Warwick - Love or Hate?

[GUI101]

I'm definitely in the love'em camp,
My corvette std has been my main bass for the past 13 years now, despite owning several other basses (J's and P's) during this time, I have always come back to the vette.

I find it comfortable both seated and with strap, well built and with much better access to the 'dusty' end of the neck than anything else I have tried.

I can certainly see why warwicks don't appeal to some, as certain body designs don't to me either but as with anything it is subjective and if your going to spend your money on something then it'll be on the one you like the most.

[BassTractor]

Love.
1982: saw a Streamer in a shop window. Natural wood, and arched top, for me it defined the future as to development in basses. I was in love immediately.
1991: someone demoed his Warwick for me, and showed how wonderfully and wonderfully diverse it sounds without any effect pedals or turning of knobs. Even I (a keyboards man with virtually no bass experience) sounded good. Love strengthened to the degree: "One day... One day..."
2011: buy my first bass on a Friday or Saturday. Return it to the shop on Monday, and get me a Corvette at almost three times the price instead. After all, it had been looking at me the whole time that previous Friday (together with an overtly sexy Bongo).

Come to think of it, it was in early October, so exactly two years ago. Time to celebrate.

[BigRedX]

Ten years ago I started playing fretless and after a couple of cheap basses, I decided I wanted something really good, so I spent the next year or so playing every single fretless bass I could get my hands on in shops, at trade shows, bass bashes etc. In that time I played a lot of Warwick basses and found them to be universally horrible. It wasn't so much the neck profile but the nasty sticky feel of the waxed/oiled? wood. Each time I picked on up the try, I would end up putting it down within minutes and then be looking for somewhere to wash my hands.

I wasn't a big fan of the aesthetics either. Someone on here once described them as being "hacked out of diseased trees by blind Germans" and IMO he wasn't wrong. Then I saw the Jack Bruce Cream Reunion Signature Bass. There was an elegance about it that IMO none of their other basses had, and when I actually got to try one, I found it to be much more to my style. However with a £4k+ price tag for an off-the-peg bass, I could't really be tempted and besides I had just commissioned a Sei, which even with all the options I'd specified was still going to be significantly less than the Warwick.

In the last few years though I'd become infatuated with the look of the semi-acoustic basses, but being a strictly 5-string player the only option for a double-cut semi acoustic bass was the Warwick Star Bass. When Thomann recently did their massive discount on the remaindered MiK Pro Series models I took a bit of a gamble and bought one.

[IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/DSC00290_zpsc18d4a5a.jpg[/IMG]

And I love it! TBH apart from the stupidly ugly paddle headstock (which I'd do something about if it was affordable) it has absolutely nothing in common with any other Warwick bass I've ever played. The big single coil MEC pickups have a real bottom end heft to them that sits nicely below the guitar while still having plenty of note definition. The gold-finished neck is devoid of any stickiness and while it's not quite as effortless to play as my Gus basses, it wasn't built especially for me and was quite a bit cheaper so I can't really complain. It works for me because it isn't really a Warwick - it doesn't sport any of the features that traditional Warwick lovers like (but I can't get on with) and TBH if it wasn't for the headstock shape and the "W" logo no-one would guess that it was a Warwick.

Oh, and I can get some proper high-pitched feedback out of it and when it does I can feel the air moving in and out of the f-holes! Rock n Roll!

[Lowender]

They're odd. They feel solid, but stiff.

[stjohn]

Well done big red. Just found another Warwick I like!! Nice bass...veeerrrr nice.

[goblin]

They are very stiff instruments, to the point it makes my Jazz feel too floppy to play. Of all the basses I use, I adore the Wal but due to it only being a single pickup model with tone and volume (and a coil tap), it limits me for flexibility. That's where the Warwicks come in, the Jazz is also flexible but I don't like the feel or sound of it. Once I've put a preamp in it, that may change the game, but for now the Warwicks are my top choice.

[Mr Fretbuzz]

Just love my flame maple Warwick Pro Star Bass, it's awesome for country and blues and I imagine would sound better again with flats. It looks really cool too :-)

[12stringbassist]

[quote name='Bo0tsy' timestamp='1380985992' post='2233139']
@12stringbassist - I'm loving the Streamer Chrome Tone, is that a custom shop model?
[/quote]

Hi,

They were a listed special limited run item. Quite decent spec / price.
Great big sound, superb looking, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMCRv6rPBlw

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On8TrQ-lv08[/media]

Edited October 6, 2013 by 12stringbassist

[12stringbassist]

I think they have done some of these as a Trujillo sig - possiby with an altered spec.

