Hand-built bass guitars
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.
| Wal Mark I Custom Series bass | Wal Pro IIE bass | Signature Jazz bass |
| Tony Revell acoustic bass | Aria Pro IIe bass (...what??) | A very brief history of Wal basses |
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1978 Wal Pro series bass - PB1291:
The five contril 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 finally retired it in late 2007 when its knobs (secured by plastic shafts which lock into the pots with fine plastic split shafts). 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. |
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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 my current gigging set-up: my trusty 1985 Mk I Wal Custom bass, my Signature Jazz bass, the Mark Bass mini stack, Boss tuner and Lehle switcher... ![]() |
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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 ans then sold a little later to help fund buying my Brook acoustic). Anyway, it seemed like high time for a Jazz bass. I came across BuildaBass through a web-forum I used to frequent and (with the exchange rate) 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 insode my Jazz's body was made in Sept 1991 and 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 realy complement to the very different sound of the Wal... ![]() |
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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 finger-rest. The sound is amazingly deep and resonant with an amazing sustain - not that annoying dull thud that a lot of acoustic basses give you
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 exception on this page and 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 such a lucky 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). 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.
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 regularly used in my covers band.
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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 twoWals even appeared on stage at "Live Aid" in Wembley Stadium). The bass lines 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.
For the last few years Pete has continued building Wal basses as a small, often one-man, operation 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 |
Text © Trevor Raggatt 2005