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Warmoth 34" 5 strings

#7
I used to have one of the older Warmoth super-wide 19mm 5-strings.

My Dingwall and a Modulus I tried both set the bar for B-string clarity. Those low Bs sound rock solid and are very easy to tune by ear.

The Warmoth low B wasn't quite that strong, but it was pretty good. Good enough to be my main active / low-B axe for 8 years.
 
#10
melkinsbass said:
Can anybody with any experience with these give me their opinions of how the low B strings respond and sound?
Click to expand...

Uh-oh... "Careful what you wish for" and all that:

For 10 years I had a Warmoth 5-string fretless Jazz with EMG J pickups, EMG BTC preamp, Wilkinson bridge, Schaller tuners, 34" scale length, typical Warmoth maple neck w/ ebony fingerboard & twin steel stiffening rods...it sounded huge...corpulent low end, punchy articulate mids, crisp and defined/detailed high end without too much tizz...yer basic Big Phat Modern Active Bass sound








...except for the low B string!!!! The low B sounded like absolute dog poop. It was totally anemic, with a soft attack, no fundamental, no sustain, really weak harmonics...the B string sounded like a completely different bass from the other four strings. In short, it sucked.

I struggled with it for a decade, then threw in the towel and converted the body & electronics to an 8-string (octave courses, tuned EADG) bass...where it sounds great: a Big Phat Modern Active Bass sound.

Now, whether that anemic low B was a result of the Warmoth neck, or the Wilkinson bridge, or some weird synergistic combination of ingredients, I can't say. And whether any other Warmoth 34" low B would sound as crappy as mine did, I dunno, this is the only 5-string Warmoth I have any experience with.

But there ya have it.
 
#13
melkinsbass said:
Can anybody with any experience with these give me their opinions of how the low B strings respond and sound? Thanks
Matt
Click to expand...

I built a Deluxe P5 a few years ago that had an excellent B-string. It compared very well to my 35" basses. It was well integrated with the E-G strings, and actually usable above the 12th fret - with the right setup.

A ton of factors go into producing a good B-string, not the least of which is materials and a tight neck. Bridge and pickups play a role, and certainly the string itself.

I personally didn't care for the neck profile or radius of the Warmoth Deluxe 5 neck, but I've used Warmoth jazz and Gecko necks for a decade now. YMMV.
 
#14
I've had 3, and I found all of them to be very good.
Warmoth makes some very nice parts, but it's the attention to detail when whomever assembles it that can make a big diff, I think.
YMMV of course.
 
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#16
Hoover said:
Uh-oh... "Careful what you wish for" and all that:

For 10 years I had a Warmoth 5-string fretless Jazz with EMG J pickups, EMG BTC preamp, Wilkinson bridge, Schaller tuners, 34" scale length, typical Warmoth maple neck w/ ebony fingerboard & twin steel stiffening rods...it sounded huge...corpulent low end, punchy articulate mids, crisp and defined/detailed high end without too much tizz...yer basic Big Phat Modern Active Bass sound








...except for the low B string!!!! The low B sounded like absolute dog poop. It was totally anemic, with a soft attack, no fundamental, no sustain, really weak harmonics...the B string sounded like a completely different bass from the other four strings. In short, it sucked.

I struggled with it for a decade, then threw in the towel and converted the body & electronics to an 8-string (octave courses, tuned EADG) bass...where it sounds great: a Big Phat Modern Active Bass sound.

Now, whether that anemic low B was a result of the Warmoth neck, or the Wilkinson bridge, or some weird synergistic combination of ingredients, I can't say. And whether any other Warmoth 34" low B would sound as crappy as mine did, I dunno, this is the only 5-string Warmoth I have any experience with.

But there ya have it.
Click to expand...

I had the same experience with the two Warmoth "Wide-5" Jazzes I had. Loved the feel of the big neck, but the low B was seriously lacking.

Interestingly, both those basses had EMG J pickups, same as yours. I've heard that the width of the magnetic field on these pickups does not extend all that nearto the ends of the pickup. Apparently that causes problems if the B is close to the edge of the pickup (due to wide string spacing or angled pickups like the Warwick Thumb 5), so maybe that was the problem.

Mike
 
#17
Jefenator said:
I used to have one of the older Warmoth super-wide 19mm 5-strings.

My Dingwall and a Modulus I tried both set the bar for B-string clarity. Those low Bs sound rock solid and are very easy to tune by ear.

The Warmoth low B wasn't quite that strong, but it was pretty good. Good enough to be my main active / low-B axe for 8 years.
Click to expand...

I own the Warmoth bass now.....and I think you're spot on. :)

I've got a USA Millennium 35" scale, SR5....which have nice low Bs, and the warmoth is up there with them.
 
#18
mikezimmerman said:
I had the same experience with the two Warmoth "Wide-5" Jazzes I had. Loved the feel of the big neck, but the low B was seriously lacking.

Interestingly, both those basses had EMG J pickups, same as yours. I've heard that the width of the magnetic field on these pickups does not extend all that nearto the ends of the pickup. Apparently that causes problems if the B is close to the edge of the pickup (due to wide string spacing or angled pickups like the Warwick Thumb 5), so maybe that was the problem.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I would love it if that were the cause of the problem (especially because I still have that Wide 5 fretless neck & was hoping to build that up into a new bass...I've only hesitated because I've considered that the B string problem may be related to the neck).

...but fwiw, my Modulus Quantum-6 SPX has the exact same EMG J pickups, and it has the best sounding B string of any bass I've ever played, period. Go figger.
 

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