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I am lucky enough to be the owner of two bass guitars from one of Britain's most respected builders... Wal Basses by Electric Wood. These are a "Pro series" bass from around 1978-1979 and a "Custom series" bass from 1985. My other British bass is a custom built acoustic bass made by Tony Revell. Alongside that I've got a couple of other lovely basses, an old Aria SB700 (my first ever bass - awww!) and a customised Jazz bass copy with an interesting story to tell. |
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My first Wal was bought second-hand in 1992. It's a Custom series bass built in September 1985 and, when I bought it, was a "closet classic", having spent the intervening seven years sitting in a cupboard unplayed. The previous (and original) owner was an jazz upright bass player who had wanted to try out a good quality bass guitar. He purchased the Wal and soon discovered that he simply didn't get on with the playing position of the bass guitar and put it away unused
The bass has, what's known as, the "Mark 1" body style (a development from the body shape of the previous "Pro Series"). The specs are as follows: the body has a core of mahogany with exotic wood facings made from schedua or hydua - a figured relation to ovangkol; the neck is a six piece laminate of hard rock maple, mukalungu and hornbeam with a 21 fret Thai rosewood board. One of the characteristics of Wal "Custom series" basses are their unique pickups and active circuitry which is both versatile and simple to use. This bass can cover just about any style of music you can throw at it and pass with flying colours. Perhaps not naturally a slapper's bass... but that's not necessarily a bad thing! A great punchy, growly bass sound. The basses even have a balanced XLR output - yes, an inbuilt DI box!
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1978 Wal Pro series bass - PB1291:
The five control knobs give a choice of master volume, individual pickup volume and tone controls. In addition, the small switches below the pickups activate active tone filters which change the sound of the bass - tending to cut some bass and lift the mid-range. The mini-switch between the pickups is an early variation of the "pick-attack" control on the Custom series basses.
This bass was picked up second hand in a local guitar shop in 2001 after a haggling session which lasted over a year and a half! When I first saw it in the shop it was priced the same as a new "Custom" bass. Well, after I had popped in about once every other month to offer a sensible price for well over a year the owner eventually relented and it was mine! For more details on the fantastic Wal basses made by Electric Wood and more photographs, check out this detailed history of Wal basses. I gigged this bass regularly alongside my Wal Custom for many years. However, I retired it in late 2007 when its knobs (secured by plastic shafts which lock into the pots with fine plastic split shafts) began to fail one by one. Over time these had begun to get rather fragile and, after breaking off a number of them I took the painful decision to retire the bass from regular gigging. In 2009 with Wal back on its feet under the supervision of Paul Herman I took the opportunity to take my Pro into their workshop and have him swap the pots for more normal versions with fixed shafts. That done, the Pro has regained it's rightful place in my regular gigging arsenal. |
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My old gig set-ups. Two Wals, Aria, Trace Elliott 1215 combo amp (RIP or SWR Workingman's 10 for teeny gigs), Boss tuner, Lehle switch & sometimes just a touch of Boss chorus.
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Sadly, my Trace Elliott 1215 combo curled up its tootsies at the beginning of September 2008 after twenty years of stalwart service so it was time to look for new amp. The final choice was a fabulous set-up from Italian maker Mark Bass. A 500w Little Mark II coupled with a couple of their Traveler cabinets - a 1x15 and the so cute 2x10. It's got an amazingly transparent that brings out the real sound of the bass with loads of bass projection coupled a really fantastic presence. Here's a recent gigging set-up: my trusty 1985 Mk I Wal Custom bass, my Signature Jazz bass, the Mark Bass mini stack, Boss TU-2 tuner and Lehle switcher...  Now both my Wals are now back in action so my current gig set up is as follows...  |
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When my Pro bass was starting to look a little fragile I began looking for a second bass to use for gigging. I'd always fancied owning a Jazz bass (I did have a Squier Jazz for a few years as my spare bass before I bought my first Wal. It was defretted and then sold a little later to help fund buying my Brook acoustic). Anyway, it seemed like high time for a return to the wonderful world of the Jazz bass. I came across BuildaBassthrough a web-forum I used to frequent and (with the 2:1 UK/US exchange rate of the time) it seemed the perfect way to get hold of a bass at a good price. BuildaBass is operated from the States by Goerdt Lamberts. As the story goes, he bought up a load of bankrupt stock around 1992-3 from a small bass building company from Rhode Island called "Signature" which was making hand-built Jazz bass copies which were just too close for comfort to the Fender originals. Litigation ensued and the company went out of business. Fifteen years later the left-overs are now available on eBay... According to the labels inside my Jazz's body was made in Sept 1991 and it has all the characteristics of a quality, aged body - resonant and woody. It looks good and, coupled with the high quality stock pickups, it sounds great. Part of my idea was to make the bass a bit of a Frankenjazz and try out some different bits and bobs. I switched out the tuners for some Hipshot UltraLites, added a set of Graphtech saddles and an amazing preamp by Audere. Sounds amazing and is a really good complement to the very different sound of the Wals. It's just a great sounding Jazz bass with a little extra flexibility added - perfect. As a friend recently commented, it's one monster bass...   |
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Custom-built Tony Revell Acoustic bass:
At the time there were barely any acoustic basses available in mainstream music shops in the UK - custom built was just about the only way to go. Fortunately, I had a pretty good idea of the type of characteristics I was looking for in an acoustic and the type of woods and tones I wanted. I arranged to meet up with Tony to look first hand at some of his guitars and to chat in detail about what I wanted. One of the great things about buying custom-built is the interaction with the builder and the fact that the instrument is being made bespoke to your requirements. My bass has a flamed maple back, sides and neck with a spruce top, rosewood headstock facings, fretboard, bridge and custom finger-rest - all great quality solid woods, of course. The sound is amazingly deep and resonant with an amazing sustain - not that annoying dull thud that a lot of acoustic basses used to give you. Ah, how times change... eh?
