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

[bolophonic]

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

Maybe he just solved your problem for you.

 

[dsky7]

@bolophonic I really hope not.

 

[sonic 7]

Yeah, for some reason the chrome hardware on Warwicks just looks cheap to me. I would definitely prefer the gold, actually Warwick are the only basses that I like with gold hardware.

 

[Rabidhamster]

@bolophonic I really hope not.

Sounds like he just helped answer your question then - go get it. (Unless it sold out from under you)

 

[dsky7]

@Rabidhamster Well, I just placed the order.

It went through! Hopefully @Epitaph04 was just pulling my leg.

 

[ole Jason]

Warwick replacement hardware is usually laughably expensive unless you can find a set someone pulled from a bass

 

[birminghambass]

Is painting the hardware an option? No idea how one would go about that though.

 

[dsky7]

@ole Jason Tuners, pots, and the bridge/tailpiece would come out to about $120 USD on thomann's website. Unfortunately, they don't ship Warwick products to the US, so I'll have to reach out to some of my international buddies for a favor.

I would totally be down for a swap though, if someone wants gold instead of their black hardware. I'll probably post here again in a month or two asking for a trade before I purchase anything.

@birminghambass It definitely is but reading prior threads its difficult to make it look good. The tools that I need would probably cost as much as a new set! haha

 

[Resonance129]

While I also prefer black hardware over gold (especially on a light body wood), I have come to find certain small things like that can grow on me when I give it a little time. Hardware color can make a huge difference in aesthetics, and it's totally a personal thing, so I get it if you DO decide to change it all out. But if the bass is what you're looking for and priced well, it may be worth getting it and leaving the hardware alone for a while as you get used to the way it plays. Then, once you've bonded with it for a while, decide if you really need to change out the hardware or not.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[dsky7]

@Resonance129 That's exactly what I'll end up doing. Thanks for your input!

 

[Samatza]

Congratulations! My money is on once you play the bass you'll forget all about the hardware. Enjoy!

 

[InternetAlias]

While I also prefer black hardware over gold (especially on a light body wood), I have come to find certain small things like that can grow on me when I give it a little time. Hardware color can make a huge difference in aesthetics, and it's totally a personal thing, so I get it if you DO decide to change it all out. But if the bass is what you're looking for and priced well, it may be worth getting it and leaving the hardware alone for a while as you get used to the way it plays. Then, once you've bonded with it for a while, decide if you really need to change out the hardware or not.

Just my 2 cents.

When I got my first jazz, I thought black and white jazz bass was boring AF. After 10 years of owning, it has grown on me to the point that most of my basses are black and white.

What one wants and what one thinks they want, might be two very different things.

 

[somebrains]

Warwick tuners break, so if you own one long enough you have a color change opportunity.

$2k is a bit steep for what it is, for not much more id look at something like: Warwick Streamer Custom Shop LX5 LTD 30/100 2018 Natural Satin Transparent

 

[George Dennis]

Beautiful bass - even with the gold hardware.
You could always just go for this look?

 

[dsky7]

@somebrains yeah maybe the opportunity will present itself! haha

I saw that bass when I was looking for a Streamer 5, but unfortunately I'm not a fan of burl or spalting.
I ended up getting the LX 5 in my initial post; $1800 after shipping from overseas. Exchange rate was in my favor! ha. It's some sort of limited edition as well due to the flamed maple top, so I hope I got a good deal.

 

[210superair]

I feel you. Opinions vary, but I hate gold hardware. I wouldn't let it stop me from a good deal on an instrument though. I must admit, with that bass color, it kind of works.

 

[Ellery]

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?

View attachment 3612655 View attachment 3612658

(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...)

For that much $$$ I'd wait for Mrs. Right. If it were a Fender and hardware was easy to come by maybe, but not on a Warwick.

 

[VoodooJazz]

I don't prefer gold hardware (though I do have it on one bass), but that bass looks great! unless you're in a metal band, just enjoy it!

 

[danalogue]

My streamer had black hardware on a maple body and wenge neck. I prefer that look but I don't think I would've let gold hardware dissuade me if the bass spoke to me. That said if you do swap hardware spend the extra bread and get good tuners. Schaller, Gotoh, Hipshot... take it from someone who used to run the Warwick shop.

 

[MPU]

Warwick parts are not expensive at all.
https://www.thomann.de/fi/search_dir.html?sw=Warwick+bridge&smcs=2deafc_7149

[URL]https://www.thomann.de/fi/search_dir.html?sw=Warwick+tuner&smcs=2deafc_5562

[/URL]