LeftyJ

To get closer to a J sound on the neck pickup, it might be worth considering installing a series/parallel switch. The parallel setting is only subtly different from series (ask anyone with a Fender Precision with the S-1 switch) but a bit thinner and weaker in output, which evens out the balance between the two pickups and gets you closer to a J-sound.

"No less than 100.000 carbon fibres Jim!" "Wow Mike, isn't it amazing?" "But wait, there's more!"

Wow, that must be a really early Status Series 2, with those exposed pole piece GMT pickups! Beautiful.

Bro Hymn - Pennywise (whoa oh oh)

That price is insane. This very bass has regularly been popping up on the Dutch site Marktplaats.nl for a price between 1000 and 1300 euros and proved a very tough sell - but was never advertised internationally at that time. The last seller I saw it from was a guy in Ezinge in the north of the Netherlands who had bought it for a project and didn't need it anymore. I believe he was asking 1100-1200 euros, up until just a few weeks ago.

GAS for a lefty Dingwall Combustion or NG3 (they don't make the Canadian models in lefty). Haven't laid hands on one yet, but I know of a store here in the Netherlands that stocks three, that I'd like to pay a visit to some time in the near future when stores re-open. Can't afford one right now, and so far see no point in spending 2500 euros on a bass made in China, but I really want to give one a go. I did, however, buy a 2001 Warwick Streamer LX yesterday for a great price! Should be arriving tomorrow with DHL. It's going to keep my 2003 Streamer LX5 company. It has an ovangkol neck like my 5-string, not the more desirable and slimmer wenge neck. It does, however, have the old brass Just-a-Nut 1 with the individually adjustable string height. I'm really looking forward to it, I've never played a 4-string Warwick and I've never played a bass with a reverse splitcoil before. Can't wait to get my hands on it ☺️

Yep, the old American Deluxe used to! (until 2009) Can be found used within OP's budget.

Commonly referred to as the ESP c*ckstock. I like the look though, had one on a ESP Horizon guitar.

Or maybe you just need to think bigger That would be an FNA Jazzman, not a Corvette - even though they look the same. For some reason, they named it differently. It was originally called Altus, but they had to change the name because there was already a violin manufacturer by that name. Legend has it FNA stands for "Formerly Named Altus" or even "F***ing Not Altus".

Always a good idea! And you can probably find one used for less than that Rockbass costs new.

Probably served as inspiration, yes The TRBX is the successor (and more or less a merge) of two earlier series, the TRB and the RBX (which copies a LOT from the Soundgear series). The headstock shape you pictured originates from the TRB series, which was introduced in 1997, 10 years after the first Soundgear.

On that Rockbass the controls are limited compared to a German Pro Series. The version in your link doesn't have the active EQ and individual 3-way switches per pickup (series / parallel / single coil) but instead only has a passive tone control and two push-pull volume pots which only offer series / parallel switching.

I also like the Soundgear headstock. It's simple, functional and aesthetically pleasing. I HATE the wonky string alignment though! With some slight alterations it would easily accommodate straight string pull. It also seems odd to me why they're sometimes 3+2 and sometimes 2+3. Also note the one below is slightly wider! It offers all the room needed to align the strings better, if they'd just moved the B-tuner closer to the nut.

In Dreams - After The Burial

All the time. I've long had a desire to find The One Bass that covers all my musical grounds, but in the end I've given up on that. I've owned many incredibly versatile basses with a huge range of tones and many different pickup configurations. I've owned P, PJ, JJ, JM, single MM, dual humbucker, dual soapbar. In the end I've stopped looking for basses that try to capture as many different basses in a single instrument because it's always a compromise. I've found I prefer dual pickup basses with simple electronics and without a load of switching options, because I just get lost in going through all the tonal options. My ideal bass just has a volume and blend (or two volumes), a passive treble roll-off and an active bass boost. It's all I ever use, and most of the time I'll have both pickups maxed and vary the tone with my fingers and by moving my plucking spot around. I don't care anymore, as long as the basic tone is good, the ergonomics and playability are good and I like the looks.

Are you sure this is bass related?

I have a rack tuner and a pedal tuner (because I don't always bring my rack), and when I can't or don't want to bring either one i love to use a clip-on. I have several laying around: the tiny D'Addario (really stealthy, and accurate), a very similar Planet Waves (that drains batteries like there's no tomorrow) and my favourite: two fantastic TC Unitunes. I just leave them in the gigbags and cases I use most, so I never miss. I agree they can look silly , but that doesn't bother me at all. I just wish the clip would open far and wide enough to fit on my headless Status basses as well! But then again, they're called headstock tuners for a reason I guess

There's more to Warwick than just the Streamer - and the Streamer has evolved away from the design it once copied in many ways too

Would be a shame to cover up such a lovely piece of wood and such a beautiful finish, but then again I think a J-style control plate looks "off" without a close-fitting pickguard attached. I'm not a huge fan of the control plate shape on this. On a Fender, the side of the plate follows the curves of the body, but because this one is shaped differently it doesn't line up as nicely. The Lakland DJ-style control plate (with a slight bend) might have been a better fit (below is an East DJ-Retro preamp).

Wow, I love the thought that went into your design and the attention to detail, and those recessed tuners are incredible! The tight fit on them (and the block inlays) is impressive. The styling of the P-style bass isn't for me, but I do like your JPJ! That upper cutaway on both basses is so high up I bet it almost has singlecut-like rigidity. I'll be watching this thread closely

...or crazy wide Broad Neck option on some models gives you 20 mm on a 5-string. I own a 2003 Streamer LX5 with 16.5 mm spacing which is fairly narrow (similar to a Stingray 5) and with a very substantial ovangkol neck, and it's a great playing and sounding bass though I do agree with @funkypenguin that the MEC J-style pickups and 2-band MEC preamp are a bit harsh and bright. I've been thinking of replacing the pickups and/or preamp but haven't really looked into my options yet. With my guitars, I've always been happily modding various specs but with my basses I've never had that urge before.

Yep! I've got an '84-'87 E-serial Strat and a '91 Silver Series Strat that I both got for a steal (175 euros for the E-series around 15 years ago). The E-series is my main guitar and I could never see myself sell it. I bought it with the intention of flipping it at a much higher price, but that idea faded as soon as I'd played it. The Silver Series isn't as nice but is also a fun guitar to have around and high quality. May come up for sale at one point though.

From what you're describing, that sounds like a Corvette $$ (two MusicMan-style humbuckers, each with their own microswitch for coil splitting and series/parallel options). What you're describing as walnut could likely be bubinga, as the standard Corvette $$, like the Corvette Standard, comes / came either with an ash or bubinga body. It doesn't sound like any other Warwick, but has a large following because it has a huge range of great and usable tones, largely because of its unique pickup placement with the two humbuckers close together around the MM sweet spot.

I used to play with two 7-string guitarists. If I wanted to stay an octave below the guitars, I needed to go down to B as well.