Wal Bass Sound...Without the Wal?

[eligilam]

I have a couple of Wal's and love them to death...but I was getting a little nervous taking them to shows when my band materialized. (The sound men at the venues were verrrry intrigued when they hooked me up to the pa, btw.)

Anyway, I got a Classic Stingray as my non-Wal Wal to play out live so that I could rest easy with my Wals safe at home. In the studio, the SR can't touch the Wal tone----but live, with some tweaking from the rig and pa guy, of course, I can get a passable Wal sound.

 

[lijazz]

Hey!
That's me!
Yes the strings I use on my Wal in that vid are the Rotosound 66 Swing Bass 45-105.
I use the Rotosound 66's on all of my basses. Personal choice due to the fact that nothing else sounds like Rotosound.
I used to use the Funkmasters when I first got that bass back in 1993 but I found them to be way too light, like rubberbands. I DO play pretty hard and that was sometimes even changing the pitch of the notes I was playing when I used those Funkmasters.

Hey-Any new vids of you playing any Rush songs? Always enjoy watching your videos. Great Job!

 

[Jared Lash]

Well, you could always get an ACG with the new multicoil pickups and ACG/East filter preamp.

That'd be a LOT like a Wal.

Only less expensive.

And better.

 

[4001]

Hey-Any new vids of you playing any Rush songs? Always enjoy watching your videos. Great Job!

Thanks!
I don't have any new ones right now but I think I'll be doing a few more sometime soon. I'm going to be seeing them in Chicago and St. Louis so maybe I'll get a spark to do some more.
There are a lot of people subscribed to my channel and I've delivered absolutly nothing for them..they probably have given up on me but my problem is deciding which tunes to do.

I'd like to do a vid for Xanadu but I don't have the keyboard anymore so the keyboard solo parts will be me just standing there with the 4080/12 doubleneck.

Any song suggestions??
How about something with the Wal?
There are so many songs I could do but my mission isn't to do play-alongs to every Rush track possible. I guess I should focus on the ones that are more important bass wise??

 

[lijazz]

Thanks!
I don't have any new ones right now but I think I'll be doing a few more sometime soon. I'm going to be seeing them in Chicago and St. Louis so maybe I'll get a spark to do some more.
There are a lot of people subscribed to my channel and I've delivered absolutly nothing for them..they probably have given up on me but my problem is deciding which tunes to do.

I'd like to do a vid for Xanadu but I don't have the keyboard anymore so the keyboard solo parts will be me just standing there with the 4080/12 doubleneck.

Any song suggestions??
How about something with the Wal?
There are so many songs I could do but my mission isn't to do play-alongs to every Rush track possible. I guess I should focus on the ones that are more important bass wise??

How about Open Secrets from Hold Your Fire? That one would be pretty cool.

 

[kbuschmann]

Well, you could always get an ACG with the new multicoil pickups and ACG/East filter preamp.

That'd be a LOT like a Wal.

Only less expensive.

And better.

Yup, that's probably my next move. Acquired a fretless ACG Skelf recently - very impressed.

 

[4001]

How about Open Secrets from Hold Your Fire? That one would be pretty cool.

Yeah, that is a fun song to play. That is on the short list already. I think someone else also suggested that one awhile ago. Wal tone to the MAX!

 

[mikeswals]

Considering you own both a MM and a Wal im surprised by your comment.

My point here is still the same.....this is as CLOSE as your going to get to a Wal with out a Wal.

If you want to hear a Musicman that closes the gap even more; the 2006 30th Anniversary StingRay. It has a mahogany body that does two things similar to a Wal, the low-mids have the similar bigger push, and the highs come out tighter and with more shimmer like one.

 

[eligilam]

Yeah, that is a fun song to play. That is on the short list already. I think someone else also suggested that one awhile ago. Wal tone to the MAX!

"Territories" dude! Hearing that song on my old VHS copy of A Show of Hands is what made me want to get a Wal! Twenty years later, I finally succeeded.

 

[mikeswals]

I have a couple of Wal's and love them to death...but I was getting a little nervous taking them to shows

I haven't had any problem being nervous taking them to shows...nobody knows what they are! I've really only had maybe two bassists in the last four years recognize em.
One sound guy asked "is that some sort of 70's bass?".

 

[Jared Lash]

Yup, that's probably my next move. Acquired a fretless ACG Skelf recently - very impressed.

Yeah, I have a brand new Skelf 6 with the new EQ03 preamp which I consider a significant step up from the Wal preamp. As it has Aaron Armstrong soapbar humbuckers (wired in series) it doesn't exactly cop the Wal sound though. But with the new multicoil pickups? I'm not exaggerating when I say I fully expect it to be better than a Wal.

 

[miziomix]

....I'm not exaggerating when I say I fully expect it to be better than a Wal.

See, that's the thing with Wal. It's not just up there with the great ones. It has a unique voice. Which is a lot more than so many basses can claim. No point comparing or trying to copy that.

