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Warwick Model 5 and 4 strings

#2
For the classic Warwick sound, you need the heavy bodied Basses made of exotic woods. Corvette, Thumb, Dolphin. If you can't handle the weight, any of the Swamp ash models would be worth a try. There are a few Corvettes, the Thumb LTD's (which I like a lot) and I have a Katana I just love. I don't deal with Steamers much. Not a Spector fan and that's where the shape came from, but I believe they come in Swamp Ash and they have a big following.
 
#4
For classic Warwick growl: Thumb 4. I'd stick with the neckthrough models too. They hold up better, the density and strength of the wood is pretty resistant to warping, and the neck joint is a lot tighter. Can't get much better playability than that and if that's the sound you're looking for, the Thumb 4 is it. The Thumb 5 seems to have balance issues.
 
#6
NKUSigEp said:
For classic Warwick growl: Thumb 4. I'd stick with the neckthrough models too. They hold up better, the density and strength of the wood is pretty resistant to warping, and the neck joint is a lot tighter.
Click to expand...

- yeah, i guess the neck joint of a neck-through bass would be pretty tight :p

- seriously though, i find the bolt on thumb to have a bit more growl to it - and warwick bolt on necks have always felt extremely solid to me. i don't notice any difference in balance between 4 and 5 strings.

- regarding weight, the thumb bolt (5) on is considerably lighter than the neck through, and its also lighter than the corvette by about 3/4 of a pound - the perfect bass imo.
 
#9
For the classic Warwick growl you gotta go with a Thumb. NT if you can afford it, bolt on if you can't.

If you want a bass that has that Warwick sound, but can also pull off just about everything else... then you'll want my Streamer Stage I :D

As for the difference between 4 & 5 stringers... my opinion is that the 5 string Warwicks have wayyyyyyy too close of string spacing. The 4 stringers.... PERFECT
 
#11
I laugh everytime I see someone complain about a warwick being neck heavy... I have yet to have a complaint about it. I play a 6 string thumb bo and it feels perfect. I've played quite a few warwicks and never had a problem with the neck being heavy...

Back to the topic... The one that will give you THE WARWICK SOUND will def. be a thumb... I find the bo and the nt sound pretty similar. The nt def. has more sustain, But the tonal differences between bubinga and ovangkol are very similar. I find that my bo ovangkol thumb has a lil more mid than the nt though. So it does growl a bit more... And slap bass sounds quite a bit better on a bo than a nt... it has more snap to the sound :)

As for the neck heavy part it all depends on how you hold and wear the bass... Get a wide levys leather strap, wear it high and youll be fine :)
 

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