BC Visits Warwick

I’m sitting in a Turkish food establishment in East Germany with a Californian and a South African. How has this happened? To unravel the unusual situation I found myself in, as I tried to eat my kebab without its contents falling all over my aforementioned friends, we have to rewind a few months to my desk in leafy Berkshire where Californians are scarce and kebabs are frankly better packaged.


Warwick Factory visit - Hand finishing by chiscocks, on Flickr


Garey Noble (Warwick Social Media and Artist Support) and I have been in contact via Basschat about a potential visit to the company’s headquarters and manufacturing base in Germany. Garey is as Californian as they come. Big white teeth, casual ‘strolling along the beach’ gait and healthy looking sun blushed skin. As he came down to meet me and David, my South African friend, he smiled and welcomed us into the dazzling Warwick office/showroom. The building itself sits at the top of the sleepy town of Markneukirchen which itself is nestled close to the Czech border in Saxony.
We were here to check out the process of making a Warwick bass. I have played a few in my time and had heard about some innovative processes coming out of the shop floor which I was keen to look at. Dave was mainly there for the free food.
The first day started with dinner at the hotel with Garey who brought along a few friends from the company. We had arrived a few days before the famous ‘Bass Camp’ event where players from around the world stay with the company and have masterclasses, jams and hangs with some great players (Lee Sklar, Steve Bailey, Ralphe Armstrong, Alphonso Johnson, Guy Pratt, TM Stevens, Jonas Hellborg, Jacki Reznicek, Antonella Mazza, Andy Irvine, John B Williams, Regi Wooten, Gunther Gebauer, and Wolfgang Schmid). It’s obviously a busy time for everyone concerned. The meal was extremely tasty; our hotel, the Alpenhof, had an extensive menu of traditional German dishes and although it was impossible to have a normal cup of tea we were made to feel extremely welcome. At dinner we spoke to Chris Kunitz who runs the custom shop in NYC. He handles Artist Relations and later introduced me to a band called ‘Ghost’ who you need to check out.


Warwick Factory visit - Garey Noble by chiscocks, on Flickr


Accompanying him was Andy Irvine, a bassist who has played with so many people I have lost count. Now, Andy is a supporting artist and product specialist. Judging by the fact he had to ‘make room’ for me to join his facebook I should say he makes friends as easily as he lays down a tight bassline. It’s no surprise – he’s one of the most humble and down to earth people I’ve had the pleasure to share a pilsner with and I’m fascinated by his stories of session playing and his time playing for house bands as a youngster.
We return to our rooms to find a kitten playing outside. He comes in and we let him attack my camera strap until he’s so tired that he falls into a deep sleep. He’s so tired, in fact, that we have to literally scoop him up and put him in the hallway. Had we killed him?
Find out next week.
Only joking, we didn’t. He looked so much like Dave’s cat, Pebbles, that we called him ‘Keisel’, which my phone says is German for Pebbles.
The next day we arose to a wonderful sunny day and went to the factory to start our tour. It seems that quite a few people come here to tour the factory and it’s a well-rehearsed fully featured walkthrough showcasing all the amazing stages of production.


Warwick Factory visit - Chopping by chiscocks, on Flickr


As you’d expect, a company who use the tagline ‘The Sound of Wood’ is meticulous in its choice of material when it comes to building a bass. This was the single most impressive thing we saw on the tour. There’s a wood store outside where various woods are piled high to dry for years and years before they are dried out and suitable for use. The smell in there is incredible. Some of the wood is labelled FSC, which is testament to their innovation in producing guitars efficiently and with maximum care. FSC is the Forest Stewardship Council, and there are just a few manufactures in the entire world who are certified. It ensures an un-broken chain of custody for sustainably managed wood. They currently have FSC Wenge, Ebony, Maple, Ash, and Rosewood.In fact, the whole facility is built with sustainability in mind; the solar panels and woodchip recycling produce enough electricity to benefit the town as well as the facility itself.
Warwick stock over 45 species of wood, and if you include the varieties (flame, curly, etc) its about 65 different woods. All wood is air-dried a minimum of 3-5 years, and some of the pallets have been drying for 12-25 years.

There’s a custom wood store around the corner containing some fascinatingly rare and valuable woods. We’re not allowed to take pictures in there. These will be selected by a customer who wants to design a bass from the ground up. There are many options a customer can choose, adding to the exacting standards of the company and their commitment to quality and customer satisfaction.


