I love the sound of the Wals, but I can't afford one right now. Is it the pickup and preamp system that is primarily responsible for the sound? If so, can these be purchased and put into another bass?
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Wal Sound?
- Thread starter jdwhitak
- Start date
negative on the aftermarket parts. wals do sound awesome and unique.
if you do a search, you'll hear people say "my L2000 sounds like a Wal", "my stingray HH sounds like a Wal.", "buy an ACG filter preamp!" you'll even find people saying they can get the sound out of their passive J bass. (umm, no). in my experience with the right preamp, a Spector can sound similar, but not the same.
everyone agrees you can't get exactly there, but you can get kinda close.
if you do a search, you'll hear people say "my L2000 sounds like a Wal", "my stingray HH sounds like a Wal.", "buy an ACG filter preamp!" you'll even find people saying they can get the sound out of their passive J bass. (umm, no). in my experience with the right preamp, a Spector can sound similar, but not the same.
everyone agrees you can't get exactly there, but you can get kinda close.
Wals are pretty unique. A G&L L2000 is considered by some to be a poor man's version approximating the sound. I think I can get the fretted Wal sound pretty close just with a Fender PJ and setup/gear/playing style (though others very much disagree) but the fretless sound needs a Wal for sure.
That said I've got my fretless PJ at the shop getting an ACG eq-01 installed, maybe I can get a little closer to that sound, but for sure will have a great sounding bass no matter what.
Really if you want a Wal the solution is to save your pennies for a year or three and then buy one. Eliminate the years and $$ of chasing the sound by retrofitting other basses if you already know what you want.
That said I've got my fretless PJ at the shop getting an ACG eq-01 installed, maybe I can get a little closer to that sound, but for sure will have a great sounding bass no matter what.
Really if you want a Wal the solution is to save your pennies for a year or three and then buy one. Eliminate the years and $$ of chasing the sound by retrofitting other basses if you already know what you want.
He does? I know he talked about it for years and I lost track of that megathread. I know the user MPU was offering Wal like pickups as well.
Anyway, it depends on which Wal tone you are looking for. I did put in an ACG preamp into my G&L L2000 years ago but it didnt get me any closer to the Wal tones I was after: Geddy's.
If you are just sitting at home playing along to Tool songs in your bedroom, dont worry about getting expensive aftermarket parts for a G&L or Musicman. You can get close enough with those kind of basses. Save that money so you can buy a real one someday. This seriously needs to be a sticky.
And I might be biased, but I really think my Spector NS-5MM comes darn close to Geddy's Wal tone...or at least how I hear it. I've never played a Wal though. What do you think?
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The results you get with a filter pre-amp very much depend on what you put in. Filters only let through what they are provided with. The second important part is how many filters you have. You need one lowpass per pickup since the blending of the two different settings on the lowpass filters helps create many of the sounds associated with the filter based pre-amps. A filter can only be in one place at a time and much more control is added with the second filter. I set the neck lowpass to deal with the bottom end and the bridge lowpass to deal with the mids using the blend to set the balance between the two. For those looking to emulate the Wal sound using one of my pre-amps the 01 is the one to go for. If you get one the lowpass filter range is much more than on the Wal so the filter has to be set around the mid point to put you in that sort of zone.
In my next generation 03 pre-amp the addition of two mid boosts (low-mid with internal selectable frequency and level.Hi-mid boost again two internal frequency dip switches and level) allow further tailoring of the mids. The push/pull switches also allow very quick sound changes on the fly almost like having presets.
For those interested I also have details of my multi-coil pickups on my website.
The 03 pre-amp and the MC pickups are only available in my own basses so if you are looking for a dual filter pre-amp the 01 is available.
Alan
In my next generation 03 pre-amp the addition of two mid boosts (low-mid with internal selectable frequency and level.Hi-mid boost again two internal frequency dip switches and level) allow further tailoring of the mids. The push/pull switches also allow very quick sound changes on the fly almost like having presets.
For those interested I also have details of my multi-coil pickups on my website.
The 03 pre-amp and the MC pickups are only available in my own basses so if you are looking for a dual filter pre-amp the 01 is available.
