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A Warwick Vampyre BO Dark Lord... Here?

BrettTheThreat

BrettTheThreat

Jan 17, 2010
59
2
Moncton, New Brunswick
#1
I was in the local music chain (L&M) here in little Sydney Nova Scotia wandering around when I happen upon this MAMMOTH instrument. I had no idea what it was when I first picked it up, which took about all my strength. Thankfully the internets tell me everything I need to know.

What makes me wonder is how it ended up here, in a city of 24 000 people, the biggest city within a 5 hour drive, where folk and Celtic reign supreme. This. The most beefy of bass guitars. Which produce notes so deep they summon demons from other dimensions. Who PLAYS these things?! Can most common amps/cabs reproduce F#?! Can you even hear the note over the string slap?! Does it play the infamous brown note?!

tl;dr : The Warwick Vampyre BO Dark Lord... would ya?

Invalid Link Removed
 
#8
They were asking $2700 CAD, but everythings negotiable. I told my bass instructor about it today, but he didn't believe anyone would do that to a 4-string, so we looked it on youtube. His reaction was laughter followed by a "that sounds like $%!+!!!!" Which it really did. Its nothing but clack... But somebody, somewhere, plays one and loves it.
 
#10
Hi.

I strung my 34" 6er F#BEADG a while ago, and even though the low strings won't be deafeningly loud, they're there
Clear distinction between the notes, to me anyway.

And with a cheap Chinese tube amp and less than stellar 115 & 410 no less.

Up until You try one, please keep an open mind.

Regards
Sam
 
#11
I have an F# string, which is made for those 'wicks.
I tried it on my 34" 5 string - completely unusable (IMO, of course).
Then put it on my 35", just to try it - well, still not a "must have for all bassists" :-D but much clearer.
quite usable down to low A, and clear notes even in the second octave.
interesting, I think I would never use it, or... I could fret the normal E at 10th fret :)
 
#12
T-Bird said:
Hi.

I strung my 34" 6er F#BEADG a while ago, and even though the low strings won't be deafeningly loud, they're there
Clear distinction between the notes, to me anyway.

And with a cheap Chinese tube amp and less than stellar 115 & 410 no less.

Up until You try one, please keep an open mind.

Regards
Sam
Click to expand...

I did, with better amplification than I think you're descrbing. Sounded like mud. Not bashing, so don't worry about whether or not my mind is ajar or battened down. I really wanted it to work as I had no need for anything higher than C (what would be the point of having a 7 string without 7 strings) so I dumped the bass and the notion of playing F# on a 34" scale bass. There were distinct tones, but the distinction was small enough that with the quietest drumset and an acoustic guitar it would have been lost completely.
 
#13
BrettTheThreat said:
What makes me wonder is how it ended up here, in a city of 24 000 people, the biggest city within a 5 hour drive, where folk and Celtic reign supreme.
Click to expand...

L & M might have had a couple of them dumped into the distribution pool when Warwick discontinued them. I tried one out west in Alberta - thought I might have liked it, as I have a Vampyre SN 5 that I'm somewhat fond of.
The weight difference is about .5 kilos between the two, with the DL being the heavier.
Frankly, all I really liked about the DL was the sandblasted finish...Sonically, I think it might have benefited from a Double $-type pickup array as opposed to the J/TJ, and the tuning (while certainly unique, and somewhat consistent playing-wise) wasn't practical for most of what I do.

They started out with the same rough price point out here, but it went to deep discount within a month or so. Good build quality, but a little too ultra niche-market for an instrument that's already in that neighborhood, IMO.
 
#15
BrettTheThreat said:
I was in the local music chain (L&M) here in little Sydney Nova Scotia wandering around when I happen upon this MAMMOTH instrument. I had no idea what it was when I first picked it up, which took about all my strength. Thankfully the internets tell me everything I need to know.

What makes me wonder is how it ended up here, in a city of 24 000 people, the biggest city within a 5 hour drive, where folk and Celtic reign supreme. This. The most beefy of bass guitars. Which produce notes so deep they summon demons from other dimensions. Who PLAYS these things?! Can most common amps/cabs reproduce F#?! Can you even hear the note over the string slap?! Does it play the infamous brown note?!

tl;dr : The Warwick Vampyre BO Dark Lord... would ya?

Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

Just listed to the Chris Rivell (sp?) demo on Youtube...a nine string bass without the upper 5 strings:eyebrow:! Personally, I wouldn't give a nickel for it....but that is just me.:spit::spit::rollno:
 
#16
I am only 55% evil, and it clearly states in the manual "do not attempt to play a Warwick Vampyre Dark Lord if your evilness is less than 85%. Combustion of your internal organs may occur as a blood atonement." That being said, I would really like to know what kind of rig you'd need to play to really get anything but show value from that bass.

tl;dr - no
 
#17
I LOVE those things.

All I know about 'em is they use very thick strings, and ex Kittie basssist Jennifer Arroyo played one of those and several other Warwicks but, suddenly stoped using the Vampyre Lord after leaving Kittie and joining Sucide City which with them she normally plays a 5 string Corvette.
 

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