Wal Mk1 Fretless 1989

Wal is a bass brand that originated in England in 1974, founded by electronics expert Ian Waller and luthier Pete Stevens. With just the two of them running the show and almost no other employees, production numbers were incredibly low, which has driven up the market value of these basses over time.

In 1988, Ian Waller passed away suddenly due to a heart attack, but the brand continued until 2007 when Pete Stevens had to stop making basses due to health reasons, leading to a temporary pause in production. However, Wal has since resumed manufacturing and is active today.

This particular model is the "Mk I", part of their custom series which includes three body shapes (Mk I, Mk II, and Mk III) with differing fret counts. As you can see, this one is a fretless model. Surprisingly, many prominent players have used Wal basses—Paul McCartney among them.

The body features a laminate construction, with Brazilian mahogany sandwiched between American walnut, and the neck has a pronounced V-shape—a strong "V" profile, in fact. Since the tuning pegs were damaged upon arrival, we replaced all of them, and the original pegs are not included.

In terms of sound, the two humbuckers give it a powerful output, as you’d expect. It’s no surprise that John Entwistle from The Who used one of these. Although it’s an active bass, it doesn’t have an overly "active" sound, yet it still packs a punch.

Being fretless, there might be certain settings where its use is limited, but it definitely leans towards delivering that classic rock-oriented fretless sound. The tone is exceptional—you’ll find it hard to put down once you start playing.

Condition: Professionally cleaned and set up with new strings (D'Addario).

All electronics are fully functional. Neck is straight and the truss rod works with no issues.

It shows signs of wear and tear, including scratches and dings.

Nut Width: approx. 42mm

Weight: approx. 4.61kg

Serial Number: W3273

Comes with a hard case.

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