throwoff

Just seen some big changes on the Warwick site. I know there was some confusion over the Pro-Series/Korean/Chinese stuff last year but they have made the range much easier to follow. They now have 3 distinct lines. Custom Shop German Pro Series Chinese RockBass The price list for the German Pro Series makes very interesting reading material, you can now pick up a German Made Corvette, made in the proper Warwick Factory, out of the same high end materials it has always been for 1100 Euro MSRP... That is a price drop of about 60% plus... $$ models now start at 1600 Euros MSRP, again a huge price drop and I believe a very fair price for a bass made in Europe, by quality luthiers of high end woods with a great electronics and pickup package. The only difference I can see is that now you have a limited colour option, natural, around 5 oil colours, a couple of high stains and a sunburst on most, really no different to any other builder. The Custom Shop range is still at the Warwick insane prices we know and love but you of course can get almost anything you want so it justifies it. Rockbasses are still frankly madly overpriced, 800 Euros for the Chinese built Corvette.. when you can now get a German one for 300 euros more I think they will struggle on that! Seems they might have finally listened to customers though and I for one think that's great, maybe the second hand market will pick up a tad with the new pricing in place.

Japanese one..? Edit, just went and read the model history, I never knew that they made some in Japan, and I used to work for them..!

And even if you do Limelight will do that for you.

I know for a fact Warwick don't pay royalties to any of the their artists as a matter of principal, even the ones with Sig instruments, it is the honour of the guitar rather than a money making venture. Mind you even if they did quite who was buying a 6 grand Clayton Sig reverse bodied Z thing I don't know. Also, fun fact. Fender do pay royalties Additional fun, Tom Delonge with his Mexican Strat with a single humbucker and volume control still holds the record (by a country bloody mile as well) for the largest royalty cheque ever paid by Fender due to the sheer number of them they sold. Mr Hoppus is up that list also. Their instruments were genuinely different to anything else in the catalogue not to mention about 400 pounds street and therefore affordable.

Do not apply oil to any Warwick Coloured Oil finish! They ARE lacquered as well, putting oil onto the lacquer will likely ruin it! The Warwick user manual and site both say to never wax/oil the coloured oil ones.

Right time to email and see if he can get basses too..

Indeed it is, I assume fender have discontinued it and blown the stock out to Thomann

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1413752617' post='2581612'] It's not just leadership within the company, though pressurising dealers, setting up a direct sales arm, making endorsement deals 'Fender Exclusive' when the artist is performing and letting some top people go from the custom shop are symptomatic of such. Many of Fender's travails lie outside the company and with its ownership. For example, did we know that VC Western Presidio at one time owned a majority of Fender and a large chunk of Guitar Center, the idea being to own both ends of the manufacturer / retailer chain? That Guitar Center has been in trouble for a while and owing money to Fender. That following the postponement of the Fender IPO a chastened WP sold out last year to TPG Growth and Servco, the two companies who now own the majority of Fender? Did we know that TPG and Servco believe that the future lies in internet sales and Fender-branded headphones; and that it was a friend of the CEO of one of the afore-mentioned VC's who brokered the deal to get Bono and Edge onto the board? Fact is, we've got a (sort of) repeat of the CBS situation. New spods on the block. Meetings behind closed doors. 'Stunt' board appointments. Newcomers who 'know best'. It will get worse before it gets better and it will have f**k-all to do with whether one can get a particular instrument in Candy Apple Red. [/quote] From a previous insider this hits the nail so firmly on the head the nail now needs time to recover in the bahamas.

While I cannot say very much I was a Fender employee, now I am not and I am not the only one who was let go. Whether there is something to that I really can't say but it was strange how one day we seemed to be flying and the next we where at the dole office. I hope there is not a serious problem, I know a lot of people there and I love the brand and always will.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1413554431' post='2579498'] No criticism of the mods from me on this, but I'm interested in the philosophical implications of why it's ok for kids to see sexualised images of women baring their breasts in The Sun, but not on Basschat. It is obviously legal to publish such images as there is no age restriction of The Sun, there were no naked breasts in this thread or on Huff Post. So is it simply context? [/quote] The sun are in the process of phasing out page 3, they are not shouting about it but it is filtering out.

Reading through this it seems like another text book case of headline slot fever. Many people who play in bands come over all unnecessary when told they are playing last, the mythical 'headline slot'. Especially on a good line up. Hearts leap over heads and suddenly you are the best band playing. Sadly for these local level gigs, be it charity or paid the situation is often the same as OP's, everyone buggers off before the last band, even the bands who played before. When I promoted I ALWAYS put my own band on bang in the middle, that's the true headline slot!

[quote name='TolerancEJ' timestamp='1413485307' post='2578837'] I own a Warwick Thumb BO 6 and it certainly rocks! Others already mentioned the Thumb is the fundamental "sound" of Warwick. Once you play a Warwick Thumb, you will be able to identify one in any song. My Thumb has also been my go-to instrument when I've gone to jam with other musicians. They are NOT light by any stretch. Mine is about 11Lbs. I counter the weight with a nice wide strap to distribute the weight more evenly across my shoulder. My strap also has a rough suede back so it stays in place on my shoulder. I've always worn my basses high, so that also counters neckdive which others have already indicated. As for the neckdive, you may also look into the Warwick Streamer or Corvette. [/quote] The wide strap is a MUST for a thumb, with the neck through it distributes the weight nicely and with a bolt on a good padded wide strap can combat the neck dive.

Yep, dealer please!

I very much fancy a Baron H Vintage but even their showroom in London doesn't stock one (lefty or righty in fact!), it is special order. As much as it ticks every box for me in terms of looks and loadout I need to play one first!

Something always worth remembering with any Warwick bass is that HP Wilfer can't play a dang note on a bass! He designed the intruments first and foremost on ergonomics, just as a good engineer would. The Thumb bass is a triumph of ergonomic design, small bodied means the heft of the wood is kept as low as possible (it still weighs a lot!), concave body so it sits on the belly in the perfect position, perfect pickup placement for the tone he wanted to hear etc etc. The only real issues with them are the neck dive on the bolt-on's (the NT models don't have this and came first) and the aesthetics that many don't like. I personally love them, my favourite Warwick bass by a mile.

I still can't see a Barefaced and not imagine a long story about how the owner of it knocked it up in the shed... I don't much like the way they sound either tbh. But then I quite like Parker Flys so what the hell do I know.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1405767968' post='2505063'] Do you have just the one voucher for 50 Euros? I had 50 Euros too, but in the form of one voucher for 40 and one for 10. I was unable to use both vouchers simultaneously at checkout, so I believe it's one voucher per purchase... [/quote] Mines all on one

Got a few ukes Thinking of a vox bass amplug?