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Warwick basses - when did they up their game?


Al Krow

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Guest gazzatriumph

I've been playing a 2010 Corvette $$ for  around 4 years, only paid £600 for it in excellent condition, nice slim neck, not had any problems, still looking good but I do look after it and don't have a belt buckle rubbing against it when playing. I've had no GAS for anything else since and preferred it to a USA Fender deluxe which I sold to buy it and got plenty of change back. There are some second hand bargains out there.

Edited by gazzatriumph
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On 22/08/2018 at 11:05, bassbora said:

Inspired to add a picture. Leaving out the Thumb fretless.

Stage 2 1991

Stage 1 1991 

Thumb 1989

image.jpg

Do you have a preference between them / finding you're using one for a particular genre etc. and if so, why? 

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On 28/08/2018 at 09:56, Al Krow said:

Do you have a preference between them / finding you're using one for a particular genre etc. and if so, why? 

Well, that's a good question. I have had the Thumb for 21 years and I have put some serious hours on that bass when I was a student. I felt I could play anything on it. I was playing jazz, classical music, Motown, rock and metal and I felt the Thumb could do it all. I have always thought it responded really well to right hand technique, position attack etc. This was my main bass up to maybe 2013 or so. Then I mostly gigged the FNA Jazzman for 2 years but traded that for the Stage 2.

And since then I have mostly just played that bass. I think all 3 basses could cover all styles. What I like about the Stage 2 is that the original 2 band MEC preamp had been changed to Bartolini 3 band and I mostly boost the mids. I feel like I could play anything with this bass. I my current band we go from Adale and Frozen to Black Sabbath and Foo Fighters and just adjusting right hand and I quite often add more of the neck pickup to get more aggressive and thats enough. 

I have only had the Stage 1 for less than a year. To get the right setup has taken me a bit of time and something I never really expected but the broad neck takes a bit of getting used to. But its a lovely bass and has a really full sound and that Warwick growl. It pains me to actually say this but I prefer the Stage basses over the Thumb. After having played that bass so much but almost being replaced.

I love the look, feel and sound of Warwicks but I guess I could really be playing anything. There are so many basses to try but I prefer to play music rather than try out gear so I have settled for Warwick.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is going to be a real bargain for someone (just dropped in price by another £50):

I'm sorely tempted but I think I've been spoiled by 3 band EQs on my active basses, which is the only thing stopping me pulling the trigger (and only just at that!)...

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@Raslee

On 13/08/2018 at 22:55, Raslee said:

I’ve got one of these and it’s my number one bass (out of several) 😊

You're clearly a fan of these GPS SS1's - I'm really interested in your thoughts on why it's your #1 bass (and which other basses you have in your herd)?

What I've realised is that I've got a particular soft spot for quality neck-through P/J, or reverse P/J, basses with that Warwick (or big single Nordstrand) growl and I'm not sure there are that many options out there?

....Hah! Actually ignore my query above, I see you've already answered the Q in your previous post on this thread:

On 16/08/2018 at 21:32, Raslee said:

I’ve got a S1 GPS. Brilliant bass and lots of tonal variety considering its only 2 band. I’ve owned Corvettes 90’s & 00’s, Fortress, Thumb and $$ and I have to say my 2017 GPS S1 is my favourite Warwick to date, light too :) 

Edited by Al Krow
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What pray is a Stage 1 "GPS" (German Pro Series perhaps?) and why is it so cheap?  All the other stage 1s here and on ebay are £1k to £1.6k.

All these different build designations (master built, custom-shop, pro-series, team-built, rockbass, GPS, FNA etc) do my head in.  Not to mention all the designations of Pro1, Pro2, SNTC, NT etc (and that's only dolphins).  Then add a few confusing sub plots (eg my Dolphin Pro1 which is NOT a Pro-Series).  It's almost as bad as Fenders .....

