Wal Pro Series basses article from The Guitar Magazine, early 2000s

Article from the UK's The Guitar Magazine on the Wal Pro Series basses from the early 2000s

Wal Pro-1 Bass 

Review category: Basses

A great opportunity to get your hands on a genuine Wall for a fraction of the price you may have expected

Founded in the mid-'70s with a commitment to high-quality design and construction, Electric Wood (the company that made Wal basses) was responsible for some of the best machines ever to grace the woofers of your hi-fi.

The Pro range of basses, from the entry-level Pro-I, to the top-of-the-line Pro-IIE, encapsulated all the ideas and innovations that Wal was known for.

You may not be able to buy a new one, but all the Wal Pro series are excellent second-hand buys. Of the four instruments in the range, the Pro-I offers the least in the way of refinements, though you still get a handmade pro-quality bass guitar. The others in the range are the Pro-II (two pickups), The Pro-IE (active), and the Pro-IIE (two pickups, active circuitry).

In action, the Pro-I is a beast of distinction, easy and comfortable to play, with a lovely thick, woody tone. It gives a very chunky 70s sound, but with some adjustment to the pickup, a wider range of sounds can be achieved.

Still, with no facilities for easy change of tone, it's probably a bit limiting for the modern bass player, who may have to switch from zingy funk tones to bowel-quaking dub in the course of a set.

The body of the instrument is a glued three-section piece of ash, with an angled upper bout, a cutaway at the rear between the upper bout and horn, and a lower horn cutaway that offers access to the higher frets.

The neat, functional body styling results in a distinctive well-balanced shape that doesn't suffer from too much tipping, even with the large Wal headstock. Inside, the Pro-I really shows its pedigree; the wiring and circuitry is mounted on a circuit board instead of being just a loose tangle of wires.

This feature is becoming more common in high-end basses, but in 1982, when this bass was manufactured, such clarity of design was very rare indeed.

The neck is a 34-inch six-piece laminate bolt-on type with a centre-piece of hornbeam and outer pieces of rock maple, separated by two pieces of muckalungu.

The fretboard is Indian rosewood with 21 nickel-steel frets, and the neck as a whole is quite thick, with good feel and playability. The fretboard width at the nut is 42mm, with a string spacing of 13mm.

This widens to 19mm at the bridge - meaning that the strings are fairly close together all the way down the neck, compared with modern basses.

There are three carbon-fibre strips reinforcing the neck too - one under the fretboard and two at the back, adding extra stability. These, coupled with the brass inserts at the heel- joint, provide the rigidity necessary for good sustain and tone.

The single pickup is an eight-coil humbucking type, mounted on floating springs and fully height-adjustable.

The pole-pieces, too, are adjustable by Allen key for further tone refinement, and there's a small phase reversal switch just at the lower edge of the pickup to switch between in- phase and out-of-phase sound.

Price And Availability

The price to pay for a Pro-I in good condition, with original Wal case (brown moulded fibreglass with embossed Wal logo) is about the same as the price when new - around £375.

The more expensive models follow the same pattern, meaning that you can be sure of your purchase remaining an investment.

Expect to pay from £400 to £599 for those models, depending on type and condition.

Just 3,000 Wal Pro series basses were made in total, so finding a good example may be a bit of a search. Still, chances are, it'll be worth it.

ORIGINAL PRICE £375