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Why do people hate/shun warwick rockbasses?
- Thread starter jacksonguy95
- Start date
Rockbass made some REALLY nice equipment between 2005-2008 (don't quote exact years here) or so. The almond burst finish with the flame maple top, a high mass bridge, real MEC pick ups and a potent preamp made them an amazing buy for the buck.
Then something changed. The materials they started using became way worse. I don't remember if there was an actual transition between Korea to China or anything like that, but when we got them in our store, they were complete CRAP.
Next came the Rockbasses with the W on the headstock and I feel like they've somewhat redeemed themselves quality wise, but the price is (from someone who sells instruments for a living) too high.
Warwick changed hands from Dana B Goods, to Davitt and Hanser (BC Rich, Traben, Michael Kelly), and most recently to US. Musicorp (Washburn).
As far as their amps go? Well, I've used their amps exclusively since 2006 and have NO COMPLAINTS at ALL. I use the Quad IV head with either a 411 pro cab, or the new neo 112 cabs. I love the clean preamps and the fact that what ever bass I plug in, is whatever tone I get coming from the speakers. There isn't a ton of EQ on my head, but it's very powerful.
Durability? Well, playing a private party I made the mistake of putting my jack & coke on my head instead of in the cup holder. I looked over a few minutes later and saw a pool had formed on top of my head. Sure, the amp stopped working and I went direct the rest of the gig, but a few sprays of contact cleaner and away she went. It's been 6 years and still no service necessary (knock on wood).
I love Warwick. I just wish they would be more reasonable with their pricing.
Then something changed. The materials they started using became way worse. I don't remember if there was an actual transition between Korea to China or anything like that, but when we got them in our store, they were complete CRAP.
Next came the Rockbasses with the W on the headstock and I feel like they've somewhat redeemed themselves quality wise, but the price is (from someone who sells instruments for a living) too high.
Warwick changed hands from Dana B Goods, to Davitt and Hanser (BC Rich, Traben, Michael Kelly), and most recently to US. Musicorp (Washburn).
As far as their amps go? Well, I've used their amps exclusively since 2006 and have NO COMPLAINTS at ALL. I use the Quad IV head with either a 411 pro cab, or the new neo 112 cabs. I love the clean preamps and the fact that what ever bass I plug in, is whatever tone I get coming from the speakers. There isn't a ton of EQ on my head, but it's very powerful.
Durability? Well, playing a private party I made the mistake of putting my jack & coke on my head instead of in the cup holder. I looked over a few minutes later and saw a pool had formed on top of my head. Sure, the amp stopped working and I went direct the rest of the gig, but a few sprays of contact cleaner and away she went. It's been 6 years and still no service necessary (knock on wood).
I love Warwick. I just wish they would be more reasonable with their pricing.
I got a "W" RB Streamer and it was within the three worst new basses I've seen in over forty years of playing and servicing basses. It was HORRIBLE and in every possible way, complete and utter garbage, never mind the body was literally made out of spruce framing lumber so soft everything screwed into it was pulling out.
It was a breathtakingly terrible instrument in every way.
The replacement was fine.
Warwicks are the most wildly overpriced basses throughout their entire line I've ever seen -- ridiculous. But...sometimes the Rockbass instruments show up at long discount and are great deals at sale price.
As I write, Invalid Link Removed, and the one I got from them last year was almost flawlessly built, a really beautiful job. Two-piece alder body, laminated maple neck. Same German MEC Gold pickups and electronics, same German (presumably Schaller) machines and hardware, Warwick straplocks, the works.
I don't particularly like Warwicks of any kind, but I can't deny it was a great value and a nicely made bass.
Some of the backlash against the RockBasses is politics. When they are no-longer made in China, one might begin to see a more favorable reception. The 2010 RB line is very close to a German-made Warwick in design and layout (just different woods), and high quality for the price, but there are many who simply refuse to play a Chinese-made instrument.
Interesting thread, since I have one coming today. (Rock Bass Streamer Std...whatever that is.) I am treating myself to a bass since I stopped smoking during Thanksgiving....
I have never really been able to afford the American Fenders (I'm a Fender guy) since my 1st one, a '72 P-bass, same for high end foreign makes. I have played many high end basses in the stores and just can't justify the cost. My MIJ P and J basses work as well as the American P bass (for me anyway) except keeping the action set, need to adjust so much more. I guess the wood is just that much less quality, the grain in my 72 maple neck was as straight as an arrow.
Anyhow, I can't wait to see my new rockbass (make gill motions with your hands on your neck and blow bubbles...) Should really be able to honk on some Walter 'Trout' or maybe some 'Phish'.....
