Quote from warwick custom shop

[J Gold]

I called up the custom shop to discuss a possible build. Since the Corvette with active jazz pickups is no longer made in Germany, I wanted to see what it would cost to duplicate the one I have from 2005.

Less than 24 hours after talking to the guy, he emailed me a quote:
$2950 base price, $3175 with flushmount locks and d-tuner, with a build time in Germany of 3-4 months.

I LOVE my Corvette, but not sure if I love it that much.

 

[WalWarrior]

I called up the custom shop to discuss a possible build. Since the Corvette with active jazz pickups is no longer made in Germany, I wanted to see what it would cost to duplicate the one I have from 2005.

Less than 24 hours after talking to the guy, he emailed me a quote:
$2950 base price, $3175 with flushmount locks and d-tuner, with a build time in Germany of 3-4 months.

I LOVE my Corvette, but not sure if I love it that much.

Years ago, I beleive it was 1989-90, I had two awesome instruments stolen out of a van. Homeowners insurance paid out to cover the loss. I purchased a protoype custom shop (don't even know if they had a custom shop back then) Warwick thumb, it's painted white with Side LED's and Flush locks. It has no serial # on it that I can find. Not on the top of the Headstock like my other early Warwick bubinga thumb.
I'll hafta look deeper in the control cavity to see if there is anything written in there. Back then this instrument cost me $3500 US. I wonder what they'd ask for it now?

I should contact them and find out if they can shed some light on this. I'll post some pics.

 

[Baird6869]

Not terrible if it is a true custom shop bass IMO. Expensive, but not crazy like Fender. I have seen pretty normal Fender CS bass requests come back in the $5000-8000 range.

 

[mmbongo]

Definitely on the cheap for a custom shop. Ever priced a Sadowsky, Fodera, Brubaker, or even a Fender as mentioned above?

 

[spade2you]

Get a Stambaugh or Cliff Bordwell. For the same price, you'll get a lot more bass.

 

[RCCollins]

Find a used 90s corvette for like $650.

 

[PatQ]

We germans over here really have no idea where that love for Warwick comes from... funny

 

[Bass_Thumper]

get whatever corvette that's made in germany now and put your own active electronics in it. Do they no longer make any corvettes with jazz pups or just is it just active basses that they are no longer making?

 

[mikeswals]

Yeah, just find a used one. I had a nice maple body Corvette Proline. But they're not that nice.

 

[JP Morin]

Find a used 90s corvette for like $650.

yeah... and add what is missing and you would like to have on it after, like the shaller d-tuner... you'll save a lot of money...

Used Warwick sells half the price of a new one... That's a huge gap IMO... I don't know why cuz they are great basses...
I recently bought a brand new '09 active bubinga corvette (made from germany, with slim neck) for 1500$ in a local shop... I could have found some for half the price I paid if I had looked on the net... But since I love that bass I don't regret paying that much !!!

I bought a 88 streamer stage II not longer after for 2000$... they sells 4500$ brand new...

 

[Rano Bass]

Find a used 90s corvette for like $650.

I agree
Used Corvette basses are everywhere and they´re not that expensive.

 

[mikeswals]

Find a used 90s corvette for like $650.

650 for a Proline? I can certainly see that for an active Standard (bubbinga)
But the Proline with it's maple body is a night and day difference from the bubbinga Standard.

 

[Jon Moody]

That's not a horrible price for a CS instrument from Warwick. My Corvette $$ 6 string fretless was a lot more than that, but endorsements have some perks.

 

[RCCollins]

650 for a Proline? I can certainly see that for an active Standard (bubbinga)
But the Proline with it's maple body is a night and day difference from the bubbinga Standard.

They're out there, and for absurdly low used prices. The custom shop quote actually wasn't bad, but used warwick prices are just TOO apealingly low...

 

[IngerAlb]

Definitely on the cheap for a custom shop. Ever priced a Sadowsky, Fodera, Brubaker, or even a Fender as mentioned above?

...as if a Corvette would be right on par with a Sadowsky or a Fodera

Anyway, at some point I wanted a regular Corvette with a black finish and fretboard dots (everything else stock); I would have paid 500 Euros more...so no thanks.

 

[madbassplaya]

Get a Stambaugh or Cliff Bordwell. For the same price, you'll get a lot more bass.

Agreed.

Find a used 90s corvette for like $650.

Also agree.

 

[seungkoo]

Get a used ss2 for $2000 or less and you'll forget about all other Warwick models

 

[SwagAttack]

I remember shooting an e-mail a couple years ago just for a range of prices for some simple customs. He responded, a small fortune. He was indeed correct I see.

 

[senp5f]

Is it just me, or do boutique basses seem overpriced for what they are? How on earth could it possibly cost so much to build bolt-neck instruments, even if you take the time to do everything right?

Here's where I have trouble. For $3,500+, you can be a pretty sweet boutique acoustic guitar from Collings, Santa Cruz, etc. These companies seem to turn out a comparable number of instruments to Lakland, Sadowsky, etc. etc.

And yet it is fanstastcially more complicated in every way to build an acoustic guitar than it is to build a bolt-neck bass that is basically a slab of wood. I've built both a mandolin and a Telecaster copy (the Tele from raw wood), and so I've seen a little of this myself.

I know that the boutique bass shops do a lot of little extras to make the instruments great -- basically, all the little corners that Fender has cut, the boutiques do right, and plus they integrate all the design advances made over the past 60 years.

But I just can't see how all that can add up to the same price as a good acoustic guitar. Sorry, I'll quit derailing the thread now. The original poster should probably just try to find a used one, or, better yet, take that cash to a local luthier and get a really great bass made just for him.

 

[Morning Beer]

Go used for sure, in the last year I picked up a Maple Proline for $600 and a thumb BO for $900. Both lefty 5vers in pristine condition.