I have mentioned a few times some work I have had done on my fretless 94 Warwick NT. There is quite a story behind this bass I paid $350 for it in a hospital parking lot. Sounds crazy but thats what happened. I saw it come up on eBay at 2:30 AM about a year ago and the owner mentioned neck issues the seller was located only about 45 minutes away. I emailed the guy at 2:35 and said I would be working in that area the next day and would like to see the bass. He didnt respond but I threw all my bass tweaking tools in my Jetta and was off the next morning. He called me that afternoon and said he could meet me. He was an anesthesiologist assistant and worked in the local hospital. I met him in the parking lot. The truss rod is a removable one and was maxed and the neck was a banana.
Turns out a guy who was the original owner was Thai and was moving home and wanted to sell all of his musical equipment and apparently it was a bunch of stuff. The seller I met had to buy all of his stuff and this bass was part of the deal. I have everything from the original buyer. The original gig bag and all the receipts and purchase order and several brochures from MEC and old Warwick brochures from 1994. There is the original Zapfs Music Store itemized receipt from 1994 its crazy perfect condition.
I figured the neck could be fixed but wasnt 100% sure. He was asking $1,700 originally and I told him with the neck as it was and it being a neck through I could only offer him what I could sell it as parts in case I couldnt fix it. He said no at first and I packed up my tools and was getting in my car and he asked what would you offer. I said $300 to $400. He said fine he just wanted to get rid of it.
I almost crapped my pants and went on my way. It has LEDs in the side of the neck and they dont work and the only way to fix them is to take off the fretboard and replace and glue fretboard back on. I didnt want to take a chance in having the older perfect ebony fingerboard broken especially since it had custom maple lines in it from the original custom order. I tried to straighten the neck out with clamps and a steel bar and left it clamped for 2 weeks it did nothing.
Finally with some advice from another TBr and good friend I sent it to San Francisco to Gary Brawers shop. Gary advised I leave the LEDs alone he heated it and clamped it and also with his PLEK machine shaved the fingerboard down perfectly to a glass like finish. Without the LEDs I wanted something special to mark the side of the board. Gary did the custom white side inlays that go through the side from the top over through the fingerboard slightly in different thicknesses to indicate the 3rd, 5th, 7th, etc... marker. His job is awesome. He also put a slick finish over all the custom fret markers he did too. I would recommend him for just about anything.
This bass had a serious neck dive like many Thumbs so I just switched the tuners out with Ultralites this takes 7 Oz off the headstock and also sounds crazy but there is an extra battery compartment for 6 batteries for the LEDs and since they dont work I added some lead fishing weights about 8 Oz and just put them in wrapped in bubble wrap so its not permanent and I can take out later. Since I lost 7 Oz on the headstock and added 8 Oz in the body the bass is only 1 Oz heavier. The balance is killer now. I also gave it a nice Howards Feed and was so here are a few pics of the results. Thanks for looking it sounds and plays like heaven.
Turns out a guy who was the original owner was Thai and was moving home and wanted to sell all of his musical equipment and apparently it was a bunch of stuff. The seller I met had to buy all of his stuff and this bass was part of the deal. I have everything from the original buyer. The original gig bag and all the receipts and purchase order and several brochures from MEC and old Warwick brochures from 1994. There is the original Zapfs Music Store itemized receipt from 1994 its crazy perfect condition.
I figured the neck could be fixed but wasnt 100% sure. He was asking $1,700 originally and I told him with the neck as it was and it being a neck through I could only offer him what I could sell it as parts in case I couldnt fix it. He said no at first and I packed up my tools and was getting in my car and he asked what would you offer. I said $300 to $400. He said fine he just wanted to get rid of it.
I almost crapped my pants and went on my way. It has LEDs in the side of the neck and they dont work and the only way to fix them is to take off the fretboard and replace and glue fretboard back on. I didnt want to take a chance in having the older perfect ebony fingerboard broken especially since it had custom maple lines in it from the original custom order. I tried to straighten the neck out with clamps and a steel bar and left it clamped for 2 weeks it did nothing.
Finally with some advice from another TBr and good friend I sent it to San Francisco to Gary Brawers shop. Gary advised I leave the LEDs alone he heated it and clamped it and also with his PLEK machine shaved the fingerboard down perfectly to a glass like finish. Without the LEDs I wanted something special to mark the side of the board. Gary did the custom white side inlays that go through the side from the top over through the fingerboard slightly in different thicknesses to indicate the 3rd, 5th, 7th, etc... marker. His job is awesome. He also put a slick finish over all the custom fret markers he did too. I would recommend him for just about anything.
This bass had a serious neck dive like many Thumbs so I just switched the tuners out with Ultralites this takes 7 Oz off the headstock and also sounds crazy but there is an extra battery compartment for 6 batteries for the LEDs and since they dont work I added some lead fishing weights about 8 Oz and just put them in wrapped in bubble wrap so its not permanent and I can take out later. Since I lost 7 Oz on the headstock and added 8 Oz in the body the bass is only 1 Oz heavier. The balance is killer now. I also gave it a nice Howards Feed and was so here are a few pics of the results. Thanks for looking it sounds and plays like heaven.
