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Warwick Corvette 5 String: Standard or Doublebuck?

bigjames

bigjames

Player of Smooth Lines
Jan 25, 2005
1,235
1,681
50
Metro Vancouver, Canada
www.imdb.com
#1
What are your thoughts on these two models? I will be buying one or the other (5 string fretted) in the next few weeks and I wanted to see what the opinion was on the two models (doublebuck vs standard).

I played both today and I love this bass feel and sound. The doublebuck has a lot more contouring it seems with the two toggle switches and the pots for bass, mid, and treble compared to the bass and treble only on the Standard.

The price difference in Canada is only about $200 so there is barely a difference there.

Also, I am talking about the bolt-on versions here. The NT doublebuck is a good $800 more so unless someone can convince me that NT is worth it I will stick with BO.

What do you guys think?

Thanks,

BigJ
 
#3
I'm special ordering a $$ 4-string over the standard corvette for the tonal options alone, not to mention the sound of the $$ seems growlier than the J pickup config for the standard.

I think either way you can't make a bad decision, but the question will be what tone you ultimately want from your bass and how much versitility you need.
 
#4
bassic_element said:
Are they both Ash? it they are I think you would be better with the $$, more tonal options
Click to expand...

Good question:

Standard: a bubinga body and 3-piece ovangkol neck with wenge fingerboard.

Double Buck: a select swamp ash body, an ovangkol neck, bell brass frets, high-quality hardware, and natural or transparent color oil finishes.

Doublebuck NT: a bubinga body with a maple/ekanga neck and a wenge fingerboard.
 
#5
whizack said:
I'm special ordering a $$ 4-string over the standard corvette for the tonal options alone, not to mention the sound of the $$ seems growlier than the J pickup config for the standard.

I think either way you can't make a bad decision, but the question will be what tone you ultimately want from your bass and how much versitility you need.
Click to expand...

Agreed. The pick ups def seem growlier with the doublebuck. Do you think the wood difference is significant? See my post above: the standard is bubinga and the doublebuck is swamp ash (the NT doublebuck is bubinga).

I did not play the NT - it was $800 more and I considered it out of my price range, but if the NT and bubinga make it a winner then I will spend the money...
 
#6
I prefer the standard with the heavy bubinga bodies. They have one of my favorite bass tones. They are so punchy, with a good touch of growl. A very killer bass in not the prettiest package, and they are not respected as the great basses they are.
 
#7
xgabriele said:
I prefer the standard with the heavy bubinga bodies. They have one of my favorite bass tones. They are so punchy, with a good touch of growl. A very killer bass in not the prettiest package, and they are not respected as the great basses they are.
Click to expand...


Thanks! Great comments. My wife came to the store with me today and she likes the colour and look of the bubinga (the standard and the doublebuck NT) over the paler swamp ash. Her favourite was the doublebuck NT, but it is $2500 CDN at Long and McQuade. Haha...not that the look is all that important to me, but I want a classy looking bass and I want the growl and punch of the bubinga from the sounds of it. Also, I owned a Music Man before and found that the poles on the humbucker pick up got in the way of my fingers sometimes...maybe that is my own playing style at fault, but it bugged me enough that I sold it.

Talking it over with my wife I think I am leaning towards the Standard 5 in bubinga bolt-on. This is my first Warwick and probably a good starting point. I will save my money over the years and pick up a NT when I can afford it in the future...maybe a NT Thumb or Streamer?

Thanks for all the input so far...if anyone has anything else to add I am all ears!

Thanks again,

BigJ
 
#14
bigjames said:
Where can I find the custom shop on the net? I checked Warwick's site and did not see it...

Are the double humbuckers really that much better than the standard MEC J-style pick ups?
Click to expand...

I honestly don't think so, but that is simply my opinion. I had a Corvette Standard 5'er, and I thought it sounded killer in stock forum. I read about people complaining about the stock electronics and then replacing them, and I never felt that way. I always thought the stock tone was killer. The only reason I got rid of it was because it was too heavy for my recently healed spine, and I needed something lighter.
 
#15
i have a std. 5 string in bubinga and the only thing i could recommend over it would be the bubinga $$ NT. the NT makes an AMAZING difference. Many people complain about the $$ being muddy, but the Bubinga makes the lows more focused and slightly more middy and the NT adds years of sustain.
pump out the cash for the bubinga $$ NT. it's so worth it you would never know what do with yourself.
OR... if you like the std. pickups better you could go through the custom shop (www.warwick.de explains everything) and you cold get something beautiful like this:
Invalid Link Removed
(with J pickups instead of the mirrored P)
but anyways, check out warwick's site possibly join their forum (you'll find me as well as many of the other memebers on here) and ask plenty of questions. there's a part of the forum that's dedicated to the custom shop and asking if stuff is possible and so on!
 
#16
Thanks guys. I will check that out and join the forum over there.

I am leaning towards the corvette 5 standard right now - I like the look and sound quality of the bubinga and the $$ NT is just to much more to make it an option right now. I think I will make the bass I buy after the corvette (5+ years from now) a NT Thumb or Streamer or something...
 
#17
Love my Corvette 5 Standard. Great bass. Can be punchy and/or growly depending on how you set the onboard eq and gets some nice harmonics too. Some people complain about the neck, but I find it wonderfully playable. Just got it back from having the third generation "Just-a-nut III" installed at Long and McQuade in Ottawa, and not having played it for about a month was blown away all over again by the tone last night. By the way, does the one you are buying have the second-generation nut on it? If so, it'll break within about 6 months to a year as the little side tabs tend to pop off from the lateral pressure of changing strings. You can get the new nut from EFKAY music in Montreal (or have Long and McQuade order it from EFKAY for you). Costs $7.00.
 
#18
bigjames said:
They do, but it is only available in NT. It is Bubinga with Maple neck and it is $1000 more.

I have already removed this as an option..I want to keep my total under $2k. If I can find a NT used I will certainly consider it....
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what the conversion rate is in Canada, but I got a used 1998 Streamer Stage 2 for $1850 1.5 years ago in the United States. If you search hard enough online, you can find a NT Thumb or Streamer that will fit your budget.

BTW, my vote goes to the NT Bubinga. Never played one, but I love neck throughs, and I love Bubinga.
 
#20
bigjames said:
I got an email from BassNW in Seattle. They said that the Standard is more like a Jazz Bass and the Doublebuck is more like a MusicMan...anyone agree with this assessment?
Click to expand...

I do. I played a Corvette Standard 5 with passive electronics and the J-type pickups, and it sounded similar to a J-bass. The different woods impart a distinctive tonality, but it's in the J-bass family for sure. The $$ is more like an HH StingRay. (It might actually be closer to the Bongo.) I haven't played them back-to-back, but I have played both. They don't sound alike by any means, but they're in that "double humbucker active" family, and have a similar overriding thickness with all coils firing.
 

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