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Warwick = Soon to be Korean Made?
- Thread starter Zentner
- Start date
The way it looks to me Warwicks will be made in China, Vietnam, Korea and Germany depending on the model. i was just looking on the website; but I may be wrong. Does anyone know for sure???
Who's your supplier? What is their source? Is this just another urban legend? Or is this legit? Nice rumor for sure. Substantiated? Maybe so, if all we need is to read it on the "internet."
No malice to you Zentner . . . just great skepticism for internet talk. . .
Warwick Pro Series is already made in Korea, including the Corvette Standard Bubinga, and Corvette Standard Ash. Both are 4 string models.
Warwick Rock basses are made in China. They have 8 models.
The majority of the Warwick line is made in Germany.
Source: Warwick website.
One thing for sure: The weak dollar killed Warwick's market in the US. There is no quick fix for this. Can Warwick reconstitute their market by building in Korea? Excellent question that has some creed.
Is this post contradictory? You bet. . . such is life!
Just look at Warwick's website under "products." There you will see all of there models and where they are going to be made.
www.warwick.de
www.warwick.de
There is an assumption that higher cost from Germany has a relationship the quality. Have any of you compared labor costs between Germany and Asia? It's not higher due to talent or capability. It's relative to the cost of living.
Korea, if I'm not mistaken, is the largest producer of musical instruments in the world.
The JJ Corvette is going to be made in Korea. The $$ and the other higher end Warwicks will be made in Germany.
Link Removed purchased the balance of Warwick basses from Dana B Goods, the former US Warwick distributor. About 125 German basses were purchased by WarwickDepot, all new. WarwickDepot is basically one guy working out of his house in Dallas. I went to his house in March and purchased a brand new German made Corvette in bubinga for $480 out the door. I had four to choose from. I was the first person to purchase from the guy, Mark Wilson. I can firmly state that the four basses I examined had not been pulled from their cases since leaving Germany. My particular model was shipped in January '08. I posted my find on the Warwick Forum in March and most everyone was suspicious. I would have been too, but for the fact I live in Dallas and was able to go to his house and see for myself. Since then, at least two other people on the Warwick Forum have purchased Warwicks from him. I don't know what they paid but I get the impression that they were happy with the price and the merchandise.
AFAIK, he is about the only place to find a new-in-gig bag Corvette made in Germany. At the time of my $480 purchase, there were a few listed on Craigslist in the $600 to $900 range used. I got lucky. Can't say you will get the deal I got, but if you want a German Corvette, he may still have some in stock.
A word of advice. The guy is very nice, but his communication could be better. And, the prices on his website are not his selling prices. You have to call or email him. I would recommend calling followed by a confirming email if quoted a price.
I live in Dallas and had read about the Korean production. I quickly scanned Craigslist and local ebay. I saw one on ebay with a starting bid of $470 and the seller was local and listed a website. I called the number on the website and asked if he could end the auction early and at what price? He said he would sell it to me for $470 and that he had several I could try. I went the next day cash in hand. I selected from four, picked the grain I liked best and ask the total price. I expected to pay tax. He said $470. I only had $20s and so I handed him $480. He kept the $10 difference and neither of us said a thing. I was expecting over $500 out the door for what was already a great deal! He had the Warwicks dispersed through several rooms in his house. I probably saw 30-40 gig bags with new Warwicks.
The guy is a graduate of North Texas University. His degree is in music. Very nice guy. He purchased the Warwick inventory at Dana B Goods cost. This has been verified on the Warwick Forum. His intent was to sell them at a profit. Then he lost his real job. I may have just been in the right place at the right time because I got a fantastic deal on a NOS German Corvette in bubinga. At the time he offered me a fretless at the same price. I called two days later to inquire about a NT Thumb and was quoted ~ $1,700. Here's where the communications comes into play. I called him back several weeks later and the frettless would cost me $780. He didn't think he had NT Thumbs in a four string for a right hander. He did but he was confused. And if he did they were going to be closer to $3,000. More details of this, along with other people's experiences with him can be found on the Warwick Forum. YAMMV with him.
