maldy

Totally agree with you Highfox. It is interesting how ones bass path unfolds. I think the thing with the Warwick is that they are so good it is difficult to want to switch to another bass make once you have bought one. The converse is, if you buy a truly terrible bass, you immediately want to get another make bass! Great to hear your thoughts too stingrayPete1977; they were really useful, especially the bit about the eq. I think it takes a while to get to know the sounds of a bass and what works in what situation. It is funny that you said a lot of people boost the bass and then add the treble to taste. When initially trying to figure out a sound I like the best, that is exactly what I did without any thought, or logic. So it is reassuring to know that is what a lot of long term Ray player do and find best.

These are the photos of the bass. They were took by the shop, but are of the actual bass I bought.

I first saw and heard a Stingray some 17 years ago on the Flea master class video. I remember watching and being awestruck. I remember thinking that one day I want to be able to play and sound like Flea did on that video. Looking back, it wasn’t necessarily the best instructional video, but it certainly inspired me in so many ways. So despite Flea and the Stingray leaving me with such a huge impression I have never played a stingray, or owned one up until now. I guess when you are young you are not always fortunate to get the bass of your dreams, or even know what bass is best for you. Like many people I have fumbled my way through basses trying to find the right one, often not even knowing what that would be. I eventually discovered a Warwick Thumb bass and have been hooked on Warwicks ever since. People who like Warwicks generally agree that they love the Warwick sound and the superb craftsmanship and build. Because of this I effectively stayed away from every other make of bass for some 14 years! However, lately (and maybe it is because of age) I have been interested in other basses and the differences they have to offer. Back in January I bought a Fender RW Jazz. In many ways it doesn’t compare as well as my Warwicks. However, I absolutely love it because it is completely different and has its very own distinctive feel, sound and look. At the same time I was looking at Fender Jazz basses I was also looking at the Musicman Stingrays. After a lot of research, via forums and youtube, I decided that a Stingray Classic would probably be the bass I would like best. Unfortunately, none of the music shops near me, or anywhere within a few hours sold any Stingrays. So it was really difficult to really get a feel for what these basses are actually like in the flesh. But after much debate I decided that the Stingray Classic was probably the one for me. What I then discovered was that there was not that many for sale in the uk. The ones that were had huge prices of around £1900 and not much choice of colours etc (if I was going to pay that price I wanted to at least choose the colour I liked). I eventually discovered Bass Direct was doing a fantastic price on some of the models with discontinued colours. Still a hefty £1550, but loads cheaper and the colour scheme and wood choice I wanted. I saw a few great second hand ones for sale, but decided I needed the return option that a shop would offer in case I totally hated the bass! So I ordered a classic white stingray, with birds eye maple neck/fingerboard with a shell pick guard. I'm still quite ecstatic from the whole experience of wanting the bass, buying the bass and it arriving. There is nothing quite like receiving a new bass and getting to know it for the first time. It is not something that happens every day, so it is something to savour. Overall I was excited about the bass, but you can read a lot of negative things, as well as positive things on the internet. Some people complain about quality, value and set up of the top branded names. So as well as being excited I was anxious as to whether the bass would meet my expectations. All my Warwick basses over the years have always been perfect in terms of quality of the build. I especially realised this when I have since tried other basses. So with all this I wasn't sure what to expect and was sort of expecting it not to be quite perfect (which is a kind of a ridiculous thought considering the bass is £1550!). However, I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised. The neck felt superb for a start. I was worried that it might be too fat. It is obviously not as thin as a Jazz bass, but in no way does it feel too chunky. It has a gloss finish (as does the fret board) and to me it feels very nice and comfortable. The fretbaord also seems a bit wider at the nut (not actually measured, or checked the actual specs). I have not got the biggest of hands, but in no way do I feel the neck is too wide. In fact I kind of think this is possibly one if my favourite neck of any bass so far. The setup was also pretty much spot on straight out of the box. The action was super low and very playable. The neck seems very straight, so may benefit from a slight truss rod tweak, but to be honest I don’t really feel any real need for this at the moment. Very importantly to me the bass was very comfortable to play at the bridge position. This was very important because you kind of naturally gravitate to this position due to the nature of the pickup position. When I play sitting down with my Jazz bass I find that the body of the bass can dig into my forearm when playing in the bridge position. I find this a little uncomfortable and it is probably because I am very used to the smaller curved bodies of Warwicks. So I was very anxious that the stingray classic with its big slab body would be quite uncomfortable. However, I am very happy to say everything felt comfortable and well balanced. The slab design may look a bit uncomfortable, but you really don’t feel it. I haven't had a great chance to play it thoroughly and getting to know a bass takes a little while. The two band eq is interesting and at first I must admit to feeling a little underwhelmed. Compared to my Streamer $$ which has active passive mode, two 3 ways coil tapping switches and two pickups, it at first seems limited. However, I kind of like what it offers in a subtle way and these days am finding I'm not so obsessed on having loads of onboard eq. I think what the stingray lacks in onboard settings, it offers an absolutely amazing classic stingray tone. It is bright, punchy and the bottom end is probably the tightest bass sounds I’ve ever heard. It is not a million miles away from the sounds of a Warwick. However, it has something very unique. Even my wife (who is not a bass connoisseur) has mentioned on several occasions that the bass sounds amazing. So they are my initial thoughts. After a few months I will update with some more thoughts, when I have really got to know the sounds and tones.

