warwick question

[epp1221]

so right now i have a ibanez btb 505 and i am looking to upgrade to a warwick corvette the problem is where i live all warwicks are custom orders from the music stores i have played a few corvettes that friends have and i have always loved how they feel. but i am wondering about tone. what is the differences between the $$ and the normal corvette. i play mostly church worship music so i almost never slap but i do play a lot of harmonics and for some songs i slide around a lot. can anyone help me with how the different pickups will effect the tone of the bass.

also i play a ampeg ba300 115 amp

[Boogie.Man]

If you live in the US call Mark Wilson at www.warwickdepot.com. He bought DBGs US inventory. I got a NOS German Bubinga Corvette for $480.

I can't comment on the $$ versus JJ but the JJ does have a very rich tone to it. My wife can immediately distinguish it from my StingRays when I play. It's a very organic sound.

[TreeFitty]

I just purchased a CS 5 string in April for $720 from Craigslist. It's got both active/passive pups. What I love about it is that I can sculpt the sound between active/passive....so if you want brightness with the low end growl of passive...you can have both....i've found the wood to have a nice deep woody tone....and the feel of the neck is great. I've not played the $$, but i can imagine that's like the standard on steroids.

[IronLung1986]

there are enormous differences between the standard corvette and the $$. the standard is a simple design and the controls will be familiar to almost any player. it has a distinctive sound, very rich and bassy but with minimal muddiness (one of the great hallmarks of the warwick sound). even though it uses jazz-style pickups it doesn't sound anything like a fender jazz bass in my opinion. by favoring the bridge pickup you can get that nasally tone that both anchors the band and makes you the star of the show. very cool. the standard is a nice bass; it's an affordable entry level warwick. it's not a terribly versatile bass but it has a few good tones that are useful.

the $$ on the other hand has a lot more in common with the higher end warwick basses. it's truly a god among production level instruments. you want versatility? how about two humbuckers that can switch to single coil or go from series to parallel wiring at the flick of a switch? or a two band active EQ that you can bypass for a great, warm, passive sound? the $$ has those things. it's a very powerful instrument...small amps beware. the tone is generally outstanding; zero mud even with a lot of bass in the EQ. exceptionally dry, tight bottom end, and a cutting, nasally treble range that can sometimes be difficult to tame. the mids are very slightly weaker at certain pickup settings, partially because it's only a 2 band not a 3. a little careful adjustment on your amp EQ should solve any issues though.

the construction quality for the $$'s also seems much better than on the standards, which is probably because it's is one of their german-made models (i think the standards are made in korea or some such place). another thing is that the $$'s are more commonly made with swamp ash these days, which makes them waaay lighter than most standards (which are made with the heavy bubinga). you can find standards made with swamp ash but it's a lot harder. i think most people would agree that the $$ is far superior to the standard corvette in nearly every way: quality of tone, construction, versatility...pretty much everything except affordability!

[humpy thumb]

The Korean built Corvette STD's have only just made it to Australia's distributor.The USA distributor may not have them just yet.
The reason the STD is now being produced in Korea is because Warwick were actually losing money on that model while they were being built in Germany.
A friend who works for the Aussie distributor just started unpacking a shipment from Korea & his reports were glowing.Basically the same bass,for half the price.
The STD comes in a few models.Fully passive & active with a 2 band eq.Both come in either swamp ash or bubinga,with ovangkol necks & wenge fingerboards.
The STD is no better or worse than the $$.Both are extremely consistent in terms of build.If you're a humbucker kinda guy,the $$'s probably gonna be more for you.If you're a single coil man,the STD.The $$ will be more flexible given it's pickup switching options.

[DaLoCo]

I have both a BTB455 and a Corvette $$. The BTB is not in the same league, and it is not a bad bass at all, I will still use it. The Corvette has just way more low end definition and generally is a lot easier to control during worship as it is rather effortless to play.

The string spacing is different, the BTB is 19mm and the Corvette is 16 ish with a thinner nut at 45 mm compared to a 52mm nut on my BTB (remeber, I play 5-ers). Both are extremely versatile in tonal capabilities. The Warwick has way more oomph, so yeah, you will be setting the amp lower on everything. If not, you will make the bandleader's eyes water.....

My reason for changing is almost the same as yours....I play in church worship and rarely slap. I also have itty bitty little fingers, so the string spacing works for me.