Wal MK1 Pickup Construction

[David Schwab]

A few question on the Wal pickups, if anyone knows...


Does anyone have a source for C8 magnets in these sizes?

Does anyone know the dimensions of the keeper bars? Also, are keeper bars of this apparent size going to cause a lot of eddy currents?

I have all the dimensions taken off two different Wal pickups.

I don't think the keepers will contribute much to eddy current losses. Their surface area isn't that large. But I think people might have a misconception on what these pickups sound like. They are very thick sounding, even though people think of Tool when they think of the Wal tone.

Love is the Drug by Roxy Music is a good example of the pickup passive.

And this a 1985 Wal

On the newer basses having the 4 (or 5) string pairs in series, and then the all of the strings in parallel, into a JFET buffer stage, helps.

[Chris Turner]

I have all the dimensions taken off two different Wal pickups.

I don't think the keepers will contribute much to eddy current losses. Their surface area isn't that large. But I think people might have a misconception on what these pickups sound like. They are very thick sounding, even though people think of Tool when they think of the Wal tone.

Love is the Drug by Roxy Music is a good example of the pickup passive.

And this a 1985 Wal

On the newer basses having the 4 (or 5) string pairs in series, and then the all of the strings in parallel, into a JFET buffer stage, helps.

Right on! Would you mind posting the dimensions?

Yeah, Wals aren't super bright, for sure. Of course, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic has a modern Wal's tone all over it... and a great tone it is.