Kev Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 Tonewood makes a helluva difference, not matter what anyone says. If that thumb weighed 8lb, was made of ash and had a maple neck, totally different sounding bass. However, at 11lb plus, Bubinga and wenge, it sound like that. Blooming beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameronj279 Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 [quote name='Kev' timestamp='1454705992' post='2972354'] Tonewood makes a helluva difference, not matter what anyone says. If that thumb weighed 8lb, was made of ash and had a maple neck, totally different sounding bass. However, at 11lb plus, Bubinga and wenge, it sound like that. Blooming beautiful. [/quote] It does. I say that as someone who has owned an 8lb thumb bass with an Ash body and Maple neck. It did have different pickup configuration which of course changes the tone considerably but even unplugged. The bubinga thumb bass sounded like a thumb bass. The other one just didn't. Great bass right enough...just not for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eude Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 [quote name='Kev' timestamp='1454705992' post='2972354'] Tonewood makes a helluva difference, not matter what anyone says. If that thumb weighed 8lb, was made of ash and had a maple neck, totally different sounding bass. However, at 11lb plus, Bubinga and wenge, it sound like that. Blooming beautiful. [/quote] That Spector certainly won't be lightweight though, maple body! Amazing to hear the difference, its clearly not just the weight of the wood. I reckon the wenge neck must have the biggest impact on the sound. Eude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eude Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 [quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1454717739' post='2972465'] It does. I say that as someone who has owned an 8lb thumb bass with an Ash body and Maple neck. It did have different pickup configuration which of course changes the tone considerably but even unplugged. The bubinga thumb bass sounded like a thumb bass. The other one just didn't. Great bass right enough...just not for me. [/quote] Did you have a Dirty Blonde then? Always wondered what they sounded like, fairly 'normal' then? Eude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameronj279 Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 [quote name='eude' timestamp='1454769487' post='2972812'] Did you have a Dirty Blonde then? Always wondered what they sounded like, fairly 'normal' then? Eude [/quote] It sounded like a really bright P bass from what I remember. It had probably the most sustain I've ever heard from a bass though and super clear tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 [quote name='eude' timestamp='1454769487' post='2972812'] Did you have a Dirty Blonde then? Always wondered what they sounded like, fairly 'normal' then? Eude [/quote] Dirty Blonde is a great bass, just not a great Warwick bass. Will appeal to many who like the look of Warwicks and not the sound. At the time, i bought a Highway One P and a dirty blonde Thumb at the same time, and the thumb did the P thing better than the P, true story. A great bass, but did not have the balls and power of a proper Thumb bass so I got rid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameronj279 Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Kev just nailed it actually. Perfect description of that bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrammeFriday Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Yeah, Warwick wins by a mile for me, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eude Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Hmmm, always wondered about the Dirty Blonde's sound. Was the bridge pickup any use, or was it a little too close to the bridge to be used on its own? Funny, you don't see many of the higher profile Warwick players with that particular bass, the only one I saw was Weezer's bassist, and given thae most of the time he plays a P Bass, it makes perfect sense now! Eude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameronj279 Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 [quote name='eude' timestamp='1454930270' post='2974205'] Hmmm, always wondered about the Dirty Blonde's sound. Was the bridge pickup any use, or was it a little too close to the bridge to be used on its own? Funny, you don't see many of the higher profile Warwick players with that particular bass, the only one I saw was Weezer's bassist, and given thae most of the time he plays a P Bass, it makes perfect sense now! Eude [/quote] My experience with it was that I couldn't use the bridge pickup alone, even with the (very powerful) preamp set so that it shouldn't be a thin sound. Which was a real pain for me as I generally prefer the sound of a bridge pickup. The twin Jazz pickup was just way too close to solo. Just remembered I made this when I was trying to sell mine. It's literally just me pissing around playing whatever came to my head so don't expect an actual decent demo. All plugged straight into audacity. Ignore my shoddy playing too! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7MBsVi158Q"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7MBsVi158Q[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lw. Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Great video & nice playing. Another vote for the Warwick, the tone just blows the others out the water for me. I've kind of gone off their looks in recent years (favouring more "traditional" styling now) but there is just something about the sound that still works very well - I don't know what it is that's making the difference, part of me thinks it's the neck-wood's they use but I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be able to say what is is exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eude Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 [quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1454931292' post='2974220'] My experience with it was that I couldn't use the bridge pickup alone, even with the (very powerful) preamp set so that it shouldn't be a thin sound. Which was a real pain for me as I generally prefer the sound of a bridge pickup. The twin Jazz pickup was just way too close to solo. Just remembered I made this when I was trying to sell mine. It's literally just me pissing around playing whatever came to my head so don't expect an actual decent demo. All plugged straight into audacity. Ignore my shoddy playing too! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7MBsVi158Q[/media] [/quote] Thank you very much for this mate. I see what you mean, the classic Warwick tone just ain't there, at all. Having said that though, it still sounds very nice. It's got a very rich complex tone. It sounds really lovely on your Mr Bungle play along video. [quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1454933604' post='2974262'] Great video & nice playing. Another vote for the Warwick, the tone just blows the others out the water for me. I've kind of gone off their looks in recent years (favouring more "traditional" styling now) but there is just something about the sound that still works very well - I don't know what it is that's making the difference, part of me thinks it's the neck-wood's they use but I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be able to say what is is exactly. [/quote] I think you're right, the neck cover the largest amount of real estate under the strings, so that and the fingerboard are likely to be adding the magic. I also think the Thumb pickup placement can't hurt when it comes to adding a bit more punch too. Eude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eude Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Actually, this Custom Shop Thumb BO has a similar hue to the tone >> https://youtu.be/V-bu9T1xuEE That one has a Swamp Ash body with a weird funky coloured in top, so the sound has to be the neck, fingerboard and pickup position, as that's consistent on that and the bass in the comparison vid. Eude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Modulus had a more even tonal range but the Warwick just sounded better to me. Would take either tho. Roscoe and the Specter just didn't do it for me at all. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eude Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 [quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1455462394' post='2979273'] Modulus had a more even tonal range but the Warwick just sounded better to me. Would take either tho. Roscoe and the Specter just didn't do it for me at all. Dave [/quote] I know what you mean about the Warwick not being as even, however, the two different registers had the perfect voice for each section in the song. You want your lower end to be fat, warm and punchy, and your upper noodley bots to be sweet and clear. I think the two voices make the Warwick all the better Eude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyewyld Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Great video!! [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Warwick >>> Modulus > Sepctor >> Roscoe[/font][/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 This thread is giving me inappropriate thoughts about buying another Warwick.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbora Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 You can never have too many Warwicks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eude Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 [quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1455611994' post='2980584'] This thread is giving me inappropriate thoughts about buying another Warwick.... [/quote] That's a though that's never far from my mind, but I'll need arm extensions first, to really enjoy a Thumb Bass :-( Eude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 [quote name='eude' timestamp='1455640560' post='2981004'] That's a though that's never far from my mind, but I'll need arm extensions first, to really enjoy a Thumb Bass :-( Eude [/quote] True... I would want a thumb though... bubinga / ovangkol. I keep looking at that 89 in the classifieds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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