whole life and on essentially all other songs by the band and I can see his point. Without dedicating the time to it, they’re is more bass to navigate. He probably recorded the one song, thought “that was weird to play” and just put it away.
 
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#14,888
rogerbmiller said:
Well, we have to consider how novel 5 strings were in 1986. Very few companies made them and most just stuffed 5 strings into a 4 string design. Not the case with Wals but making that point. And certainly 5 string spacing is notably tighter than 4 string for most makes.

Anyway, consider the novelty and how Geddy played 4 strings for his whole life and on essentially all other songs by the band and I can see his point. Without dedicating the time to it, they’re is more bass to navigate. He probably recorded the one song, thought “that was weird to play” and just put it away.
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well, a lot of people with less talent than Geddy can do it. ;)
 
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#14,890
You can play across the fretboard with a 5er as opposed to up and down on a 4.

The tighter string spacing is actually a clever move usually includes a nut width that is tighter and the neck is designed for the tighter spacing. Makes flipping from 4 to 5 a little easier so the neck isn’t more of a stretch on the fretting hand. The playing hand feels the tighter spacing if you’re used to digging in or slapping.

19mm spacing is the typical spacing for many 5’s. I thought Wal 5’s were 17mm but are actually 18mm at the bridge. Fodera claims their bridges are 19mm, but they’re more like 20mm.

Always fun to try different scale lengths too. 32”, 33”, 35”, 36”…very different experiences with fretted basses.
 
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#14,894
Whilst going through my mementos earlier this year, I came across this Christmas card from Electric Wood - from 1992, I think. Thought some of you guys may not have seen one. Signed by Pete, Stuart and a young Paul H.

Happy holidays to Wal fans around the world :)

ElectricWoodChristmasCard1992-Cover.jpg
ElectricWoodChristmasCard1992-Inner.jpg
 
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#14,896
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#14,899
simisker said:
Whilst going through my mementos earlier this year, I came across this Christmas card from Electric Wood - from 1992, I think. Thought some of you guys may not have seen one. Signed by Pete, Stuart and a young Paul H.

Happy holidays to Wal fans around the world :)

View attachment 5293980 View attachment 5293982
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I have 2 somewhere signed by Pete, Ian(Wal) and Stuart
 
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