Warwick - Give me the good, the bad and the ugly.

[merello]

OK guys! Give me your Warwick adoration and frustration stories. Got a streamer recently and am looking forward to giving it yahoo! Really impressed in the house and looking forward to letting rip. Am I correct or is it all hype? Guy Pratt - stay out of this, you play Fenders!

[machinehead]

To me the Streamer is the best all round Warwick. It sits perfectly and is easy to play.

I own a Streamer Stage 2, which to me, is the ultimate Warwick being the best compromise between the Thumb sound with the Streamer ergonomics.

Frank.

[CHRISDABASS]

I absolutely loved my streamer stage 1, stage 2 and thumb bolt on!!

Amazing basses!!

My thumb was a 1998 so had the wenge neck!! Lovely!

Over all i'd say the best of my bunch was the stage 2

I still cant beleive how little i sold them for!

[bigthumb]

Bad Warwick 'eh?

Well I've owned a fair few and played on plenty more and I would struggle to find too many bad points.

Although I'm not to keen on the 'pointy' ones!

[OliverBlackman]

The first thing iv noticed when playing a warwick is the good standard in build quality, well compared to fenders. The pickups and pre amp are great, all the hardware works perfectly, and finishes are smooth with no issues.

Bad points; some neck dive on my thumb although this isnt a huge problem to me, the sound on the fretted warwicks i played wasnt quite to my taste, the looks are also a love or hate thing

Edited August 10, 2010 by blackmn90

[peteb]

The top of the range Streamers, Thumbs, Dolphins, etc are superb basses - my Stage 1 is great in all depts (sound, feel, looks, construction)

Some of the mid range & cheaper ones they produce are not that great thru.....

[bigsmokebass]

Although a streamer, i have a bass GAS on the PNUT sig III. Like machinehead, greatest warwick shape with great feats and sits perfectly in your lap/ to your body.

Bad Warwick? erm..... 1st series of Rockbass maybe?

[warwickhunt]

Don't know what all the hype is about...



Love the Streamer/Spector NS shape and despite rumours that Warwicks have clubby necks, neck dive, truss rod issues etc. you're likely to find that the worst thing about a Warwick is that they have jack sockets that are as much use as a chocolate fireguard (PLEASE replace with a decent quality unit such as Switchcraft; means I don't have to do so when it eventually passes through my hands ) and if you have the early model with a seperate battery compartment the lid is guanteed to fall off! Otherwise they (IMHO) have great tone and they are uber comfortable and a well sorted bass.

[Doctor J]

Snapped the truss rod while making a fairly basic adjustment on a Corvette. Fine, my fault, I'll pay for it, I thought, even though I've been adjusting necks for 20 years and have never had a problem before. Spent about a year trying to [b]buy[/b] a new neck from Warwick but, as there isn't a Warwick dealer in ROI, they were as accomodating as a crotch rash. They're just not interested in dealing with customers directly and, if you can't go through a dealer, it's tough sh*t as far as they're concerned. You'd think a neck that chubby might be a bit better built but, wh, there you go.

Never again.

[guybrush threepwood]

[quote name='Doctor J' post='921259' date='Aug 11 2010, 08:27 AM']Snapped the truss rod while making a fairly basic adjustment on a Corvette. Fine, my fault, I'll pay for it, I thought, even though I've been adjusting necks for 20 years and have never had a problem before. Spent about a year trying to [b]buy[/b] a new neck from Warwick but, as there isn't a Warwick dealer in ROI, they were as accomodating as a crotch rash. They're just not interested in dealing with customers directly and, if you can't go through a dealer, it's tough sh*t as far as they're concerned. You'd think a neck that chubby might be a bit better built but, wh, there you go.

Never again.[/quote]

That's a real shame about the service you received there mate - I've emailed them in the past about the 2 Warwicks I used to own, and got a reply from Hans Peter Wilfer! The importance of PR...

Anyway, I absolutely loved the 2 I had; orignally a Streamer jazzman 5 string - fantastic tone, but the neck was a bit too chubby for my sausage fingers... And a old Corvette with the really, really thin wenge neck, god that was an incredible instrument!

