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similar sounding basses to warwick thumb

red_bassist

red_bassist

Dec 29, 2017
304
722
Santa Rosa, California
#1
Hi everyone,

I am new to this community and I'm very excited to be a part of the great things happening here. I have fallen in love with the growly, expressive sound of the warwick thumb, and I wanted to know of other basses that have a similar sound with a less expensive cost. I've looked into the Rockbass line, which of those would be closest in sound to the warwick thumb? Thanks!
 
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#3
First things first, I have never had the opportunity to try a thumb. However, I have a Corvette basic Rockbass. It is a very nice bass. Looks great, plays very nicely, has a good sound that cuts through even with two guitars, drums, vocals going. Light weight. I am very happy with it. I got it used for around $330 shipped. However, it seems like lately the prices (at least asking prices, selling prices may be another story) for the Rockbasses seem to be very near what you could buy a used German Warwick for. I saw a 4 string thumb somewhere very recently for under $1,000. If I was in love with the thumb sound, I would probably save up and shop around for one. Or if you find a killer deal on a Rockbass, you could try it out and if it didn't scratch the itch you could probably sell it and break even and go after the thumb.
 
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#5
You can get some of that growly, dark, low-mid tone out of corvettes, I've got one with a J and a humbucker that has a lot of that classic Warwick sound. It does not however have as much of that traditional Warwick tone as a thumb does. If thumb is what you like then save up cause as others point out they are their own thing.
 
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#6
Reedt2000 said:
If thumb is what you like then save up cause as others point out they are their own thing.
Click to expand...

Indeed they are.

I would also strongly advise trying one out in person since not everyone finds these basses to their liking from the ergonomic standpoint. And no, I'm not a Warwick hater by any stretch of imagination but simply someone who found them quite challenging to play on a strap in "live" environment.

My $0.02 only...
 
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#8
ajkula66 said:
Indeed they are.

I would also strongly advise trying one out in person since not everyone finds these basses to their liking from the ergonomic standpoint. And no, I'm not a Warwick hater by any stretch of imagination but simply someone who found them quite challenging to play on a strap in "live" environment.

My $0.02 only...
Click to expand...

Definitely agree.

I wanted to love the Thumb when I first got a chance to play one. But I knew immediately that the neck shape and balance were dealbreakers for me.

I was really disappointed. Nothing "wrong" with it, just a bad fit for me.
 
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#9
I've played a few basses that sound a bit like Thumbs but funnily enough, nothing sounds truly like a Thumb. The closest thing I've heard to a Thumb is funnily enough, a Warwick Dolphin but they're even more expensive than Thumbs. The old Corvettes with bubinga bodies weren't miles away from the Thumb sound but even they don't mimic them perfectly.
 
#11
The Warwick Pro Series Thumbs. The German made ones are great. The Korean made Thumbs you can find a bit cheaper but have the same woods, hardware, electronics and can sound like a thumb. I'd recommend over the RockBass line. As someone said above, saving your money or shopping around you're likely to find what you're looking for
 
#12
Agree with the posters above - nothing sounds like a Thumb except a Thumb. I went through the same dealio - fell in love with the Thumb sound, and ended up with another Thumb.

Just an FYI if/when you go to purchase one - there are two different neck profiles for Thumbs - a thinner and thicker profile, depending on the year and options. The two necks play substantially differently and change the overall character of the bass (IME).
 
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#14
As with any bass, the location of the pickups is the greatest contributor to the tone (actually, "voice" or "character" would be a better word).

The biggest reason for the unique tone of Thumb basses is the location of the pickups (both near the bridge and slanted). Find another bass with the same pickup location/configuration and you'll find a similar tone.

Other things come into play too (woods, construction, bridge, etc.) but the pickup location makes the biggest difference (and often is the most overlooked factor).
 
#15
I have nothing new to add, just reiteration of what others said...A thumb is a thumb, nothing else really can duplicate its unique tone. Save your $$ and get a used one, you can find deals out there, and there are always motivated sellers, you just have to stay on top of your search.

As a side note, I have a Custom Shop Masterbuilt Corvette $$ NT, it too has no tonal equal (IMHO)...
 
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#16
Just find a bass that has big, honkin' mid-range you can crank wide-open! And then play as close to the bridge as humanly possible.

And presto -- you've got yourself a Thumb Bass with several grand still in your bank account! :smug:
 
#18
I strongly agree with our pals above who recommend playing one of those rigs before spending your money. These are one of the most, um... "challenging" ergonomic layouts I've ever seen in a bass that otherwise offers better than just nice construction and also delivers some really funky sound.

I'm talking about playing one on a strap for more than just a couple of minutes. I'm very sensitive to a layout with a strap horn that doesn't extend far enough up the neck to give me good balance or easy left hand access to the lowest frets without a lot of contortions (I'm right-handed). This turned out to be a big problem for me after I bought a nice German Warwick Corvette that I had to unload after only a couple of gigs.

More or less if the strap horn doesn't extend up to about the 12th fret and/or the bridge saddles are too far up from the bottom edge of the body, everything rests too far to the left for me to get a "playable fit". Spectors have a layout that presents this problem for me, too.
 
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#19
lz4005 said:
Definitely agree.

I wanted to love the Thumb when I first got a chance to play one. But I knew immediately that the neck shape and balance were dealbreakers for me.

I was really disappointed. Nothing "wrong" with it, just a bad fit for me.
Click to expand...

I can only support these experiences as they are a perfect match to my own. Really wanted a Thumb, saved up for along time,
finally managed to buy a neck through only to realize the ergonomics is quite different, first fret feels like a million miles away, it was extremely heavy, and the B string usless as it was significantly lower in output as the others. Loved the sound though, but sold it again after a very short period.
But, could be the exact right thing for you, just try it first, and preferable for more than a few minutes.
 

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