Warwick Double Buck

[Guest]

I’ve got n opportunity to get a Warwick Corvette $$ 4 quite cheaply. However I’ve never been ble to get on with the pickup configuration. In theory, it should be a very versatile bass, but I’ve always found it to sound scooped in the mids in series and rather un-Stingray in parallel. I’m fine with the basic single coil and soap bar sound of a Warwick  Can anyone who owns one and knows it inside out offer any tips to get great tones? 

[Doctor J]

If you find it scooped then cut the lows and highs, don't boost. and you'll get the mids. I think they're fantastic. Very versatile and very aggressive, which is rather to my taste.

[Guest]

Thanks. I’ve found a YouTube vid with someone playing the sa,e lines with various pickup/selector combinations and there are indeed some great tones: 

 

[CameronJ]

Whilst not strictly the same as the Warwick, my MTD Super 5 is also a double-bucker. My favourite tones are with one pickup in series and the other in parallel. Still working out which pup I prefer to be in series and which in parallel but I find mixing them up to deliver a nice “best of both” middle ground. Beefier than both pups in parallel but more articulate than both pups in series.

[Al Krow]

Whereabouts are you based? If anywhere near Central London you're very welcome to pop over and try out my Warwick Corvette $$; it's a 5er rather than a 4 string, but you'd get a very good feel for what it's capable of and it's versatility whilst delivering that rich Warwick growl via its Warwick MEC pups. It's definitely NOT a StingRay!  

[prowla]

There was one going on ebay rather cheap a while back; I was nearly tempted...

[drTStingray]

On 11 February 2018 at 15:37, FDC484950 said:

I’ve got n opportunity to get a Warwick Corvette $$ 4 quite cheaply. However I’ve never been ble to get on with the pickup configuration. In theory, it should be a very versatile bass, but I’ve always found it to sound scooped in the mids in series and rather un-Stingray in parallel. I’m fine with the basic single coil and soap bar sound of a Warwick  Can anyone who owns one and knows it inside out offer any tips to get great tones? 

I noticed on that demo (some fantastic sounds there) that with both pick ups selected as humbuckers, the sound was quite scooped.

This is similar to my Stingray 4HH - I tend to not boost bass or treble in that setting and boost the mid range a little. Without a mid control on the bass id do that on the amp (as I do occasionally with a 2 band Stingray). I think a naturally scooped sound is likely with both humbuckers selected - but you can get really nice tones like that and wicked slap sounds. I probably use that setting on the SR4HH than any other. 

 

Edited February 12, 2018 by drTStingray

[Guest]

On 11/02/2018 at 23:49, Al Krow said:

Whereabouts are you based? If anywhere near Central London you're very welcome to pop over and try out my Warwick Corvette $$; it's a 5er rather than a 4 string, but you'd get a very good feel for what it's capable of and it's versatility whilst delivering that rich Warwick growl via its Warwick MEC pups. It's definitely NOT a StingRay!  

Thanks for the offer. If it comes off I’ll definitely get in touch. With the pan and the switches it looks like there’s some very nice tones in there.

Thanks to everyone else. Good tip about either boosting mids or cutting bass/treble, too.

Edited February 13, 2018 by FDC484950

[Monkey Steve]

Had a corvette $$ 5 and had the same pickups put on my Streamer Stage 1 Custom 5

Personally I love the p/u's -very powerful and full sounding, but the 2 band eq (compared to the 3 band on my Stage 1, and on a previous Jazzman that I had) makes them seem less versatile.  the $$ only has bass and treble, and the idea is that the mids are set in relation to those two.  So if you want a mid boost, you drop the bass and treble, if you boost the bass and treble then you will get a scooped sound because the mids will be lower.

Took me a while to get my head round it (and hence why i got a 3 band eq on my Stage 1)

Edited February 14, 2018 by Monkey Steve

[visog]

Cant vouch for the flexibility but having heard one in action in a jazz fusion setting, I can attest to their great phat sound.

I'd love one... (in a 5...)

[Guest]

10 hours ago, Monkey Steve said:

Had a corvette $$ 5 and had the same pickups put on my Streamer Stage 1 Custom 5

Personally I love the p/u's -very powerful and full sounding, but the 2 band eq (compared to the 3 band on my Stage 1, and on a previous Jazzman that I had) makes them seem less versatile.  the $$ only has bass and treble, and the idea is that the mids are set in relation to those two.  So if you want a mid boost, you drop the bass and treble, if you boost the bass and treble then you will get a scooped sound because the mids will be lower.

Took me a while to get my head round it (and hence why i got a 3 band eq on my Stage 1)

I think that's the trap I fell into the 2 or 3 times I tried one - plus getting my head around what the switches do and how to get the best out of them. The advice to either cut bass/treble or boost mids on the amp makes sense - thanks!

[Monkey Steve]

16 hours ago, FDC484950 said:

I think that's the trap I fell into the 2 or 3 times I tried one - plus getting my head around what the switches do and how to get the best out of them. The advice to either cut bass/treble or boost mids on the amp makes sense - thanks!

I seem to remember that Warwick explained it somewhat weirdly, like the bass has 3 band eq really, but we've only given you two knobs.  That was my impression anyway