Warwick basses

  • Thread starter Thread starter DonGraham
  • Start date Start date
D

DonGraham

New member
Well, I just broke down and bought a Warwick Corvette FNA Jazzman 5-string bass.........I have played guitar for 20 years and now bass for about 3 years. I upgraded from an ibanez soundgear 5-string, and the warwick sounds SO much better. I am just curious......any other Warwick users out there....Opinions, experience??? Advise??????
 
My friend has a 4-string fretless Warwick. Very sexy looking, with a deep sexy voice. ;)
 
FNA Jazzman OH YEAH!

I bought a five string FNA Jazzman about a year or two ago. You're going to LOVE IT, man! ;)

It's become my main "go to" bass after many decades of being primarily a Fender Jazz guy. It fits in with almost all styles of music, sounds good through any amp (and it's the ONLY bass I own that I can say that about) and cuts through every mix like butter.

The only complaint that I have with it has to do with it's demanding requirements in regards to strings. For one thing, it is designed for use with strings that are tapered at the ends. If you use anything besides the Warwick strings, you have to modify either the strings, or the bass. Fortunately, it sounds excellent with the Warwick Black Label strings that came with it, so that's what I decided to stay with. However, you have to change them pretty often, to keep it sounding good. Unlike my other basses (Fenders and Gibsons) which mellow gracefully as the strings age, the Warwick seems to strongly prefer relatively fresh strings, and it'll go from sounding incredible to sounding totally dull and lifeless very suddenly.

However, as long as you feed it a steady diet of good strings, it'll make you very happy. The only time I'm playing one of my Fender Jazz basses these days is when I play with an acoustic trio. The acoustic instruments seem to sound better with the mellower Fender sound. However, I have come to believe that, if you own a Warwick and a Fender Jazz, you've got about 95% of the bass tones that you will EVER need, from classic to modern. And you will find that you will actually end up using the Warwick about five times more often than a Fender.

Anyway, that's been my experience. As always, YMMV.

Happy playing! :)
 
I'm not much of a warwick man myself. I feel they have too much of an exagerated bass and not enough mid character for me. They are punchy as hell though, and will fit very well with sertain styles of music. Just not for me.

I have heard some recordings of an Infinity semi hollow body, and I thought it sounded amazing. I absolutely loved that tone. Unfortunately, they are sold next to nowhere, and they cost a couple of thousand dollars. That's about a couple of thousand dollars beyond my budget right now :)
 
I play a 1999 Warwick Thumb BO 4 string. It's good for slap and pop, but also sounds good with finger style. But, it is probably not the best choice for acoustic settings as already mentioned.
 
Back
Top