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SOLD PENDING Warwick Streamer Stage I 5 String 2013 Model with Wenge Neck PRICE DROP
£2200

Kev

By Kev,
in Basses For Sale

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Kev Grand Master

Kev

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Money is tight, and with a heavy heart I feel the need to offer this up on the forum. This is one of the first of the new wave of wenge Warwicks to go on sale on the second hand market in this country, from what I have seen anyway. They have no dealer here and as such they are quite scarce! The RRP may have something to do with it, to...

Best way to describe it is my review, found here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/239427-warwick-streamer-stage-i-5-string-2013/"]http://basschat.co.u...-5-string-2013/[/url]

Reads (slightly streamlined from original) as follows:-

[i]Up for review I have now is my Warwick Streamer Stage I Broadneck 5 string, built in 2013. I am the first owner, purchased as ex-demo following it being used for Warwick promotional material and in shows as a demo instrument.

[b]Features: 9/10[/b]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]34" scale 5 string bass, 47mm nut with 20mm spacing at the bridge give this the feel of a 4 string with an extra string. A broadneck, but I only have small hands for a man and have no problems whatsoever. I am used to 5 strings with 18mm spacing but this was an easy transition. Perhaps not such an easy transition from a 16.5mm spacing fiver (standard Warwick and many other basses spacing).[/font][/color]

The bass has two active MEC soapbar pickups in traditional Warwick positions, hooked up to a 9v 3 band MEC preamp. The preamp has a very musical voicing, standard treble, mids and bass, with a balance control and volume control stacked pot. Pulling up the volume knob bypasses the preamp, however it is important to note that the bass will never be passive due to the active pickups. A mistake often made by Warwick when describing this setup! Access to the electronics is easily gained through the quick release cover on the back of the instruments.

The bass has highly figured AAA flamed maple body wings (not a top) with a 4 piece wenge through neck, complete with a wenge fingerboard. The bass is finished in a wonderfully smooth satin finish that feels fantastic under the hand. The neck is a flattened U shape and fits perfectly in the hand. The neck tends to feel larger than you may expect but this is simply due to it being a broadneck. The shape really, really works and fits your hand absolutely perfectly. All this wood comes at a price; the bass weighs in at 12lbs. It is however perfectly balanced with not even a hint of neck dive and feels lighter than some basses weighing a couple of pounds less.

Holding the strings in place is the superb Warwick 3D 2 piece Brass bridge, together with a Brass Just-a-nut III. In my opinion, this is the best intonation system out there; the bass can be set up exactly as you want it. Standard Warwick (gotoh) tuners on the headstock, not the best tuners out there but ones Warwick have been loyal to since about 1987-1988.

Warwick Strap Locks complete the bass. I do not trust any straplock other than Schaller and so do not use the system. Schaller buttons fit to the bass without any modifications required.

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The bass comes with the full Warwick user kit and tools, a fresh set of their best strings (EMP Coated) and a heavyweight aluminium/plywood flightcase.[/font][/color]


[b]Sound: 8/10[/b]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The bass has a very punchy sound with deep lows, musical midrange and crystal clear highs. The rich tone of the bass is attributable to that weight, I have never come across a lightweight instrument that can achieve this kind of tone. [/font][/color]

[font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828]With the pickups balanced, you get a deep powerful tone with slightly scooped mids. Adjustment of the MEC preamp dials any missing mids straight back in or scoops further for a more 'heavy metal' sound. Rolling towards the bridge pickup gives that typical snarl with strong mids presence. Boosting the bass here really helps the sound thicken out with fat, punchy lows. Dialing towards the neck pickup and you have a wonderfully woody rock tone. Again, not being shy with the preamp works superbly here too. A very Warwick tone at all settings with a nice level of signature growl. I have set the bass up with DR nickel strings and they compliment the bass well. In my experience, all Warwicks sound best with nickel strings.[/color][/font]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Overall, a great modern sound that can be tweaked to your liking with the EQ. You will not get vintage P or J bass tones out of this and if you have bought the bass for these sounds I would question your judgement. What it does it does very, very well indeed, and the variance between pickups makes this wonderfully versatile. The pickups are silent, no hum of any kind, and the general quality appears top notch. The only slight criticism I have of the sound is the extremes of the preamp; you will not get silly over-the-top eq'ing like you will get with preamps made by John East and similar, which will bother some.[/font][/color]

