How do I get the Thumb Bass sound using a Non Thumb?

Thumb nt player checking in

nothing sounds like a thumb. Nothing. I have played and owned many warwicks and while corvettes and streamers can get close, once you pop it in a mix and pop some fresh strings on it, its a different ball game.

my suggesting is to look for a Korean Pro series (which i have owned) and boost it with a clean preamp or compressor. Fresh Dr Lo-riders also help.

also wood has ZERO affect on it. I have owned thumbs made of Bubinga/ebony/ovangkol others were ovangkol/maple/wenge and my current one its made of ash/walnut/ebony/wenge/purple heart and they all sounded the same.

save up, get a thumb and never look back.

 

A wooden trombone would get you pretty close!

 

Yup. My Thumb wore DR Hi-Beams, and WOW did that thing ever rip.

 

Used under $1K

 

Kingston super 5? Not a lot of them floating around but I would venture to say it could get some pretty thumby tones.

 

The thumb Does have a unique characteristic tone. It's different than the Streamer and the Corvette. You may want to check out the Pro Series (not the rockbass line..) for a more affordable option that you can still get in bubinga body and wenge neck.
Great deal on evil bay at the moment. Pro series for 999.00..

• Bubinga Body
• Ovangkol Neck
• 24-Fret Wenge Fingerboard
• Active MEC J/J Pickups
• Warwick Black Hardware and Strap-Locks
• Warwick Just-A-Nut III
• Warwick Gigbag

 

I have a Warwick Thumb 5 BO. I changed out the pre for an Aguilar 2 band. Before the swap people would compliment my bass. After the swap people would compliment my tone. It made it really cut through and growl like never before. That could be a cheaper route for you.

 

Not in my experience. I've noticed sonic differences in most, if not all of the Thumbs I've played. Same basic footprint but definite variations within. Also, some had more even note response than others.

 

Thumb NT player here. No way to get "that" tone, you need the real thing if you want it. Just like a Rickenbacker.

 

What makes a bass have its own voice I believe is not just pickup placement or wood choices but the combination of all those things and more working together. The truss rod thickness and neck reinforcement, fret wire, neck shape, body density, etc..... Best thing IMHO is to buy the thumb bass because nothing else will give you that exact sound. You can occasionally luck out and find that tone in something else but its a rare thing.

 

By Boss gt6b has a thumb sound dialed in.

 

Part of the reason the thumb has that tone is that it's got stacked pickups in the bridge. I was in the market for a Dingwall, and then they came out with the NG-2 which instead of having a bridge and neck pickup like in the standard Combustions, it came with stacked bridge pickups and the Darkglass Tone Capsule which has low and high mid controls. It's not the same as a thumb, but I can get a similar tone out of it with the on board electronics and pickup location. Also the 4 point switch gives even more options for tone differences (Front pickup, rear pickup, Both in series, both in parallel).
So that's an option that's *relatively* cheaper

 

I'm curious how you did this. I had a GT6B for years!
Brent

 

I don't remember. I did it a few years ago. BTW, my Korg Toneworks has it built in. It actually souns pretty good. I tried gigging with it once (before I got the gt6b, but it was a hassle.

Just experiment.

 

bonus points

The thumb Nt makes you look huge BTW. tiny little bodies on them.



bit of bass porn

 

Holy cow that's gorgeous.