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FS: Warwick Corvette $$ Custom Shop 5, Ocean Blue Flame Top, Hand made in Germany, SRP £2,050+, Price Drop £1000 SOLD!

dc2009

By dc2009,
in Basses For Sale

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dc2009

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So up for sale is a Warwick Corvette $$ (Double Buck) 5 string. This is a Warwick Custom Shop model. This means it is a one of a kind instrument, and that this bass was hand made in the WCS in Germany. I have had it from new, and this bass was born in October 2006.

The actual bass has its own permanent personal page on the Warwick Custom Shop Gallery. Here is the link:
[url="http://warwick.de/modules/custom_shop/NewsCustomShop.php?newsID=988&modell=Corvette&page=9&cl=EN"]http://warwick.de/modules/custom_shop/News...age=9&cl=EN[/url]
Those photos are of the actual bass in question, taken before it left the Warwick factory.

As you can see, the site says the SRP for this bass in 2010 would have been 2319 euros. This works out at a little of £2,050 at today's exchange rate, and bear in mind the prices have probably gone up again a bit this year.

I am only selling this bass to buy another Warwick Corvette $$ 5 string, which is different in finish and wood selection and I have fallen in love with it. It has been reserved for me, but I need to sell this bass to cover the costs of the new one. This is a great bass, and I would not be selling it for any other bass brand or model. I've had this for 5 years, and fancy a variation on the same amazing theme for the next 5 :).

The custom shop part of this (to set it aside from the regular model) is a Flame Maple top. This is a fairly strange flame and I think looks unique to the point where it is a hybrid of flame and quilt, either way, I think it looks lovely, especially in that deep Ocean Blue.

About the bass then:
• The body is made of a piece of 100+ year old North American Swamp Ash, very popular for it's sound in Fender Jazzes at various times, and a rather attractive grain too.
• The fretboard is made of Wenge (usually pronounced wing-gay). Anyone who tries this loves it, you will hear people singing it's praises all around the bass community.
• The neck is the unsung hero here. A very reasonable profile for a 5 string - not too thick but not stupidly, neck-warpingly thin either, a really nice profile to it, that fits the left hand really well.
• The electronics are a delight. You have Master Volume, Pickup Blend, and a 2band EQ with Treble and Bass. The EQ is good in that you can make a great tonal difference to your sound with it, but it's not so sensitive that if you brush it down a notch, you lose all your bottom end (or top) and start looking very silly at a gig.
• The pickups are two splittable MEC humbuckers, that can be routed differently. This is what the two switches do. One for each pickup, they can route the pickup to humbuck in series, in parallel (the differences in tone are surprisingly large), or to act as a single coil (i.e. a Jazz pickup). Utilising these switches and the blend, you have everything available from a Jazz bass to a Music Man style bridge only humbucker, and a whole load more in between (my personal favourite is to have a humbucker at the bridge and a single coil J at the middle/neck position, switching the humbucker between the wiring routings depending on the room dynamics.
• Warwick's trademark two piece bridge means this thing has oodles of sustain and really feels solid to play. The decent contact area between body and neck heel at the bolt on join is also fantastic for the overall sound of this bass.
• The string spacing is very 'average' for a 5 string bass, this one nestles nicely in between my two Epiphones, and I have played it as my main bass for 5 years. It's comfortable for any style of playing; fingers, pick, tap and slap if those are your things, you name it, it feels good doing it. It's a 34" scale length with 24 frets. There are side dots to guide you, but you get so used to the spacing these become irrelevant after not very long. I have to add that playing without any placement dots looks pretty impressive, and ultimately pretty cool to anyone in any audience you have.
• The only problem I have ever had with it is a nut break, this was a well documented issue of the Just-A-Nut II (JANII), and I had it replaced immediately by the nice men at The Bass Centre, who are Warwick's authorised London repairs shop.
• The one downside of this bass, if you want to see it like that, is that this bass is in a 'light roadworn' condition. I used this as a gigging bass for 5 years (nothing else cuts the mustard tone wise) and in various studios too. If you want sound samples of my band with this on record, I'd be more than happy to provide them. The worst of the wear and tear is some fairly light buckle rash on the back, this was caused by some idiot 'friend' I foolishly loaned this bass to for a gig. There are also some dings near where the jack socket is, but this is all on the side and basically, very little to none of the dings or marks are on the front of the bass. From the front, and from a playing position, I would say this bass is in vgc. NONE of the wear and tear on the bass affects playability whatsoever.
• This bass will come with the Warwick User Manual, the Warwick Care Kit with truss rod tool and other bits, and it's certificate of originality, hand signed by some big brass at Warwick HQ. :)
•[s] This bass came with a heavy duty hard case. The thing is pushing bulletproof, but owing the fact it weighed a whole bunch and I've had this bass since I was 15, the bass lived in gig bags. It is possible to get the case, but if you want this included I'm going to have to ask for £100 extra for it, partly because of the value, and partly because it would take me an 8 hour round trip plus over £50 in train fare just to get it. [/s] [b]Brand new hardfoam case and fully insured UK shipping now included at £1000 price[/b]


I live in Central(ish) London, SW6 1SJ is the post code. You are more than welcome to come and try it for as long as you like.

Recent photos will be uploaded when I get home from work later.

