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NBD – Warwick Jonas Hellborg

#21
HeavyJazz said:
To mark my 25th year as a bassist I just took ownership of a model whose features I believe ‘might’ best support my preferred technique(s). The combination of acoustic ergonomics, electric fundamentals and absence of onboard colorations really intrigued me – not to mention the signature build grade of Warwick’s Custom Shop. This all-in-the-hands instrument wouldn’t suit most, but it integrates most features I’ve come to appreciate in a great bass. I will be applying a thorough setup and some fresh strings before making a fair assessment, but naturally hopes are high.

Contrary to current specifications, this bass does not have the active/passive feature, so I’m trying to get additional information from Warwick as to when these changes were made. The original owner says to have purchased it new in 2007 which suggests it being the original design.

Technicals:
- Medium 32” scale
- Archtop set neck bass with double cutaway
- Carved hollow body, arched back and top, made of solid AAA Flamed Maple
- Front and back side of the body bound with white/black celluloid
- A Tigerstripe Ebony fingerboard is glued to the AA Flamed Maple neck.
- Ultralow impedance (20 Hz - 20 kHz) passive singlecoil humcancelling
- Single volume pot
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Congrat! Wow, this brings back great memories...I actually owned a 2010 blonde model, (featured at NAMM)...which I look back and often regret selling. (Btw, it also did not have the current spec---active/passive control feature)

I'm not a guitar player, and the body depth always felt awkward to me. If it had been the depth of a Star Bass, I NEVER would have sold it, as the unique tones you could achieve, were simply incredible! Throw a little reverb on it, and it's an absolute killer solo instrument!

I hope you enjoy it...and think loooong and hard, if you ever contemplate selling it! It's indeed, a rare and uniquely beautiful bass instrument...:-)
 
#23
HeavyJazz said:
A close friend forwarded a (presumably) recent interview where Jonas actually discusses the late, great Shawn Lane. I don't think I've ever read/heard Jonas discuss Shawn in the press since his passing. Thought I'd share for those of you who would also appreciate it:

Fast Lane: The Underappreciated Genius of Shawn Lane – Alan Paul
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A nice article. Shawn Lane remains not just one of my favourite guitarists and pianists but one of my favourite musicians full stop. I was absolutely obsessed with his work in my late teens and early 20's. I came to Shawn through idolising Jonas Hellborg at the time if I am honest, I paid a lot of money for out of print copies of some of Jonas' early solo work that hasn't held up very well at all. As I got older, I began to reflect on the Hellborg/Lane albums and I came to the conclusion that whilst Jonas was a great bassist through his work there, the real master behind the scene was Lane. He just had an incredible musical spirit and carried others along in his wake. I still feel that his best group work was the live stuff he did with Sean Rickman on drums when he was playing Powers of Ten and Tri-Tone Fascination pieces. That was just magic.

It's also nice to see Jonas talk a little about Shawn. I did rather feel that his musical career hit a stop after Shawn's death. It is understandable that such an awul thing as the death of a great friend would cast a shadow over the intervening years but Jonas' recorded output has dwindled massively since. It is as though Shawn had lit a creative spark in him and they played their hearts out. To that end, I found it a shame that the Warwick Jonas Hellborg bass never made it to more records. I suppose it is still his main bass today and would have been used to record 'Kali's Son', the Art Metal trio record and his most recent album.

You are supremely lucky to have one of these beauties. I remember when Jonas first fell in with Warwick and there were a few of these basses made. I remember seeing a picture of Leland Sklar playing one. Warwick seemed to indulge him a little in terms of building this very specific sort of acoustic/electric instrument which borrowed much from his Wechter. Shortly before he threw in with Warwick, Jonas had a six string Status Electro model with six strings and a single pickup rammed right against the bridge. It also had a double thickness body for a deeper resonance chamber. As far as I know, that bass never even made it record. It's currently for sale on Basschat.co.uk and has been for quite a long time. Warwick also made Jonas a very special amp setup, which was fabulously expensive to buy.