Just to add, a few years back I was quite obsessed with Warwick (mainly because of my good experience with them), but these days I am definitely branching out. Am definitely digging my Fender Jazz and very much interested in a Stingray (which I have rightly, or wrongly thought had some similarities to some warwick sounds, or rather vice versa).

I have been a Warwick lover for many years! I really liked the quality build of the instruments and it has always been consistent between different models. It is hard to describe the sound, but I think it is quite distinctive. A few people have mentioned the growl, or gnarly vibe and I've heard someone mention on a different post that it is quite hi-fi. Never really thought about it being the latter, but after trying some different makes of basses lately I think that is good observation. I personally find it is a very good all round fingerstyle bass and quite a tight sounding instrument too. I don't think they (well the thumb at least) have a smooth round tone naturally, although amp eq can do marvellous things. I've always thought the sound was organic and could non offensively fit into most genres of music. I also found that my thumb recorded very well and clear. The one downside I tended to experience with the Thumb was that the slap sound didn't work well live. In the house without the rest of the band, the slap sounded sharp and aggressive. But when playing live, if I switched from fingerstyle to slap, I always felt I lost a volume and bass tone. Sometimes, it sounded a bit too clangy (is that even a word?).

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1346411178' post='1788874'] Nice objective review there. I was the same, really didn`t like the fake relicing, but the RW Precision I tried was just a great instrument - it felt so comfortable, and both played and sounded like a dream. Still haven`t bought one yet, as really don`t need one, but I`d go along with the view of letting your hands and ears make the decision on these basses - it`s unlikely they will find anything they don`t like. [/quote] Thank you. I felt the need to post something because I believe that a really great bass is being overlooked by a lot of people, purely because of this relic business. This is totally understandable because I was previously like that. When I was researching this there seemed to be a lot of negative opinion about it from people who had never even tried it. Again, I can see where this comes from. However, with this bass I would urge anyone to try and keep and open mind, try it and maybe you will be pleasantly surprised.

And here are some photos!

And here is the second post I added at talkbass: [color=#696969][i]"Had a good testing of the bass last night and am feeling very pleased with it. I still can't get over how much I like the look and feel of the bass. I can't stress this enough, especially since I previously hated the look. I can't explain why I changed my mind. I think it is because the bass plays so well, you just kind of fall in love with it.[/i][/color] [color=#696969][i]And the sound - well the old school funky honky sound just sounds incredible. It was what I was looking for and not really been able to find in other instruments I have tried. I am no expert on Jazz basses, so am in no position to compare this with others. If other Jazz basses sound and feel better than this, then wow![/i][/color] [color=#696969][i]With regards to the MIM aspect - well I can't really fault it (apart from some slightly off intonation on the G string). To be fair some aspects of quality are hard to judge when the bass looks so beaten up.[/i][/color] [color=#696969][i]Like I've previously said, I never thought I'd buy this bass, but now it feels so right (for me at least)."[/i][/color]

