• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Warwick Thumb Neck-Thru ?? Help Needed

B

Bass Clef

Jan 23, 2006
306
0
Sydney, Australia
#1
Hi Everyone,

Was wondering if anyone could tell me the difference in tone and overall performance btween a Warwick Neck-thru 5 with a Bubinga body with Ovankol-Bubinga neck & Ebony board compared to a Warwick Neck-thru 5 with a Bubinga body with a Wenge neck and board with MEC JJ "Gold Series" pickups ?

I would love to hear especially from guys who have experiences with either type.

Would like to also add would I get more punch out of a Neck Thru than a Bolt-on.

Your help and feedback would be really appreciated.

thanking you all in advance.
 
#4
The wenge necked ones are more desirable by far! They sound better, period. The newer warwicks neck looks "green" also. BTW bass nw in seattle has a used one with wenge for $2K that looks like it's in great shape. If I had the $$$ I'd jump on it!:bassist:sorry dude, just noticed you were in AU. All the serious pros I've seen use the neck thru warwicks.
 
#5
Simball said:
The wenge necked ones are more desirable by far! They sound better, period. The newer warwicks neck looks "green" also. BTW bass nw in seattle has a used one with wenge for $2K that looks like it's in great shape. If I had the $$$ I'd jump on it!:bassist:sorry dude, just noticed you were in AU.
Click to expand...

Thx Simy for your input.

Do you know why the Wenge neck ones are more desirable ?

How do they differ in tone and performance to the Ovankol-Bubinga neck & Ebony board ones ?

thx.
 
#6
People claim the wenge necks make for a clearer sound and aren't as muddy, which I've never had a problem with so I'd say it's mostly objective (like 99% of things in the bass-world are). They do seem to bring a higher price though.
 
#9
Both basses are SWEET!. The Thumb NT has the advantage of a 3 band preamp with the treble cross-over set at 8 kHz vs 2 kHz for the BO. This plus the midrange control makes a huge difference in the NT's ability to cut through the mix. Also, a Wenge fretboard really has more presence than ebony on the NT IMO. I own a 2000 Thumb Bolt-on. I had to "settle" for the BO due to too much $$$$ for the NT! Don't get me wrong-the BO cuts through, too! The 3-band preamp on the NT and the construction differences versus the BO just gives it a "different" tone and more versatility! I recently had the tech at my local Guitar Center install the EMG BQC-Control, which is a 3-band preamp with a variable mid control. Also, the treble cross-over can be set at 2.5 kHz, 5 kHz or 8 kHz. The difference in tone is AMAZING!! While I am still experimenting with the tonal possibilities, I can dial in the Thumb NT tone! To hear the NT and BO in action, check out Darren Michaels (BO 6), Ryan Martine with Mudvayne (NT) and Scott Bannevich with Edwin McCain (NT). They were instrumental in my decision to buy a Thumb, in addition to Seth Horan, who has an AWESOME SOUND on his Warwicks, but does not play a Thumb.

The bottom line is you need to play both before making your decision.


Keep God First!:hyper:

A Groove is a Terrible Thing to Waste!:cool:
 
#10
Best advice I can give you is don' let the Ovangkol haters cloud your own personal judgement of what sounds good.

Warwicks are one of those basses that are really hit or miss, especially when they went the ultra mass-production route. The ones that were a miss were really a miss, but the ones that were good were amazing. To this day, the best sounding Warwick I've ever heard was an all Ovangkol Thumb BO 5 that was hanging on the wall at a local GC right around the '00 or '01 time period. Keep in mind, by this point, I had probably owned a dozen or so Warwicks over an 8 year period, almost all of them with Wenge necks, so I had plenty of expertise in this matter.

Now, to your question, a Wenge neck and board is going to have an upper mid presence that is pretty hard to replicate with other woods. Some like this mid bumb while others hate it. If you're more of a traditional "Fender Jazz" fan, then you're probably not going to be wild about the Wenge/Wenge combo tonally, especially when matched with a Bubinga body which has a similar mid characteristic to go along with it.

Ovankol is an interesting wood. Ovangkol (also known as Shedua) has a density that is very similar to Bubinga. In fact, I believe the two wood species are from the same family. So Ovangkol and Bubinga sound really close whcih is why I think Warwick choosing Ovangkol for the Thumb BO was brilliant as it kept the price down yet gave the tone that many wanted from the Bubinga.

As a neck wood, Ovangkol is extremely stable, and again, pretty dense, not quite like Wenge, but very close. Tonally, I'd say that the Ovangkol has more of a lower-middle mid rather than an upper mid presence that Wenge has. I personally think the feel of Ovangkol is very nice, and you never have to worry about splintering like you do with the Wenge.

The addition of a Ebony board with an Ovangkol neck is pretty nice too. It's certainly getting you further away from the classic Wenge/Wenge tone, but it gives you a little more in the lows and possibly sweeter highs as compared to the brittle/harsher treble response of the Wenge.

Bottom line is that you should play a bunch of Thumbs, and pick the one that sounds best to you, regardless of wood combination. One thing to keep in mind is that the electronics in Warwicks are easily their weakest link, and they're also the easiest to modify down the road if you decide that the tone isn't working for you.
 
