Buying a new Warwick in the US

[travep]

I have become interested in Warwick's Alien 5-string fretted bass. I played a Michael Kelly 5 for a couple of years & it was ok...a little boomy on stage. I didn't have the money at the time for the Tacoma Thunderchief I had my eye on.

I saw a posting from last year asking to see if anyone has tried the Alien...no response:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/warwick-alien-5-strings-638716/

First, does anyone have any feedback or thoughts on Warwick's acoustic instruments? There don't really seem to be any dealers in the US...how could I play one? What is the purchasing process if I wanted to buy one?

It can't be that difficult as I see used Warwicks often on CL & they advertise like crazy in predominantly American mags...am I missing something?

I have also liked the look of the Starbass II but they're quite expensive...

 

[TolerancEJ]

Never tried them but had them priced at my local music shop.

The Warwick 5 version is $2499
The Rockbass 5 version is $969

 

[travep]

I'm in Austin, TX & do my shopping at the Bass Emporium. They don't carry them and I don't know of another that does...don't remember GC carrying them. If you look on their website, it looks like there are no distributors in the US. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

[DerHoggz]

GC carries Warwick, they can probably order you one.

 

[KsPiNeSh]

Warwick is apparently switching US distributors again... good luck, and happy hunting

 

[DerHoggz]

What distributor are they using?

 

[calgone47]

They just switched from Hanser to US Music. This has made my recent warranty claim an absolute NIGHTMARE....

 

[calgone47]

Let me add that the dealer I went through is in Maryland and has been pretty great to work with. I only attribute my negative experience to the terrible timing of the distributor change.

 

[Need2KnowBasses]

Wow. Hanser didn't last long. I was looking into this last year and Warwick had just switched from Dana B Goodes to Hanser.

 

[bassmanjla]

so.. i'm trying to find a way around the exorbitant shipping fees from germany. I need a new nut.. it's like half an ounce of plastic.. i do not want to pay 45 bucks for shipping.. . which is the only option from the warwick website.

any advice?

 

[Morning Beer]

so.. i'm trying to find a way around the exorbitant shipping fees from germany. I need a new nut.. it's like half an ounce of plastic.. i do not want to pay 45 bucks for shipping.. . which is the only option from the warwick website.

any advice?

Dana B goods has a bunch of old stock their getting rid of on ebay. I think the just a nuts were about $30. I'm not a fan of the JAN so I had a graphite nut installed. On a side note I bought a whole new neck with a new nut for $200. Not bad just to have a for spare.

 

[bassmanjla]

Dana B goods has a bunch of old stock their getting rid of on ebay. I think the just a nuts were about $30. I'm not a fan of the JAN so I had a graphite nut installed. On a side note I bought a whole new neck with a new nut for $200. Not bad just to have a for spare.

yah i actually found that auction.. definitely some good stuff there but it looks liek most of it is gone.. but i have to say i wouldn't mind getting my hands on one of those 6 string fretless necks.