Bass of the Week: Colin Edwin’s Wal Mk 1 Fretless

Prog bassist Colin Edwin has been sharing details of his bass arsenal on his blog, including his exquisite Wal Mk 1 Fretless. The Porcupine Tree member explains that the model is probably his most played bass as he used it exclusively for several years.

Colin Edwin Wal Mk 1 Fretless

“Made in 1984 at Electric Wood in the UK, my Wal fretless has a Brazillian Mahogany Core with American Cherry wood facings and an Indian Ebony fretboard,” Edwin writes. “[It has] Wal’s own design active pick-ups, extremely flexible in terms of tone. Note the worn varnish above the pick-ups, I had the bass revarnished by Electric Wood some years ago.”

The bass is also fitted with an XLR output adjacent to its standard 1/4-inch output. Edwin says the extra ouput is useful for recording and taking a direct signal from the bass. He strings it with flatwounds, and the tuning machines include a Hipshot D-tuner.

Here’s a clip of the bass in action with Edwin laying it down on Porcupine Tree’s “I Drive the Hearse”:

All photos were taken by Phil Richardson. For more information, check out Colin Edwin’s personal blog.

Body:Brazilian Mahogany Core, American Cherry Facings
Neck:Maple
Fingerboard:Indian Ebony
Frets:Fretless
Pickups:Wal
Tuners:Wal with Hipshot D-Tuner

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Share your thoughts

  1. Steevo

    Still dream of owning a Wal.

  2. Wal basses are indeed very special. As a tech and having owned/worked on or done the NAMM dance with so many basses Wal comes off to me like Alembic for rock and roll players. Top level construction and materials, proprietary filter based electronics, etc but with the bolt on explosiveness and a gnarlier voice all around. Check out Scuba Cult on YouTube for a great showcase of writing around the beastly Wal tone or of course Mick Karn for a non Jaco J fretless tone.

  3. Brenno Ciuffo

    The look of 70’s Carl thompson