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Warwick Thumbs, Why?


Pinball
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[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1413641795' post='2580457']
I am not 100% sure, but wern`t bolt on thumb pro series around a £1000 about 18 months ago, and now you can get one for the price of a Rockbass? Or was i imaging it?
[/quote]
they've discontinued the Korean Pro Series now so Thomann are selling off the remaining stock at silly cheap prices so if you have some cash now is a very good time to buy.
They are awesome basses

Edited by artisan
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[quote name='Turk' timestamp='1413573907' post='2579836']


I'm trying to remember when it was. I'm thinking maybe '88 - '89. Any idea ?
[/quote]

Could be 88, I was in London with art college, a couple of us took a detour to visit Forbidden Planet then called in to see the guys at 2000ad, I'm sure the comic shop was near Denmark St...
being a spotty glam rock student I couldn't resist the lure of a brilliant pink Warwick.

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[quote name='artisan' timestamp='1413749729' post='2581572']
they've discontinued the Korean Pro Series now so Thomann are selling off the remaining stock at silly cheap prices so if you have some cash now is a very good time to buy.
They are awesome basses
[/quote]
Oh yes...they have a PS Corvette 5 string fretless for £417. I don't need it, but am seriously tempted at that price.

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It is very hard to resist. I am really thinking about it, but don`t really need it. Is it going to be much different from a Clover Avenger to warrant buying it? Problem is, i will never know, as i can`t try one. Also a Streamer. Which one is best? Too much to think about

Edited by timmo
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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.

Wow, I'd say the opposite on the neck dive. I have a lefty B/O Thumb 5 n while it has a little lean that way, it's entirely manageable but when I played a lefty NT 5 in a store this year with a view to buying, it was an ergo nightmare; kept wanting to head to the floor & after 15 mins of strap playing my whole torso & arms were feeling pain, mainly from the further reach needed & keeping the neck up in a 30-40 degree angle as is usual for me. I really wanted to like & buy it, as it was a great price but just couldn't. I'm also 5'6 so being a midget may have some bearing but I've never had that bad a time with any other bass, & I have 2 Steinbergers & a Hohner B2V so I know a thing or 2 about stretchy positioning.

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[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1413777355' post='2581702']
It is very hard to resist. I am really thinking about it, but don`t really need it. Is it going to be much different from a Clover Avenger to warrant buying it? Problem is, i will never know, as i can`t try one. Also a Streamer. Which one is best? Too much to think about
[/quote]
The Streamer is an excellent instrument as well. You can't go wrong with a Streamer.

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A lot of players don't like the Thumb because it sounds too different, but it's a really sweet sound, it burbles and purrs in quite a unique way. Mine is a '91 4 string and it's got a great neck on it.

Perhaps the best thing about the Marmite nature of the Thumb bass is you can usually get a great early used NT model for under a grand. I paid under 700 for mine.

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  • 2 weeks later...

[quote name='andytoad' timestamp='1413573197' post='2579826']
Apart from 4, 5 or 6 string, what models are there and how do they differ? Are there differences in neck profile?
[/quote]

German neck-through models have been made as the standard model and the JD variant (I've seen 4-string and 5-string JDs but can't recall seeing a 6-string). JDs stopped being made in about 1988. There have been three variants of nut (Just-A-Nut 1, 2, and 3), and two variants of bridge (one-piece and two-piece). Early basses had sculpted rears to the headstock and no volutes, later basses had volutes and plain rears to the headstock. Electrics have been EMG and MEC. They were originally bubinga and wenge - I think that ovangkol is now used in the neck-throughs but not sure for what.

It appears I'm the only other person in this thread who thinks that neck profiles are significant. I've always thought of them as the most important feature of a bass.

There are huge differences. I bought my 1987 JD Thumb because it had a fantastically slim and shallow neck and it was wonderful to play. I bought a 2000 Thumb around 2002 or 2003 and the neck was a great thick lump - I was having the bass defretted anyway so I got the luthier doing it to reprofile the neck to the same dimensions as the JD Thumb. I believe they've slimmed them back down somewhat now. If buying one, you'd need to either play it or find out exactly when it was made and which model, and try to find an exact counterpart to play on. That's unless you're not bothered about neck profiles, of course.

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Its worth noting that, whilst the new Warwicks are wenge necked and have a slimmer profile than the bats on the 00's, they are not as slim as the vintage pre ~1991 basses. There is a custom shop option for an extra slim neck for such a profile :)

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I had a '96 BO 5 Thumb for many years and that was really nice, crisp and easy to play, not too heavy Ovangkol body. It was distinctly thumb but not too 'barky' if you now what I mean. I then bought an early throughneck 6 thumb which weighs about as much as a bus but the tone is amazing, unique early Warwick on Bartolini pups, thunderous clear bottom end growling mids and bell like highs. If you like 'that sound' then go for it whilst old Waricks are 'relatively cheap' You can get an 80's thumb for under a grand BO for under £700 if you look. All I can say I got my Thumb for a fraction of a new one, for a fraction of what it cost when it was new and that won't last forever. So if you are tempted do it now and see how you get on. Thumbs ALWAYS sell son ot much to loose.

Edited by pmjos
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[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1413755783' post='2581654']
Oh yes...they have a PS Corvette 5 string fretless for £417. I don't need it, but am seriously tempted at that price.
[/quote]
Have they discontinued all korean pro series?
Just started looking at tge streamer nt. Thomann have one at 665 but in black only. Not sure how good a deal that is. Would prefer natural but they look good on specs alone, same hardware and electronics as their german cousins

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  • 1 month later...

[quote name='Turk' timestamp='1413492244' post='2578955']
Only one I've played was for sale many moons ago in of the smaller shops in Denmark Street, London. A kind of pink colour. Previous owner was some bloke called Cass Lewis.
[/quote]

I had the blue version of this - made in '87 with side LED's and Status Hyperactive pickups. I still cry today about having sold it. It went to the USA.

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I've owned a NT5 from '91. It was just not for me, just as others said before the main issue was the 1st position was to far of a reach. My Dingwall with 37" B string has the 1st position around the same place...
The sound was ok, but for the band I was playing at time other basses did the job better. (Spector)

With all this being said some of the best fretless tones I've ever herad came from Thumbs. Should I ever go seriously for the fretless way, I'd get a Thumb and forget all the nuances and just play it.

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  • 1 year later...

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1476131177' post='3151672']
Thread revival time.
Did I see the Cass Lewis pinky on here a while back - the one with the big oval fret markers? There's a guy on YT claiming ownership but it looks a different colour and has small dot fret markers. Anyone know the story?
[/quote]

Fairly sure the pink Cass Lewis bass had normal dot markers and iirc it did pass through a couple of hands a few years ago!

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I've admired the look of Thumbs and for the most part loved the sound of them on recordings but in the real world...1) they feel like a dead fish in my hands when I pluck the strings. 2) Without a bit of eq to boost the bass they sound like a Wal being played through a cheap 1x8 amp. I couldn't have one as my main instrument but I live in hope of an epiphany one day...

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[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1476158732' post='3151809']
I've admired the look of Thumbs and for the most part loved the sound of them on recordings but in the real world...1) they feel like a dead fish in my hands when I pluck the strings. 2) Without a bit of eq to boost the bass they sound like a Wal being played through a cheap 1x8 amp. I couldn't have one as my main instrument but I live in hope of an epiphany one day...
[/quote]Let's start a Wal war! 😀

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