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Wal Bass Club.

I've been absolutely loving the "40th bday pressie" 2017 Mk1.
The only problem is I've found it hard to play my 5s -- the E on the Mk1 just... kinda walks all over them.
Festivus came early -- who knew the answer could be just a ferry ride away? The Mk2's B delivers. Period.
Been a tough year in other respects, with some incredible celebrations too... grateful to be the caretaker of these ridiculous Twin Dragons.

1+1=more than 2. Somehow they make each other even more fascinating. The Mk2 was originally built in 1992, used hard and refurb'd by Paul in 2020. The consistency between the two is hard to believe, though the finish on the Mk2 is something special. It's a mirror.

...my first 24 fret bass... can finally do that Stuart Zender thing on Just Another Story!

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I've been absolutely loving the "40th bday pressie" 2017 Mk1.
The only problem is I've found it hard to play my 5s -- the E on the Mk1 just... kinda walks all over them.
Festivus came early -- who knew the answer could be just a ferry ride away? The Mk2's B delivers. Period.
Been a tough year in other respects, with some incredible celebrations too... grateful to be the caretaker of these ridiculous Twin Dragons.

1+1=more than 2. Somehow they make each other even more fascinating. The Mk2 was originally built in 1992, used hard and refurb'd by Paul in 2020. The consistency between the two is hard to believe, though the finish on the Mk2 is something special. It's a mirror.

...my first 24 fret bass... can finally do that Stuart Zender thing on Just Another Story!

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That's awesome!! Good for you for handling 40 right! I did a similar thing. (Was a Sadowsky-NYC though, not a Wal.)
 
Been on wait list over 3yrs. Just got a build slot for Q4 2025 completion. Paid deposit within 1week of invite. Still finalizing my build.
To add to this, I got put on the waitlist end of May 2021. Was contacted June this year, so 3 year wait, and told initial completion date of Novemberish 2025. But my build has come along quickly and is now due May/June 2025.
 
Question for anybody who might have a little background on this:

In light of the recent US elections, talks of tariffs on foreign imports is circulating. Obviously we don't yet know what this will look like but I was wondering if anybody had insight as to how this might affect the experience of purchasing a Wal Bass custom build from the United States. Is it likely the tariffs would affect this type of purchase (i'm guessing yes)? If so, if I was able to pay for the purchase (if Paul were willing to take the payment) ahead of the new year, would I be able to make a case for exemption? What other questions am I not asking here?

Thanks for anybody who might have any familiarity with this!
 
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We currently have a 5.3% duty on Wals, which are assessed when imported so prepayment to Paul probably wouldn't work. The bigger worry for USA buyers is always the exchange rate. Seemingly-tiny raises there can add thousands to the final cost for a USA buyer, for my case an eight cent move in the favor of GBP would add a grand. Fortunately it only swung around in about a five-cent range while I was making payments.

We already have a process for paying the duty (FedEx collects it), so maybe any change in duty rates (or a new tariff) would be handled the same way. I think the focus with Europe is automakers, setting tariffs at the same rate those countries apply tariffs to USA-built vehicles.
 
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I was trying to figure out when I got on the wait list to put down a deposit and went looking for the email from Wal and.... couldn't find it. I emailed Wal to ask to make sure I was on the list and explained that I couldn't find my confirmation email and haven't heard back from them. I guess if there is no record on their end that will probably be the end of trying to get a Wal for me. C'est la vie.
 
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I was trying to figure out when I got on the wait list to put down a deposit and went looking for the email from Wal and.... couldn't find it. I emailed Wal to ask to make sure I was on the list and explained that I couldn't find my confirmation email and haven't heard back from them. I guess if there is no record on their end that will probably be the end of trying to get a Wal for me. C'est la vie.
That is super unfortunate. There is some cool ones on reverb if you are so inclined to spending 20k+ on a used one.
 
I was trying to figure out when I got on the wait list to put down a deposit and went looking for the email from Wal and.... couldn't find it. I emailed Wal to ask to make sure I was on the list and explained that I couldn't find my confirmation email and haven't heard back from them. I guess if there is no record on their end that will probably be the end of trying to get a Wal for me. C'est la vie.
I’ve emailed them several times to find out my status and have heard nothing. Not looking likely I’ll ever touch a real Wal at this point
 
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