Warwick Love - Worth the Weight?

[mikeyjm2]

All kinds of threads on here about Fenders, Ric, Fender vs. Ric, blah blah, but I don't notice a lot of Warwick discussion. I have a fretless Corvette Std. I've had since 2007. I hadn't given it much playtime until recently. I usually opt for one of the Fenders or the Ric, but I've really begun to appreciate the Warwick again. I have it strung with TI flats and I'm very pleased with the sound and playability. I can really only come up with two cons to it.

The first is more my limitation than the Warwick's, and that is the difficulty of intonation above the 12th fret. I hadn't regularly played it in years so on a whim the other night I brought it to band practice. There's one passage I play on that part of the fretboard, but it's more the exception than the rule for me. So I can work on my technique and get past that issue, or if all else fails just transpose it down an octave. Just the nature of the beast with fretless though. It didn't help that guitarist / singer buddy broke out the whiskey during practice . At any rate, I can get past this con in one way or another.

The second con would be the weight. After hours of playing I can definitely feel it. It's nicely balanced (no neck dive I've found) but still, it's heavy.

So rather than hash out the same Fender bashing, Ric bashing we all get tired of, I'd love to hear y'all's thoughts on Warwick. Specifically with regard to the weight and how, if you gig it regularly, you deal with said weight.

 

[Jon Moody]

I've played Warwicks since '97, so weight hasn't been an issue (especially with my Streamer LX 6 string Broadneck, which usually tips the scale at 14lbs or so).

Get a good strap (my 5 string 'vette had a 4" Levy's leather, and the above Streamer LX uses a Gruv Gear DuoStrap), find a comfortable balance point and you'll be good.

 

[mikeyjm2]

Good call on the strap. I'm actually pretty happy with the one that came supplied with the bass. It's nicely padded and makes the weight tolerable. I've never actually weighed mine. I'm going to do that to satisfy my own curiosity, but 14lbs sounds like a feasible ballpark guesstimate for how it feels.

 

[thabassmon]

I love em. Solid, beautiful, powerful instruments. Worth the weight in my opinion. I haven't played one since switching to five but I definitely remember absolutely loving it. It was a late '90s German Blonde Corvette 4 string.

 

[bachlover]

I bought a 5 Thumb BO and shortly after bought a 6 NT as the build quality, looks, choice of materials, and sound were so stellar. My 6 weighs something like 12.8 lbs. but I don't play out so it's not an issue.

 

[Mark_70]

I've had a German neck-through Streamer 4-string with Bartolini's since probably around 1990. Never weighed them, but it's my impression that it's ligher than my EBMM Sterling. At the very least I can say it feels more comfortable for a night of playing.
One thing is that it seems to be a little heavy in the "highs" with pre-amp on and EQ flat.
Nothing that EQ can't fix though. Just need to roll of the highs and roll on some more bass.

Regards
Mark

 

[mikeyjm2]

I bought a 5 Thumb BO and shortly after bought a 6 NT as the build quality, looks, choice of materials, and sound were so stellar.

Completely agree on the stellar comment, particularly build quality. The Corvette I have just feels absolutely solid. Mine is German made, so I don't know how the Rockbass line compares.

 

[TMARK]

My 1996 Thumb weighs in at 7.2 pounds. It is the lightest bass I've ever had. A little neck dive but a wide strap takes care of that.

 

[bachlover]

My 1996 Thumb weighs in at 7.2 pounds. It is the lightest bass I've ever had. A little neck dive but a wide strap takes care of that.

I've got wide straps on both of mine and neck dive has never been an issue despite all the complaints I've read about dive issues with Wicks. My 5 BO is a '96 - I'd weigh it but I'd have to weigh myself 1st (don't want to go there).

 

[mikeyjm2]

My 1996 Thumb weighs in at 7.2 pounds. It is the lightest bass I've ever had.

Wow... that is light. What wood is the body?

 

[TMARK]

Wow... that is light. What wood is the body?

Two piece Bubinga (sp?) body. The neck is all Wenge, looks like five piece laminate. The stiffest wooden neck I've ever encountered. It seems like most of the weight is in the neck.

 

[jjk2007]

Mine is beefy for sure but this bass will never leave me. There is just something about the tone and playability. I actually don't play it out that much (we're in some shady places sometimes) but I love to get it out for recordings etc. One of these days I want to get the brass Just-a-Nut III for it.

 

[mikeyjm2]

^^ That is stunning!

 

[AciDBatH666]

I had a wick corvette rockbass. I wanted to love it so bad but the short string spacing just wasn't working for me. It was my first taste of a warwick, and I'd love to get a thumb or double buck in the future if I can find something that's not 16mm. Played great though. I really liked the tone.

 

[mmbongo]

Man I just don't think I could deal with a 12 or 14 lb. bass! Luckily my Streamer is only 9-ish pounds, fantastic bass, especially now that it has Bartolini electronics

 

[mikeyjm2]

Man I just don't think I could deal with a 12 or 14 lb. bass!

That is an understandable deal breaker for some; especially if there are physical / health aspects to it. Fortunately that is not the case w/ me.

That and the gigs we've played thus far in this band have not been marathon kinda deals. Actually, our practices turn out to be the marathons.

 

[bass12]

My thoughts on Warwick? Well, since you asked... Only one of the three German-made Warwicks I gigged regularly was an above-average instrument. One of the three (the most expensive of the lot) was a total lemon. Many Warwicks are ergonomic messes that were clearly not designed by players. Their customer service leaves much to be desired (not surprising given that the company is run by a bit of a whack-job) and their quality control has been spotty over the years. Oh, and they are often way too heavy - and wiry sounding.

 

[mikeyjm2]

Their customer service leaves much to be desired

I have not had any experience at all with their customer service. Sounds like I'm lucky! Poor customer service is a serious pet peeve of mine. On the other end of the scale is a company like Sweetwater. My wife (who ran call centers for years) just ordered me something (a DI box) from Sweetwater earlier today. This is OT from the Warwick thing obviously, but she couldn't say enough good stuff about how well they did.

 

[bass12]

I have not had any experience at all with their customer service. Sounds like I'm lucky! Poor customer service is a serious pet peeve of mine. On the other end of the scale is a company like Sweetwater. My wife (who ran call centers for years) just ordered me something (a DI box) from Sweetwater earlier today. This is OT from the Warwick thing obviously, but she couldn't say enough good stuff about how well they did.

Some of Warwick's distributors have been great. Whenever I dealt with Dana B. Goods they were very pleasant and helpful. But the distributor in Montreal was atrocious so I insisted on dealing directly with Warwick. That interaction, sadly, really soured my relationship with the company.

 

[Tbone76]

I recently acquired a 2006 Corvette Standard Active 4-stringer, and it's been a monster. I did have to replace the stock tuners because all of the bushings were damaged, and I couldn't tighten them against the headstock. I replaced them with Hipshot Ultralites, and now she flat-out sings! The new tuners are lighter, to boot! I must have gotten lucky, because my bubinga/ovangkol/wenge example weighs in just over 9lbs. The tone is phenomenal, and the baseball bat neck just fits my hand nicely. I do have to get a couple of worn frets leveled, and then she'll be perfect. The build quality, other than the tuners, is absolutely rock solid. I'd say that if you can live with the weight, the tone is worth it. I can understand how they aren't for everyone, but I love mine.