[ahpook]

i'm a recent convert to the warwick club...and i love them - great ergonomics and they cut through like nobody's business.

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='Doctor J' post='921259' date='Aug 11 2010, 08:27 AM']Snapped the truss rod while making a fairly basic adjustment on a Corvette. Fine, my fault, I'll pay for it, I thought, even though I've been adjusting necks for 20 years and have never had a problem before. Spent about a year trying to [b]buy[/b] a new neck from Warwick but, as there isn't a Warwick dealer in ROI, they were as accomodating as a crotch rash. They're just not interested in dealing with customers directly and, if you can't go through a dealer, it's tough sh*t as far as they're concerned. You'd think a neck that chubby might be a bit better built but, wh, there you go.

Never again.[/quote]

Unfortunately you are talking about 'people' here and you get good and bad service all over the place; not saying Warwick are better or worse just 'people'. On the occasions that I've had to deal with Warwick re. parts etc. I've had great response. Some years ago I contacted them on two seperate occasions re. the little nut grub screws on the original brass 'Adjust-a-nut' and a seized bridge saddle; on both occasions they sent me a complete nut inc' all grub screws and a full set of 4 saddles, all [u]for free[/u].

Actually that does raise a couple of negative points re. Warwick basses. 'Sometimes' it's a good idea to put a drop of loctite or clear nail varnish (don't ask ) on the original brass adjusting nut, that way if the grub screws are adjusted out to the limits of their thread, they don't drop out when changing strings. Oh and the later upgraded 'Just-A-Nut' with the plastic tabs is prone to snapping, this doesn't compromise it's use (so I've heard; as I tend to go for the early basses that have either a solid brass nut or the original brass nut) but I bet it's dead frustrating when it happens to you. Saying that these little foibles shouldn't put you off and a bit of planning/forethought easily avoids any issues, which you'd have with virtually any bass.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='Doctor J' post='921259' date='Aug 11 2010, 08:27 AM']Snapped the truss rod while making a fairly basic adjustment on a Corvette. Fine, my fault, I'll pay for it, I thought, even though I've been adjusting necks for 20 years and have never had a problem before. Spent about a year trying to [b]buy[/b] a new neck from Warwick but, as there isn't a Warwick dealer in ROI, they were as accomodating as a crotch rash. They're just not interested in dealing with customers directly and, if you can't go through a dealer, it's tough sh*t as far as they're concerned. You'd think a neck that chubby might be a bit better built but, wh, there you go.[/quote]

That's a shame. The truss rod went on my Corvette Proline 6. The distributor (M.A.D. at the time IIRC) asked me to send them the bass, which I did. They sent it to Warwick, it came back 3 weeks later with a new neck, an explanation and apology that the old (predominantly maple laminates) neck design wasn't stiff enough so they'd replaced it for free with an all-wenge one with a volute, and sent me a bunch of free goodies like strings, gig bag, new pot of wax, etc.

I was pretty pleased with that. Especially given that I'd bought the bass used.

Edited August 11, 2010 by thisnameistaken

[mart]

I've had mostly good experiences with Warwicks, and my main basses now are a Stage 2 and a Thumb which I simply adore. I did have an all-maple Fortress that I just couldn't get a good sound out of, but in retrospect maple was just never going to hit the spot for me, so I can't really blame the bass. Its current owner loves it!

As for service, it's always been fantastic in my experience. I sent a grumbling email about a couple of marks on the case my Thumb arrived in and got an apologetic email back from Hans-Peter Wilfer, and a new case for free, along with a t-shirt.

Rockbasses are a bit different - I have a 2008 Corvette which shows unbelievably poor quality control. (The neck, pickups and bridge are all out of line with each other). I understand they are better since the major re-design in 2009.

[morsefull]

I wonder how many people regret moving on from Warwick as they became "unfashionable".

I've owned a 5 string streamer stage 2 now for about 2 years ( traded with Ray on here) and for me, nothing comes close for tone and playability.
It's awesome live and in the studio.

I own or have owned a vintage Fender Jazz (1974), a Jaydee supernatural session (1980), a stingray (Pre EB) and played loads of other basses.
Since getting the Warwick I've been totally GAS free.

