Wal Bass Club.

[Derek Smalls]

Here's my trusty Wal Custom 2.. Had it since about 1990.
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[Papersen]

Here's my trusty Wal Custom 2.. Had it since about 1990.
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Nice, nice bass.
BTW, never saw bridge saddles aligned that way. Any particular reason ?

 

[Derek Smalls]

Nice, nice bass.
BTW, never saw bridge saddles aligned that way. Any particular reason ?

Cheers!
And no good reason for the saddle alignment apart from me messing about.. I found it got a particularly thwacky and fat sound on the E string for one song, and it just stayed that way! However, that's one of the reasons it's going for a visit to Mr Electric Wood at High Wycombe soon (as well as the crackly pan pot, though I won't let him polish out the playing scuff!). I have a terrible feeling that if I continue with that extra-high action I'll either get arthritis or things will accidentally just crumble into dust every time I grab them..

 

[pjmuck]

Can anyone tell me if Wal neck profiles/radiuses are all the same (At least on the 4 strings), or do they vary throughout the years depending on the customer's request? My '93 fretless Wal has a very flat, narrow V neck. It's the only thing I'm not crazy about with my Wal, as I wish the neck were beefier.

 

[Toolmybass]

Here's my trusty Wal Custom 2.. Had it since about 1990.
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Wal Custom 2?? ... Never heard it called that... looks like a MKI to me, not a 2

 

[zombywoof5050]

Wal Custom 2?? ... Never heard it called that... looks like a MKI to me, not a 2

The original name of this model is a "Custom 2P", which is a Custom (the model that came out after the "Pro" series) with 2 pickups. It was only later, when they came out with the larger body style (for the 5-string) and then the smaller body style found on the MkIII, that they started using the MKI, MkII, & MkIII names to differentiate between the three body styles. I prefer to call mine a Custom 2P, since that's what it was called at the time that Electric Wood made it for me.
Here's a pic of my '85 Custom 2P:

Ooops, sorry, I already posted a pic of mine on the 2nd page. Well, I hope the info about the name was helpful.

 

[duncbass]

Cheers!
And no good reason for the saddle alignment apart from me messing about.. I found it got a particularly thwacky and fat sound on the E string for one song, and it just stayed that way! However, that's one of the reasons it's going for a visit to Mr Electric Wood at High Wycombe soon (as well as the crackly pan pot, though I won't let him polish out the playing scuff!). I have a terrible feeling that if I continue with that extra-high action I'll either get arthritis or things will accidentally just crumble into dust every time I grab them..

Sounds as though you have not heard about Pete. Pete has passed Wal on to Paul Herman who previously had a hand in building many Wals. He's not in High Wycomb but not too far away (I don't think).

 

[duncbass]

Can anyone tell me if Wal neck profiles/radiuses are all the same (At least on the 4 strings), or do they vary throughout the years depending on the customer's request? My '93 fretless Wal has a very flat, narrow V neck. It's the only thing I'm not crazy about with my Wal, as I wish the neck were beefier.

they vary but I couldn't tell you how to tell without checking the bass. My ProIIe has a great neck (no V). I had a ProI fretless for a while that had a pronounced V towards the headstock. It threw me off a bit.

 

[Samitch04]

i really truly envy anyone that owns a Wal..

 

[mikeswals]

Can anyone tell me if Wal neck profiles/radiuses are all the same (At least on the 4 strings),

Well on the 4 string Customs they seem to be mostly the same. I have amassed a huge folder of Wal pictures from various sites and an old Wal registry, and from what I could tell the Mk1/Mk2 had the same V profile.

I know what you mean though by the narrow flat profile. My Mk1 was a fretless with a fingerboard mess when it came to me. I remedied that by going fretted, and the 'beefier feel' feels much better (not to mention I like the fretted sound better).

 

[excane]

This thread can suck it....... I'm jealous of you all

 

[john_g]

This thread can suck it....... I'm jealous of you all

Me too!

 

[Toolmybass]

Im in!...My 2 babies in the middle 82' MKI and 03' MKII
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[Rocketpriest]

Well, fellow TB'er Mikezimmerman never posted a picture of this beauty, so I'll do you folks a favor:

The only Wal in the admittedly incomplete (probably a little over 4000 basses short - give or take ) Wal Database in 'violet', which has thankfully yellowed to a very fetching grey color, along with a nice vintage tint on the neck. I've had it for almost two months now, and I love it to death. Probably more than I should. More than some people I used to think were dear to me. It's a late 2000 MkI and it sounds fantastic through everything except my home practice amp that makes all basses sound horrible but only manages to drag the Wal down to 'mediocre'. I was really interested to find out that Wals use bone nuts (or at least this one does), as given the tone I'd rather expected brass. This bass also has the first gold hardware I've encountered that appears not to suck. It's solid and durable and even after 8 years of service doesn't appear to be flaking off like most other gold hardware does within one or two years (Gotoh, Hipshot, I'm looking at you).

It is, however, due to drastic weather change and just general play in need of a set-up, and Paul hasn't returned my e-mail about buying a tool kit or at least getting tool measurements so I could put a little kit of my own together. So I figure this thread is probably the best place to ask where you California Wal owners get your Wals set up. I'd prefer to only have to travel as far as San Francisco (I'm in the Monterey area), although if anyone knows any good luthiers in the Santa Cruz area, that would be amazing. I had a lead on a guy named Rick McKee who is supposedly a set up wizard, but both numbers I got have been changed/disconnected. If need be, I'll go anywhere in the state to get this thing set up properly, so I'd love to hear about any and all techs/luthiers/shopowners that you guys have work on your Wals. Thanks in advance.

 

[AndroWal]

Gorgeous Bass!

Bone Nut...hmmm...all of mine have brass. Not sure what is stock on 4-strings as my Wals are 5s. I'm going to check with a buddy and see what his 4 has.

Set-up...I do all of my own (and have been since 1990 when I got my first Wal) and am in Ojai, CA. Willing to help and if I get a chance to go to Sebastopol later this month, I'd be happy to meet-up and help-out. If you can wait a couple or a few weeks.

Enjoy!!!

 

[mikezimmerman]

That's one of the few bone nuts I've seen on a Wal, so I don't know if it's original or not. It was really nice, though, and that's definitely a wonderful bass--I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Mike

 

[king_xanadu]

wantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwantwant

 

[5stringwonder]

wow....that last one is the best looking Wal I've seen..

 

[mikeswals]

Bone Nut...hmmm...all of mine have brass. Not sure what is stock on 4-strings as my Wals are 5s. I'm going to check with a buddy and see what his 4 has.

Looking through my picture folder (most of which I copied from the registry) I see only the 5 and 6 string basses have brass nuts. The 4's have either black plastic or bone, I don't see any 4's with brass.

 

[Jaymi]

the last one I owned