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Beating Warwick GAS

#21
4OnTheFloor said:
It is an amazing bass in both fretted and fretless incarnations. The fretless is just not my thing. I've been playing it for a few months now and it only gets better. The thumb has a strong low end with a very punchy "fast" response. The midrange is superb as all warwicks are. The high end is very smooth and glassy. Basically I think the thumb is hard to beat, and for the used price it is unmatched. The fretless version is no exception, I have the unlined.
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Thanks much for your impressions! I think the Thumb will be a nice complement to my Corvette.

Hopefully this will fuel the OP's GAS (sorry :p). Certainly makes me want another!
 
#22
I'm beginning to think that I'm the guy that's destined to be the outlier but I've gotta say that I've owned two Warwicks (rock bass... I can't afford the top of the line ones) and I couldn't get down with either of them. There's something about the neck that I don't like, although the tones you can get are awesome.

OP, have you considered installing a Warwick pup in your bass?
 
#23
TheGreatSealof said:
IMO, they are more suited to slap and pop players because of the bright tones.
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It's definitely the best thing my Warwick does. Better than either my ATK or Cort. It's got some nasty bite to it with the pups blended dead center. Too bad I barely use slap/pop techniques...

In addition, this setting (center-blended) has the least articulation for finger-style playing, you have to solo either pup for a more defined attack. And soloing the bridge is not an option for me, sounds thin as spaghetti.
 
#24
Thanks for the posts all!! It's nice to see some discussion! I'm a fairly new member and am enjoying TB so far! And yeah I was thinking of Warwick pickups! I have a lakland skyline with Bart mk1s but it might be a more interesting prospect to try and pimp up my vintage v950b bass. It's a budget 5 string with a solid bubinga body so I figure I have awesome tone wood on it so might as well gradually upgrade the bass around it as a project! The Lakland is great and I'm not sure i want to butcher it!
 
#25
Beating Warwick gas? Try getting some good customer service out of them when something goes seriously wrong with one of their basses. That definitely cured me of my Warwick lust. :hiding: Maybe I was just exceedingly unlucky but they lost me as a customer for life.
 
#26
If you like warwicks its really hard to stop GASing.

On the other hand, if you played a STII and didn't feel right then it's not for you (it's just their sound that you like).
Warwicks are not for everyone, their neck is meaty and they weight more than an average bass. For me it is all worth it and I have adjusted to playing long hours with it hanging on my shoulder.

I advise you not to follow your favourite bassist blindly - warwick might just be HIS kind of thing. It would be a shame to have a $3500 bass collecting dust. Better to buy an instrument that feels natural to you and feel 100% comfortable playing it.
 
#27
That's easy: you just need to acknowledge that you will never sound exactly the same through the same bass. Try to achieve your own sound or version of his sound. If you really must have the Warwick sound, you could also consider a second hand Ibanez premium/prestige from any era. They can often be had dirt cheap.
 
#29
syndroam said:
Warwicks are not for everyone, their neck is meaty and they weight more than an average bass. For me it is all worth it and I have adjusted to playing long hours with it hanging on my shoulder.
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Neck size is dependent on the year. My Streamer is an '09 and is definitely the thinnest/smallest neck in my collection (1.5 nut I think).
And weight is dependent on body size/wood density. My Streamer has an all maple body, and while not dainty like my Cort (mahogany), it's certainly not the heavy bastard my northern ash ATK is.
 
#31
The only way to beat Warwick GAS is to play (and Own!) as many warwicks as you can! I've had 20+, and have settled on a pair of Dolphin Pro-1's (4 & 5), a Corvette ProLine 6-String, and a Lowly Streamer Standard with a single pickup. (Pre Rock Bass offering) This covers about anything that can get thrown at me. But in my Wake are a LOAD of Warwicks that didn't make the keeper list. RockBasses, Streamers (Pro-M, SSI, SSII) Fortress MasterMan, Corvettes up the Wa-Zoo, a Vampyre Dark Lord, and Various Thumbs. Finally I played the Dolphin, and realized that it couldn't get much better and focused on that. I added a 5er with D-Tuner to cover the extended ranges! The 'Vette is for even Further ERBing, and the Streamer I got for $150, and it weighs about 7 Lbs. (The Warwick Beater!) GAS Relieved!
 
#40
That Axe said:
I cured myself from my Warwick by trading it in for a Highway One P bass at the local GC.:hmm:
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I read a Fender forum where someone had a defect and within days of posting on the forum Fender overnights them a replacement bass.

I posted about the defective Warwick they shipped me, and within days Warwick responded to let me know its not their problem....

Fenders are beginning to look good to me...
 

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