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Should i keep this bass?

falconspatriots

falconspatriots

Oh Word
May 3, 2011
1,401
173
connecticut
#1
I need some advice guys. I recently bought a used 2008 warwick corvette $$ at guitar center for $900(after 15% coupon:) ) I played it at the store for about a hour before buying it. The thing sounds great but it doesnt look that well taken care of.

While the few scuffs are a given and not a big deal, what i am worried about is electronics and hardware. All the hardware on this bass is pretty rusted. The bridge, tuners, and saddle holders are fine but all the intonation screws, saddles, pickup screws, tuner screws etc are rusted.

I think i can get all the hardware replaced for fairly cheap but im worried about electronics. A couple of the pickup polls have a little rust on them.

Should i keep this thing? It sounds great, but i feel like it might have been abused to the point that i should be scared.
 
#2
Ultimately all steel parts will oxidize. What you've described sounds pretty typical. As far as the electronics go... they either work or they don't, if they seem fine and haven't exhibited any questionable tendencies chance are pretty good they'll perform well, for years to come. WD-40 and a shop rag does wonders on lightly oxidized metal parts and is usually harmless to most finishes, but test it first to be certain.
 
#3
Maybe you should stay out of WD40 when it comes to cleaning guitar hardware, possibly it will get the job done, but lots of thing could go wrong. There are better products for this purpose.

I recently got Gibson Vintage Restoration Kit, although two guitars I bought were in a good condition. Good thing is, it has low abrasion metal cleaner liquid and small brush, and they work great together. Try it!
 
#4
im going to try restoring the saddles. Get some type of rust remover and go at them. The difficult parts are the tiny screws and springs. If I sand those, wont it mess up the threads?

I understand that all metal will rust after a while. What worries me is that this bass isnt even 6 years old. Ive seen basses 20 years old with less rust then this thing. Maybe this thing was kept in a really moist enviroment. Would this warp wood at all? Mess up circuit boards?
 
#6
Some people sweat more than others. I doubt it was abused, but it sounds like whomever had it had sweaty hands and wasn't real good about wiping it down after he played. I doubt there is anything besides cosmetic issues wrong with it and that is nothing a little elbow grease can't fix.

Keep it, Clean it and Enjoy it
 
#7
Avoid sanding with sand paper, steel wool is much better, it removes rust from metal parts, but doesn't damage surface underneath.

I cleaned screws couple of times - I spray a little bit of WD40 on it (use WD40 only on metal mechanical parts you took off the guitar), and than hold the screw with rag in one hand, and screw/unscrew it with screwdriver with other hand. Rust and dirt stays on the rag...

EDIT: I have a friend that sweats when playing guitar, and his strings get dirt and rust in less than month. After couple of years of intensive playing, hardware on his guitar was in a horrible condition.

If wood on your guitar has no traces of moist damage (warp neck, damaged fingerboard, fret channels), than previous owner was like my friend. Clean the guitar and enjoy it!
 
#9
grendle said:
A shot of wd-40 or deoxit in the pots , and some wd-40 on a toothbrush and a q-tip should be able to get all the rust n gunk off the bridge, screws ,springs etc. and make her look nice and new.

STD instrument cleaning 101 :)

WD-40 is fine, Deoxit is better.

DON'T SAND ANYTHING!!!!!
Click to expand...

+1 up top, +100 on the sanding!

I have a Corvette $$ 5 string and one of my favorite aspect is that it is built like a battleship.

Finding replacement hardware for Warwicks is neither easy nor cheap, so do your best with the cleaning angle and then research replacement hardware for the longer term.

From the sounds of it, your model doesn't have black hardware, I take it. That makes the rust all the more irritating.
 
#10
If it's a german made warwick, hang on to it 900 would be a great price for it and take a little time to clean it up. Judging by the year I am guessing it is. Just make sure the neck is in good shape and doesn't have any irregularities you may have overlooked in the store. I was in a gc recently and they bought in a streamer Lx with a neck that looked like a roller coaster. A week later I was in a private shop that had an 08 special ed. streamer. Again a warped neck, not as bad. Don't know if this is something the brand is overly susceptible to or not, but for what its worth that my two cents.
 
#17
Sorry for the crappy pics.

Turock- I bought it because, despite its flaws i thought it was a good deal. Just wanted other peoples opinions. I got it at GC so i can return it if i want to.

I think the biggest thing im worried about is the rust in the bridge " pivot" screws. It looks like the actual bridge holes are rusted, not just the set screws in there.

I think I am going to keep it. Its a kind of a fixer upper but not too bad.
 

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#20
Just throwing it out there... if I ever have a question like that I have some of my friends that are musicians take a look at it and take it to a guitar repair shop and just ask them what they think/how much it would cost to repair it. That way you can get other people's opinion and have an estimate for how much it would cost to repair even if you don't have them repair it.

Anyhow, just an idea.....
 

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