Getting Discouraged on my Dream Warwick Bass Hunt

[casasrm]

For about a year or so, I’ve been hunting for my dream era Warwick as I had finally saved enough money for one (been wanting since I was 13 years old - 40 now).

Golden era (1986-1996) 5 string, neck through, wenge neck and Bubinga (or afzelia) body. I’ve either been a few weeks (and in one case a few hours) of missing on the purchase, or seller backing out (completely understandable). While thumb is has always been preferred z, I’ve even opened up to a Dolphin Pro 1 but same story.

Getting pretty deflated after the last one and feels like it just isn’t meant to be. Hoping to hear some encouraging stories of others going through something similar and finally finding what they’ve been looking for.

 

[Docduval]

Give it some time. You’ve been waiting 27 years, what’s 1 or 2 more?

 

[ajkula66]

Not knowing your precise location - none of my business anyway - I'd just suggest looking into German classified ads such as kleinanziege.de

Musikinstrumente und Zubehör gebraucht kaufen | kleinanzeigen.de

Kleinanzeigen: Warwick 5 String Bass, Musikinstrumente und Zubehör gebraucht kaufen - Jetzt finden oder inserieren! - kleinanzeigen.de

www.kleinanzeigen.de

Do bear in mind that in order to register an account there you'd need a valid German address and a phone number but...

If and when you locate one of those basses - these things don't sell all that fast - finding a forum member from Germany willing to help with the purchase shouldn't be all that difficult.

BTW, I owned three Warwicks over the past 45+ years, one of them being a 1990 Thumb NT 5 which I bought new. One heck of a well-crafted instrument but its ergonomics didn't agree with me whatsoever...so off it went.

Good luck.

 

[Number179]

They usually jump up and bite you when you least expect it. Be prepared!

 

[burgerdj]

It’s a journey. Something will become available when you least expect it, but be sure to try before you buy. A lot of people have fallen in love with the tone or look of Warwicks but the economics do not work for everybody. I say this as a devotee who has played Warwick basses almost exclusively for 30 years.

 

[monsterthompson]

I was looking for the right F Bass BN5 for years. It popped up one day out of the blue. A color I had never seen before that I absolutely loved. No two-year wait list for a custom build. Bought it within hours of it going up for sale, almost on sight. Found it at a shop within driving distance that had a return policy. Even got a holiday weekend sale price.

To be fair, I found a fretless one a few years earlier at a good price (relatively) and bought that to be sure I liked the feel, and to have a fretless. Having that didn’t make the want go away for a fretted.

The right one doesn’t always pop up, but when it does you gotta be ready to get it. You’ll know it’s the one because you won’t question a big price tag. Don’t let that sucker you into a trap, but don’t hesitate. Though, I have seen some basses listed a lot longer than I’d expect. Also, I’ve seen ones I’ve wanted sell, then go back up for sale not long after. Sometimes the new owner can’t hang on. Keep your eyes peeled.

 

[casasrm]

Give it some time. You’ve been waiting 27 years, what’s 1 or 2 more?

That’s a good point. I think it was because it took that long to get to a point in life where I was able to save money for something like this. Now it feels like the wait has truly started. Thanks manZ

 

[casasrm]

They usually jump up and bite you when you least expect it. Be prepared!

This is actually incredibly encouraging lol. Really hoping that is the case. Can’t wait to finally get it and plug it into my rig.

 

[casasrm]

It’s a journey. Something will become available when you least expect it, but be sure to try before you buy. A lot of people have fallen in love with the tone or look of Warwicks but the economics do not work for everybody. I say this as a devotee who has played Warwick basses almost exclusively for 30 years.

That’s what I’ve seen. People fall in love with the tone only to be done in by the ergo of it. It’s a pretty real trade off. Hoping my shoulders have at least 15 years before I’d have to do the same. I’ll sacrifice some arthritis to play that thing.