#11
I have the wenge NT5. Mine has basslines, but the sustain of the neck thru is unreal. This thing rings for years!! I had the bolt on 5 also which was far more mid rangey but seemed to lack the bottoms. I have played an ebony NT5 and found it to be rather muddy & dead sounding, but that just my opinion. Play both if you can & pick what sounds best to you. PS Im in Aussie also, give Michael a ring at Dominant music in Melbourne. They are the importers for Warwick.
Cheers,
Rusty
 
#12
Bass Clef said:
Do you know why the Wenge neck ones are more desirable ?
thx.
Click to expand...

in my experience, the wenge neck thing is hype. i've had both kinds of necks and prefer ovankol because of how it feels to the touch, and because of how it looks. ovankol sounds great, and it has unusual visual properties in the way it reflects light - when properly lit, you can almost see "inside" it, it has a kind of translucent appearance. matching the neck to the ovankol body (for the BO model) is therefore quite beautiful.

also worthy of consideration is the fact that the neck thru models are sustantially heavier than the bolt ons, at least 2 pounds heavier in most cases.

the advice (already given) to play several models before you buy one is a really good idea.

good luck!
 
#13
Halftooth said:
Best advice I can give you is don' let the Ovangkol haters cloud your own personal judgement of what sounds good.

Warwicks are one of those basses that are really hit or miss, especially when they went the ultra mass-production route. The ones that were a miss were really a miss, but the ones that were good were amazing. To this day, the best sounding Warwick I've ever heard was an all Ovangkol Thumb BO 5 that was hanging on the wall at a local GC right around the '00 or '01 time period. Keep in mind, by this point, I had probably owned a dozen or so Warwicks over an 8 year period, almost all of them with Wenge necks, so I had plenty of expertise in this matter.

Now, to your question, a Wenge neck and board is going to have an upper mid presence that is pretty hard to replicate with other woods. Some like this mid bumb while others hate it. If you're more of a traditional "Fender Jazz" fan, then you're probably not going to be wild about the Wenge/Wenge combo tonally, especially when matched with a Bubinga body which has a similar mid characteristic to go along with it.

Ovankol is an interesting wood. Ovangkol (also known as Shedua) has a density that is very similar to Bubinga. In fact, I believe the two wood species are from the same family. So Ovangkol and Bubinga sound really close whcih is why I think Warwick choosing Ovangkol for the Thumb BO was brilliant as it kept the price down yet gave the tone that many wanted from the Bubinga.

As a neck wood, Ovangkol is extremely stable, and again, pretty dense, not quite like Wenge, but very close. Tonally, I'd say that the Ovangkol has more of a lower-middle mid rather than an upper mid presence that Wenge has. I personally think the feel of Ovangkol is very nice, and you never have to worry about splintering like you do with the Wenge.

The addition of a Ebony board with an Ovangkol neck is pretty nice too. It's certainly getting you further away from the classic Wenge/Wenge tone, but it gives you a little more in the lows and possibly sweeter highs as compared to the brittle/harsher treble response of the Wenge.

Bottom line is that you should play a bunch of Thumbs, and pick the one that sounds best to you, regardless of wood combination. One thing to keep in mind is that the electronics in Warwicks are easily their weakest link, and they're also the easiest to modify down the road if you decide that the tone isn't working for you.
Click to expand...

I absolutely concur!! Excellent assessment!


Keep God First!:hyper:

A Groove is a Terrible Thing to Waste!:cool:
 
#14
Thx everybody for your input.

So, would you say that the wenge neck/Board would sound more scooped in the mid-range than the bubinga/ovangkol neck ,ebony board ?

Which out of the 2 would respond better to fingerstyle playing and which responds better to slapstyle or can either one do both styles very well ?
Thx,
BC
 
#15
My Thumb BO 5 (sold) had a very distinctive tone. How it does compare with an ovangkol, pretty scooped, deep lows and articulation. I guess it sounded very punchy with low growl. The ovangkol I've heard sounded somewhat different, the tone was more mid-range, a tad softer and woodier. The ovangkol body had a different look too. Was it due to the aging process, I'm not sure, but it was a lot darker looking and very dense and heavy. Maybe it was just that bass, it's often on a per-instrument basis as much as an a per-model basis.
 
#16
Bass Clef said:
Thx everybody for your input.

So, would you say that the wenge neck/Board would sound more scooped in the mid-range than the bubinga/ovangkol neck ,ebony board ?

Which out of the 2 would respond better to fingerstyle playing and which responds better to slapstyle or can either one do both styles very well ?
Thx,
BC
Click to expand...

I would say that neither is scooped at all...the mid emphasis is just placed on different frequencies for the two wood combos. The tone may be a bit more balanced with the Ovangkol/Ebony combo, but the Bubinga body is certainly going to push the bass to having a midrangey type character anyway.

Either wood combo is going to respond well for fingerstyle. The Ovangkol/Ebony is probably going to be closer to the classic slap tone than the Wenge, but it's still going to have a unique slap character all it's own.

The Wenge/Wenge can certainly be slapped, it's just not the slap tone you normally would associate with typical slap play. Normally, most slappers will roll off on the upper-mid, and that's where the tone sits with the Wenge. Again, not say that it can't be done, just not the norm.
 
#18
Best bet pal is to try any of them thru YOUR rig .. if thats possible of course . Cant always drag a rig to a shop, i know, but if the shop has an identical setup, then you're laughing. Or perhaps a mate has one they could let you test drive

The Wenge / Ovankol / Bubinga being slightly more this and silghtly more that will all go out of the window the second you change amps / cabs
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back