72deluxe

What's up with the jacks on them? I've not had a problem with them.

Ah that's not so bad then. I hope you manage to sell it.

What a real pity. You can get brake/clutch locking kits on ebay that basically involve keeping the two pedals locked together. When you put the clutch in to change gear, the brake gets applied. Combined with a circular padlock it'd be tricky to disengage. I'd also recommend those handbrake locks, although as with the StopLok steering wheel locks they use easily-defeatable tubular pin tumbler locks - just look on YouTube for a guy opening one in about 3 seconds. Better than nothing I suppose.

I have a Pro Series StarBass that I bought here on BC and it compares exceedingly favourably with German Warwicks that I have. I can't find a fault on it (other than one paint split mark on the neck). Of course, they have stopped making them in Korea now. I have tried a few Rockbass basses and sad to say (for me) they don't come close to the German ones in feel or quality. Not sure on the sound as I couldn't do any critical "hand on chin" listening but I know from the feel of them that they just didn't feel right to me (rough neck finish, nasty feeling Rosewood fingerboard). The fingerboard issue might be the main one for me as I am used to the wenge and it sounds and feels distinct. The basses just felt "cheap", if such a thing can be said. I am not in any way attempting to knock Chinese manufacturing or products (I think I single-handedly keep China going through ebay purchases and resends when they don't turn up). It may have been they hadn't been "worn in" after years of sweaty playing, though. I bought custom Warwicks early 2000s (with ovangkol necks which I personally don't mind, some hate them for their profile) and I would be struggling to see the price list through watering eyes if I had bought them now. They're insane prices - you could buy a small car! It would be more than I could afford but they might be worth it if you had the cash? I might have been spoiled by the cheaper prices though! You can get some second-hand ones here on BC for silly low money IMHO. I will chime in and say that I have a Corvette 6 in bubinga with onboard preamp and it weighs as much as a small car, so perhaps the German asking price is based on weight??? EDIT: Wowsers, just noticed how cheap the Pro Series (PS) ones are on Thomann! That's insane. EDIT AGAIN: Wow, there's a Corvette $$ 5 German on there for not "car price" money, certainly not 4k. It's on for 2.5k.

With the wrong string spacing, wrong preamp and wrong pickups, what a disappointment that you're having to resort to selling it instead of just getting your money back! What a pity!

Haha taking a photo of the amp settings is hilarious. Thanks for brightening up my day. Perhaps musicians all have the biggest egos and are a sensitive bunch? There are some who will only play a Fender through an Ampeg and disdainfully look on those who do not; never bumped into a MM die-hard myself though.

Thanks for the info and advice. I think the pickups are passive (from what I can glean from the conflicting schematics on Warwick's site) but with a powered EQ. Are onboard replacement preamps pretty much standard fittings and wirings? I am not entirely sure where to start with it, sadly. They look expensive to just "try out"!

Thanks for the info. Good idea about the van, pity they wouldn't insure it as it IS in the garage (albeit in a speedy getaway van). I hate lugging heavy gear around (hurray for lightweight class D amps). Other than Music Guard and Endsleigh, can anyone recommend anyone else? Without giving all details away about your gear, does it work out fairly reasonable?

Thanks! In Gloucestershire too, so not that far from me! Ever had anything done by them? The work looks good.

Haha I did wonder if it was a "manned" inbox - I thought that replies were coming back quite quick for a busy owner. I guess I'll never know.... Yours appears to have a different finish than others - I can only come across flat colours but yours is blended? The Japanese manufacturer was Moridaira who apparently did some work for Fender and whole bunch of instrument manufacturers. As you can see mine is dinked and pitted all over the place so I am not sure what to do to restore its former glory. Sounds great, but needs polishing around the edges a bit I feel. I notice that Karlfer knows where you live in order to "liberate" your Dolphin but in the state mine is in, nobody will even want to know where I live haha

I emailed Warwick and HP Wilfer replied - "[i]it's a Dolphin Pro II from Germany, June 1990 made in Eggolsheim[/i]", the 49th to be built. I am not sure how this fits in with the Dolphin Pro II history regarding moving production to Japan after the German subcontractor Shadow Pickups produced lower standard basses - the main problems were with the necks (they weren't straight). This neck appears to be straight and perfectly playable, so it's likely among the "good" 400 German Dolphin Pro IIs (the rest of the faulty ones were destroyed, apparently about 300 of them). Production seems to have moved to Japan around September 1991, so this one doesn't have the active/passive switch that is found on Japanese ones. Looks like I'll need a bunch of batteries as I can't rely on switching to passive when it goes flat! Now a poll on replacement hardware colours..... I hate the mixed gold and black (but I'll keep them in a bag somewhere). And yes, this does make the Dolphin the first BO model made by Warwick!

