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SOLD - Early Warwick
£1500


Matte_black
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Well... the modern Warwicks have a different look, feel, sound. Necks are usually bigger, headstocks aren't carved, pickups are MEC (a cheaper alternative to EMGs at the time), they also used a different glue in late 90s to early 2000s to save money. Now (in the last couple of years) it looks like Warwick re-gained the attention to details so probably a 2013 Thumb won't be so bad. But still, the 80s ones were almost handmade by a handful of skilled artisans while the new ones are completely CNC made. And there's also a difference for the hardware: the old ones have brass parts, the late 90s/early 2000 have alloy parts. Not sure about the latest production.

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Well, the latest ones have brass bridges, brass nuts, wengé necks... save for the pickups and tuners, they're truly close to the vintage-handmade ones. Except they're not handmade.

Were the vintage Wicks better? Not sure. Weaker truss rods, no volute, no neck reinforcements, heavier, the old nut often rattled (JAN1)... I've had my share of issues.

The modern Wicks aren't bad basses for sure.

It's really a matter of taste. I do prefer that "handmade feel" and the feel of wengé. But, guess what, my main bass is a 2009 Thumb NT5...

GLWS, I wish I could buy one. :)

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They both look cracking!

There is no answer to which are better, opinions are opinions! My review of my 2013 SS1 on the forum will tell you where I am on the debate, but thats a conversation for a different thread!

If I could justify the six I would, but the likely incoming of another 2013 Warwick means I'm all spent out! If that falls through though...

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I owned several old ones and played a few of the new ones. As I said in a private message, in the last years Warwick tried to re-gain its old status but the period between late 90s and 2000s is definitely worse, with the zama hardware, the graphite nut and the vynil glue. Not sure about the necks but I still guess the old ones have thinner necks.
Never experienced a rattling slot on the Just-a-nut I, to be honest. And I'd never gig a bass with MECs, it's certainly a personal taste thing but I find them just ugly.
The only thing I'm according to is the weaker truss-rod but luckily these ones are in perfect shape and in the worst case, I've replaced the rod on a friend's '86 4 strings and it was a 3 minutes job. The replacement costs something like £20.

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[quote name='Matte_black' timestamp='1405617971' post='2503743']
I owned several old ones and played a few of the new ones. As I said in a private message, in the last years Warwick tried to re-gain its old status but the period between late 90s and 2000s is definitely worse, with the zama hardware, the graphite nut and the vynil glue. Not sure about the necks but I still guess the old ones have thinner necks.
Never experienced a rattling slot on the Just-a-nut I, to be honest. And I'd never gig a bass with MECs, it's certainly a personal taste thing but I find them just ugly.
The only thing I'm according to is the weaker truss-rod but luckily these ones are in perfect shape and in the worst case, I've replaced the rod on a friend's '86 4 strings and it was a 3 minutes job. The replacement costs something like £20.
[/quote]

I would agree with the late nineties/00's comments, unfortunately these are probably the most common Warwicks due to the quantity built and have been the basis many have formed opinion on the Warwick brand, which is a shame as for me (and you by the sounds of things) they were probably the 'worse' basses Warwick have made, with exception to the signature series and some of the LTD basses.

As a general rule of thumb (see what I did there), the really old Warwicks and the really new Warwicks are the ones to go for ;)

Edited by Kev
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Sorry for the delay, I was away for a short trip. The 6 strings is still available. I've got several messages about the weight and/or the serial number but I couldn't check since I was far away and the bass is here in my house. Now I'll try to reply :-)

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