I hope that 'Carolena' (Carolina yellow pine?) body has nice grain.
BTW the price was right, $399 at Sam Ash.
I'll update later.
I have never really been able to afford the American Fenders (I'm a Fender guy) since my 1st one, a '72 P-bass, same for high end foreign makes. I have played many high end basses in the stores and just can't justify the cost. My MIJ P and J basses work as well as the American P bass (for me anyway) except keeping the action set, need to adjust so much more. I guess the wood is just that much less quality, the grain in my 72 maple neck was as straight as an arrow.
Anyhow, I can't wait to see my new rockbass (make gill motions with your hands on your neck and blow bubbles...) Should really be able to honk on some Walter 'Trout' or maybe some 'Phish'.....
I hope that 'Carolena' (Carolina yellow pine?) body has nice grain.
BTW the price was right, $399 at Sam Ash.
I'll update later.
Agree; I just recently picked an active Corvette for about $360, really cheap for a new bass, and it just rocks. It is one of the most clearly articulated instruments that I have ever played, and the sound is to die for. The finish is a bit spartan but the body is realy nicely bookmatched and the construction is stellar. After playing it I can really see why the Rockbass line received top marks from Bass Player magazine.
They made that name up themselves, BTW.
All it is is spruce framing lumber, like from Home Depot.
Exactly.
The first one I got was really dire. It was too soft to hold screws. When unpacking it, I reached down and pulled the strap knob out with my hand. The body looked like it was made from random 2x6 floor joist scraps scrounged off a construction site, with some nasty orange stain applied with a broom.
I think they're smoking crack to use this wood for a body.
I got a gloss black one as a replacement and it seems infinitely better, but I'm still really dubious about the integrity of that spruce body. I have this vivid picture of the tailpiece spontaneously parting from the body and hitting me in the face. It's only held on by two (2) screws in soft wood.
A bunch of us price-matched this deal with M123 and got them for $273, but they stopped that. I wouldn't have paid a penny more for this model, myself.
I think MSRP is around $1200, which is totally insane.
Good luck with yours!
They made that name up themselves, BTW.
All it is is spruce framing lumber, like from Home Depot.
Exactly.
The first one I got was really dire. It was too soft to hold screws. When unpacking it, I reached down and pulled the strap knob out with my hand. The body looked like it was made from random 2x6 floor joist scraps scrounged off a construction site, with some nasty orange stain applied with a broom.
I think they're smoking crack to use this wood for a body.
I got a gloss black one as a replacement and it seems infinitely better, but I'm still really dubious about the integrity of that spruce body. I have this vivid picture of the tailpiece spontaneously parting from the body and hitting me in the face. It's only held on by two (2) screws in soft wood.
A bunch of us price-matched this deal with M123 and got them for $273, but they stopped that. I wouldn't have paid a penny more for this model, myself.
I think MSRP is around $1200, which is totally insane.
Good luck with yours!
Thankyoutoomuch! As with anything most either love 'em or hate 'em...msrp is 1300 on most sites.
I'm gonna rip the strap buttons off w/ my bare hands when I get it, just to prove you right. Besides, I hate strap locks....
Doesn't Martin (and EVERYBODY else) still use spruce for their soundboards?
A guitar player buddy of mine wanted to get a 5'er to do some home recording and bought a Rockbass without calling me first! He had nothing but problems with this bass, including a neck that would simply not settle down... the action was deplorable, the pick ups dead sounding and the body wood as has already been mentioned, is so soft, I was afraid to look at it the wrong way!
He asked me to try and get this thing playable and it took me the better part of 2 weeks to get the neck into some what playable form.
He picked it up form my last week, looked at the action, said it was substancially better than what it was before he brought it to me and now is planning on selling it to buy something, that he can actually play.
Sorry, but no Rockbasses for this cat!
Fishheadjoe
He asked me to try and get this thing playable and it took me the better part of 2 weeks to get the neck into some what playable form.
He picked it up form my last week, looked at the action, said it was substancially better than what it was before he brought it to me and now is planning on selling it to buy something, that he can actually play.
Sorry, but no Rockbasses for this cat!
Fishheadjoe
If it won't hold screws, it ain't decent framing lumber!
the exchange rate with the Euro has a LOT to do with their high pricing
I think the Warwick fanboys feel that the rock bass cheapens the brand. Especially now that they don't even say Rockbass on the headstock.
I have no sit down time with one but I am always glad that companies make budget instruments. I play a Squier Jazz and I will never sell her.