 

[casasrm]

I was looking for the right F Bass BN5 for years. It popped up one day out of the blue. A color I had never seen before that I absolutely loved. No two-year wait list for a custom build. Bought it within hours of it going up for sale, almost on sight. Found it at a shop within driving distance that had a return policy. Even got a holiday weekend sale price.

To be fair, I found a fretless one a few years earlier at a good price (relatively) and bought that to be sure I liked the feel, and to have a fretless. Having that didn’t make the want go away for a fretted.

The right one doesn’t always pop up, but when it does you gotta be ready to get it. You’ll know it’s the one because you won’t question a big price tag. Don’t let that sucker you into a trap, but don’t hesitate. Though, I have seen some basses listed a lot longer than I’d expect. Also, I’ve seen ones I’ve wanted sell, then go back up for sale not long after. Sometimes the new owner can’t hang on. Keep your eyes peeled.

I’ll do that, man. That’s some sound advice. I made sure to earmark the cash for it once it becomes available.

It was rough having a seller back out of the sale. No hard feelings at all because I get it. Hard to let go of something you’ve played for decades.

But man, 1987 NT5, wenge neck/fretboard with afzelia body and bartolini pickups would have sounded amazing on my markbass rig. Don’t think I’d have ever wanted tog get another bass again.

Doing my best to at least pretend to be patient lol. After I lost out on that, it’s actually been oddly tough to want to play.

 

[SC Bassboy]

For about a year or so, I’ve been hunting for my dream era Warwick as I had finally saved enough money for one (been wanting since I was 13 years old - 40 now).

Golden era (1986-1996) 5 string, neck through, wenge neck and Bubinga (or afzelia) body. I’ve either been a few weeks (and in one case a few hours) of missing on the purchase, or seller backing out (completely understandable). While thumb is has always been preferred z, I’ve even opened up to a Dolphin Pro 1 but same story.

Getting pretty deflated after the last one and feels like it just isn’t meant to be. Hoping to hear some encouraging stories of others going through something similar and finally finding what they’ve been looking for.

It took almost 30 years for the universe to end my hunt for the Great White Buffalo. Last year I finally acquired the bass I had hunted since the mid 90's, a 5 string Streamer Stage II. Mine is a 1994 model. It was a long search, with several "almost" stories, but in the end it was worth the wait. Keep in mind that for the specs you are after from the golden era, they weren't making many 5 strings. From what I've read, aside from the Thumb bass they only averaged about 100 pieces a year for each of the neck through models back then. Less than half of those would have been 5 strings. They are more rare than most people realize. The rarest is the Dolphin 5er with a rosewood biore body. Those essentially don't exist unless you run with the kind of crowd that uses "Fidelio" as a password. The good news for you is that they made a LOT of Thumb basses back then.
Talkbass is the best place to track these things down. Just haunt the classifieds and put a listing in the WANTED section. This thread is a great move. One of us knows where to find one. I would check with Brian at The LowEnd in Nashville. He probably has what you're after in a closet not listed.

 

[CryingBass]

Old wood aint getting any younger. Pace yourself and you will find your dream.

 

[Element Zero]

They usually jump up and bite you when you least expect it. Be prepared!

 

[crazycloud]

I agree with the other people to keep saving, put searches on ebay and Reverb and keep looking in other places that listings might show up, be researched and ready to jump.

Stuff will eventually turn up.

 

[Leisure Weaver]

Unless having an instrument from that specific era is really important, you could also have a Thumb built to the exact same spec through the Warwick Custom Shop. It'll cost you, but they have a ton of options and you'll get exactly what you want.

 

[burgerdj]

It’s a journey. Something will become available when you least expect it, but be sure to try before you buy. A lot of people have fallen in love with the tone or look of Warwicks but the economics do not work for everybody. I say this as a devotee who has played Warwick basses almost exclusively for 30 years.

*ergonomics

 

[ctmullins]

Stop waiting. Just go make it yourself. Or commission it. It’s just wood and wire after all.

