warwick thread

[dyerseve]

lovely Thumb. Is that a custom order or is it a GPS?

[blablas]

NBD.

[Fionn]

2 hours ago, blablas said:

NBD.

Standard model? What’s your verdict thus far? How you getting on with the shorter scale length on those?

[blablas]

It's the Standard model, needed some tuning and tweaking here and there but it's fine bass now.
The 5 string version is 34" scale.

[Guest Marcoelwray]

I tried to make a nice picture. But it obviously failed. Here's two freshly refinished babies!

Thumb is not really stock anymore, it's just better. 

[Risk101]

Nice refinish job !

[Guest Marcoelwray]

2 hours ago, Risk101 said:

Nice refinish job !

Thanks! Best part is to get back a nice uniform smooth surface everywhere on the instrument... Looks like new after this! I love to do that.

[dyerseve]

22 hours ago, Marcoelwray said:

I tried to make a nice picture. But it obviously failed. Here's two freshly refinished babies!

Thumb is not really stock anymore, it's just better. 

mate they are great photos but you have very good models to photograph so it should be easy! 😉

lovely grain on the Thumb BO BTW!

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2018 by dyerseve

[dyerseve]

btw, sadly not mine, but this is probably the best looking thumb i have ever seen!

 

[Lfalex v1.1]

Fortress Masterman V (1997)

Those of you that were fazed by the Streamer Pro M controls should look away now!

Also, the finish... when I purchased it, the finish was the normal oil stain, which had some scratches and scuffs. I thought they'd polish out... Instead, after much elbow grease, I ended up with what looks like the high gloss finish! 

 

[dyerseve]

18 hours ago, Marcoelwray said:

Thanks! Best part is to get back a nice uniform smooth surface everywhere on the instrument... Looks like new after this! I love to do that.

 

I enjoyed watching your refin video, it was very interesting to compare your methods to my own. Did you use oil to finish it or the melted beeswax as Warwick do?

Also, have you tried using good quality wire wool before? For polishing the frets and cleaning the fretboard I much prefer a 00 grade wire wool to any solvent as i find the solvent can easily get on to the fretboard which is obviously not desirable.

Wish i had your buffer thats for sure!!!

[Guest Marcoelwray]

19 minutes ago, dyerseve said:

mate they are great photos but you have very good models to photograph so it should be easy! 😉

lovely grain on the Thumb BO BTW!

Yeah this is a "rare" figured Ovangkol... It's a 98, still with the Wengé neck.

I used to be an amateur photographer, so I don't like the global render of this pictures

Thanks anyway!

[Guest Marcoelwray]

2 minutes ago, dyerseve said:

 

I enjoyed watching your refin video, it was very interesting to compare your methods to my own. Did you use oil to finish it or the melted beeswax as Warwick do?

Also, have you tried using good quality wire wool before? For polishing the frets and cleaning the fretboard I much prefer a 00 grade wire wool to any solvent as i find the solvent can easily get on to the fretboard which is obviously not desirable.

Wish i had your buffer thats for sure!!!

I didn't get "buffer" (sorry English isn't my native language)...

But for the details in my method;

I use Teak Oil, like on the basses I build. After between 2 - 4 coats I let it dry for about 48h. Then I sand with 400 grit and clean with a microfiber. I use another wax, it's a blend with beewax and "candellila" (wtf is that?) wax. I use a car polishing machine to get a smooth surface. After this I usually polish all the bass by hand with a piece of jeans, or any "hard" cloth.

As for the frets, I correct the most obvious used parts with the 400 grit by hand, then I use a 3M sanding block which is close to 000 grit. I carefully use the Sidol because it's the BEST product ever for brass, copper, etc.. gives a mirror finish in few secs. I clean (if necessary) the fretboard with aceton, which is perfect to get rid of last dirty marks.

On the pickups I use WD-40, let dry, wipe off, to get back this genuine pure black finish (really useful on pickups with matt finish). Oh, and it seems that oiling the black plate on the head gives also a nice black.

