Not sure if they changed something, but the neck pickup in mine is dead silent. It was built in Oct 09, got it brand new from Amazon for $1100. Definitely not like it's a 'once in a lifetime' deal, but I consider myself blessed to be able to get it new for the same priced as a used one. There's just something about knowing that this bass has been touched by NOBODY outside of Warwick except for me.
This Jazzman is by far the best bass I've ever owned after 15 years of trying. That includes Zons, Laklands, Spectors, Steinbergers, Fenders, Ricks, and many more so I'm not a noob here
But I will say, even though I love every aspect of this bass, I could never see paying $3000 for it. I just don't see it. The build quality is exceptional, but really no better than Carvin or Mike Lull or something like that. These should probalby go for around $1800 or so new.
As far as the versatility, it may not be the MOST versatile bass ever created, but what it does it does with magic. It's not as versatile as my G&L, but more versatile than a Jazz and WAAAY more versatile than a P-Bass.
Here's what I do:
Bridge, passive, single coil. My signature sound with this bass. Very snappy and middy. This is where I do my 'Geddy Lee Wal' sound. Go active and it thickens up a little bit.
Bridge, passive, series. Thicker and smoother than single coil, a good 'do everything' sound. I switch to this when we do Black Crowes, Phish, Widespread Panic, stuff like that. Going active makes this a bit too thick though.
Bridge single + neck, passive. This is your punchy, growly Jazz tone. Removes some mids, adds some lows. Switch the bridge to series and it becomes a little more modern P-bass-ish.
Neck, active. Treble down. Thick and thumpy like a vintage P. I use this when I want to get more of a standup or acoustic bass sound.
All this is with Nickel Roundwound strings, mainly I use Dunlop. As you can see I don't really use the bridge pickups parallel mode, mainly because the single coil mode sounds better and it's noiseless anyway.
