Warwick SS1 , '91...What woods

[guildbass]

Hiyall!

I've been spending the last week setting up my new (1991) Streamer. As I already have a '97 all maple TN Spector NS2000 4 I
would like to find out why they sound so different. Obviously the Spector has the passive EMG Hz's while the Streamer has Active MEC's and of course the Spector has a pair of soap bar p'ups whereas the Streamer has the staggered Jazz bass style neck pick-up and soap bar 'P' bass bridge p'up but is this enough to account for the huge tonal difference?

The Spector, is very 'springy and bright, which is great, but the Streamer has the same crispness and growl but with a fatness of sound, a deep richness underpinning everything.

Were the '91 Streamers all maple or was there a cherry body option...Mine is a high polish red one with the older truss rod cover (the one where you have to take all three screws out rather than having a little door open in it)

It's the colour of a cherry... But I suspect that might not mean much...Otherwise the blue ones would be made of something like plum!

Any help appreciated!

Jon

ps...My Guild 302 is going well on Evilbay... looks like they are starting to appreciate...Which is nice as I have to pay for the Warwick somehow!

[mart]

Calling Warwickhunt!!

In the meantime, if you email Warwick with the serial number, then they should be able to tell you the factory spec, including the body wood.

My instinct is that, by 1991, they'd stopped using cherry, so it's probably maple. But I don't have a lot of hard information to base that on.

[charic]

It sounds like the only thing they have in common is the shape

[LukeFRC]

my guess (from owning two Warwick SS1's from 1991 in the past) is the different pickups and something about the woods, mine have had the bright attack of maple but with the warmth there too......of course it could all be the pups!

[thisnameistaken]

AFAIK the SS1s were all maple bodied, and have always been.

Great basses.

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1319688' date='Jul 28 2011, 07:59 PM']AFAIK the SS1s were all maple bodied, and have always been.

Great basses.[/quote]

early ones were cherry i think, the ones with the thick thick stripes.
the thin stripes and 2 part bridges were maple
and the current ones have really thin stripes


laminates may be a better word

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='1319925' date='Jul 29 2011, 12:24 AM']early ones were cherry i think, the ones with the thick thick stripes.
the thin stripes and 2 part bridges were maple
and the current ones have really thin stripes[/quote]

Your 91 SSI will defo be Maple (as LukeFRC has said Cherry was only used till about 88-89), with a Maple neck and slim wenge stringers/laminates and a wenge fingerboard (only ever heard of one Rosewood and one Ebony but there is no guarantee they weren't replacements and/or fretted fretless basses).

As for the difference in tone between the Spector and the Warwick... YES!

They are different and despite them being almost identical in shape and construction, they will never sound the same. It's down to personal taste but I've always preferred the tone of the SSI despite owning Euro and USA Spectors (whereas Cetera feels the opposite ). I'd put it down to construction (they are subtly different) and preamp because I've owned both types that have full active EMGs in and I've done an A/B test and they were still different.

Vive le difference and simply enjoy.

[BigBeatNut]

[quote name='guildbass' post='1318646' date='Jul 27 2011, 08:34 PM']ps...My Guild 302 is going well on Evilbay... looks like they are starting to appreciate...Which is nice as I have to pay for the Warwick somehow![/quote]

Is that the one that just finished ? That was exciting Had a a hankering for one of those but I confess I wouldn't have gone to anywhere near that price

Andy

[guildbass]

[quote name='BigBeatNut' post='1324811' date='Aug 2 2011, 08:24 PM']Is that the one that just finished ? That was exciting Had a a hankering for one of those but I confess I wouldn't have gone to anywhere near that price

Andy[/quote]
yes, It just finished! I know... £955... Who'd have thought! Bought by a Kazakhstani collector no less...

Still, It means i can keep my new Spector AND the Warwick SS1...:-)

thanks all re the woods thing... I think the Warwick may well become my recording bass and the Spector my stage bass. it's strange...Every time I change from one to the other the subtle differences in play-ability and tone enthuse me anew.... Doesn't matter which I play, the other one never disappoints!

I love the maple-ness of the Spector... It's crude tonally compared to the multi-timbred Warwick but projects wonderfully in a live environment. the SS1 however has a Hi Fi ness that is very compelling and sounds fantastic on tape when you can really listen to it.

it took me a while to get the Warwick set up... The intonation was miles out and being 24 fret I felt duty bound to get it correct on both 12th AND 24th fret...And I had to drop the neck p'up and lift the bridge... it was too fat and warm with the mix pot centred but it's coming good now!