Wal Pro II bass review by Jimmy Bain of Rainbow and Wild Horses (Beats International, July 1980)

Jimmy sticks his neck out

The latter weeks of 2015 and the first few of 2016 have been a sad period for the music world, with so many great musicians from the heydays of 1970s rock passing away over a short period of time. So it was with great sadness that I read only a few days ago of the passing of bassist Jimmy Bain. A member of Richie Blackmore's Rainbow, Dio and Wild Horses and a collaborator with the likes of Philip Lynott and Gary Moore his distinctive bass playing and songwriting was embedded within the hard rock landscape of the late 1970s and early 1980s. 

His passing, reminded me of an article from the July 1980 edition of Beats International which I had picked up a few years ago on eBay. In the article Bain gives his opinion, as an experienced player, on the passive Wal Pro II bass. The article is reproduced below and I hope is some sort of fitting tribute to him as a bass player. Rest in Peace, Jimmy. 



Hi-Res scans of the original article can be found here:

WAL Pro ll Bass

Price: £529 inc. VAT

Reviewed by: Jimmy Bain

ALL PRO'S - NO CONS

What we have here is the second in a range of four basses made and distributed by Electric Wood in High Wycombe (Tel: 0494 442925/6). In all honesty it's one of the most powerful basses I've ever tried out. I normally turn the bass up full and set my Marshall on about 6. With this bass full on, 2 on the Marshall is easily loud enough.

Getting down to details, the head on the bass is very square in design, very sturdy, and fitted with Schaller machine heads which are the best heads for basses you can buy. They're accurate and keep their tuning well. The strings run through metal pieces on the head which keeps them down low for a smooth action.

The neck is a lovely piece of work. The centre section is hornbeam and the outer section is maple. The neck is inlaid with red stripes which are made of a sympathetic wood from the Amazon called mukalunga. It's chosen because it's totally non-porous and remarkably straight. On top of all this lies an Indian rosewood fretboard which is shipped from Bombay to Germany. In Germany the wood's cut (Germany have the best cutting equipment) and it's then shipped to England.

Wal MB4 midi bass review from Guitarist magazine - February 1990

Wal MB4 midi bass review from Guitarist Feb 1990

ELECTRIC WOOD
Wal MB4 MIDI Bass

As MIDI controllers grow in type and in complexity, one instrument seems to have been overlooked - the bass guitar has always been the 6- string’s poor relation... Review by Ollie Crooke.

AS A BASS PLAYER who works a great deal in a MIDI pre-production studio, I have spent the last few years gnashing my teeth in jealousy as controllers for drummers, guitarists, saxophonists and trumpeters have come on to the market; there just didn’t seem to be much commercial interest in making MIDI accessible in any acceptable form to bass players. I contacted Yamaha, who make guitar and saxophone controllers (both of which I have bought in frustration) to ask if they had any plans to develop something to help me, and was told that although the technology was of course available, such a development was highly unlikely, as there was not a sufficient market to make it worth their while. Well, I hope this instrument proves them wrong.

I am hardly unbiased, but I believe that the potential of a MIDI bass controller is immense - even more so when coupled with a machine like the Simmons SDX and a good drummer. Whole rhythm sections can be recorded into a sequencer, edited, looped, tightened up and generally manipulated, giving whatever balance of human feel and computer precision you require. Exciting, eh? Like drums, although great bass parts can and have been programmed from a keyboard, most of them don’t sound the same as if they’d been played by a real bassist or drummer. Neither is there any of the spontaneity or interaction generated by a good rhythm section playing together. And as there just happens to be a Simmons SDX lying around in my studio, perhaps you can understand my desperation for a decent MIDI bass controller...

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.