I've got a feeling people will be coming back to Warwick again in the future and used prices will pick up , especially the high end.
(and no, mine's not up for sale!)

Talking about used prices I posted this on the Ebay links thread a few days ago.

"Is it me, or are things starting to get really tight

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...E:B:WNA:GB:1123"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...E:B:WNA:GB:1123[/url]

I thought this would sell for at least £200 more."

A nice example of a vintage fretless streamer sold for £511. It just shows what can happen when the market turns.

My advise is to buy yourself a high end used warwick while they're cheap.

[Lfalex v1.1]

I have a '97 Streamer LX6 and an '04 Infinity SN4.
Both very different. I [i]really[/i] like the J/JJ pick-up configuration on the Infinity/Dolphin.
I've never had any issues with either bass. When I e-mailed Dana B.Goods (US distributor), they answered me at length 15min later, with all the info I'd asked for and more besides.
There are a few designs I don't like (Stryker. Vampyre ain't great)
There are a few design issues with some I do like (Thumb- nneck dive and and a tendency for it to jump off of my lap when seated)
There are some I'd love- Dolphin, Streamer Jazzman, Corvette $$, Fortress Masterman, Streamer Pro M, Fortress Flashback, but which are discontinued, out of my reach financially, hard to find or difficult to justify alongside some of my current basses.

In other words, it's pretty much all good!

[Muzz]

Another Marmite thing, I think - I've never played a fretted one I ultimately liked (and I've had a few), tho the fretless Corvette Std I have is a fantastic bass, and the best fretless I've ever played: seems to be so much [i]nearer[/i] the wood than other fretlesses. It's an older one, neck will be Ovangkol, but I think the board's Ebony, Ash body. A keeper.

The build quality of every one I've played has been, well, German: very, very well engineered. New prices are bananas compared to s/h, but then I guess that's true of a lot of kit these days (new Stingray for £1350, anyone?).

[Musicman20]

I get the impression if you like a Warwick, you will like them for life.

I for one tried a few Warwicks and they just arent me, but everyone is different.

They look extremely solid, but the aesthetics really dont catch my eye.

Go out and try what you can

[OliverBlackman]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='921246' date='Aug 11 2010, 08:07 AM']Don't know what all the hype is about...

[/quote]

can i come to dinner around your house please

[BigRedX]

Definitely Marmite.

I tried pretty much every single fretless Warwick I came across for about 2 years when I was on my quest to find the perfect fretless bass for me. Warwicks certainly weren't the ones. Ignoring the fact that I don't find any of the standard ones aesthetically pleasing, only one of them didn't feel totally horrible to play and that had a £4000 price tag. The last Warwick I played - a Starbass II at the 2008 LGS had the sharpest fingerboard edges I've ever encountered on any bass...

Like any bass - fine if you like the manufacturer's design philosophy, but at the prices they sell for new these days I would want every detail to be perfect.

[peted]

Although I have hardly touched my Warwich since I got my hands on my new custom bass I'm still going to keep it and gig it regularly because I think it's another perfect bass. The build quality is rock solid and it just sounds exactly how I feel a bass should sound. I've been in email contact with Warwick a couple of times with general queries and they've been great response from the top people of Warwick UK.

Only slight gripe, which should also be aimed at the shops too, is that their factory setup is terrible. I don't like my action too low but they leave the factory with such a high string height I find new Warwicks horrible to play.

[ahpook]

also...look how cool they make you look !

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='blackmn90' post='921463' date='Aug 11 2010, 11:54 AM']can i come to dinner around your house please [/quote]

By all means but I have to confess that a couple of years ago I sold every one of the basses in that photograph... luckily I had some spare ones on the other wall!

[Urban Bassman]

Can only echo some of the other comments, my Streamer S1, Streamer 5 $$ and Thumb BO are great instruments; they sound great, easy and comfortable to play. Can't fault them.

[lee4]

I owned a $$ and loved the neck shape,the brilliant pups and eq,but I found that the Just-a-nut cut my fingers,and the weight caused pain in my left shoulder.
Despite fitting a Comfort strap,I had to sell it.
If they were lighter and had a standard nut I would have another.