What I will say though, is that none of the basses Jonas played sounded as good to my ears as his old solidbody Status Graphite Jonas Hellborg model with the 36v preamp. That thing was a dream machine. You can still order the body shape from Status but they no longer do wooden necks and I am almost certain they won't offer the 36v preamp these days, even if you asked nicely.
 
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#24
Actually Jonas recorded the 6 string on Icon. I think he strung it pretty high - the low string was an E. ...And I'm selling my second 36v Status Hellborg 4. It's a 2008 model. You can find it in the classifieds.

For Sale - Status Custom Jonas Hellborg Signature Bass

Also the reason the Hellborg/Lane stuff was released under Jonas's name was because Shawn didnt want the pressure of it being "his" project.

India_Sierra said:
A nice article. Shawn Lane remains not just one of my favourite guitarists and pianists but one of my favourite musicians full stop. I was absolutely obsessed with his work in my late teens and early 20's. I came to Shawn through idolising Jonas Hellborg at the time if I am honest, I paid a lot of money for out of print copies of some of Jonas' early solo work that hasn't held up very well at all. As I got older, I began to reflect on the Hellborg/Lane albums and I came to the conclusion that whilst Jonas was a great bassist through his work there, the real master behind the scene was Lane. He just had an incredible musical spirit and carried others along in his wake. I still feel that his best group work was the live stuff he did with Sean Rickman on drums when he was playing Powers of Ten and Tri-Tone Fascination pieces. That was just magic.

It's also nice to see Jonas talk a little about Shawn. I did rather feel that his musical career hit a stop after Shawn's death. It is understandable that such an awul thing as the death of a great friend would cast a shadow over the intervening years but Jonas' recorded output has dwindled massively since. It is as though Shawn had lit a creative spark in him and they played their hearts out. To that end, I found it a shame that the Warwick Jonas Hellborg bass never made it to more records. I suppose it is still his main bass today and would have been used to record 'Kali's Son', the Art Metal trio record and his most recent album.

You are supremely lucky to have one of these beauties. I remember when Jonas first fell in with Warwick and there were a few of these basses made. I remember seeing a picture of Leland Sklar playing one. Warwick seemed to indulge him a little in terms of building this very specific sort of acoustic/electric instrument which borrowed much from his Wechter. Shortly before he threw in with Warwick, Jonas had a six string Status Electro model with six strings and a single pickup rammed right against the bridge. It also had a double thickness body for a deeper resonance chamber. As far as I know, that bass never even made it record. It's currently for sale on Basschat.co.uk and has been for quite a long time. Warwick also made Jonas a very special amp setup, which was fabulously expensive to buy.

What I will say though, is that none of the basses Jonas played sounded as good to my ears as his old solidbody Status Graphite Jonas Hellborg model with the 36v preamp. That thing was a dream machine. You can still order the body shape from Status but they no longer do wooden necks and I am almost certain they won't offer the 36v preamp these days, even if you asked nicely.
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#27
Well, I had been in direct contact with the factory before and asked what all the material options for the bass can be chosen and I ordered the bass directly from the factory. I talked to the owner himself and he swears it will be a top class craft player! I was going to go to the factory to visit and test that bass because it can't be tested anywhere but then came this corona situation and it messed up the flights etc .... so I bought a € 11,800 player without ever testing it. Well, you only live once!
 
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#28
Here are the specs:
 

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#30
Major Congrats!

I remember when these first appeared to great reviews. Since that time, you are the very first person I have ever seen actually get one!!!
I'm sure you will enjoy it.

I bought 2 sets of DR JH Signature strings. They have a single pure nickel wind over the core. A unique sound as I recall, made for this bass. Still have a sealed set!
 
