Warwick basses - when did they up their game?

[bassbora]

Loving this thread. I did not realise that people still liked Warwicks apart from handful of us. Nothing sounds like a Warwick and this thread has made me want to gig my Thumb next weekend. 

[Kev]

4 minutes ago, bassbora said:

Loving this thread. I did not realise that people still liked Warwicks apart from handful of us. Nothing sounds like a Warwick and this thread has made me want to gig my Thumb next weekend. 

Doooo it! 

[bassbora]

4 minutes ago, Kev said:

Doooo it! 

Its a though call. After I got my Stage 1 last year the Thumb is not getting the love it deserves. The Stage 2 is my main bass I hate to say since I have had the Thumb for 21 years. These old Warwicks are just monster basses. 

And why has @warwickhunt not replied??? That man has had more Warwicks than the rest of us put together lol 

[aguacollas]

Holidays, probably 😉. 

That Stage 2 of yours, bassbora, year and pickups, please? 

I played a 91 or 92 Stage 2 with Bartolinis once. It really was a tone monster. Amazing bass. 

[LukeFRC]

4 hours ago, Chris2112 said:

 

I say this as a connoisseur of Thumbs. I adore them. I can't walk into a room with a Thumb in it without picking it up. I fancy that I might own an NT 4 in the future - wenge neck plz!

 

I’ll bare that in mind if you ever visit this part of the world! 

2 hours ago, bassbora said:

Its a though call. After I got my Stage 1 last year the Thumb is not getting the love it deserves. The Stage 2 is my main bass I hate to say since I have had the Thumb for 21 years. These old Warwicks are just monster basses. 

And why has @warwickhunt not replied??? That man has had more Warwicks than the rest of us put together lol 

@warwickhunt ? Legend has it he sold all the Warwick’s after he realised he had owned every bass they had made between 1982 and 1991. Possibly he’s now focusing on playing prog rock  on overwater 6 string fretted and fret less double necks ... 

[warwickhunt]

LOL  Looked at this a few times and I think it has been pretty much nailed!    

'Personally' I feel the pre 91 basses were generally made from/of better quality woods and materials (other than the chocolate output jacks... buy a Switchcraft and be done with it).   Why W can't role the fingerboard edges on new basses is beyond me mind, that would make such a difference.  Electrics are pretty much standard now, though I did prefer it when you could have EMG, MEC, Bart, SD even Alembic.  Neck profiles are so personal that it's a case of meat/poison; I have to admit to having some pretty skinny neck Wicks but also possess a very full (maple) necked 07 NT Corvette and I love the feel.      I agree the whole catalogue is pretty messed up and dilution of the brand has occurred.  Replaceable truss rods were a good thing BUT you shouldn't need to do it anyway and tbh the stories grow bigger in the telling, I've had basses with issues (2 out of 40+... is that good/bad ratio) but all are fixable (unlike some manufacturers).  

Oh and one shouldn't place 'too' much faith in the official emails/info supplied by Warwick... it may not contain 100% accurate info.    

Finally, never buy a new Warwick; you may as well drive down your street throwing tenners out the window.  

[4000]

5 hours ago, Chris2112 said:

 I can't walk into a room with a bass in it without picking it up.

Fixed. 😉 Which is why I’ve played thousands of basses since 1980. I have a bizarre need to try every single one I see.....or did until a couple of years ago.

 

[bassbora]

1 hour ago, aguacollas said:

Holidays, probably 😉. 

That Stage 2 of yours, bassbora, year and pickups, please? 

I played a 91 or 92 Stage 2 with Bartolinis once. It really was a tone monster. Amazing bass. 

‘91 5st with upgraded barts. 

Stage1 is BN with barts 

Thumb 5 is ‘89 with emg 

Thumb 6 is ‘89 fretless with barts. I will never need another bass. This bass is perfect 

[LukeFRC]

8 hours ago, warwickhunt said:

LOL  Looked at this a few times and I think it has been pretty much nailed!    

'Personally' I feel the pre 91 basses were generally made from/of better quality woods and materials (other than the chocolate output jacks... buy a Switchcraft and be done with it).   Why W can't role the fingerboard edges on new basses is beyond me mind, that would make such a difference.  Electrics are pretty much standard now, though I did prefer it when you could have EMG, MEC, Bart, SD even Alembic.  Neck profiles are so personal that it's a case of meat/poison; I have to admit to having some pretty skinny neck Wicks but also possess a very full (maple) necked 07 NT Corvette and I love the feel.      I agree the whole catalogue is pretty messed up and dilution of the brand has occurred.  Replaceable truss rods were a good thing BUT you shouldn't need to do it anyway and tbh the stories grow bigger in the telling, I've had basses with issues (2 out of 40+... is that good/bad ratio) but all are fixable (unlike some manufacturers).  

Oh and one shouldn't place 'too' much faith in the official emails/info supplied by Warwick... it may not contain 100% accurate info.    

Finally, never buy a new Warwick; you may as well drive down your street throwing tenners out the window.  

How many Warwick’s have you got now? We haven’t had a basses on the sofa shot from you in ages. 