Given the retail price of this instrument probably being about £2100 by now (or at least £2050), I would expect to sell an immaculate version for £1400-1500, but given the condition of this bass I am going to list this bass at a knockdown price of [s][b]£1100[/b][/s] [size=4][b]£1000 incl. fully insured UK shipping and a brand new hardfoam case[/b][/size].

I don't drive, but if you have committed to buy the bass I will gladly take it to anywhere accessible by train in the UK (or plane in Europe) provided my travel and food costs are covered. Other than that it is pickup from my address I'm afraid. I wouldn't feel confident in shipping this bass, and shipping it with the sufficient level of insurance would probably be as much as the petrol costs involved in picking it up, or paying me to deliver it.

It is rare that one of these comes up for sale, and I am going to miss this one when she's gone. I've had countless great memories playing this bass, and it has taken me a while to get to the point where I'm ok to sell, even if it is for the same bass again! Get yourself a fantastic bass here at about 50% of what it would go for new.

Thanks for reading if you've read this far, and don't hesitate to contact me with any questions,
Dan

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[quote name='bubinga5' post='1312502' date='Jul 22 2011, 11:10 AM']now that is a comprehensive bass sale.!. good luck with the sale DC[/quote]

Thank you bubinga5 :)

I think if I'm asking £1100 for a bass, the least I can do is spend half an hour writing about it. Also, I wouldn't feel comfortable buying a bass that expensive without decent knowledge of what I was getting. Hopefully it'll sell fast, I'm desperate for this other one and the seller is waiting for me!

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[quote name='dc2009' post='1313470' date='Jul 23 2011, 02:16 AM']early weekend mildly drunken bump[/quote]

Have a free bump on me Dan , this are great great instruments!!!i will miss mine,but i need a six and no money at this time.
this a message for all bc's , IF YOU NEVER TRIED A WW BEFORE YOU SHOULD!!!!!

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[quote name='fiatcoupe432' post='1314399' date='Jul 24 2011, 01:15 AM']Have a free bump on me Dan , this are great great instruments!!!i will miss mine,but i need a six and no money at this time.
this a message for all bc's , IF YOU NEVER TRIED A WW BEFORE YOU SHOULD!!!!![/quote]

Thanks, Antonio. :)

Reasonable offers now considered bump.

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Just seen a German music store listing the new price of the 4 string, standard model this is based on at 1989 euros. This thing is a custom shop, hand made version with a unique flame maple top, 5 string variant and I'm only asking £1100 ono - someone grab themselves a bargain here!

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[quote name='rommi' post='1317412' date='Jul 26 2011, 06:11 PM']Shame it has 5 strings =).. Great looking bass either way![/quote]

Warwick tend to make nearly as many 5s as 4s. You can handle a five and buy this one!
Thanks for the compliment though.

Come on guys, don't make me create a TalkBass account...

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Dropped to [size=4][b]£1000[/b][/size]. Tomorrow evening I'll have some free time, this bass will be going up on TalkBass, Warwick Forums, eBay and Gumtree, so make me an offer before someone else gets this fantastic bass!

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This bass is now on TalkBass, here: [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f126/fs-warwick-corvette-%24%24-custom-shop-5-ocean-blue-flame-top-hand-made-germany-793162/"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f126/fs-warw...germany-793162/[/url]

And on eBay, here: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280716331145&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT#ht_1142wt_1139"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...#ht_1142wt_1139[/url]

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Don't hesitate to ask me anything if you want to know more about this special bass!

Now going to chuck in a brand new £50 hardfoam case and fully insured shipping to anywhere in the UK. (Basically shaving £100 off the price).

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[quote name='lucatus' post='1322982' date='Aug 1 2011, 12:32 PM']Hi there. I had a Standard one, 4 strings, and it was amazing.... Would you consider a trade for a Musicman Bongo 5?

Cheers.[/quote]

Hi there lucatus,

If I hadn't already got another one of these reserved for me, which I can only afford if I sell this one, then yes, I would definitely consider a trade for said instrument - I'm a big fan of Bongos and I'm definitely a 5 man.

Have you got any details of your Bongo, colour, exact model/specs etc (photos would be amazing)? I might be interested should my current reservation fall through, though being honest I think this is very unlikely to happen.

That said, your Bongo will probably fetch most of if not all of the price I am asking for this one if you sold it on here. If you put yours up for sale on here (and perhaps a few other places to increase interest) for a reasonable price etc then I wouldn't mind reserving mine for you until yours is sold, as per the deal I am doing with the one I am buying.

Hope this helps, PM me if you want or discuss it on here,
Dan

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[quote name='joe_bass' post='1323010' date='Aug 1 2011, 12:55 PM']I'd put money on countless bassists wanting this when it was viewable on the main page of warwick.de. Awesome that it belongs to a basschatter.

Sign of the times that this hasn't gone yet.[/quote]

Thanks for the kind words, Joe. I hope it goes soon too, the more this drags on the more it's killing me letting it go. I'm only selling this for another Corvette $$ 5 I have reserved (an SE with different woods), can't bring myself not to have a $$ 5!

Agreed on the sign of the times part, sadly very true.

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joe_bass Enthusiast

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[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='1323022' date='Aug 1 2011, 01:06 PM']You should keep this and try and find a Warwick enthusiast. £1000 silly price to let that go for.[/quote]

+1

Seems a case of waiting for the right buyer.

Have you tried the Warwick forums?

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