Roger Waters’ Wal Custom Bass on The Final Cut: Model, Electronics, and the Cold Notes of ‘The Gunners Dream’

For The Final Cut, Roger Waters retired his well-worn Fender Precision Bass and picked up a Wal Custom – specifically the early Mark I model with a graphite neck and stainless steel frets. The Wal’s active electronics (dual preamps, high-output pickups) gave him a much wider tonal palette, but the defining change was the aggressive, percussive attack. On “The Gunners Dream,” you can hear it clearly: the notes land with a clipped, almost icy definition that the warm, round P-bass thud couldn’t produce.

The graphite neck added stiffness and sustain, while the stainless frets contributed a bright, metallic edge. Combined with the active EQ, Waters could dial in a scooped, mid-forward sound that cut through the album’s dense orchestral arrangements and sound effects. It’s a bass tone that feels less like a foundation and more like a sharp, narrative voice – which fits Waters’ lyrical focus on that record perfectly. He stuck with Wals for his solo work, and the sound became a signature of his post-Pink Floyd era.