First of all, I love this bass. I bought it second-hand in a local music-store some 10 years ago and it's my main axe since. It looks beautiful: the wenge gives it a dark, rugged, yet sophisticated look. The wenge has a few flaws: white streaks from trying to sandpaper the hard material, but it's hardly noticable. On opening the battery case I was pleased to find the signature of the founder of Wal basses: the late Ian Waller, so I guess he made this bass largely himself. The tonal possibilities are mind-blowing: everything from a Music Man "telephone-twang" to a Jaco-growl or even a pseudo Rickenbacker crunch.. it's all there. I have been playing all kinds of music with it: jazz, rock, reggae, funk.. the thing just does it all perfectly. It has a balanced XLR output, so I regularly plugged in straight into the sonsole in the studio or on stage with no problem whatsoever. My main peeve about this instrument is its weight though: 11 lbs or thereabouts. I have a wide strap, but it gets a quite heavy after hours of play. The space between the strings and the body is quite big, which sometimes hinders slapping a bit. I have been thinking about putting a piece of plastic in between (like I saw on some newer models), but I am afraid to ruin the bass really. Also, the neck is quite wide for my taste. I notice that I can crank out those Jaco-ish runs on a Jazz Bass much faster. Then again, the Wal has the best sound for tapping. Overall, it's a fine, well-constructed, great-sounding instrument that I will use for years to come!

Construction	90%
Playability	85%
Appearance	95%
Sound	100%
Value	100%
Cust. Service	0%
Overall	95%