Opinions on Warwick Thumb

#101
The
Erik Turkman said:
Thanks. In looking over this thread, I saw references to different neck profiles, different woods, and different pickups/electronics over the years. I was wondering if the different hardware color might correspond to any of those differences.
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The only real change in Warwick electronics over the years would be during the transition from emg to thier own custom in house mec electronics. They did this in the 80s or early 90s i believe. Just something interesting in the Warwick lineage. Id recommend looking through the Warwick club threads and asking around there. Lots of awesome folks on there. Even Hans Wilfer who owns the company is known for how well he treats his customers. If you email him he responds. He's that kind of guy.
 
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#102
Warwick also used Seymour Duncan pickups in the early 90's. To answer the question of whether the color of the hardware denotes differences in the Thumb line, I don't think it did initially and I don't think that's a reliable indicator. I think the bolt on was a less expensive model at first and they used chrome hardware. I had a first or second year bolt on Thumb and it came with silver hardware and SD pickups and preamp, Bubinga body and full Wenge neck. I think the changes can be seen more over time between the 90's and the early 2000's just by year. Early 2000's when they went to ovangkol and then they played around with neck profiles. I think the hardware colors now may delineate more by level of the bass but it also depends on what they think looks good with the finish on the bass. RB's by and large seem to come with chrome hardware... I think. You could always get different color hardware so that was an easy upgrade. So I wouldn't go by that for figuring out where a particular instrument falls in the line. You can check serial numbers on the Warwick website for specific details about the individual bass you are looking at.
For this and other fun facts, join us over in the Warwick group!
 
#103
I've owned some of them:
- NT 5 strings (MY 96/97, really do not remember, but on the back of the tuners there's still "made in west Germany" I believe they wre still using warehouse funds of the previous era)
- BO 5 strings (MY 00/01)
- NT 4 strings (MY 13/14 - german custom shop)
I kept the BO 5 because it's the best sounding Thumb I've ever had in my hands: punchier than the NT and clearer than the 4 strings custom shop, but heavy as hell and neck diving like crazy, so very unconfortable to play, but the sound you get from the right Thumb is simply unique (love it or hate it, I love it!)
 
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#107
IMG_9600.jpeg
 
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#108
I’m a lefty and German Warwicks are hard to find. I currently have these 3 posted above. The thumb5 is a 2006 Bolt On. It’s not too heavy or imbalanced and just has that insane growl.
I have owned in the past a Thumb4 NT which had the most insane harmonics on any bass I have ever played. The sustain was off the charts too. Had a Thumb4 BO fretless as well as another Thumb5 BO. They are all just quality basses and so unique. The tiny bodies look funny on my larger frame though!
 
#109
Here's a potentially dumb question: how does a Thumb differ from a Corvette, other than body shape? I just bought a BO Corvette 5 (Like it very much). I see BO Thumbs advertised for significantly higher prices that seem to have the same MEC JJ pickups and electronics. What's the reason for the price premium on Thumbs?
 
#110
CaptainLeisure said:
Here's a potentially dumb question: how does a Thumb differ from a Corvette, other than body shape? I just bought a BO Corvette 5 (Like it very much). I see BO Thumbs advertised for significantly higher prices that seem to have the same MEC JJ pickups and electronics. What's the reason for the price premium on Thumbs?
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Thumbs will have a fully carved and arched body that the Vette does not have, and better electronics.

The Thumb 5's have soapbar pickups in a different arrangement than the vette as well.

Edit- I am mistaken about the soapbars...:rolleyes:
 
#113
I've owned several Warwick basses including a couple of German made Thumbs, the first one being a 2005 and the current being a 1998 with all wenge neck and fretboard.

I prefer the later though both sound great, very clear punch, with terrefic note definition and separation while playing riffs or bass runs that accentuate the song and your playing.

They are a little neck heavy but a decent strap mitigates that to a large extent and many players play them low so the neck is naturally supported by the playing stance required.

You will always cut through the mix and every note will be heard. The neck is not bassball like and I have never understood people saying that. I would liken it to a Gibson neck as its very easy to transition from Gibson to Warwick or the reverse as I play both. (So did Jack Bruce obviously)
 
#114
I still own my '94 (?) Warwick Thumb that I bought from Brian Barrett way back in the old days. Yes, it's heavy at 10.5 lbs, and the balance is a bit less ideal than other basses, but it sounds absolutely amazing, and still plays more easily than almost any other bass I've owned. I will never sell it.

I changed out the MEC pickups pretty early. First I put in EMGs, and those worked well but had enough of a native tone that I felt I wasn't hearing the bass itself as much.
After that, I put in the Lane Poor pickups which is still has now, and those were a beautiful match to the bass - clear, open, clean and full-range, with a midrange focus that perfectly suited the bass.

Interestingly enough, despite the name and the reputation, I could never get a slap sound from it that would cut through. It has an amazing fingerstyle tone that cuts through anything, but the slap tone (at least for me) didn't punch though the way I hoped. To be fair, I feel this way about basically every neck-through-body bass I've ever owned, so it's not unique to the Thumb. Maybe if I used compression or something - but I quit slapping by around 2000 and haven't really done it since.

They're funny basses - very much their own special thing - but I still love mine, and it still makes me happy every time I play it. It' s like my "'90s bass culture" totem animal. (I used to play it strung with Daddario Reds, through an ADA MB-1 and a pair of Acme Low-B2 cabinets, for maximum '90s vibes.)

This is reminding me that it's been a while. I'm going to go get it out of the case now. Thanks for that!
 
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#115
I've tried to love these at all costs and just ended up selling them off every time. They sound awesome but are crazy unbalanced and the 1st position ends up being such a stretch based on the layout.
 
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#116
Tonegasm said:
I've tried to love these at all costs and just ended up selling them off every time. They sound awesome but are crazy unbalanced and the 1st position ends up being such a stretch based on the layout.
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This.

I felt extremely tempted by a very-well-kept '89 Thumb a couple of months ago. Good price as well. It has taken me 3-4 days to finally snap out of it...but in the end this turned out to be a rare occasion of my own sanity winning...:D
 
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