need some help please

rbaucom7266 · #1 01-01-2013, 06:03 PM

I am looking to buy a 2004 warwick corvette five string. It looks like a standard and the tuners say Germany on them, which make me believe that it is legit. The seller is saying that it has active pickups, but the bass looks exactly the same as the corvette that is active/passive. I thought that if it was active/active that it would be an 18v system. Is this true and is there any question i can ask the seller to find out for sure what kind of pickups it has. I think he has mislabled what he is selling. Can I get some help here from the pros.

wcriley · #2 01-02-2013, 10:04 AM

There are a lot of people out there who think that just because the intrument has a battery, the pickups are active. This is true in only a very few cases.

Ask the seller to send you a clear photo of the guts, showing the wires to/from the pickups. Most (all?) active pickups will have an extra wire to supply the voltage from the battery.

NYCbassist · #3 01-02-2013, 10:24 AM

Do the Pickups say MEC in Gold? If so They should be passive but the Pre-amp will be active. IIRC

dave2 · #4 01-02-2013, 07:27 PM

Google the Warwick Forum and post your question there. Florin or one of the other admins or knowledgeable bassists there will definitely answer your question.

In my experience they could be either active or passive on a Corvette with an active preamp installed. Are these the original electronics in this bass?
Ask the seller for the bass serial number which should be on the back of the headstock. Post it here and we will look up the details of this bass on the main Warwick site. I have done this with all my Warwicks.

Happy New Year all!

Dave