There is a streamer on ebay that caught my eye; but I can't really tell if it is a £1500 master build or a £650 team built ... or what!  It has the Seymour Duncan soap bar pickups, so probably the former.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Warwick-Streamer-Stage-1-NT-5-String-Bass-Guitar/132763132712?hash=item1ee94ca328:g:O7EAAOSwLVFbh8tw

Some of them (at least) are fantastic basses and a joy to own.  So shouldn't grumble. :¬)

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9 hours ago, NickA said:

What pray is a Stage 1 "GPS" (German Pro Series perhaps?) and why is it so cheap?  All the other stage 1s here and on ebay are £1k to £1.6k.

All these different build designations (master built, custom-shop, pro-series, team-built, rockbass, GPS, FNA etc) do my head in.  Not to mention all the designations of Pro1, Pro2, SNTC, NT etc (and that's only dolphins).  Then add a few confusing sub plots (eg my Dolphin Pro1 which is NOT a Pro-Series).  It's almost as bad as Fenders .....

There is a streamer on ebay that caught my eye; but I can't really tell if it is a £1500 master build or a £650 team built ... or what!  It has the Seymour Duncan soap bar pickups, so probably the former.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Warwick-Streamer-Stage-1-NT-5-String-Bass-Guitar/132763132712?hash=item1ee94ca328:g:O7EAAOSwLVFbh8tw

Some of them (at least) are fantastic basses and a joy to own.  So shouldn't grumble. :¬)

I don’t think they did master or team built in the late 90s, they just built them 

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@Kev I noticed that your rather lovely white 1988 SS1 in the FS also has a two band EQ, which is the same as the 2015 SS1 GPS model in the FS 

Do we know for which periods and on which models Warwick have included a 3 band EQ on their basses?

Edited by Al Krow
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28 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

@Kev I noticed that your rather lovely white 1988 SS1 in the FS also has a two band EQ, which is the same as the 2015 SS1 GPS model in the FS I suspect may well be ending up in the Krow herd in the not too distant future :) 

Do we know for which periods and on which models Warwick have included a 3 band EQ on their basses?

God knows which current models have 3 band because they are all over the shop (as outlined in this thread) but mid 90's saw the introduction of the 3 band to the NT Streamer range but you couldn't get it on the Dolphin as the control layout was only ever 2 stacked pots.  I've seen 3 band on the same period Thumb basses but for the life of me I can't recall if it was made standard or as an option; to further cloud my fuddled mind I 'think' the 5 string Thumb from mid 90's on did have 3 band EQ.

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  • 4 weeks later...

FNA as an acronym is a Formally Named Artus, complete with spelling mistake using “formally” instead of “formerly”. They did call it an Artus but had to change the name for some reason. It’s a Stingray in Warwick clothing! I have had a few FNA Jazzman 5 basses which are from the “bad” period but I love them. Really versatile basses.

They switched to using ovangkol instead of wenge for the neck due to inability to enough of the wood due to war in Africa, so I believe. The ovankgol neck is thick but I have had no problem with it. The ovangkol needs to be thicker because it can’t be cut as thin as wenge apparently. They are definitely thicker than the early ones but roughly similar to other basses I’ve played, eg stingray, MTD.

I had 2 basses made in the early 2000s when the prices were reasonable and those basses are fine. Necks are fine, jacks fine (I’ve always used a right angle jack and put it through the strap so the pressure or strain is on the strap,  not the cable). One pickup fell out after years but it was the small brass item that pushes into the wood. I glued it back in. One has gold hardware but the finish is still mostly on it - perhaps other players are really sweaty.

But other than that, zero problems. Both are not bashed up - you see a load of basses for sale that are really bashed up but people don’t look after them it seems!

These have had JAN2 on them but they’re not bust at all. Have had basses with JAN3 where they changed the material.

Have had Korean ones too, all good! 

I think the price rises recently are pretty insane but then most basses these days of extreme quality are pretty darn expensive. I have tried RockBass and they’re pretty bad in my opinion. I haven’t tried recent German Warwicks because I’m not sure there’s a distributor for them in the UK these days??

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2 minutes ago, 72deluxe said:

FNA as an acronym is a Formally Named Artus, complete with spelling mistake using “formally” instead of “formerly”. They did call it an Artus but had to change the name for some reason.

Formerly Known (as) Altus - FNA.  I was around (and sober enough) to remember this silly anecdote 1st hand.  :)  

 

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