That was one of Steve Chesney's former basses. he had a few set up that way from Pete.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
That was one of Steve Chesney's former basses. he had a few set up that way from Pete.
you don’t see many Wals with maple neck. Is that a reason for that?
But 14K!
is that Canadian dollars (I hope)?
Yessir..Toronto classifieds. It’s a unique comboyou don’t see many Wals with maple neck. Is that a reason for that?
But 14K!
Question for you guys. The E string on my wal sounds slightly distorted and compressed compared to the other strings that have more of a quack type sound. What could be the reasoning for this? Would adjusting the pole pieces help? Could it be string related?
From my own researches, I think it's because a maple neck fundamentally removes a good chunk of what makes a Wal sound like a Wal. Rosewood (and ebony for the fretless) makes a huge difference, I think. My own 'Wal-ish' constructions demonstrated this to me.
What are you playing through? Paul sets the pickup heights pretty low on the new basses, but the preamp gain is still factory set at maximum. If this bass output is way higher than your others and your amp (or whatever you're plugged into) and doesn't like it, then you can trim down the gain pot in the control cavity. Or if its just too boomy on the bass, maybe trim the low-end pots.
Last edited:
As an eBay Associate, TalkBass may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
As an eBay Associate, TalkBass may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Must have been a rough four hours to put all those scratches on it
I don't know which is more surreal - receiving pics of the build process from Paul, or receiving a club membership number here. Thank you!
I have a fretless question around string choice and the fingerboard.
My current fretless has an unlined ebony board, and I have played it over the last 9 years - maybe the first 80% of its life I strung it with rounds, and more recently I have had it strung with flats. There are streaks length-wise down the fingerboard from the strings over time. Unsure how much of that is due to the whole rounds vs flats on fretless thing, or just bad technique when starting out, etc. I've heard you can buff out a fair amount of that with steel wool / scotchbrite but I have yet to try it out.
For my fretless Mk1 order, I went with the stock D'Addario nickels selection. Obviously I have yet to play the thing with the rounds and decide for myself whether I want to keep rounds on it or move to flats. But I am curious: those of you fretless Wal players, do any of y'all purposefully use flats in order to prevent the fingerboard wear more commonly attributed to rounds? If you do go for the rounds, do you wind up with wear on the ebony? Do you have a trick or cleaning regimen you use to buff out any streaking?
My current fretless has an unlined ebony board, and I have played it over the last 9 years - maybe the first 80% of its life I strung it with rounds, and more recently I have had it strung with flats. There are streaks length-wise down the fingerboard from the strings over time. Unsure how much of that is due to the whole rounds vs flats on fretless thing, or just bad technique when starting out, etc. I've heard you can buff out a fair amount of that with steel wool / scotchbrite but I have yet to try it out.
For my fretless Mk1 order, I went with the stock D'Addario nickels selection. Obviously I have yet to play the thing with the rounds and decide for myself whether I want to keep rounds on it or move to flats. But I am curious: those of you fretless Wal players, do any of y'all purposefully use flats in order to prevent the fingerboard wear more commonly attributed to rounds? If you do go for the rounds, do you wind up with wear on the ebony? Do you have a trick or cleaning regimen you use to buff out any streaking?
Most people here on TB will tell you not to worry about fingerboard wear, that it’s just the cost of doing business and that it could take decades before you need to fix it, and that it’s worth it to get your sound even if you have to eventually replace the whole fingerboard, but..
I wore out my Wal’s ebony FB in only 8 years with Rotosound RS66’s under heavy playing (probably bad technique too), it was bad with buzzing notes etc. I had a luthier smooth it down again like new, and I didn’t want to go through all that again, so I started using flats. I went through a few different brands of flats including TIJF’s, but I never was very satisfied with any of them, until I tried the LaBella Black Nylon Tape Wound (750N, .050-.105). I was really surprised how much I like these strings.
Most people say that nickel strings are less abrasive than stainless. The TI Jazz Rounds are nickel and have a thinner wrap which makes them feel much smoother, and are probably going to cause the least amount of wear, and I did use those for awhile.
Ultimately, the choice is yours.
But if you want to preserve the fingerboard, then I would recommend trying the LaBella 750N set, they really surprised me with how good they are.
I wore out my Wal’s ebony FB in only 8 years with Rotosound RS66’s under heavy playing (probably bad technique too), it was bad with buzzing notes etc. I had a luthier smooth it down again like new, and I didn’t want to go through all that again, so I started using flats. I went through a few different brands of flats including TIJF’s, but I never was very satisfied with any of them, until I tried the LaBella Black Nylon Tape Wound (750N, .050-.105). I was really surprised how much I like these strings.
Most people say that nickel strings are less abrasive than stainless. The TI Jazz Rounds are nickel and have a thinner wrap which makes them feel much smoother, and are probably going to cause the least amount of wear, and I did use those for awhile.
Ultimately, the choice is yours.
But if you want to preserve the fingerboard, then I would recommend trying the LaBella 750N set, they really surprised me with how good they are.
Everybody's taste is different of course but for me only rounds (also on fretless). A Wal is a bit darker sounding bass (not as bright as a Jazz bass or Musicman or so) so flats make it too dark for me.
Also flats on fretless have less mwah. With an ebony board it's no problem to use steels or nickles.
Also flats on fretless have less mwah. With an ebony board it's no problem to use steels or nickles.
I think that's part of why I like tapes on a fretless, the mwah really only comes out if I want it to by playing up on the neck. Horses for courses, of course. I can definitely say what you're doing works!!!
I never kept a Wal fretless for very long but I used rounds. No flats gets me the same sound.
My other brands of fretlesses that I kept for many years, I never wore down a fingerboard.
I do think the brand of string has alot to do with it, Rotosound is the most abrasive textured string I've ever tried in the past
All I used is DR. They feel smooth
My other brands of fretlesses that I kept for many years, I never wore down a fingerboard.
I do think the brand of string has alot to do with it, Rotosound is the most abrasive textured string I've ever tried in the past
All I used is DR. They feel smooth
