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.
So lets talk strings for fretless....any strings out there that sound great but don't damage the fretboard too much ..... I say this as a guy who wrecked his first wal ebony board with rotosounds so the common advice of just play what sounds good and be damned doesn't hold true for me...
I now have a rosewood board so I'm going to be even more cautious with this one.
One thing that is in my favour is the wal preamp will coax out the maximum tones from less abrasive strings where other basses may not.
Any suggestions guys?
I now have a rosewood board so I'm going to be even more cautious with this one.
One thing that is in my favour is the wal preamp will coax out the maximum tones from less abrasive strings where other basses may not.
Any suggestions guys?
So what configuration passive/active is considered the definitive "Wal" sound. I always thought active but going through this thread makes me think I might be wrong.
All but a couple custom Mark are active preamps. There is no passive/active switch on these preamps.
Early discussion was about a guy who acquired recently a rare Mk I passive bass. Believe too it was made intentionally shallow perhaps for weight reasons, so if he wanted to put the Wal preamp, that wouldn't be possible since it wouldn't fit.
Now the Pro's, come in different flavors so there are passive and actives ones the "e" indicates if its active.
I stand to be corrected but the passive pros are like playing the customs with the pull knobs in the down position and selecting just one pickup.... I guess this all depends on the down position being passive ....I have a feeling somebody here will tell me otherwise but It sure feels that way whenever I have done a comparison.
The Customs are defintely active all the time reguardless of knob position. I know because of a cap failure. The bass was dead and no passive position to keep playing it until it was repaired.
On the rosewood converted fretless, I would seriously consider an epoxy coating since rosewood is so soft.
On the rosewood converted fretless, I would seriously consider an epoxy coating since rosewood is so soft.
Here is my Wal W2564.
I have had problems with the front and back facings coming up at the edges.
Fixed now.
Silver birch facings
.
I have had problems with the front and back facings coming up at the edges.
Fixed now.
Silver birch facings
.
Very nice, I've seen silver birch used on the backs and sides of some acoustic guitars but never on a bass. I really like the weathered look of yours.
bkbirge said:
Here is a great site Trevor Ragatt has been putting together. Lots of Wal history you can read about there.
http://www.walbasshistory.blogspot.co.uk/
Nedsbassman, you get club #60
I think the dry climate where I live in Australia contributed to the delaminating problem.
Wal basses certainly have growl to them.
Wal basses certainly have growl to them.
I can see some funky stuff on the back of my wal where the facing isn't coming away but it's a bit of a wobbly line. My luthier said they didn't use enough clamps ...
He also pointed out a couple more issues ...one being that the saddle and pickups aren't totally square on....very slightly off.
The other one is that the fretboard is thicker at the nut and tapers off at the body end!! ....they put a shim in to correct this so all in all it's just cosmetic but this should have been a rejection. Surprised the original owner accepted it...but then I didn't see these things either.
Interestingly it says Paul 91on the neck......could this have been Paul's first neck ...lol.
I'm sure he wouldn't do this today.
But hey ...it plays great and sounds awesome..... And it has more than its fair share of mojo.... So what's not to like?
Mine had a few issues neck wise as well. I purchased 2nd hand. Fingerboard thickness was quite uneven. All fixed and refretted with stainless frets. Different animal now.