Link Removed purchased the balance of Warwick basses from Dana B Goods, the former US Warwick distributor. About 125 German basses were purchased by WarwickDepot, all new. WarwickDepot is basically one guy working out of his house in Dallas. I went to his house in March and purchased a brand new German made Corvette in bubinga for $480 out the door. I had four to choose from. I was the first person to purchase from the guy, Mark Wilson. I can firmly state that the four basses I examined had not been pulled from their cases since leaving Germany. My particular model was shipped in January '08. I posted my find on the Warwick Forum in March and most everyone was suspicious. I would have been too, but for the fact I live in Dallas and was able to go to his house and see for myself. Since then, at least two other people on the Warwick Forum have purchased Warwicks from him. I don't know what they paid but I get the impression that they were happy with the price and the merchandise.
AFAIK, he is about the only place to find a new-in-gig bag Corvette made in Germany. At the time of my $480 purchase, there were a few listed on Craigslist in the $600 to $900 range used. I got lucky. Can't say you will get the deal I got, but if you want a German Corvette, he may still have some in stock.
A word of advice. The guy is very nice, but his communication could be better. And, the prices on his website are not his selling prices. You have to call or email him. I would recommend calling followed by a confirming email if quoted a price.
I live in Dallas and had read about the Korean production. I quickly scanned Craigslist and local ebay. I saw one on ebay with a starting bid of $470 and the seller was local and listed a website. I called the number on the website and asked if he could end the auction early and at what price? He said he would sell it to me for $470 and that he had several I could try. I went the next day cash in hand. I selected from four, picked the grain I liked best and ask the total price. I expected to pay tax. He said $470. I only had $20s and so I handed him $480. He kept the $10 difference and neither of us said a thing. I was expecting over $500 out the door for what was already a great deal! He had the Warwicks dispersed through several rooms in his house. I probably saw 30-40 gig bags with new Warwicks.
The guy is a graduate of North Texas University. His degree is in music. Very nice guy. He purchased the Warwick inventory at Dana B Goods cost. This has been verified on the Warwick Forum. His intent was to sell them at a profit. Then he lost his real job. I may have just been in the right place at the right time because I got a fantastic deal on a NOS German Corvette in bubinga. At the time he offered me a fretless at the same price. I called two days later to inquire about a NT Thumb and was quoted ~ $1,700. Here's where the communications comes into play. I called him back several weeks later and the frettless would cost me $780. He didn't think he had NT Thumbs in a four string for a right hander. He did but he was confused. And if he did they were going to be closer to $3,000. More details of this, along with other people's experiences with him can be found on the Warwick Forum. YAMMV with him.
Not any more.
Cor-Tek (who became the Korean giant after Samick crashed and burned) moved to Indonesia.
Which brings up the question of who is going to build the Warwicks with Cor-Tek gone.
Wakwick claims that it set up its own dedicated site for the Rockbass in China, and those basses are extraordinary for their price and country of origin.
If Warwick does likewise with their Korean product, the instruments should be fine. There are plenty of out-of-work Korean guitar builders from which they can build a production force.
I have one of the new Chinese Rockbasses, and it is really a very fine instrument. Equal to any MIK bass I have played.
I agree. I am also very happy to see Korea get some business since so much Ibanez and Lakland work has gone to Indonesia.
Disagreed on both points. Warwick did ok for 20 years until they decided to go from handmade production with top shelf materials to mass production with materials many players consider inferior. I did not hear one complaint about Warwicks until the mid-90s. After the transition, my distinct impression is that quality suffered and a lot of players seem to agree. Blaming higher labor prices is a red herring. Executive-level decisions to seek higher profits are frequently to blame for the downfall of strong brands. See Gibson, Merrill Lynch, etc.
If you cannot distinguish a Korean Warwick from a German made bass, for your own good do not ever play one of the handmade originals. Your opinion may change so violently you catch a case of whiplash.
Just for the record:
only the Corvette Std. has been moved to Korea. All models from the Corvette $$ up are still made in Germany.
The higher end Warwicks will be made in Germany for the foreseeable future.
only the Corvette Std. has been moved to Korea. All models from the Corvette $$ up are still made in Germany.
The higher end Warwicks will be made in Germany for the foreseeable future.
Our supplier would be Efkay music, here in Canada.
I received the info in an e-mail from Long and McQuade's head office. It looks like we bought up the remainder of German made Warwick products available to us.
For whatever reason, Warwicks are becoming way too overpriced. The difference between a German Corvette and an NT Thumb is not enough to justify the cost. I couldn't justifying paying over $2,000 for any Warwick when you can get other basses just as good for far less.