 

[SC Bassboy]

Not knowing your precise location - none of my business anyway - I'd just suggest looking into German classified ads such as kleinanziege.de

Musikinstrumente und Zubehör gebraucht kaufen | kleinanzeigen.de

Kleinanzeigen: Warwick 5 String Bass, Musikinstrumente und Zubehör gebraucht kaufen - Jetzt finden oder inserieren! - kleinanzeigen.de

www.kleinanzeigen.de

Do bear in mind that in order to register an account there you'd need a valid German address and a phone number but...

If and when you locate one of those basses - these things don't sell all that fast - finding a forum member from Germany willing to help with the purchase shouldn't be all that difficult.

BTW, I owned three Warwicks over the past 45+ years, one of them being a 1990 Thumb NT 5 which I bought new. One heck of a well-crafted instrument but its ergonomics didn't agree with me whatsoever...so off it went.

Good luck.

Same issues with the Thumb 5. I've owned 2 of them and sold them both. I finally ended up getting a 4 string version. It's still with me, but I almost exclusively play 5 strings so Thumb basses may not be my thing.

 

[SC Bassboy]

I’ll do that, man. That’s some sound advice. I made sure to earmark the cash for it once it becomes available.

It was rough having a seller back out of the sale. No hard feelings at all because I get it. Hard to let go of something you’ve played for decades.

But man, 1987 NT5, wenge neck/fretboard with afzelia body and bartolini pickups would have sounded amazing on my markbass rig. Don’t think I’d have ever wanted tog get another bass again.

Doing my best to at least pretend to be patient lol. After I lost out on that, it’s actually been oddly tough to want to play.

I have only seen one Thumb bass made with afzelia instead of bubinga. Funny enough, it was at The Lowend in Nashville. Sadly, someone had performed a proper hack job on it and installed Ken Smith pickups. IT WAS SO COOL and yet... it wasn't.

What others have said about ergonomics is a real thing. Warwick extended the upper horn on Thumb basses around 1999. Before then, the Thumb 5s were real neck heavy. They are heavy period. That might not matter to you, it never did to me until I ended up having neck surgery because I played a 12lb Warwick bass for 20 years. That's why I only play my 6 string Corvette sitting down (almost 14lbs)

 

[Dincrest]

It’s a journey. Something will become available when you least expect it, but be sure to try before you buy. A lot of people have fallen in love with the tone or look of Warwicks but the economics do not work for everybody. I say this as a devotee who has played Warwick basses almost exclusively for 30 years.

I am one of those "ergo" stories:
I once had this 1997 Warwick Corvette Standard 4 I bought from a TBer back in 2004 or 2005. Easily one of the best basses I've ever owned. That thing was built like a tank. Most solid-feeling bass I ever owned.

Ever since I picked up my first copy of Bass Player magazine at the newsstand in the 90s and started playing back in 1994 (when I was about 15), I was always drawn to the Warwick ads in the back of Bass Player magazine. When I was a teen starting out, Warwick was my dream bass.

Cut to 2004 or 2005, I bought a killer German-made Warwick Corvette Standard (it was a 1997 one with the all-wenge neck and brass just-a-nut, before Warwick switched to ovangkol necks and the composite just-a-nut). Easily one of the best basses I ever owned. Everyone who picked it up loved it and couldn't put it down... except me. That Warwick's ergonomics never felt right; balance was too horizontal and the neck jutted out too far making first position a stretch. I had that bass for 10ish years and the mentality of "This is the best bass ever, I HAVE to love it, I HAVE to make it work. Everyone loves it but I don't, what is wrong with me?!?!?!?!" but I just couldn't love that bass. Circa 2015, I sold it to a jazz student whom that bass fits like a glove. That bass is/was meant for him.

All that said, sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants and even if you get the bestest most perfectest bass ever... it still won't be that Warwick you want. I say be patient, don't try to force anything, don't try to compromise (e.g. buy a used Rockbass).

Even though I know Warwick ergonomics aren't right for me, if a 2005 Limited Edition Warwick Corvette "Hot Rod" 4-string came into my orbit, I would GAS for it like nothing else.