Alan
Definitely agree with Alan.
I had his EQ02 preamp in a fretless Stambaugh with single coil jazz pickups, his EQ03 preamp in an ACG with his FB humbucker pickups and his EQ03 in an ACG with the new multicoil pickups that are constructed very similarly to the Wal with 2 coils per string.
The latter is the only one that gets into Wal territory.
Filter preamps can be hugely versatile and slice and dice the sound in varied and (IMO) more interesting ways than traditional 2, 3, or 4 band preamps but while they add to the Wal tone, it's the pickups that do most of the heavy lifting.
Check out youtube videos of the old Wal Pro series which were passive and still have a lot of that characteristic Wal tone.
I had his EQ02 preamp in a fretless Stambaugh with single coil jazz pickups, his EQ03 preamp in an ACG with his FB humbucker pickups and his EQ03 in an ACG with the new multicoil pickups that are constructed very similarly to the Wal with 2 coils per string.
The latter is the only one that gets into Wal territory.
Filter preamps can be hugely versatile and slice and dice the sound in varied and (IMO) more interesting ways than traditional 2, 3, or 4 band preamps but while they add to the Wal tone, it's the pickups that do most of the heavy lifting.
Check out youtube videos of the old Wal Pro series which were passive and still have a lot of that characteristic Wal tone.
Hi, your multi-coils could work with an 01 preamp? they're available? Can you send them outside your country?
Hi
They would but I am not selling them they will only be available in my own instruments. To be honest given how much they cost,there is a great deal of work in each pickup,I doubt you would want to pay the price. It makes sense in the context of my Über Series basses but as a stand alone item it is not cheap.
Alan
They would but I am not selling them they will only be available in my own instruments. To be honest given how much they cost,there is a great deal of work in each pickup,I doubt you would want to pay the price. It makes sense in the context of my Über Series basses but as a stand alone item it is not cheap.
Alan
Other than replacing the guts. I've heard that an L2000, Ray HH, certain spectors, and the T-40 can get somewhat close as to where your average audience member couldn't tell the difference. Then again I think your average audience member can't tell the difference between a P, J, and Ray.
I'd say the L2k is a little closer than the HH ray, but they're both close enough to fool 9/10 people. I'd say the T-40 is much closer to nailing the Ric tone than the Wal.
I think the term "Wal tone" is pretty far reaching but generally people think Justin Chancellor, Geddy Lee or some of the more aggressive offerings. The cool thing about the Wal basses is that they seem pretty versatile and more than just a crunch monster.
I get pretty close to the aggressive Wal sound with my L-2500 but find it's also pretty dependent on my signal path, bass setup and either right hand/pick attack. You can also get a decent impression from a P or P/J bass but you lose some thickness. The G&L M-2000 seems a bit more refined and tighter than the L series which may be a bit more in line with the Wal thing. Some people don't believe in wood choice but to me it adds some low-mid grunt which is hard to add via EQ.
Here's how I get close. G&L L-2500 ( Kinda prefer my G&L El-Toro w mahogany body) => SansAmp BDDI=> Sansamp GT2=> Solid state amp ( I'm using a Mesa M9). Medium low action and play hard. That being said, that'll get you close to one of the more popular Wal sounds but is far from all encompassing.
I get pretty close to the aggressive Wal sound with my L-2500 but find it's also pretty dependent on my signal path, bass setup and either right hand/pick attack. You can also get a decent impression from a P or P/J bass but you lose some thickness. The G&L M-2000 seems a bit more refined and tighter than the L series which may be a bit more in line with the Wal thing. Some people don't believe in wood choice but to me it adds some low-mid grunt which is hard to add via EQ.
Here's how I get close. G&L L-2500 ( Kinda prefer my G&L El-Toro w mahogany body) => SansAmp BDDI=> Sansamp GT2=> Solid state amp ( I'm using a Mesa M9). Medium low action and play hard. That being said, that'll get you close to one of the more popular Wal sounds but is far from all encompassing.
I get a great tool tone with my sadowsky ms4, and the alembic sf2 can do amazing filtery things. Ive never had a wal though, still curious to try one.