When I first bought the Road Worn I added some thoughts on talkbass. Hopefully these will be useful for anyone else thinking about one of these basses. I will add some up to date thoughts here after my experience of owning the bass for some six months. But for now here is the first part: [color=#696969][i]"I'm new here, but have been enjoying all the posts about the RW basses, so thought I would add some thoughts as I have just purchased a RW Jazz![/i][/color] [color=#696969][i]For a while I have been eyeing up a Jazz bass. I kind of fancied the all singing and dancing American Deluxe. However, I have never been able to play one, as the music shops I visited have never stocked them. I have tried a standard MIM and thought it was quite nice, but the tone didn't jump out at me. On another occasion I went in a shop and they only had the RW Jazz. I was immediately put off by the relic look (and price) and didn't even play it.[/i][/color] [color=#696969][i]That was a while ago. Last week I happened to be in a city that I had never been to before and stumbled across a music shop. So I thought I see if they had any Jazz basses. They didn't have the deluxe, but they did have the RW. This time I didn't immediately reject it and decided to test drive it. I must be honest, at first I hated the beaten up effect, all the chips and screw holes. I have a couple of Warwicks and I keep them in perfect condition, so this felt very alien to me. I also wasn't sure whether I liked the idea of making something look old when it wasn't. It seemed a bit fake and not the sort of think that attracted me.[/i][/color] [color=#696969][i]However, as soon as it was on my lap, it kind of felt comfortable. It just seemed real nice to play. The finish (apart from all the dings and scratches) also felt good (at the time I didn't know it was a nitro finish, or even what that was!). It just seemed really easy to get around and the more I played the more I liked the tones. I started discovering more tones and started really liking this bass. I was really surprised as I had absolutely no intention of buying this beforehand and now was gradually thinking that I needed it![/i][/color] [color=#696969][i]Needless to say I didn't buy it there and then, as I still thought the price was too high and the shop assistant wouldn't lower the price of £999. He informed me that their website had just updated the price to £1048 and they hadn't updated the physical tag (this was true). I knew I wouldn't be back at this shop and city, as it was a one off and too far from my home, but they said they would ship if I wanted to order later.[/i][/color] [color=#696969][i]I left and did some research on the internet - which is good and bad. Lots of people were saying this was a great bass, but then you get all the stories and stigma about Mexican basses. [/i][/color] [color=#696969][i]So now I have it and am please. Although I think the set up is not quite as nice as the one I tried, but I think this will be easy for me to sort myself (intonation on G string is a bit off). Strangely, I kind of now like the RW effect. For something I was dead against, I now don't really notice. It also feels quite liberating not having to worry about the first bump or scratch. It remarkably does feel like and old bass, an old friend. I never thought I'd like this as I have previously been all for the shiny new style of bass.[/i][/color] [color=#696969][i]Due to work I haven't been able to give the bass a good and thorough testing. I'm still trying to be objective before my cooling off period (chance to return the bass) expires. There's is definitely something about this bass and I'm hoping that my initial love for it, was just new bass syndrome!"[/i][/color]

Does anyone mind if I add some of my own personal experiences with this bass to this thread (wasn't fully sure what the etiquette was with this review section)?

Is it ok to post some thoughts to a review that has already started?

[quote name='Davewick' timestamp='1346201657' post='1786533'] My "new" '89 Thumb fretless (and stringless xD) [/quote] Very nice - how does the fretless sound compared to the non-fretless? I have a Thumb BO and it has been my main bass for years.

Strangely, I don't have any photos of just my Thumb (apart from gig photos), or the Hot Rod. Will definitely have to take some. The Corvette Hot Rod is an amazing bass even if you just look at it and don't play it! I previously had a Warwick Corvette Std fretless. I parted with that on ebay back in around 2006 to pay for the Streamer $$. Here are some of the photos I took then to advertise it on ebay. Again, a lovely bass and it had that warwick quality.

Ok, finally on a PC. A lot easier than trying to fiddle about on a mobile phone. Here are some pictures of my Streamer $$. Like all Warwicks it is beautifully made.

I have three very lovely warwick 4 strings! A Thumb, Corvette Hot Rod and a Streamer $$ - definitely a Warwick lover! Can't seem to post any pictures from my phone, but will when I'm on my PC next.