I have no sit down time with one but I am always glad that companies make budget instruments. I play a Squier Jazz and I will never sell her.
Thats how I feel about it too... I tried a couple at my local music store and they were pretty solid but down here a rock bass sets you back 1000 dollars.
Sure, but they don't expect them to hold screws.
Anyway, that's of course an entirely different situation than a solid-body bass.
Strange that Warwick, obsessed as they are with the real and imagined virtues of exotic hardwood, would use this. Seems crazy from them, especially.
It's funny you should mention this, as I just got done adjusting the neck on this Streamer a few minutes ago for the third time since I got it, and I haven't played it ten minutes since it came in (at least it comes with a nice wrench!).
I don't think this is limited to the Rockbass, as I see it all the time with import maple necks, and the thinner they are the worse it is...and the Streamer has a thin neck.
I'm pretty convinced that this is a curing problem, but it's very real. After a few years they seem to settle down some, so you might be able to wait it out.
I went through the same thing on some ATKs a while back, and those necks are immense.
I also think that there's a porosity problem with those thin matte finishes that aggravates this. It doesn't seem as pronounced on thick gloss-finished necks.
The action on these is fine and the pickups are the same as the other Warwicks...though the pots are cheapies.
The frets were surprisingly good on the Corvette and Streamer I kept, but awful on the one that went back.
The problem with the Rockbass is obviously totally nonexistent QC.
And some bad judgment calls on things like the Streamer's framing lumber body.
Aside from that, the ones I kept were fine. I have no gripe with the Corvette at all.
Just out of curiosity, I went and got the Corvette, which I hadn't touched in at least six months.
The neck was dead-on where I set it and it was still in tune.
Wow.
Lot more stable than the Streamer, and a bit thicker neck. It's a surprisingly nice bass.
The neck was dead-on where I set it and it was still in tune.
Wow.
Lot more stable than the Streamer, and a bit thicker neck. It's a surprisingly nice bass.
I must be lucky then, my Rockbass Corvette is a really nice little bass. It's made in China, but so what? Chinese people need jobs too and at $360 bucks it was a steal. The biggest difference that I saw between mine and the German model is lumber used. The Rockbass uses alder for the body instead of bubinga, and alder is still a good tonewood. Maybe I am just lucky but I really like mine. With that being said, if you are that worried about quality control, try it out at the local music store, even if you buy on line most merchants have a 45 day return window. Now, if you buy from a private seller on E-Bay that is a different story; speaking for myself, I do not care for doing business on E-Bay, but hey it's your money.
I'm sure they're good basses, but it's that cheesy 90's "Rockbass" written in hair metal letters on the headstock (very Scorpions) that means I will never own one.
OK. Just took it out of the box. 1st thought, 'Honey Violin' is a german word for 'Orange'. Not that it isn't nice to look at but it doesn't seem to be a color normally found in natural wood.
The routings at the pickup recesses are a little rough. Sending all 3 adjustment tools is a nice touch, so since the ski slope was a little steep out of the box, twist the truss rod a 1/2 turn or so.
Now, without readjusting the bridge or the apparently adjustable nut, the action is as low as I have ever been able to get an action set to on any bass, and no buzzing. I hope it will hold since it plays great! For a Fender guy I feel like I can do anything on this neck I could do with my favorite, my Warmoth J neck on my P bass.
Plugged it in to my Hartke Kickback 15 practice amp. It sounds a little muddy compared to my P bass and a LOT muddy compared to the J, but the neck is not as noisy as either one, maybe just lack of high end response from these pickups. This is a passive bass since it is my conviction that batteries may be allowed to go dead in a smoke detector or a transistor radio, but NEVER in an instrument.
I won't be able to evaluate how I like or dislike the sound until I play it with the band but I am really happy that the parts that are screwed in to the CaroLENA pine body can't be pulled out by hand. (I tried). So far, pleased with the look, VERY pleased with the action, less than thrilled with the mid-high end response. I could turn up the treble on the amp but that's SACRILEGE!
I LOVE MY ROCKBASS!!! It's the same story with Gibson v. Epiphone and Fender v. Squier. I have a Fender Strat and would never consider owning a Squier. Had an Epiphone LP and would never own one again, I'd go Gibson. Maybe one day I'll play an actual Warwick and have to get rid of the RockBass but for now, I LOVE IT.
@ Fourstringbliss; the praise team leader at church was wondering if I could really you a RockBass to play church music. I quit. And it is really cheeeeezy.
@ Fourstringbliss; the praise team leader at church was wondering if I could really you a RockBass to play church music. I quit. And it is really cheeeeezy.
