warwickhunt

I can honestly say that in 30 yrs of playing in bands, the last thought on my mind when selecting a bass is, 'active/passive'! Is it playable, is it comfortable, does it sound good/bad (regardless of whether it has a battery), does it look good (honest ) ad infinitum; they all come WAY before I consider if it is 'active/passive'. However, of the 7 basses I own, every one is active with the option of switching to passive; I play them all active... with the tone controls cranked!

Bought LOADS of basses unseen/unplayed (yes I am a bassaholic and freely admit the fact )... infact of the 7 basses I presently own, only 1 did I play before I bought it. I've only ever really been disappointed when a seller (BCor eBay) has categorically stated that a bass has been a particular weight however when it has arrived it has been significantly not as described! I confess that had I tried the bass before hand then I'd have spotted that but living in the far North of the country it's difficult to try before you buy when the bass is 'darn Sarf'! I used to be a bit vague when asking questions and agreeing on the details of a distance sale but now that I have realised you have to be hard-nosed when buying long distance, I'm not afraid to say to someone; "if this isn't as described, it's coming back to you" and that generally sorts out the wheat from the chaff! I have to say that I won't deal with someone on BC who hasn't got a good feedback or at least integrity and the only good thing about eBay is that now the buyer has the upper-hand.

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='1108841' date='Jan 30 2011, 10:47 PM']Are you counting the shill bidders in with the general public?[/quote] Scary thought is that without shill bidders (if there are any) it would have sold for less!

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='1108646' date='Jan 30 2011, 08:48 PM']... and sold for £565.55. If it's real then that's a bargain.[/quote] Let's see if it's as real as the last time it sold! At the end of the day it was flagged up on here and well advertised on ebay (not misspelt or in the wrong section) so it has apparently sold for what the general public on ebay think it is worth.

[quote name='machinehead' post='1106925' date='Jan 29 2011, 01:36 AM']BTW, I have a 1997 Warwick Streamer Stage 2. Not a crappy new one. [/quote] Simply by giving me the date of your SSII I've ascertained that it has a neck profile which some won't like when compared to say an 87 and it has a headstock volute which I don't like as much as I like those without volutes from the SSII inception till about the mid 90's... I think you already know the answer to your question really!

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='1107226' date='Jan 29 2011, 02:23 PM']You rang! My brains not functioning properly today but if you stick a pic up I may be able to help. There are different makes and sizes on the various Warwicks and the early ones do 'bolt' rather than 'screw' in as there is a threaded thingy (see my brain is fuzzed with this cold) inserted into the wood which the bolt screws into. They rarely come out without you trying to get them out but on occasion they can come out when taking the strap button off and some folks don't realise what they are and sling them. If it is the part of the locking system that fixes to the strap I may (no promises) have a spare pair but I'd need to know I was talking about the same thing.[/quote] SECONDS after I post the pics are up... uncanny! Yep that's what I thought. They are just the early standard fitting (I think new sets from Schaller are a different size) and there are loads in circulation you just don't want to be buying new straplock sets. I'll see if I have spares later... just hope they aren't becoming scarce and hard to replace!

You rang! My brains not functioning properly today but if you stick a pic up I may be able to help. There are different makes and sizes on the various Warwicks and the early ones do 'bolt' rather than 'screw' in as there is a threaded thingy (see my brain is fuzzed with this cold) inserted into the wood which the bolt screws into. They rarely come out without you trying to get them out but on occasion they can come out when taking the strap button off and some folks don't realise what they are and sling them. If it is the part of the locking system that fixes to the strap I may (no promises) have a spare pair but I'd need to know I was talking about the same thing.

Passed through my hands and presently resides (iirc) with _____----_____ at least I think that's the correct spelling! I fancied it back and in the meantime I plumped for this...

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='1105682' date='Jan 27 2011, 10:54 PM']Just thinking about moving stuff around over smoothish carpeted floors. Putting casters on a cab should decouple it from the floor, right, so is there a reason NOT to do this? Thanks.[/quote] Absolutely none... in fact it can be a benefit (do a quick search for 'Gramma Pad' on BC). Just be sure to not compromise the integrity of the cab and ensure that you don't have a X-over bolted to the bottom of the cab, which you might screw/drill through!

... but it's BLUE!

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='1103160' date='Jan 26 2011, 08:29 AM']On the Skylines the chromed covers are the originals and contain single-coil Chisonics on the passive version or humcancelling Chisonics on the active version. It was possible but not standard to have humcancellers in the passive version. That's the Decade I. The plain black pickup covers are just that. Inside the black cover is the single-coil Chisonic. That's the Decade II. The reason given by Lakland for this was that they were having some production difficulties with the chromed covers and also the plain black covers are much cheaper. Decade II is about $100 cheaper than Decade I but the only difference is the ugly plain black pickup covers. The original US Decades had Hammon Dark Stars (which are single-coils) but even the US are now Chisonics unless special order. But I agree the sale looks well dodgy.[/quote] Didn't know that, I assumed the Dec I & II had different pups! Still not sure if the guy has one bass for sale that his mate shill bid/won or if it is a scammer... possibly a dealer selling dodgy stock or seconds!

