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German Warwicks How-To-Tell Guide ?. Please help !

#21
Not Entirely true. The Streamer Std model is Flat, 1 Piece Bridge, made in Germany, and Pre-'99 models had a Wenge Necks/Boards. This was the Entry Level 'Wick before the RockBass came out. Here's my '99 Streamer Std in Black Oil

DSC00161.jpg


Flat Body...

DSC00167.gif


1 Piece Bridge, Passive electronics, Push/Pull Single/Dual Coil Vol Knob.

DSC00163.jpg


The Real Deal!
DSC00165.jpg


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FunkyMan said:
About Streamer Models, as far as i Know, the rockbass and Non-germany models doesn't have Curved body.. i'm not sure..
Be carefull with Maple necks, cause Streamer $$ is maple neck! Otjer thing is that generally, German Warwick Comes in Wood finishes, not solid colors (IMO, i'm not sure) except for the Custom Shop!
Click to expand...
 
#23
MaddAnthony_59 said:
Not Entirely true. The Streamer Std model is Flat, 1 Piece Bridge, made in Germany, and Pre-'99 models had a Wenge Necks/Boards. This was the Entry Level 'Wick before the RockBass came out. Here's my '99 Streamer Std in Black Oil

DSC00161.jpg


Flat Body...

DSC00167.gif


1 Piece Bridge, Passive electronics, Push/Pull Single/Dual Coil Vol Knob.

DSC00163.jpg


The Real Deal!
DSC00165.jpg


DSC00169.gif
Click to expand...

My Bad:D and Jgore i think is the Month of production
 
#32
XmattX said:
... Lastly, the new Corvette Std's have 2-piece bodies, while the German ones had 3-piece bodies...
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I don't believe that statement is true. My Warwick Corvette Standard was made in Germany on 14/06/2002 (serial no.: F-093196-02), and the body is swamp ash made from 2 pieces. Where did you get this information regarding 3-piece bodies...?
 
#33
XmattX said:
Any Corvette Std made in 2010 or later comes from Korea. You can recognize these by the serial number, which starts with 'WPS'. Also, there is 'Pro Series' on the trussrod cover in small script parallel to the nut. Lastly, the new Corvette Std's have 2-piece bodies, while the German ones had 3-piece bodies.

A Rockbass can be recognised by the serial, which starts with 'RB'. Also, they have 'RockBass' in small script on the trussrod cover. The necks of rockbasses will always be 3- (4-string) or 4-part (5-string) maple with ekanga veneers. Lastly, the rockbasses have nickel silver frets, which look silver rather than gold like the German bell brass frets.

Rockbasses also never have stacked pots and will never be in natural oil finish (they come in coloured oil, which is a satin laquer over a stained body, and solid laquer).
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thats weird my 2003 German Corvette has a bookmatched 2 piece body of bubinga
 
#37
Diff woods and finish. Most of the real german warwicks use bubinga, ovangkol, wenge, and bassically no finish. The imports on the other hand use alder bodies, gloss finish, maple necks and rosewood fretboards. The new imports are nice and are otherwise rather hard to tell apart from the older german ones except for woods and finish. As best I understand it.
 
#38
I'm not positive but pretty sure the new Korean models have brass frets.

The Korean models should say Pro Series on the truss cover. Not to be confused with the older Proline series that were German.

Thumb bolt on and Streamer LX are also Korean made now.

The Korean models use the same/similar woods as the German models.

Streamer $$ and some limited edition German basses have maple necks.

Invalid Link Removed or Emailing Warwick with a description and photos will be your best way of checking authenticity. If you email via the link ([email protected]&subject=Serial number request) on the Serial number check page your email will be answered by H.P. Wilfer the founder of Warwick.

German Corvettes were made with two or three piece US swamp ash bodies.

Rockbasses come with an easily removable made in China sticker.

Rockbasses say "licensed by Warwick" on the control cavity cover. German made basses say "Made in Germany". Be careful because I'm pretty sure the cavity covers can be swapped.

German basses are most commonly seen with a colored oil or natural finishes but have been available with high gloss finishes as well.
 
#39
Since I don't know why you want to know the origins, I can't really comment about it. But just to throw it out, I've played some pretty decent Chinese basses lately. (and several pretty nice Mexican guitars) Four and fivers, active and passive. If I liked the bass, liked the sound, and it was in my price range, I really wouldn't sweat it's country of origin. But that's just me.
 
#40
yellofury said:
thats weird my 2003 German Corvette has a bookmatched 2 piece body of bubinga
Click to expand...

My 2009 German Corvette has a 2 piece bubinga body too ;)


The only way to tell them apart is by confronting the serial numbers: they switched the production to Korea in 2010 - so any bass that was made prior to that date is German. The W serial looks like this: MONTH (the letter: A=January, B=February, etc) - SERIAL NUMBER - YEAR.

All the Pro Series (MIK) basses have bell brass frets. The Corvettes are identical to the ones previously made in Germany (so the only difference is the production location), while the other models (Thumb, Streamer LX, Star) have maple necks instead of ovangkol.

The truss rod cover can be easily changed, so I wouldn't take it into consideration when trying to identify a model, unless you buy the bass brand new.
 

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