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Some strange Warwicks=)

koshey

koshey

Jan 22, 2022
122
268
44
Germany
#1
Hi my dudes,
Let me show you some of my founds on the Ebay,
what do you think? Worth buying?
1. Warwick GPS Thumb BO 5 Bass Gitarre - what is Warwick GPS? I know for sure, that Thumb series are still made only in Germany. What is the difference between GPs and a "normal" Thumb?
2. Warwick Thumb Bass mit Bartolini Pickups - Thumb with the serial number of Corvette? What can be wrong here?
3. Warwick Thumb 4 Bass bolt on - thumb was painted in black (crazy, i'd kill for this).. Mek instead of Bartolinis.. What is Noll electronic?

your opinions ais extremely appreciated!!

Have a nice week, my dudes!
 
#3
koshey said:
Hi my dudes,
Let me show you some of my founds on the Ebay,
what do you think? Worth buying?
1. Warwick GPS Thumb BO 5 Bass Gitarre - what is Warwick GPS? I know for sure, that Thumb series are still made only in Germany. What is the difference between GPs and a "normal" Thumb?
2. Warwick Thumb Bass mit Bartolini Pickups - Thumb with the serial number of Corvette? What can be wrong here?
3. Warwick Thumb 4 Bass bolt on - thumb was painted in black (crazy, i'd kill for this).. Mek instead of Bartolinis.. What is Noll electronic?

your opinions ais extremely appreciated!!

Have a nice week, my dudes!
Click to expand...

I can only help a little:

1. GPS is German Pro Series. Some Warwick instruments are/were made in Asia (e.g. Rockbass series). The GPS were built in the German facility, but not by the master luthiers, akaik. Someone else can probably give better info here.

2. Looks like someone put a Corvette neck on a Thumb body. The woods don't match at all.

3. MEC are the standard pickups used by Warwick. No idea what Noll electronics are.
 
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#8
Taustin Powers said:
2. Looks like someone put a Corvette neck on a Thumb body. The woods don't match at all
Click to expand...

Taustin Powers said:
#2 just looks wonky.
Click to expand...
What looks to be wrong with #2? How can you tell it’s a Corvette neck?
Looks like a standard Bubinga body with Ovangkol neck.
Since when are the woods supposed to “match”, especially on a bolt-on using two different wood species?
 
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#9
koshey said:
1. Warwick GPS Thumb BO 5 Bass Gitarre - what is Warwick GPS? I know for sure, that Thumb series are still made only in Germany. What is the difference between GPs and a "normal" Thumb?
Click to expand...

nah, there were Korean Thumbs, I own one.

I've described it recently in some other thread, but it looks like a proper place to do it again:

Warwicks come in different price, aside from RockBass they have Masterbuilt and Teambuilt series. currently both are made in Germany.

Masterbuilt is the expensive 'custom shop' line, the 'Teambuilt' is the same as GPS (German Pro Series) currently. before the GPS there was a WPS (Warwick Pro Series) line that was made in Korea, before the WPS there was a 'Pro line' that was also German-made. the 'Masterbuilt' basses are 2x more expensive than the 'Teambuilt' one, most Warwick basses on the market are the 'Pro line' of different eras, currently the Pro line is called GPS or Teambuilt.
 
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#10
eastcoasteddie said:
What looks to be wrong with #2? How can you tell it’s a Corvette neck?
Looks like a standard Bubinga body with Ovangkol neck.
Since when are the woods supposed to “match”, especially on a bolt-on using two different wood species?
Click to expand...

I have a 94 Thumb BO with a bubinga body and a wenge neck/board. Different woods, but it definitely looks like they were matched together, it looks right. The one in the link just looks off to me.

I don't know that I have seen a Bubinga Thumb with an Ovangkol neck, though may well exist. But the serial number on the headstock matching a Corvette with an Ovangkol neck makes me cautious.

I may of course be wrong, but there's enough here to raise suspicion.
 
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#11
eastcoasteddie said:
What looks to be wrong with #2? How can you tell it’s a Corvette neck?
Looks like a standard Bubinga body with Ovangkol neck.
Since when are the woods supposed to “match”, especially on a bolt-on using two different wood species?
Click to expand...


It's in the description. The seller writes that the SN# of the neck matches a Corvette.

I can second the opinion that it looks off. The neck itself is beautiful, and there's nothing wrong with the body - it's just that they don't match - which is not typical for German made Warwicks.

To my untrained eye, all three look legit, though.
I totally believe that at some point, a neck swap has happened with the #2 bass and that the replacement neck came from a Corvette.
I also like the black/chrome looks of the third one.
 
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#12
The scarcity of Wenge caused Warwick to switch to Ovangkol. I don’t know exactly when it started, but it ended in 2013. So I wouldn’t worry much about the Ovangkol neck. Many Warwicks were produced with that wood. Still a great wood choice.

As a slight derail, when I ordered my Thumb NT 4 (via Bass Central) at the July of 2013, I specified a 2013 with a Wenge neck. The bass arrived August from Germany with an Ovangkol neck. Obviously “old stock”.

I was in China at the time, so my poor wife had to carry that giant box from the carrier’s office to my house. She sent me pics and I was not happy. She packed it up and sent it back to the importer. The About a week or so later I received the Wenge NT 4.

Man that was stressful, in retrospect. Still get a little PTSD thinking about it.:roflmao:
 
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#13
Goatrope said:
The scarcity of Wenge caused Warwick to switch to Ovangkol. I don’t know exactly when it started, but it ended in 2013. So I wouldn’t worry much about the Ovangkol neck. Many Warwicks were produced with that wood. Still a great wood choice.
Click to expand...

All true. Just for some reason, I would expect a bolt-on Ovangkol neck to be bolted onto an Ovangkol body.

I have not seen a Bubinga Thumb body with an Ovangkol neck before...but that doesn't necessarily mean they never built any. ;)
 
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#16
eastcoasteddie said:
What looks to be wrong with #2? How can you tell it’s a Corvette neck?
Looks like a standard Bubinga body with Ovangkol neck.
Since when are the woods supposed to “match”, especially on a bolt-on using two different wood species?
Click to expand...
Man, the seller refers to it:
"The serial number refers to a Corvette, possibly there is a data error or the neck was once renewed"

also
this bass
upload_2022-1-31_18-24-52.png


Thumb:
upload_2022-1-31_18-28-31.png
 
#18
el murdoque said:
It's in the description. The seller writes that the SN# of the neck matches a Corvette.

I can second the opinion that it looks off. The neck itself is beautiful, and there's nothing wrong with the body - it's just that they don't match - which is not typical for German made Warwicks.

To my untrained eye, all three look legit, though.
I totally believe that at some point, a neck swap has happened with the #2 bass and that the replacement neck came from a Corvette.
I also like the black/chrome looks of the third one.
Click to expand...

so maybe the previous owner just screwed the new neck on the kitchen table..
I dont know should there be any measurements or some additional treatment done before changing the neck?
 
#19
I would go with Bass #1 personally. Mostly because it's a 5 string and 5 String Warwicks are excellent IMO. I also like the pickup placement on the Thumb 5's vs. the Thumb 4's.

What type of music do you plan to play? Is any of it covers? If so will any of it require a 5 string?

The 5ers will have tighter string spacing 16.5mm on the standard Warwick 5's. I personally prefer this but it can make slapping more difficult.

A 4 string may feel more at home if you are used to wider string spacing.
 

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