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='1102988' date='Jan 25 2011, 11:34 PM']Maybe I'm misunderstanding you but Decade I and II both have Chisonics but have different pickup covers.[/quote] It could be me but I was under the impression that the original version had the type of pups that had plain covers (don't think they are Chisonics and are iirc humbuckers) as pictured in the ebay listing; the later/current version of the Decade is fitted with the chrome surround Chisonics. Either way I have asked the guy numerous questions and the response is always to quote what Lakland presently have on their website!

Do eBay still get their cut?

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='1102395' date='Jan 25 2011, 05:32 PM']He stresses that it has the Chisonic pickups but the Skylines all do. He's just got a picture of the one with the horrible pickup covers, so couldn't be bothered to find the correct pic.[/quote] I asked about that last time and he can't give a straight answer as to whether it is a Decade I or II (without/with Chisonics)... either has a load of knock-off stock or has no idea what he is trying to sell (see 'knock-off stock')!

... and he's sold it/one like it before!

[quote name='Dusty' post='1102743' date='Jan 25 2011, 08:59 PM']... so, 1) out of curiosity & 2) maybe I will sell it. It would be good to know a ball park figure [/quote] It almost flies in the face of present BC rules to 'bid up' the price of an instrument for sale but I'd suggest that if your bass were worth a great deal then BC members could get in touch with you to make offers (OutToPlayJazz may well have done so ). However, in the event that you have a lack of figures/prices to work from, I'd suggest that someone like me would be prepared to put their hand in their pocket and pay... £600 for an Alien acoustic bass. Now bearing in mind that my valuation is not an idle figure plucked from mid-air and never to be acted on, would anyone disagree and say it was worth more; bearing in mind to justify it worth being more then they'd need to follow up that valuation with the hard cash!

First off what do you mean by a 'true valuation'? A true valuation in my book is what your bass would 'sell' for on the open market; as opposed to a price given to you based upon what you'd like to hear. I'm not trying to be aggressive or antagonistic but when many folk ask on forums for prices they are looking for validation that their instrument is worth lots of money. Realistically you have to appreciate that your bass is a Warwick and they are not (at the minute) flavour of the month. Many Warwicks are selling for 50% and below of their price when new (regardless of when bought) and that hurts when you've paid £3000+ for a new Warwick! IMHO older Warwicks are far better basses than the newer models and your Alien if it is a 91 model is likely no exception, however I've yet to see a standard production bass sell for more than it cost when new and often you'd not achieve anywhere near the price of a comparable new bass. I'd say a better gauge would be had by searching past sales on BC, TB and the Warwick forum and looking for basses that have actually sold rather than have been advertised, though I accept sales of Alien basses is pretty low. Ultimately if you are intent on selling it I'd suggest you put a price on it that is commensurate with what 'you' would be prepared to pay for one and if the price is too high the lack of buyers will tell you so, then reduce it £50-£100 and keep doing so till someone bites. I do know that there was someone (was it OutToPlayJazz?) asking about Alien basses on this forum not so long ago, it might be worth doing a search and finding out if it was OTPJ and contacting him! Best of luck with your quest and I for one will be watching the sales threads with interest to see what the price may be!

[quote name='Steve Spector' post='1099859' date='Jan 23 2011, 05:36 PM']I'm sure you're right, just sort of thinking hypothetically as much as anything. It'd be either an Aggie DB751 or an Ampeg SVT VR, both of which do go to 2 ohms. So again, if I daisy-chain the 2 212s into 1 amp output and the 412 into the amp output it'd work and be 2 ohms, yes? Steve[/quote] Yes Steve, if the amps go down to 2ohms then the scenario you suggest will work. TBH you could daisy chain all of the cabs from one output the effect would be the same but the benefit of your way is that if a speaker lead fails you'd still have output (whereas if the speaker lead to the first cab in a 3 cab daisy chain failed you'd have nothing).

[quote name='Steve Spector' post='1099808' date='Jan 23 2011, 04:49 PM']Just a quickie on the Aggie 12 cabs. If I were to get 2 DB212 cabs at 8 ohms each then wanted MORE volume, could I also get a 4 ohm DB412 and use all 3? So one lead from the amp to the 412 and one to a 212, then an out from this 212 to the other one? Steve[/quote] Not unless your amp went to 2 ohms which very few do (Peavey amps often do but not many others)! However if you had a pair of DB2x12s and you needed more volume you'd be bleeding from every orifice starting at the ears. In all seriousness if you needed more than a pair of DB212s then the PA should be handling the volume side of it FOH and they should be plenty enough for on-stage monitoring.