The neck is based on my Aria SB700 (see below) which was my main bass at the time. So, it has a really comfortable neck which is a pleasure to play on. However, the most unusual feature of the bass is the neck joint which is completely without a heel. Amazing access but with a rock stable neck - on an acoustic bass! Tony Revell, the man's a guitar-making genius! Playing my Revell bass at my 40th birthday party...
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An import like my Signature Jazz, this is an exception on this site but a fantastic little bass nonetheless! This Aria SB700 was my first ever bass guitar and I still love it! Passive electronics and one pickup but a thru-neck and ash body wings, this bass plays beautifully! Frankly, it's far too good a bass for a starter like I was! I was so player to start out learning on one of these. The bass has a lovely deep round tone - which you can lighten using the small series/parallel switch. The through neck and heavy brass bridge set into the face of the bass makes for a very clear tone and incredible sustain! The Aria SB series were one of the first Japanese marques to really compete in even terms against their Western rivals rather than being straight copies (the other being the Ibanez Musician Bass which was famously used by Sting in the early years of the Police). Honourable mention should also go to Westone's fabled Thunder I and II basses. Well built, highly spec'd and great sounding instruments. However, their styling always seemed a little "agricultural" and unfinished to my eye - particularly when compared to the Aria's fluid curves and stylish lines. The Arias were well respected instruments and attracted much pro interest, with the top of the range active SB1000 being used by musicians as diverse as Jack Bruce, John Taylor, Marcus Miller and Mike Oldfield. An SB1000 even appears in the classic video for The Buggles' "Video killed the radio star" while Neil Murray of Whitesnake fame could often be seen toting a twin pickup SB900.
My SB700 was built in 1981 and is in all original condition except for a small mod, adding a little "active buffer preamp" to it - a Hollis GX10. This is a little black box that's sadly no longer made - I'd love to hear one in a really nice Jazz bass. It doesn't really change the fundamental sound of the bass, just makes it sound more focused and clearer. It changes the impedance so that it's a better level for long cable runs - almost like putting it through a really nice, transparent active DI box.”
Beautiful design went into this bass - not least of all the through-neck and wonderful profiling of the neck/body transition.
   Simple, elegant design using custom-built components. Solid brass bridge plus a surprisingly versatile single pickup with volume, tone and series/parallel switching options.
The bass was an 18th birthday present in 1982. From then until I bought my first Wal it was my main bass - playing in college bands, church, rock musicals and my old folk-rock band, Tintagel. Here are a few a few shots of it in action around 1991 (gosh, did I ever look that young?). Nowadays it's only used in my covers band on the very rare occasion. However, with its sentimental associations I doubt I could ever bring myself to get rid of it!
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The Wal Custom became a staple of studios and stages throughout the eighties finding favour with artists as diverse as Paul McCartney, Dire Straits, Spandau Ballet, Japan and Rush (at least two Wals even appeared on stage at "Live Aid" in Wembley Stadium). The bass line on the original "Band Aid" single, "Do they know it's Christmas" (one of the biggest and most influential singles of all time) was powered by Wal. The original "Custom Series" design (Mark I) of "Custom series" electronics and a mahogany/exotic wood laminate body has since formed the template for all further developments and versions of the Wal Bass.
In the early Noughties Pete continued building Wal basses as a small, often one-man, operation until ill health and a run of changes of premises made him decide that it was time to retire. However, as of 2009 the baton was passed on to master luthier Paul Herman - who cut his guitar building teeth working for Wal. Now based in his Surrey workshop he continues offering these fine instruments in three body styles, faced with a range of beautiful woods and in 4, 5 and 6 string incarnations to the discerning bassists of Britain and the world.
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For information on how to contact Wal basses please click on the Wal emblem below:
For a more detailed account of the history of Wal basses and the models produced click on this link |
The
sound is very different from the "Custom series" bass - much more of a
70s rock vibe although when both pickups are used together it has a
huge round bottom end that you just don't find on the "Custom" basses!
In
early 1986 Wal introduced a 5-string bass with a 24 fret neck and a
revised body shape (Mark II) which was also applied as an option to the
4-string basses. Tragically, Ian Waller died suddenly of a heart
attack in 1988 and his passing was marked across the music
industry. Despite this irreplaceable loss, Pete Stevens was
determined to carry on Ian's legacy and continue building world beating
basses. The late '80s saw the development of a relatively short
lived Wal MB4 Midi bass - in conjunction with Australian electronics
designer Steve Chick. Production of the MB4 (a bass midi
controller that actually worked) continued for only a few years until US giant,
Peavey, bought the rights to the technology on which the midi
controller was based. In 1995 the Wal underwent a further
design development with the introduction of a 6-string bass and a new
body and headstock shape (Mark III).