Warwick Factory visit - Fret Wire by chiscocks, on Flickr

I love innovation and know that the ‘best way’ is often not the ‘cheapest way’, or the most profitable. Warwick know this too, and after years in the making and customization of a machine used by BMW they have perfected a new system which lays frets into pre-cut grooves on the fretboard, but not quite to the edges, leaving a strip of wood down each side of the neck. These grooves allow the fret to sit without pushing the fingerboard wood away and also because they are cut in there’s no ‘overhang’ along the edge of the neck, normally cut and sanded off by other companies. You wouldn’t notice it at first glance. Some players wouldn’t notice it at all, however it’s attention to detail like this which is really nice to see from a company you might have assumed were producing thousands of basses a week. They actually produce around 25, between Warwick and Framus. What used to take 8-10 hours now gets 30+ hours of attention.

Next the necks are joined by hand to their bodies, cut by a 5 axis CNC machine. The fit is so tight that you barely need bolts to hold the bass together. It now goes for finishing by hand before it’s sent for painting. Here, innovation leads the way again. The basses are painted using a huge range of colours and finishes of which there is no limit – we even saw a bass being airbrushed with a picture of a cat for a Japanese customer. Once painted, the bass is exposed to a UV lacquer process. The finish is water-based and non-toxic, which is then exposed to UV light inside an Oxygen-free, nitrogen charged chamber. It’s the thinnest on the market today, and because it cures in an oxygen free environment with no chemical reaction it’s about 92-95% clear, like a diamond. Traditional finishes are only 85% clarity.

After that we follow some muffled slaps – we end up in the area where the basses going through their quality control and electronics stage. Racks of basses of all colours are waiting for their setups and it strikes me just how many different shapes and finishes are available. We also see the presses used for making the hollow body instruments and end up passing through into the final part of the tour, the showroom. Here’s customers can try a range of instruments ranging from off the shelf models to one off chrome coloured customs with inlays of all shapes and sizes.
We also had time the following day to have a tour of the Warwick and Framus museum in the town. We were fascinated to find out how much history is behind the brand. It was well worth a visit and cemented the ‘family’ aspect of the company.
Here’s a video they took of us taking the tour. They MADE me say something at the end, and I look like a right tit..

On the final day, our hosts had invited us to a big BBQ event where the employees were invited to have a drink and some amazing food before the impending ‘Bass Camp’. I sat next to Jonas Hellborg and funnily enough all we talked about was paintballing. Company President, Hans Peter Wilfer, had been with his son recently and was describing how he cowered behind the little wooden buildings screaming like a little girl.
It was great to meet Hans Peter, a man I had heard so much about – described as a gadget mad young-at-heart guy with a sense of adventure, I found him to be hilarious, warm and friendly. His employees hold him in great esteem, and I can see why. He’s deeply passionate about design (even his glasses have Warwick bass necks along the arms) and his enthusiasm is infectious.
Our hosts were extremely welcoming; from the minute we were picked up at Nuremberg airport by the ominously named ‘Mr. Brown’ to the hasty pretzel munching on our departure we had a great time. Dave managed to buy lots of cakes, I managed to buy some cat dropping shaped chocolate from the local Netto (Katzenzungen, look out for them – gave them to my granddad) and we also enjoyed the massage chairs at the airport with our remaining Euros.
Overall we were massively impressed by Warwick. They say as of Summer 2012 they are producing the best instruments they have ever made. If you want to see the factory for yourselves, you can try the ‘Virtual Tour’ – Warwick have tons of pictures and info on their website, because they have a lot to be proud of.


Warwick Factory visit - Neck Sander by chiscocks, on Flickr



Warwick Factory visit - Factory Floor by chiscocks, on Flickr



Warwick Factory visit - Ready To Ship by chiscocks, on Flickr



Warwick Factory visit - Final Inspection by chiscocks, on Flickr



Warwick Factory visit - Polish by chiscocks, on Flickr



Warwick Factory visit - Painting Stage by chiscocks, on Flickr



Warwick Factory visit - Sanding by chiscocks, on Flickr



Warwick Factory visit - Neck Sanding by chiscocks, on Flickr



Warwick Factory visit - Adjustment by chiscocks, on Flickr



Warwick Factory visit - Fret System by chiscocks, on Flickr



Warwick Factory visit - Wood by chiscocks, on Flickr



Warwick Factory visit - Showroom by chiscocks, on Flickr