Found an awesome Warwick bass, hate the hardware color. Worth it?

[dsky7]

Found a brand new Streamer LX 5 Limited Edition with curly maple top and ash body. Natural satin finish, a very light blonde color, ovangkol neck, with a super dark wenge fingerboard. Looks amazing.

However, it comes with gold hardware...

Is it worth the purchase since hardware is replaceable/swappable? Price is about $2k... Feel like if I'm dropping this much money I should be 100% satisfied with the bass but new Streamer LX's are super hard to find in the US right now.

What should I do? Buy it, swap out/trade the hardware for black (my preference) or hold off and wait until 2020 in hopes of new Streamers?



(If anyone has a 5-string Streamer with Ash body & Maple top, how is the balance? Any neck dive? It's usually built with Cherry which is considerably heavier...)

 

[Lobster11]

No pix, no bass. Sorry, rules are rules.

 

[dsky7]

@Lobster11 My apologies. I edited the original post to include pics. I hope no one finds it and steals it from under me!!

 

[Lobster11]

@Lobster11 My apologies. I edited the original post to include pics. I hope no one finds it and steals it from under me!!

No worries. I'm not in the market, so your secret is safe with me.

First, I agree that the gold hardware seems over-the-top; black would look much better. Are the tuners gold also? (Can't see the headstock in either pic.) If so, even worse.

I'm gonna go with "Wait until you find a different one." As you suggested, for $2k I wouldn't want to have to spend a bunch more time and money on mods to love it. If it were just knobs that would be one thing, but it's obviously more than that (and even more still if the tuners need to be replaced too). The used-bass market seems to be a buyer's market these days, so unless you think this is truly a unicorn I'd pass and wait for the next one. Just my $.02.

 

[India_Sierra]

It certainly looks better than chrome, which usually looks cheap. I wouldn't let it put me off.

 

[dsky7]

@Lobster11 The seller hasn't sent me pictures of the headstock, but I trust them. Reputable large company with a very good return policy. I'm assuming the tuners are gold too. I don't understand the hype about gold hardware

 

[Blackie Jr]

"Know Thine Ownself"

I have had countless guitars and basses that were "lifetime keepers"..."I could be happy with just this, good enough to tour the world, etc."

But I am a serial trader - any money I spend on upgrades / changes is inevitably wasted...

IMHO, if you think you are going to keep it forever, buy it, change it to black, but do NOT do anything irreversible, and keep the original parts just in case...

I once had a limited edition Flying V with gold hardware, got boutique pickups and brushed / aged nickel everything from RS Guitarworks (great stuff) almost $400, and of course traded the guitar away...

I have since realized that is how I am, and probably would NOT upgrade, or will accept it's wasted money, but I waste so much, who cares...

Soooo....for whatever reason, stock is inevitably worth more, even if the replacements really are "upgrades"

Only you can say if it is worth it to you...not like you are desecrating a 59 Les Paul or Prewar Martin if you do change something out

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Streamers are great Basses. Personally, I would keep the gold hardware and enjoy the bass.

 

[bherman]

Lots of nice hardware on that bass. If you were to replace it with black, I imagine that it would be pretty costly. I too am generally not a big fan of gold hardware since it often looks cheap, but that looks like high-quality stuff. I'd go for it if I liked the bass that much. Of your two options, I'd vote for wait if the color matters that much to you.

One thought - maybe contact Warwick and tell them what you want, see if maybe they'll swap you the hardware, or help you locate a bass like it with black.

 

[Reedt2000]

You should just buy the stage 1 I've got up in the classifieds

 

[mongo2]

Nice looking bass and I like the gold, but if you can't get along with it you can't get along with it.

Swapping hardware would cost quite a bit but you might recover most if not all of it by selling the gold hardware.

So I vote buy and swap.

 

[PWRL]

I think it's hip, so it wouldn't bother me. However, my Streamer has gold hardware, too. 2K, tho, that could get you a lot of other cool stuff, so no sense in jumping right on something you're not crazy about.

 

[Epitaph04]

YES! Been looking for one of these all over! Just paid for it and I should have it next week!

 

[Watchootognbout]

Never hate on gold!
NEVER!
It's excellent when it accents dark exotic natural wood bodies.
Chrome is for old car bumpers!

 

[Gothic]

Get it, keep the gold. It'll grow on you.

 

[8liter]

It is very easy to swap hardware on Warwick basses. They sell everything and compatibility isn't an issue.

 

[donahue]

Gold looks great on that particular bass with the light wood. Black might not look as good imo.

 

[dsky7]

@donahue Here's an example of a similar one with black hardware. I think it looks sick (I primarily play metal, though)

 

[dsky7]

@Epitaph04 what do you mean?
Did you find another one? I'm trying to find more but I've only found one so far...

 

[donahue]

@donahue Here's an example of a similar one with black hardware. I think it looks sick (I primarily play metal, though)
View attachment 3612847

If you like the bass, buy it and change out the hardware. $2000 seems steep though, unless I'm wrong. I have a lefty '98 Streamer LX 4 all wenge neck for $1300 shipped in a tweed warwick case on Reverb I can barely give away. Ridiculous. Damn lefties don't appreciate a great deal. End rant.