There's been rumous about them having serious financial difficulties for some time. I have a good friend who's a former Gibson luthier who's been hearing rumors about WW for a long time.
I know they make some nice basses, but the Streamer model is a direct Spector NS knock-off. And they originally had an agreement to pay Ned and Stuart to use the design and then never paid a thing.
So in my book, that makes them unethical douche-tards (UDT's for short) anyway... and if you're going to steal someone else's hard work and then be like "What can you do about... we're German"
They deserve to go down. That's no way to do business. I mean Germany couldn't win on the battlefield so they have to play dirty in the marketplace... oh... and their women. Don't get me started on German women...
As for Korean-made basses, Spector's been there since 1986 (Kramer). Same shop. And the quality of those basses, ask anyone, is right on. I have a 22 year-old Korean Spector NS-2 that I'll put up against a German-made Streamer any day.
The move is a really bad sign if you like their basses. They have to get cost control under control so they are moving to a more "friendly" location, but in doing so, they cut their own necks because the Asian made basses have never brought the price or prestige of the Euro and USA made basses. Real or not, the perception in the marketplace is that Asian is not as good. Fender learned this the hard way in the 1980's.
BTW: Spector still makes both USA and Europe made basses AND they have their Korean line.
When Warwick is dead and gone don't fret. Come on over and get introduced to the original. Try one with an open mind and be blown away.
Forget than I'm:
1) German myself.
2) a life-long Spector fan and player
3) have a German ex-wife that disgusts me just slightly more than WW stealing the NS design.
I've played both side-by-side. And the Spector basses are just better made, nicer and although the tones can be very different, the Spector sound is better to my ears.
And those of us who are long-time dedicated and loyal Spector players won't even make fun of you for once playing Warwicks... OK. I have my fingers crossed on that last one.
I know they make some nice basses, but the Streamer model is a direct Spector NS knock-off. And they originally had an agreement to pay Ned and Stuart to use the design and then never paid a thing.
So in my book, that makes them unethical douche-tards (UDT's for short) anyway... and if you're going to steal someone else's hard work and then be like "What can you do about... we're German"
They deserve to go down. That's no way to do business. I mean Germany couldn't win on the battlefield so they have to play dirty in the marketplace... oh... and their women. Don't get me started on German women...
As for Korean-made basses, Spector's been there since 1986 (Kramer). Same shop. And the quality of those basses, ask anyone, is right on. I have a 22 year-old Korean Spector NS-2 that I'll put up against a German-made Streamer any day.
The move is a really bad sign if you like their basses. They have to get cost control under control so they are moving to a more "friendly" location, but in doing so, they cut their own necks because the Asian made basses have never brought the price or prestige of the Euro and USA made basses. Real or not, the perception in the marketplace is that Asian is not as good. Fender learned this the hard way in the 1980's.
BTW: Spector still makes both USA and Europe made basses AND they have their Korean line.
When Warwick is dead and gone don't fret. Come on over and get introduced to the original. Try one with an open mind and be blown away.
Forget than I'm:
1) German myself.
2) a life-long Spector fan and player
3) have a German ex-wife that disgusts me just slightly more than WW stealing the NS design.
I've played both side-by-side. And the Spector basses are just better made, nicer and although the tones can be very different, the Spector sound is better to my ears.
And those of us who are long-time dedicated and loyal Spector players won't even make fun of you for once playing Warwicks... OK. I have my fingers crossed on that last one.
I agree about the warwick line. The only thing warwick ever made that I consider slightly interesting is the spector knock off streamer, but they just can't hold a candle (IMHO) to the real thing. No offense to warwick people, to each their own and all that jazz.
But the women? You're seriously pooping on my "beer 'n' boobs" oktoberfest fantasies over there. How can pretty women that can carry so much beer not be awesome?
I don't disagree - Korea is *not* Indo or China, where they are using what could be called "less than ideal" employment schemes...
However, when a company that has a known national or cultural connection decides to "off-shore" it's production to save money, it bugs me - Fender leaps to mind is the biggest violator of this... But Warwick was not the same marketspace as Fender - nothing about Warwick was ever supposed to be "basses for the masses" save for their very lowest end instruments...
For my part, I'd like so see these companies adopt name that reflect their country or manufacture... Mexican Fender's could be called... uh... Fenderistas or something (?).