[b]Action Fit and Finish: 10/10[/b]
[font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828]The fingerboard is basically flat (47") and as such the action is very low, lower than my Dingwall. The bass is built superbly. A huge advantage over the fit and finish of these new Warwick instruments is the fact they are [/color][/font]not[font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828] hand built. Warwick have invested an awful lot of money in top end machinery and environmentally friendly production techniques that get everything just right. The Nirvana Black oil finish looks so classy and really shows off the grain of the woods well. The fretwork is quite incredible, the best I have ever encountered. No flaws whatsoever in the finish. As mentioned, the intonation system in place will allow any setup you want. The truss rod is extremely responsive and access is gained very easily behind a plastic cover. No points lost here at all.[/color][/font]

[b]Reliability/Durability: N/A[/b]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The Instrument is too new to me for me to comment on this with any accuracy, so it would not be fair.[/font][/color]

[b]Value for Money: 7/10[/b]
These instruments are not cheap. The RRP of this particular model I believe is in the region of £4,400, which is a significant investment. The basses are not hand made but it is important to consider that this is not Fender, Musicman or any other company that turns out thousands of instruments a year. Warwick build around 250 instruments a year at their German headquarters. Warwick now take real care in their production, have invested heavily into state-of-the-art machinery and also now take great care in the environment, sourcing sustainable wood sources only etc. The quality is top notch, but I appreciate many wont be able to see past the fact these are not hand made by Hans himself.

[b]Customer Support: 6/10[/b]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I will speak for Warwick in general. Their support is often questionable. I have had many enquiries in the past go unanswered, or with length delays in communication. They are notorious for not knowing much about their older instruments and I am fairly sure you will much more likely get the correct answer from a Warwick owner on here than you will from Warwick. My experience in purchasing this bass directly from the UK Warwick representative was good. They are appointing representatives to appear in discussion forums like this and, as with every aspect of their business model, appear to be attempting real improvements.[/font][/color]

[b]Overall rating: 9/10[/b]

The instrument will not cater for all bass lovers, and she is a heavy but well balanced beast. However, these newer Warwick instruments completely put to bed the blanket claim that all the older handmade Warwicks are the best instruments they have made. I have owned more Warwicks than I can really count, majority of which have been vintage, and this is the best of the bunch. Sadly, their high RRP and likely various other issues have meant there is little market for these basses in the UK anymore, in fact I do not believe there is a UK dealer. They are, however, making very positive steps in repairing their brand image as a top quality bass maker and if they keep pumping out instruments like this they certainly will be back to the top. It is a simply fantastic, top quality instrument and more than competes with the increasing number of hand built boutique instruments that are becoming increasingly popular.

A couple of pictures and a review by Andy Irvine using the actual bass finish this review :)[/i]

[url="http://s741.photobucket.com/user/Bassmankev/media/DSC_0394_zpsfc8af030.jpg.html"][/url]
[url="http://s741.photobucket.com/user/Bassmankev/media/DSC_0398_zps3179094d.jpg.html"][/url]
[url="http://s741.photobucket.com/user/Bassmankev/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0195_zpsrnucgz1c.jpg.html"][/url]




[media]http://youtu.be/U12vvP1rkys[/media]

Bass is in mint condition. In the interest of [i]full[/i] disclosure, there a couple of small and impossible to photograph shiny spots on the back of the bass around belt buckle area, a couple of tiny surface scratches (again, not photographable) near the neck join on the lower horn and the gold MEC logo is beginning to fade on the neck pickup. Overall a completely stunning example.

Comes equipped with the very heavy duty Warwick Aluminium flightcase, not the standard plastic hardcase by any means, with the full user kit. The bass is strung with DR nickel lo riders, few months old.

It would cost a little over £4,400 to buy one new (2013 same specifications as 2014), so this is less than half price at [b][s]£2,200[/s] £2099 delivered ONO.[/b] Will ship to Europe at cost. Collection also welcome from Leamington Spa.

Trades considered, but almost certainly I will need at least half the cash coming my way with a lower value instrument. There isn't much I would seriously consider other than a lower priced Warwick (nothing between mid nineties and 2010 please) or perhaps a more traditional instrument, but it is always worth the pm :)

Thanks for looking.

Edited by Kev
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Kev Grand Master

Kev

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No particular preference regarding trades other than mentioned above, always worth trying, only real condition is that money should be coming my way, cash is king!

Edited by Kev
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