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For the love of wenge

BGroovy

BGroovy

Supporting Member
Jul 15, 2008
2,579
7,727
Denver, CO
#1
On the bench today - a 96 Warwick Corvette Standard Active. OK, the bench is actually my kitchen table, you got me.

I'm a big fan of Warwick. Most are too heavy for me, but I love the looks and the tone. I've owned many. Still hunting for the perfect lightweight tone monster that will be a keeper.

I haven't had many of the active models come through. I've owned 3 passive Corvettes, and still own a passive fretless.The active pickups and preamp sound fantastic.

But the real star of the show is this wenge board. This one has been PLAYED and I'm smoothing out some divots and getting it back into its full glory.

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Great bass. Next up a fret level/crown. I think it has one more left in it.
 
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#4
Turnaround said:
Some see beauty in the fretboard. I see a poor cut of wood with a lot of run-out. Maybe if I change my glasses....
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for a fretboard I'm not sure if the runout is any concern, but I'm happy to be educated.

For the wenge on the neck where stability matters more, the grain is pretty straight. Has held up just fine with 30 years of playtime on it.


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#7
It has always been about the wenge for me, too. Just completely fell in love with it's heavenly chocolate stripes the first time I saw a Warwick back in the 90's. Around 2001 I finally had a decent enough job to take out a loan and order a Streamer Stage II 5 string just like my hero P-Nut played. Imagine my disappointment when it was delivered a year later and I realized they had switched to ovangkol for the neck runners. To add insult to injury, the ovangkol neck warped within a year. Thankfully Warwick replaced it with a brand new 2003 model. I still own that second SSII, and have been quietly unhappy with it for almost 25 years simply because it does not have a wenge neck.
 
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#8
Mmmmmmmmm..... wenge. the Chocolate of Hardwoods. I have yet to make anything out of it, but my brother made up a whole batch whisky glass tasting racks as Christmas presents, so there are a few scraps kicking around. he put an oil finish on them, looks great. Its pretty splintery, and you need sharp tools and some care to keep it from chipping out, but... gorgeous stuff.
 
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#10
UNICORN BASS said:
Pre 2000 active Corvette 5's are my favourite Warwicks, they personified the "sound of wood" slogan for me. I only wish i owned one.
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Agreed. I just hang with the weight anymore. This 4 string actually "feels" lighter than some. It's right at 10lbs even, but it's perfectly balanced in the lap and on the strap. Still too heavy for me to gig these days thanks to a chronic shoulder issue.

Sounds so good seated at home though. Will be even better when I get these frets addressed.
 
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#12
I do loves me some wenge. An all wenge neck Corvette Standard was my first Warwick, purchased new back in the late 90s. Fantastic tone and playability. I rocked that for several years until the weight got to me. It was around 11 lbs. Had tone for days but became difficult to manage at the time as I was gigging a lot back then with a lot of 3-4 hour shows. Probably should have held onto it as a recording bass.

I can't wait to see the end result. The bass is going to pop when you get it all cleaned up, waxed, and oiled.
 
#15
KidAmnesia said:
If you are hunting for a lightweight bass... Wenge looks great but is stupid heavy. I'm affraid you won't find a lightweight wenge bass unless it's holowed out and filled with helium.
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I've played some ash body Corvettes with wenge and they were a lot more manageable (~9ish lbs). But yeah to your point, you'd be hard pressed to find a wenge neck bass in the 8lbs and under category.
 
#17
Z-Bass said:
I've played some ash body Corvettes with wenge and they were a lot more manageable (~9ish lbs). But yeah to your point, you'd be hard pressed to find a wenge neck bass in the 8lbs and under category.
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Yeah I had a swamp ash streamer FNA jazzman 5 stringwith wenge neck that was a hair under 9lbs. The neck carve unfortunately wasn't right for me. Very straight shouldered. But very light for a Warwick 5er.

Had to put lightweight tuners on it to combat some neck dev. Always something
 
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#18
I love Wenge necks (so started the Wenge Neck Club on TB) Wenge Neck Club and love Warwicks. All my parts basses I put together have wenge necks. The ones that didn't, I sold. (I did sell my white Fortress One below and my Corvette FNA and regret it). Here's my current wenge neck basses..........

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