[KevB]

Warwick? ages since I was there. Nice castle from what I recall but they were charging an arm and a leg entrance so we didn't go in.

[LeftyJ]

[quote name='12stringbassist' timestamp='1381093726' post='2234361']
Hi,

They were a listed special limited run item. Quite decent spec / price.
Great big sound, superb looking, too.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On8TrQ-lv08[/media]
[/quote]

So when is your guitarist getting a matching Ibanez JS10? I see he's playing a Satriani model already anyway

[12stringbassist]

He's not my guitarist anymore, sadly.
He did angst over one at a guitar show some years ago.
I had to drag him away from it, as it was phenominally expensive.

[LukeFRC]

Why did they go out of fashion?
well they started as high end, hand built instruments, and somepoint in the late 90's went mental with the whole nu-metal thing and started churning them out... with the obvious compromises that might make to quality (or perceived quality anyway)
Recently they've reversed that trend - making less instruments in germany and aiming for a higher quality und so weiter.


My streamer is amazing. It was good but with the ACG and Barts it's now amazing.

[LukeFRC]

oh and I will have a thumb, oh yes I will

[CPBass]

A huge amount of Love from me.

Ive been a mahoosive fan since I ordered my first Fortress in 97, swiftly followed by matching fretted and fretless Thumbs ( wedding gift) ive been on a 15 yr journey of GAS and always landed a Warwick. I'm pretty sold on my collection now and am toying with exchanging one for a 5 string. As time goes on its getting harder and harder to choose so my little savings pot is being replenished as often as I can.

I cant say enough about MEC as they have given me zero hassles, hardware is rocksolid and the truss works a treat.

A Class Act IMO
Vampyre missing from this pic. I love them all

Edited October 10, 2013 by Voodoosnake

[discreet]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1381438886' post='2239258']
Why did they go out of fashion?
[/quote]

Are they out of fashion?

[leroydiamond]

Hate them.

[gjones]

I've got a friend who's a great bassist and usually plays a relatively new Fender Precision, with which he gets a really nice deep, punchy sound out of his GK combo. I heard him the other day playing his Warwick Thumb bass and it sounded horrible. He was playing just a bog standard covers gig and the bass sounded horribly thin and weedy - like a Jazz bass with just the bridge pickup turned on. It sounded so wrong for that gig, as it had zero bottom end - just a very nasal, middy, growl. Yuck!

Do they all sound like that?

[leftyhook]

had one. was ok. just no love. don't believe in the Marmite theory.

[CPBass]

Sounds like he didnt have it set to give out bottom end, if you need bottom end on a Warwick its there. Its German made which should give you an idea how it works. The tools are there but youve got to know how to use them. Never even heard of a W bass without growl n balls n lots of bottom, it may be faulty or programmed wrong.

[Ziphoblat]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1381440723' post='2239306']
I've got a friend who's a great bassist and usually plays a relatively new Fender Precision, with which he gets a really nice deep, punchy sound out of his GK combo. I heard him the other day playing his Warwick Thumb bass and it sounded horrible. He was playing just a bog standard covers gig and the bass sounded horribly thin and weedy - like a Jazz bass with just the bridge pickup turned on. It sounded so wrong for that gig, as it had zero bottom end - just a very nasal, middy, growl. Yuck!

Do they all sound like that?
[/quote]

I can guarantee that if you tried you could make the precision sound just as bad; and that if you knew how, you could make the Warwick sound just as good.

[marcus bell]

Really finding myself wanting a warwick after listening to the early jamiroquai albums - that tone ❤️

[DorsetBlue]

The only two Warwick shapes I actually like the look of are the Vampyre and the Streamer (yes I like the look of Spectors too, pity the necks seems to be wide on those). Shame they don't have a dealer in my area or I might give them a go (lefty BTW).

[Low End Bee]

I've only has a go one briefly and it was a nice player.
Visually the semis like BRX's are nice but the ones that look like they've got fair trade marital aids stuck on would look very out of place with the 1-2-3-4 ethic of my band. That almost makes me want one.

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1381440203' post='2239292']
Are they out of fashion?
[/quote] they were. i wont tell you how much my ss1 cost me