Warwick Corvette Passive

[artisan]

So i know someone who is selling one of these pretty cheap but it is a long drive to go get it which, i can't be bothered to do,so would get him to ship it,so no chance to try before i buy.
I have owned 3 Warwicks in the past but they were all active basses but i have never actually played a fully passive Warwick before.
Have any of you guys owned or played one & if so was it as good as i think it will be.
Ta

[Silvia Bluejay]

Since you got no replies I'll offer what little info I can. I have three Rockbass models from 2005 to 2007. All have MEC pickups and one of the basses, a fretless Corvette 5, is passive. While the active pickups (in my Fortress 5 and Corvette 4) are fine in my opinion, I find the passive MECs a bit poor, TBH.
As I said, I'm talking about Rockbasses as opposed to real-deal Warwicks "with a W on the headstock", which are far awesomer ( ), so this info may well be misleading; I hope this bump will get you some more relevant replies, at least.

Edited April 22, 2014 by bluejay

[fender73]

Hi

I had a passive Corvette Pro Series, and loved it. Only thing that was slightly negative was a bit of hum from the pickups, but tone wise they were great, really cut through a band mix.

[artisan]

thanks for the replies
i can't decide to go with the passive one or just get my hands on an active model as they seem to have a passive setting too,so best of both worlds.

[Grangur]

FWIW I had a Warwick Corvette 4, German made version. It was ok-ish but I can't say I was blown away.

I traded it for a Warwick Streamer Stage 1 which is passive/active with the push pull and it's far better, even in passive mode.

The other point that I found I didn't like at the time with the Corvette is the slab-flat body. The Streamer body is scalloped in on the back, so it lays far better against the body. But, that said; each to their own.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

[Silvia Bluejay]

Going off-topic for a moment, the scalloped body on the Streamer is one thing I don't like! It makes it unnecessarily thicker - unless maybe the player has a large belly? I'm perfectly fine with the flat Corvette and Fortress bodies, which are only shaped for comfort at the top. So it really is a matter of personal taste.

[Grangur]

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1398190327' post='2431464']
Going off-topic for a moment, the scalloped body on the Streamer is one thing I don't like! It makes it unnecessarily thicker - unless maybe the player has a large belly? I'm perfectly fine with the flat Corvette and Fortress bodies, which are only shaped for comfort at the top. So it really is a matter of personal taste.
[/quote]

*cough*.... pardon madam. I'm not fat
The shaping, I guess, does make the body bulge more. I found something about the positioning of the Corvette gave me back pain. I think it may have been the position of the strap button and me trying to crane my neck to see the strings (being a noob to playing).
But, as I say... each to their own.

[Silvia Bluejay]

LOL I never implied you in particular had a large belly! Honest I just thought that it might be more comfortable for someone with a large belly. Not sure about the strap button position, as I didn't notice any difference when I tried the Corvette and the Streamer in the Warwick shop. They definitely are heavy basses, though, which may have something to do with back/shoulder pain.

Edited April 22, 2014 by bluejay

[artisan]

i had a Streamer LX4 & while it was a great bass to play i just couldn't get on with the shape of it,i always thought it was an ugly bass,each to their own i guess.
But i do indeed have a fat belly

[M@23]

I just parted company with a 1995 passive Corvette, and instantly regretted it. It was very heavy, so I couldn't really gig it anymore. But, it was beautifully built and sounded great. It could do that growly tone, but not like a jazz bass. It sounded very well defined and clear too, through a Markbass setup. Even though it was heavy, it was a real players bass. I only moved it on as I wanted another Precision. This was a bubinga one btw.

[3below]

Agree with Bluejay, the passive pickups on my Rockbass corvette were so so, active circuit on German fretless corvette gives a good boost. I changed the passives to Dimarzio humbucking jazz bass pickups. A corvette with Dimarzio P bass pickup would be something else in my dreams....

[grenadilla]

I have the active Corvette and I rarely switch it to "passive". If you can get a German bubinga , jump on it. Passive is like a Jazz Bass, only a Warwick. You should travel to where it is and play it first.

[martthebass]

I had an active ash 'vette a few years back. Found the passive setting more than usable, but the active did give the bass a lot more flexibility in a live setting. If the price is good then go for it.

[badboy1984]

I use to own a passive warwick corvette, it sounded like a warwick should sound but a little bit darker and more thump in my opinion. Altho I like the bass but the dark tone is not what I wanted so I swipe out the MEC pickup for a set of active EMG and put a 2 band John East preamp on the bass. After the two mod the bass still sound like warwick but the tone is insanely good.

[TheGreek]

I've got a passive German Corvette but to be fair it wasn't particularly well looked after by previous owners...needed a good looking at before it was playable...the p/ups are pretty weedy compared to my other gear and the range of tones is pretty limited. Nicely balanced though and the hardwear is pretty good. I like the body shape and don't find it particularly heavy. The passive models can be picked up for a couple of hundred quid which isn't bad compared to what else you get for this sort of money.

[CamdenRob]

I had a German Corvette $$ for a while that had a passive mode when you popped up the volume pot.

It sounded great... I always though a fair proportion of the Warwick sound came from the preamp, but in passive mode it still had loads of mid range growl... bet it would have sounded great as a fretless.

[GregBass]

I have had a fair spread of Corvettes - a passive 4 string (1997), active 4 string (2005) and active 5 string (2010). I thought the passive sounded really feeble compared to both the actives, even in when using the actives in passive mode (if you see what I mean). The flip side was that the neck was superb - so I swapped the necks on the two 4 strings and sold off the bits I didn't want.

[artisan]

cheers for all the replies guys
after reading all your comments i have decided not to buy the passive (he's decided to keep it anyway) & to go for an active bass instead.
so i just pulled the trigger on a new Pro Series Corvette from Thomann at a silly price as they have been discontinued so cleared out.
brand new Korean Warwick for £570.00 ---- just crazy not too.
cheers.

[Silvia Bluejay]

I was gassing for one of those the other day - in fact, the other night, before going to bed. Only, I'm after a 5-string fretted Corvette, and they only have the black model I'm after (lefty) with passive electronics. I'm not keen on the other colours/wood combinations offered, at least I'm not until the next fit of GAS has the better on me!

[M@23]

[quote name='artisan' timestamp='1398339222' post='2433074']
cheers for all the replies guys
after reading all your comments i have decided not to buy the passive (he's decided to keep it anyway) & to go for an active bass instead.
so i just pulled the trigger on a new Pro Series Corvette from Thomann at a silly price as they have been discontinued so cleared out.
brand new Korean Warwick for £570.00 ---- just crazy not too.
cheers.
[/quote]

Bargain! Good find.