#35
HeavyJazz said:
Also the reason the Hellborg/Lane stuff was released under Jonas's name was because Shawn didnt want the pressure of it being "his" project.
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I gather that there were contractual concerns at play too. Shawn was in a nightmare with Warner Brothers in the 90's, who either wilfully or carelessly neglected him. I have searched for the old articles and interviews about it and can't turn them up now, nor can I find the old video interview of Shawn talking about the situation. Barry Bays probably remains the best source of info for how things had worked out. Warner Brothers underwent a restructure in the early to mid 90's and seemed to lose interest in Shawn's work. They didn't really know how to categorise him since they weren't really interested in maintaining a jazz fusion or instrumental rock roster, as he ended up under the auspices of the management for the 'world music' section or something like that, which had a very diverse roster of disparate artists. The consequence of being managed under this department was that you would no longer receive any real label support. 'Powers of Ten' went out of print and Shawn was left languishing with a contract that WB didn't seem interested in fulfilling.

This whole situation reached critical mass with 'Aural Agonist', which was written as the proper follow-up to 'Powers of Ten'. So far as I know, that record was actually finished by Shawn at home as the label wouldn't front the cash to make it. Once it was done, they refused to release it but IIRC, it remained their property hence why it has never been released and now, probably never will be. Jonas, who wasn't signed to any record label, had the leeway to release what he wanted through his own name and Bardo records. This is why the 'Two Doors' record by Michael Shrieve came out with a side of material written by Shawn and Jonas but released under his name. I'm not sure how Shawn's contact with WB came to an end but it surely did because he released 'The Tri-Tone Fascination' through his own label.

Even Shawn's own mother admitted he lacked business sense despite being an incredible musician. Sadly, he struggled with poor management and a lack of legal representation which may have been able to sort out the issues with his contract and perhaps would have even seen 'Aural Agonist' released. I don't know if his family even has a copy of that record.
 
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#36
India_Sierra said:
I gather that there were contractual concerns at play too. Shawn was in a nightmare with Warner Brothers in the 90's, who either wilfully or carelessly neglected him. I have searched for the old articles and interviews about it and can't turn them up now, nor can I find the old video interview of Shawn talking about the situation. Barry Bays probably remains the best source of info for how things had worked out. Warner Brothers underwent a restructure in the early to mid 90's and seemed to lose interest in Shawn's work. They didn't really know how to categorise him since they weren't really interested in maintaining a jazz fusion or instrumental rock roster, as he ended up under the auspices of the management for the 'world music' section or something like that, which had a very diverse roster of disparate artists. The consequence of being managed under this department was that you would no longer receive any real label support. 'Powers of Ten' went out of print and Shawn was left languishing with a contract that WB didn't seem interested in fulfilling.

This whole situation reached critical mass with 'Aural Agonist', which was written as the proper follow-up to 'Powers of Ten'. So far as I know, that record was actually finished by Shawn at home as the label wouldn't front the cash to make it. Once it was done, they refused to release it but IIRC, it remained their property hence why it has never been released and now, probably never will be. Jonas, who wasn't signed to any record label, had the leeway to release what he wanted through his own name and Bardo records. This is why the 'Two Doors' record by Michael Shrieve came out with a side of material written by Shawn and Jonas but released under his name. I'm not sure how Shawn's contact with WB came to an end but it surely did because he released 'The Tri-Tone Fascination' through his own label.

Even Shawn's own mother admitted he lacked business sense despite being an incredible musician. Sadly, he struggled with poor management and a lack of legal representation which may have been able to sort out the issues with his contract and perhaps would have even seen 'Aural Agonist' released. I don't know if his family even has a copy of that record.
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That makes sense. I've known parts of the story but not quite this much. His lack of business sense is of no surprise - the guy just wanted to play guitar. He'll likely remain historically obscure to a certain extent. When I see the PTB (ProTools-Bedroom) guitarists doing their thing in YouTube-land, I hope they eventually stumble upon Shawn's work and be inspired by it.
 
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