[Paulhauser]

This damn thread made me gassing for a Thumb NT6.

Should have known...

[Chris2112]

I can only imagine how good a Warwick with Alembic pickups would sound. Mike Flynn's old Thumb NT with the Schack preamp also sounded great, his tone was never better IMO. 

[Highfox]

9 hours ago, bassbora said:

‘91 5st with upgraded barts. 

Stage1 is BN with barts 

Thumb 5 is ‘89 with emg 

Thumb 6 is ‘89 fretless with barts. I will never need another bass. This bass is perfect 

My old 89 was  full of Barts.

[aguacollas]

Wow. Beautiful Streamer. 

Custom shop?

[warwickhunt]

5 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

How many Warwick’s have you got now? We haven’t had a basses on the sofa shot from you in ages. 

7... at this moment!    

[LukeFRC]

4 hours ago, warwickhunt said:

7... at this moment!    

Let’s guess... 

5th anniversary - SS1 from1988 (wenge neck) - some kind of 1989-1991 SS1 - infintette you’ve recently got - the 07 $$ - the infinitte you’ve had for ages - the Japanese dolphin SN you love

no idea what the one out of shot on the left is mind, Zon?

 

(also, no thumb 😉)

[warwickhunt]

36 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

5th anniversary - correct

SS1 from1988 (wenge neck) - 1990 (maple)

1989-1991 SS1 -  Date smack in the middle; 1990 Ltd Ed

Infintette you’ve recently got - correct

07 $$ - correct

Infinette you’ve had for ages - correct

Japanese dolphin SN you love - Ooooh close: BO Pro II (which I do love and prefer to a SN Pro I)

no idea what the one out of shot on the left is mind, Zon - Bolin

also, no thumb - at the moment

 

[bakerster135]

5 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

 

Great collection, I love those 90s SS1 Ltd editions with the Bart soapbars 😍

[LukeFRC]

37 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

 

What on earth happened to the pre 1990 wenge necked streamers being what you were after? 😛

[warwickhunt]

1 minute ago, LukeFRC said:

What on earth happened to the pre 1990 wenge necked streamers being what you were after? 😛

Still looking.  Thought I had one last year but the guy had a rush of blood to the head and believed what he'd been told on a Warwick group; consequently the price went from acceptable to down right stupid.  Oddly enough none of those offering advice on value would put their hands in pockets and pay the price they'd suggested.    

[LukeFRC]

3 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

Still looking.  Thought I had one last year but the guy had a rush of blood to the head and believed what he'd been told on a Warwick group; consequently the price went from acceptable to down right stupid.  Oddly enough none of those offering advice on value would put their hands in pockets and pay the price they'd suggested.    

Ha - I think some Warwick fanbois pricing ideas are similar to HP Wilfers! 

[NickA]

There is nothing about the build quality or sound of my 2001 dophin pro1 I'd complain about.  Well .. hmm, the brass coloured lacquer on the tuners and bridge have rubbed off leaving glimpses of the true monkey metal beneath (why or why did they use "gold coloured" hardware - looks naff new, looks worse later) and it had a truss rod issue for a while (now sorted).  Also the electronics look like a kids tech project not a professional job - but so do those in the older ones. 

But, lovely wood work, lovely feel and a great sound.  Warwicks of any age (German built anyway) are fantastic basses and while they remain out of fashion are  something of a bargain too.

[Shaggy]

I'm a late convert to Warwicks (though could be said my very first guitar was one; being an early '60's Framus Grand Star.....), mainly as I always thought they were a bit fugly TBH.   But recently wanted something Stingray-esque and not too much dosh for a funk band project, and bought a '98 German (wenge neck) Corvette FNA off this forum.   Have to say it ticks all the boxes, especially in terms of playing ergonomics, and the 3 band Seymour Duncan circuit is one of the nicest I've used.  

Patrick Lassens Custom Shop Dolphin is just one of the most fabulous looking and sounding basses of any type anywhere though  - 

 

[2elliot]

Well, this looks interesting...

[warwickhunt]

They do look lush but I see neck-dive written all over that top strap-button position. 

[LeftyJ]

On 15/08/2018 at 21:52, Kev said:

Id change the range 1997 - 2009

There were some gems made during that time, but all the stereotype negatives come from basses built during this time, especially early 00s.  Baseball bats, bendy necks, ridiculous nut designs, neck dive etc .  All things the vintage golden era models and new models do not suffer from!

My Streamer LX5 is from 2003, and I bought it used and unseen. It has the proper baseball bat neck, with an almost flat rear. It almost feels square when moving higher up the neck, but still feels comfortable to my big hands.

It scared the hell out of me when it came out of the shipping carton with a broken Just-a-nut II and an action of nearly half an inch at the 12th fret! But after a good cleaning and a set of new Elixirs I must say I was very impressed with the adjustability of the bass and with how quickly it settled after the setup! The neck is not as stable as some of my other basses, but other than a small tweak of the truss rod twice a year it has served me well and has been a reliable gigging bass in the 3 years that I used it extensively. It's a great bass!