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Warwick value

Musicman1901

Musicman1901

Jun 1, 2012
2,190
2,183
Rochester, NY
#1
Does anybody know why Warwicks lose their value so quickly. I'm blown away at the used prices I see Warwicks sell for. I feel like no other basses lose their value so quickly. There is a Thumb NT in the classifieds for 1800$ That is almost a 3000$ loss. Just curious why this might be. I have seen it with other Warwick sales as well. I am thinking about looking for a thumb and was curious if anybody had some ideas/info about this. Thanks everybody!

Mike
 
#3
Warwick retail prices come off a little high IMO. Their Rockbass series isn't bad bang for the buck, but some of their German ones get straight ridiculous...$4k+ is custom territory. At that price mark you might as well get with a custom builder who will make exactly what you want. Totally my $0.02 on that though.
 
#4
I have never played one of the super high end ones like the SS2 or a Thumb NT but just by looking at the specs and what not I think they are very overpriced. I just find it odd how much they drop in value. I have bought a jazz bass for 1400 and turned around and sold it for 1000. I feel like warwicks lost about 50% of their value right away
 
#5
About 20 years ago, I bought a Streamer stage II with bartolini pickups brand new in Europe for the equivalent of around 900 usd (we had "guilders" at the time. Those of you from the Netherlands may remember those days).

This is one of German-made ones. Neck-through 5-piece laminated, wenge fingerboard and everything. I think I got a helluva deal there. Prices went waaaayyy up after that.

I could probably sell mine without too much depreciation (not that I have any intention to do so) :bassist:

Regards
Mark
 
#6
I have a theory, someone is bound to disagree and there are exceptions, but here it is. I think Warwicks are much more appealing to people who haven't figured out the exact details they like in a bass yet, partially because of Warwick's incessant marketing campaigns and flashy woods (which, I think, they spend way too much time on and their product suffers from it, rather than researching ergonomics of the average player, for example). I think a lot of people lust over them, particularly newer players looking for their first 'upgrade bass', and then later realize owning one isn't all its cracked up to be for whatever reason (again ergonomics, which many many players do not mesh with).

Now, when people love Warwicks, they absolutely won't play anything else. But it appears as though there are a lot of people who think they are exactly what they want, having not owned one yet, buying it and inevitably figuring it out they can be a pain in the... um, shoulder... and back, and wrist.

I can speak on this because I went through it myself, I was hypnotized with the thought of the Thumb, got one, and then a few months later realized my playing suffered as a result of it. When I went to sell it, I think a lot of people who are already buying basses on TB already figured this out. As a result, there are a lot of people going through the same cycle, and the pool of people who are willing to buy another Warwick dwindles. Supply and demand rears its head.
 
#7
Back in 2001 my custom shop NT Thumb bass cost me roughly $4k. Retail for the same bass would run around $16k with a realistic shop price of around $12-13k.

I know it's been a decade but for an instrument to triple or quadruple it's price is a bit much.

To be fair, not many manufacturers have made the same kind if investments in sustainable, eco-friendly, carbon neutral & overall earth hugging technologies & systems as Warwick have, but in the end this all costs money which is passed down to the consumer.

I guess buy a Rockbass if you like Warwick aesthetics & ergonomics but don't want to eat the super steep depreciation if you come to sell it.

Or let somebody else eat the cost & find a used one.

.
 
#9
They lose their value so fast because they look much better than they play. I don't know how people hold on to their warwicks more than a couple of months. When you play a warwick and you pick up a fender right after, it feels like droping some heavy shows off your feet and walking barefoot on fresh grass :)
 
#10
I've got a fretless 'vette', and I LOVE it...got it used for 600 bucks....would happily have payed 1500 for it new...then I went to the warwick website, and discovered that they want over 3k for it.....they're awesome basses, but they ain't custom, which is what they charge for new...
 
#12
I love Warwicks .. a friend of mine bought a neck thru streamer back in the 90s and I've been sold ever since.

I think the trouble with Warwicks is that they are different .. special .. unique .. call it what you will, which removes their mass appeal. So potential buyer group is a lot smaller and it is a lot harder to unload them.

If you buy a new Warwick and it is a keeper, then it really doesn't matter that they drop in price .. and if you're insure if Warwicks are you, then the good news is, that you can get them at a very good price used :)


All in all ... What's not to like? :D
 
#13
I have a totally different theory and I may be wrong but if all jazz bass would be the same color or almost, the market would look highly saturated and prices would go down. Warwick have a lot of models but only 2 are "popular" and are all "natural".

New Wicks are a bit too expensive for sure since they introduced the proline.
 
#16
Yeah, after reading these posts and thinking about it a bit maybe it's not that they lose value so quick. Maybe they just over charge for the new ones so it seems so ridiculous when I see the used prices. If I go through with picking up a thumb I will definitely go used or maybe even a trade if I can find somebody willing.
 
#17
I owned a warwick years ago and got rid of it for a few reasons that I think I won't have with a thumb so i'm itching to pick one up. I had a corvette in 2007 and It had that disgusting fat baseball bat neck that I hated. I don't know how ANYBODY can find that comfortable. It also had passive pickups which I was not a fan of. I'm thinking if I can find a newer thumb BO It will have the slimmer neck, active electronics, and a different body wood all together. Maybe it's risky seeing as I didn't like the corvette but I'm thinking the differences I have listed are large enough that I should give a thumb a chance...Any opinions? Would love to hear from somebody who has owned something like that. 2 warwicks with very different specs. Different body wood, passive to active, different neck etc etc. Thanks!
 
#18
I'm pretty sure you are talking about my thumb I had listed. I paid 2300 for my thumb used. Wanted to sell for 1800 because I truly felt I overpaid for it. Also no one batted an eye at it when it was around 2000, especially when other people had theirs for 1600.

German Warwick's are nice, but for some reason, the love for it quickly vanished. I had it for a month and it's gone on a trade. Honestly it's a great bass, but lacks a lot of low end. Harmonics and chords sound brilliant, slapping is easy. It didn't do anything better than my US Spector does so bye bye she goes for a six string. I lost money in the deal but when it comes to higher end basses, you are going to take a hit on resale. Buyer's market all day on used instruments.
 

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