OK so it's late and I've got photos! You can see there's a few holes here and there, which is a pity - on the front, on the side, and on the other side. And bashed around the edges too Pictures here: [url="https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B3vzHZmGDdwKLXFKeFNneTctaVU"]https://drive.google...LXFKeFNneTctaVU[/url] As you can see, it looks fine from a distance but has holes all over the place! And none of the hardware matches!

Hi Martyn! Hope all is well. That's a lovely Dolphin and less beat up than mine (yours looks immaculate). Mine looks like it has suffered from its weird shape and been scuffed around the edges like Gibson Firebirds/Thunderbirds do. I was amazed at the richness of the sound. The chrome hardware doesn't look bad on that. So many choices to make....

I'll grab some pics but to add to the confusion, here's a sanded Pro II that doesn't look dreadful: http://medias.audiofanzine.com/images/thumbs3/warwick-dolphin-pro-ii-884585.jpg The plot thickens... I've found the serial number on the end of the headstock, I'll see what Warwick says about it.

When the light's good I will post pictures! Should I be filling up the Warwick picture thread with pictures of all my Warwicks? 5 so far and that's the limit for now I think......

Thanks for the info and pictures! Mine is indeed the cheaper Pro II and only has 24 frets, not 26. The wood does look unremarkable - I see now why they painted it! There is one here that looks significantly better: [url="http://www.thelowend.net/gallery/viewtopic.php?t=2387"]http://www.thelowend...opic.php?t=2387[/url] All my other wicks have serial numbers stamped on the back of the headstock so I will take a look for this one. I'll have a thin about what to do with it; does anyone know if they are the original Warwick bridges or the newer solid brass things? I only ask because there's a world of difference between the prices on Thomann...

Hello everybody I'm not sure if this is in the right part of the forum or whether it should be in the 'repairs and technical' section but I was looking for some advice. I recently was fortunate enough to buy a Warwick Dolphin Pro 2, which is a Japanese-made one from the mid 90s (although I can't find a serial number anywhere on this thing - where do I look??) and has a slim maple neck and an ash body, and sounds wildly different the swamp ash bass I have with an ovangkol neck. The neck and headstock is fine but unfortunately, the body is a bit bashed up and has a few dinks in it, and looks like a few places have been filled (as if holes lurk beneath). The bass is dark brown (almost black) but I was wondering if anyone knows what the basses look like underneath in case I could get it sanded down? Does anyone have any pictures of Pro 2s that have undergone such sanding down? I couldn't find many pictures of them! Also, does anyone have recommendations of which colour hardware to put on it? It has mixed black and gold hardware (yuck!) and I'd like one colour only - either gold or black - does anyone have any pictures of their ash basses with black or gold hardware? Thanks! Rich

I played free gigs for a number of years and did enjoy playing, but the realisation of how much my time is worth has stopped me doing freebies. Practicing for days with bands and driving all over the countryside and getting home after the dead of night whilst lugging heavy gear around comes at a price (usually my back). If you asked any other person to come and entertain you for a few hours for nothing or to do something like housework or carpentry for a couple of hours without pay (even if your provided the materials), they wouldn't do it. I know I'm not planning on getting rich with this but my life is not free! Learning to play takes an investment in time and effort. If you work out how much time you dedicate to packing up your car, driving, setting up, playing, dismantling, loading up the car, driving, and unloading and then divide this by the pay, you work out that the pay per hour can be pretty rubbish! This gets worse if you factor in time practicing and hiring practice rooms if necessary. Of course, I do really love playing, even if some of the cover songs get a bit tedious after a while. And money isn't the be-all-and-end-all of life, but my time is worth something. This reminds me - I must tell my bandmates we should charge more!