 

[4001]

"Territories" dude! Hearing that song on my old VHS copy of A Show of Hands is what made me want to get a Wal! Twenty years later, I finally succeeded.

Another great Geddy Lee bassline. Lots of keyboards though and parts where the bass is replaced with Moog Taurus. Congrats on finally getting a Wal!

 

[ulynch]

Start with basses that have filter based preamps. That's a BIG part of the Wal tone.

If the electronics are a big part of that tone, could they be built into a pedal format preamp? Does something like that exist? How well does it replicate the Wal sound using some other bass?

 

[Toolmybass]

Yeah, I have a brand new Skelf 6 with the new EQ03 preamp which I consider a significant step up from the Wal preamp.

This is a bold statement!.....and stating its a step up from a Wal would also say to me that you have this Skelf and preamp up and running!,,,,,and that you have compared it with YOUR personal experience with a Wal.

So just like the saying goes..."no pic...no bass"
So....soundclips would be sweet!!

Also pics of this bass that you have this stuff in would be nice too.

 

[bigchiefbc]

Considering you own both a MM and a Wal im surprised by your comment.

Mind you i have listened/played this song a million times, so for my ear, its it easily distinguishable between his bass and the orig recording.

My point here is still the same.....this is as CLOSE as your going to get to a Wal with out a Wal.

It would also sound even closer with my set-up and a proper dirty channel.

Having had a chance to play a Stingray HH and an L-2500 right after the other, I thought the L-2500 was closer to the Wal sound than the Ray. I wonder if it's due to the pickup placement. The G&L's pickups are in basically the same position as the Wal's, whereas both of the Ray's pickups are farther towards the neck.

 

[Toolmybass]

Having had a chance to play a Stingray HH and an L-2500 right after the other, I thought the L-2500 was closer to the Wal sound than the Ray. I wonder if it's due to the pickup placement. The G&L's pickups are in basically the same position as the Wal's, whereas both of the Ray's pickups are farther towards the neck.

The difference in p/u placement is a small effortless eq adjustment.

Here is an example. Listen to the audio change at 1:33
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxPP1JeRY4s&feature=plcp
...(audio is not too great)...but the difference on an eq change on the EBMM is "in yo face" obvious.
There is a Wal-ish quality that can be brought out of the EBMM that you will NEVER get out of the L-2500. But i have had the opportunity to play all 3 through the same rig with the same settings.

 

[Jared Lash]

This is a bold statement!.....and stating its a step up from a Wal would also say to me that you have this Skelf and preamp up and running!,,,,,and that you have compared it with YOUR personal experience with a Wal.

So just like the saying goes..."no pic...no bass"
So....soundclips would be sweet!!

Also pics of this bass that you have this stuff in would be nice too.

Plenty of pics of my bass below. The EQ03 has been shipping for months and I've had mine since May. You can see the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed].

In short, it's a filter preamp with a similar topology to the Wal, having a LPF for each pickup. But rather than a set boost at the cutoff frequency the ACG has a variable overshoot peak control. And instead of the pull up "pick attack" there's a complete HPF stack. It also has an active/passive mode, a tone knob that works active or passive, switches for a pair of mid boosts and internal trimmers and DIP switches to tailor several parameters to your liking.

I love Wals. I recorded an album nearly a decade ago with a shedua faced fretless Mk II and was hooked. I've only played a handful over the year so my main experience is with that fretless, but the filter preamp was a revelation and what interested me in ACG basses in the first place. Now that he and Aaron Armstrong are building a multicoil pickup I think it will be a flat out amazing bass. Very similar to a Wal with increased versatility and tons of custom options.

I could record clips of my current bass, but the series wound Armstrong humbuckers have very different placement and (more importantly) construction than the Wal pickups so as to make a comparison relatively worthless. It would be like comparing the tone of an Alembic to a Wal simply because they have a similar preamp type. But I do have a five string on order with the new pickups and the EQ03 preamp and I will be more than happy to make sound clips to show what it does when it arrives sometime next year.

In any event, here's my current ACG:

and a couple from Alan:

and a shot of the new multicoil pickups:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Toolmybass]

WOW
Love the neck on that beauty....

 

[Jared Lash]

WOW
Love the neck on that beauty....

Thanks. And to be clear while I am a huge supporter of Alan and the ACG basses I only meant that I expected my bass to be better than a Wal for ME. Aesthetically and ergonomically they'll be more in line with what I like and I think the new ACG/East EQ03 is flat out amazing. As long as the new ACG multicoil pickups live up to expectations (and I have full faith that Aaron Armstrong will deliver) then I think it will be an absolutely fantastic instrument.

Other people will certainly prefer the look and feel (and simpler control layout) of the Wals. And that's fine. They are incredible basses that deserve their reputation.

But Alan has my deposit for good reason. Several good reasons actually and near the top is the fact that he's simply a great guy as well as a fantastic builder.