SOLD Warwick Thumb B.O. 5 Dirty Blonde Ltd 2006 (New Demo Video Added!)

I purchased this gem a few years back on TB and after a little setup to taste, this is the easiest playing bass I own. It hasn’t left the house since it has been in my possession and has earned a few minor nicks and dings through the course of its life. I would guess it's about 7.5/10 condition.

For this limited edition, the pickup configuration isn’t in the typical Thumb 5 location, but it includes a push-pull Active/Passive volume, pickup balance, 3 band eq, with P and splittable Humbucker pickup configuration, which offer a massive tonal palette that is more often seen in more expensive boutique instruments. If you’re just looking for the classic Thumb growl, it’s going to be more or less pronounced based on the setup - the nut is adjustable, the saddle height and string spacing are adjustable, and if that’s not enough, the entire bridge is adjustable.

If I were in a situation where I could comfortably leave this out at home, I would be playing and staring at it all day. It is one of the finest instruments I have seen or played, but I feel guilty keeping it to only take it out on special occasions. It deserves a good home. Previous owner reported bathroom scale weight of 8.7 lbs.

Price includes shipping within the lower 48 states, insured, and it comes shipped in a heavy duty Warwick Flight case (pictured).



Note: The original Warwick tuners were replaced by a previous owner with Hipshot tuners, with a detuner on the Low B (it catches the volute slightly when used). I will also include a standard tuner replacement, as was given to me. If you search TB, you'll find that failure of the standard Warwick tuners is pretty common and this is a nice upgrade. I did not receive the certificate of authenticity, strap lock pins, or instrument care guide/tool kit when purchasing this bass. I therefore will not be able to provide them with this sale. I did pick up an appropriate hex tool for making truss rod adjustments that I am happy to include or share a reference to the tool (costs ~$8 dollars on Amazon).

 

At this point my preference is a sale. I'm pretty happy with my current stable and have particular tastes for anything I would be adding. I would entertain a trade if the right Pedulla Buzz/Pentabuzz/Hexabuzz (closer to retirement years) or Marleaux Diva/MBass/Consat came along. For a brief 24 hour period I had my dream of owning a used Pedulla Pentabuzz, but uncovered a bulge/swell in the skunk stripe and was lucky enough to be able to return it. I'm a little less keen on having my dreams crushed again, because it was otherwise perfect lol.

Non-bass trade interest: Mesa Subway 1x12 or 2x12 in custom Surf Green or Teal Bronco, Mesa Subway TT-800, Demeter VTBP-201S Bass Preamp.

If any of those come along, I would happily figure out how to balance the deal. Thank you for asking.

 

I had a few questions around the volute and detuner, so I’m attaching pictures here for interested parties (and proof that there is no damage).

 

Yes. The controls are

1) Stacked - [Top] Volume (Push/Pull - Active/Passive) / [Bottom] Pickup Blend
2) Mid
3) Stacked - [Top] Treble (Push/Pull - Boost+Cut / Split Coil Cut) / [Bottom] Bass (Boost+Cut)

They have the schematic still on Warwick's website: https://www.warwick.de/warwick/data...F/Scematic/Warwick_LDT/W_L_2006_60057rev2.pdf.

They also have the original specifications here: en/Warwick---Products--Instruments--Customshop---Masterbuilt--Basic-Bass-Models--Ltd.-Editions--2006---Thumb-BO-Dirty-Blonde---5--5-string--Features.html

I'm happy to throw together a video demo later to go a little more in depth if anything is unclear.

 

Here is a quick demo of the electronics and pickup configuration. I had an unusual number of technical difficulties putting this together - it's not perfect and I apologize in advance for some of the clipping with the mid boost (it was from the vocal mic, not the bass/DI). If anyone really wants clean DI'ed audio I can throw something together, but this is a reasonable approximation. Just imagine this, but better and cleaner.

 

Today I Learned:
From Warwick Thumb Bass | Vintage Guitar® magazine

 

I think it gets pretty close to the regular thumb sound when you're soloing the bridge pickup in either humbucker or single coil mode. The bridge pickup isn't on a slant like the standard thumb, but I think you'll find that it still has that thumb sound, with the bonus of PJ, P, and J style tone configurations. And there's a lot of versatility with the EQ. I don't have enough experience with a Streamer to give an authoritative response, but I'd expect you could get close.

As for the neck, it's definitely not "thin". It's not their chunkiest neck, but it's more on the chunky side than the thin side.