If you have some questions I'll be happy to help.

Indeed for that Thumb, Bubinga can go mystical sometimes!

F. Masterman, Dolphin are on my GAS list. @Lfalex v1.1 this specimen is quite nice!

[Fionn]

 

38 minutes ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Those of you that were fazed by the Streamer Pro M controls should look away now!

This has the two separate preamps, for each coil then? Could you show us what it looks like inside the control cavity?

Edited November 28, 2018 by Fionn

[Lfalex v1.1]

3 hours ago, Fionn said:

 

This has the two separate preamps, for each coil then? Could you show us what it looks like inside the control cavity?

Here you go..

From the left;

Volume & pan

Bass & Treble (neck)

Bass & Treble (bridge)

Alas only 9v, though.

Tempted to add an extra battery, one for each pre. To give it more headroom and hopefully battery life..

Edited November 28, 2018 by Lfalex v1.1
extra info

[Fionn]

1 hour ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Here you go..

From the left;

Volume & pan

Bass & Treble (neck)

Bass & Treble (bridge)

Alas only 9v, though.

Tempted to add an extra battery, one for each pre. To give it more headroom and hopefully battery life..

Thanks for that. I’ve got a ‘98 Pro M. Stock electronics, but not this set-up, like most of the Pro Ms. Mine is original, although with stacked Bass/Treble, Pickup pan, and Volume (push-pull active-passive). Passive mode bypasses the preamp, so the pickup pan basically becomes the tone control.

I’d love one like yours too. 

Edited November 28, 2018 by Fionn

[Guest Marcoelwray]

Question: did all the Masterman series got the MEC quad coil? I remember seeing these with a big humbucker, but no idea if it was stock.

[Lfalex v1.1]

It's not a quad-coil as far as I know.

I thought it's designation was "Twin-Jazz", therefore two single-coils.

Mine can be made to buzz on extreme settings under certain conditions. Centering the pan pot eliminates this as they hum-cancel again.

I think the same unit is used in 4s and 5s as it's got bladed pole-pieces. It appears in (at least); 

Infinity, Infinette (?), Dolphin, Streamer pro-M and the Fortress Masterman.. oh and Vampyre

Edited November 29, 2018 by Lfalex v1.1

[Fionn]

1 hour ago, Marcoelwray said:

Question: did all the Masterman series got the MEC quad coil? 

Two single coil pickups in that housing, with a dummy coil.

[Guest Marcoelwray]

Thanks, my bad. It's called "twin jazz" but it seems difficult to find any good information even on mec/warwick websites. 

If there's a buzz, two single coils it is... 

I find quite disturbing Delano's line-up compared to MEC.... Very similar. They have a very similar pickup too, the DJC 4 HE/M2, but it's a quad coil. 

Every time I changed a pickup in a Warwick it was for a Delano. 

Anyway, I checked on Google images, I didn't found any fortress with another pickup so I think I've dreamed. 

I do believe that big poles pu are not the same, though. 

[Fionn]

12 minutes ago, Marcoelwray said:

Thanks, my bad. It's called "twin jazz" but it seems difficult to find any good information even on mec/warwick websites. 

If there's a buzz, two single coils it is... 

Yes, two single coils ... but there is no buzz. They have a hum-cancelling dummy coil.

[Fionn]

Mine sounds very clean. No buzz whatsoever.

[Guest Marcoelwray]

I'd be happy to have some specs on this pickup... No way Warwick answer me... Mmmmh...

Alex mentioned a buzz on his bass... 

[Fionn]

21 minutes ago, Marcoelwray said:

 

Alex mentioned a buzz on his bass... 

Could be a number of reasons for that, but it’s not the design of the pickup that is causing the buzzing.

 

 

[Risk101]

Talking of nice looking Warwicks, why did I sell this ?? !!!!! What an idiot !  (Pics courtesy of the Bass Direct wesbite sold items !)