Wal Bass Club.

[djaxup]

my favorite Settings:

All settings involve PU Balance at 50/50 or the neck PU favored just a little bit.


- Most used: both Tone Pots at 10, both pulled. Pick attacked not engaged. I love that tone for both fingerstyle and pick. It sounds crunchy and a bit overdriven.

- all settings as above, but lower both tone pots to 8-9.

 

[mikeswals]

My New baby ready to ship !

 

[Meddle]

John Gustafson: long scale = JG serials.

Was he the bassist in Quatermass? One of my favorite overlooked '70s albums is this one;

Pretty cool to find out he was a Wal user.

 

[Toolmybass]

Just beautiful, do you mind me asking how much it set you back?

-5'er MKIII+ shipping + taxes + import duty
-your looking at $8,000 or more depending if you add any build options

Wow

 

[nibs208]

Wow Bass42 that's a beautiful Mk. III.

 

[Bass42]

Wow Bass42 that's a beautiful Mk. III.

Thanks

 

[j.kernodle]

another n00b question. do any of you gentlemen have trouble with E strings not fitting into the bridge slot on your Wals? I put a new set of .105-.045 sunbeams on mine yesterday and had a hell of a time getting the e string in there. I had to smush the wrappings around the ball end with a pair of vice grips to get it to fit. the obvious answer would be to use something like smith taper cores but I'd rather just use off the rack strings rather than having to special order sets.

 

[mikeswals]

All the time. What I do is use my needle nose pliers, and put the E string in the smooth part of the jaw and give it a tiny squish. Gives it enough to slide into the bridge slot.
I can't stand taper cores so that ain't happening.

 

[j.kernodle]

All the time. What I do is use my needle nose pliers, and put the E string in the smooth part of the jaw and give it a tiny squish. Gives it enough to slide into the bridge slot.
I can't stand taper cores so that ain't happening.

hmm. any .105 E's that you know of that don't need squishing?

 

[mikeswals]

Actually the last set of GHS Boomers I put on my MkII I didn't have to squish, I just checked it.
But you can look at any old Wal 4 and see the finish chipped from the bridge slot means it's always been a thing since day 1.

 

[nofrets5]

The E and B strings not always easily fitting into the bridge was something that I thought for sure Paul would update once he go going and got parts ordered. Sounds like it still needs to be done, but a small issue when considering what great instruments they are.

 

[zazz]

Be careful...just forcing in larger strings to the nut...I have split nuts doing this....

 

[j.kernodle]

The E and B strings not always easily fitting into the bridge was something that I thought for sure Paul would update once he go going and got parts ordered. Sounds like it still needs to be done, but a small issue when considering what great instruments they are.

to be clear I'm not sure if the issue applies to the new basses Paul is making. mine is a Pete era bass from '92.

 

[superdick2112]

I would like a number please!

Congrats!

I knew you were waiting on this one, but I didn't know you finally got her.

Love the woods! How does it compare (neck, playability, tone) to your Spector NS-2?

 

[j.kernodle]

Congrats!

I knew you were waiting on this one, but I didn't know you finally got her.

Love the woods! How does it compare (neck, playability, tone) to your Spector NS-2?

Oh wow... such a loaded question there. lol.

Its a totally different sound as you know.... They're both classic but distinctly different takes on aggressive tone. I've just always wanted that Wal sound and there's really only one way to get it.

From a construction standpoint, this bass holds its own against anything I've played. the fretwork is clean, the neck is stable, the trussrod is easy to adjust. The frets do have a little bit of wear so I get a little bit of buzzing here and there, but that by itself can actually sound good. Spectors feel like home since I've played them so many years, so the wal neck has taken a little bit of getting used to but its extremely playable, just different. There's a subtle v shape which is well documented, but its still very comfortable. The string to string response is the most even of any bass I've ever played and as others have mentioned each string has its own sort of tonal character. I know you're a rush fan, so that "Big Money" tone is all here in the wal...

I don't have my US NS2 anymore, (I sold it to Lee) but I still have my a Czech NSCR bass that i'm gonna do my best to hold on to.

 

[superdick2112]

Oh wow... such a loaded question there. lol.

Its a totally different sound as you know.... They're both classic but distinctly different takes on aggressive tone. I've just always wanted that Wal sound and there's really only one way to get it.

From a construction standpoint, this bass holds its own against anything I've played. the fretwork is clean, the neck is stable, the trussrod is easy to adjust. The frets do have a little bit of wear so I get a little bit of buzzing here and there, but that by itself can actually sound good. Spectors feel like home since I've played them so many years, so the wal neck has taken a little bit of getting used to but its extremely playable, just different. There's a subtle v shape which is well documented, but its still very comfortable. The string to string response is the most even of any bass I've ever played and as others have mentioned each string has its own sort of tonal character. I know you're a rush fan, so that "Big Money" tone is all here in the wal...

I don't have my US NS2 anymore, (I sold it to Lee) but I still have my a Czech NSCR bass that i'm gonna do my best to hold on to.

Thanks for the review. While I am a Rush fan, I've only recently become interested in Wal, so your assessment sheds some valuable light on these very cool basses. I've added Wal to my GAS list, but I'd still like to pick up a few more NS-2s & a Steinberger L2 first....

 

[mikeswals]

hmm. any .105 E's that you know of that don't need squishing?

Last night I restrung my '90 MkI with a fresh set of R Cocco 45-105's and it didn't require any squish, that E just layed in.

 

[j.kernodle]

good to hear!

 

[marcos_epm]

Hey Caca,

Have you already tried those 30-90s?

Best

 

[mikeswals]

No I haven't.