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

[anavar]

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.

 

[James Simonson]

A wooden trombone would get you pretty close!

 

[blindrabbit]

Thumb nt player checking.

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 other 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.

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

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

I'd have to agree with Gorn.
Try out one of these. More tones than you'll know what to do with, and active-passive to boot with a truly great passive tone.
G&L Magnetic Field Design humbuckers backed by the flexible Tri-Tone control system. The Tri-Tone system features a trio of mini toggles for pickup selection, series/parallel signal routing and passive/active/active with treble boost, operation, as well as the active boost-cut knobs.

This is the USA-made G&L L-2000, $1,500 or less, new, but the Tribute sells for $700 and less and they have the same USA-made pickups and electronics.
I went with the Tribute and I'm still amazed by the many different tones I can get out of mine...$529 brand new!

Used under $1K

 

[Jrussblues]

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

 

[Susqmike]

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

 

[jpTron]

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.

 

[bass12]

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

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.

 

[djaxup]

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

 

[techbass76]

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.

 

[Robroy]

I really like the Thumb Through neck 5 string. Bubinga body and Wenge neck, Ebony fret board. Sadly since I ordered a bass recently, I don't have 3000 bucks.....

Is there a cheap or cheaper alternative? (other than used, I already looked it up and there are none in my area)

Or must I just save and buy the thumb 5?

Thanks for all information in advance.

By Boss gt6b has a thumb sound dialed in.

 

[AciDBatH666]

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

 

[BrentSimons]

By Boss gt6b has a thumb sound dialed in.

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

 

[Robroy]

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.

 

[anavar]

bonus points

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

bit of bass porn

 

[blindrabbit]

bonus points

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

bit of bass porn

Holy cow that's gorgeous.

 

[Whippet]

I'm gonna jump in here and say "yeah," at least to my ears. I don't really know how to describe things like this but I'd the 4 banger is more growlier low mids, and the 5er has something happening with the upper mids and treble that I personally like less.

I am not surprised by the 4 vs 5 being different. I was told that the extra mass in the neck has a tendency to make the bass a more subdued in the low mids. The thumb's character in the low mids is one of the distinct features, which probably makes it more noticeable.

There is a Thumb 6 with a wenge neck through neck and purple heart body. Instead of the usual MEC singles, this thing has a double humbucker. This thing costs just a little over 4000 bucks. It looks really nice. I am dying to play this thing if it's still in the store mid January.

Purple heart being very similar to wenge but likely to be a little more denser and heavier combined with the 6 string wenge neck and double humbucker seems like a very good different take on a Thumb. It's a one off and after talking to the store manager, he said that Warwick and the store decided to try this configuaration with the humbucker to balance out some character.

I guess Warwick's answer to tone and wood is that it does have an effect on the sound of the bass and some add ons do alter the tone.

 

[Whippet]

The closest and least expensive way to get to thumb 5 NT is to buy a used thumb 5 BO. These go for low $1000. I sold mine a few months ago for $1200.

There is a thumb 6 BO for 2200. I am going to have to try that one out, but like mentioned by others, the 6 string neck might take out the mid low growl. I will just have to go try it out.

 

[Whippet]

I own a Dean Sledgehammer (aka the Thumb rip-off, but mine is modded with the addition of a 2nd pickup). I can kinda-sorta cop a Thumb tone if I use the inside coils of both pickups....which oddly enough are in "the sweet spot"....

But the tone I can get still isn't authentic...

dang... that thing looks like the warwick dolphin $$ !!!!

 

[Whippet]

Sadly, that's about the price they fetch on the used market... less, even. I recently bought a Thumb BO4 for CAD$800. That's US$602.55 at today's rate. I guess you didn't make out so badly, relative to that.

Buying a new Warwick almost always means losing a significant amount in resale.

You guys are lucky. Japan and Ukraine are not the places for cheap used Warwick. They well a ton of them but the Thumb NT5 in good shape hardly ever goes on a good price sale used or new.