Well I got this bass in eBay couple months and it was a transparent teal. Very beautiful color but the bass had minor flaws that irked me and I wanted to refinish it to an original natural oil finish.
Bass is an 1988 Warwick streamer bass. Cherry body and wenge neck. Lovely 1.5" jazz width neck and a very thin comfy neck all around. I wanted to feel that wenge underneath my hands!
Here it is before:
Work in progress
Alright the day everyone has been waiting for!!
First off I would I like to thank Joey! (Mr.Bassie) from this forum. He has been a great friend ever since our first transaction on talkbass. Some of you might know him and he is an avid spector fan (now a spector endorsee!!)
Through Joey and his connections we were able to get this Warwick refinished correctly.
Chris Bavaria (Guitar Finisher for PRS for 17 years) did the refinish and Phil Jacoby? (joey can correct me on the names) of Philtone guitars did the disassemble and reassembly of the bass. Also rerouted a new battery box, did the set up and cleaned up all the hardware and frets.
Both companies did their jobs to the tee! The bass looks spectacular and I cannot even tell that the bass was refinished.
A little history on the bass. Chris found a crack by the control cavity that Warwick fixed during production. (I believe that is why they painted this bass blue to start with) If there were no crack, you had to be on crack not to finish this bass in natural to show off the beautiful grains of the cherry and wenge!
We found out the bass was produced in 1988. A rare specimen with both cherry/wenge and 2 piece bridge!
Some things that caught their eyes were that the original just-a-nut has seen better days so the set up, while perfect, can be done a better way once my new nut comes in. (just-a-nut 3 brass on its way!) Phil had to adjust the bridge a bit higher than the norm to make up for the very low nut height.
Also there is one more person to thank! Florin from the warwick forums. Without him we would not have done the oil finish correctly as warwick. There are many different ways of doing it but I wanted that oem warwick feel so Joey, Chris went the extra mile to make sure they get the secret from Warwick!
Heres the pics!! Photos really cant capture the beauty but heres the icing on the cake!!
__________________
Ampeg Club Member #62, Geddy Lee Jazz Club Member #9, Fender Precision Bass Club Member #39, Post-punk/New Wave Bassists Club #40, SansAmp VT-Bass Owners Club #4
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! That turned out so good!!! Truly amazing bass you have there. I love this finish much more than the original for sure. Sweet bro!!!! Thanks for the pics!!!! I know we will all be drooling for a while over this one!!! Another amazing Warwick!!!
__________________
Psalms 115:1 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.
Thanks for the kind words Jon. One of the greatest things about Talkbass is getting to meet great people, like you. It was an outstanding bass to start with, but that beautiful wenge neck had to be set free! This 1988 Wick has the original EMGs. So it is, essentially, the 30th anniversary Streamer. All the specs are identical. Oh, but wait, Jon didn't have to shell out $6,543.00. Nice score brother! That's an "over my dead body" bass!
Do you notice any tonal difference. I have heard people say basses without a clear coat are more open and organic warm sounding. Any truth to that or is it BS?
__________________
“If you are not building your dream then simply someone else has hired you to build theirs”
Man that thing looks great! I love natural, low gloss finish. I think it looks much better and with that finish, you can play without nearly as much worry of scuffs.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Mike Ipp
...any one else's critters lick their basses?
Fuzzrocious #2 / B1S #2 / S.A.S.S. #15 / WA #37 / V #5
Do you notice any tonal difference. I have heard people say basses without a clear coat are more open and organic warm sounding. Any truth to that or is it BS?
Jon will chime in with his opinion. I got to play the bass before and after. Actually, Jon was kind enough to let it stay at my house long after the job was finished. Not BS. It definitely sounds different. Nicer. In exactly the way you described. It's a subtle difference, but there. Oh, and the feel of the neck would make you guys weep with joy.
They look like flat wounds to me with zero taper. I could be wrong though I often am.
I always have like the sound of basses without clear coats or at least a thin satin. I have owned many Spectors and my favorites were always without clear coat. Part of that is the way the bass feels but I always thought they were more open sounding but I wasn't sure if I was just hearing with my eyes. One reason I love my Warwicks so much oil rubbed finishes make my hands happy. Again that bass looks great.
__________________
“If you are not building your dream then simply someone else has hired you to build theirs”
Do you notice any tonal difference. I have heard people say basses without a clear coat are more open and organic warm sounding. Any truth to that or is it BS?
Honestly it's really hard to say. The change is very subtle. It does feel more resonant to me
But maybe it's because I can feel bare wood against me vibrating as part of my body.
The neck is heavenly. The wenge is so smooth and buttery it makes it so much easier to play than the gloss finish it had. On my fenders I had before the finish felt like they had a great effect on tone but the Warwick tone was always there in this bass and the refinish just enhances it bit more die to feel and playability. The bass started off with an awesome tone and feel and it just got better.
Putting in new nut this week and hopefully get it set up with round wounds this time and maybe a plek.
. Not BS. It definitely sounds different. Nicer. In exactly the way you described. It's a subtle difference, but there. Oh, and the feel of the neck would make you guys weep with joy.
