=The Warwick Thumb Club=

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Really very strange this shift !
How are you tuned ?
 

kimgee

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Wow. That's different. You could have just put a capo at the first fret and accomplished the same thing I think. It's still a 34" scale bass, but now you don't have the E A D G open string notes. Instead, you will have to tune the open strings to F Bb Eb Ab to maintain the correct pitch at all the other frets. You can't change the scale length on a fretted instrument without moving all the frets due to the fact that the scale length change also changes the distances between the points along each string where the correct pitch is located. You can verify this with an accurate electronic tuner. Maybe converting it to fretless would be the way to go. You could then just mark the correct pitch locations down the side of the neck.
 
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It's still a 34" scale bass, but now you don't have the E A D G open string notes.

It's tuned EADG, and its scale length is 32 inches. It's exactly as if we capoed at first fret and tuned down a half step. You don't have to move your frets when you use a capo, do you?

The intonation is still perfect.

We also moved the dot markers on the side of the fretboard. You can see the dot at the new third fret in this picture.
20200405_093203.jpg
 
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Hi all, here is my '06 thumb BO 4. I got it late last year, along with a NT5, but I got on with the 4 a lot better. After being a Fender player for years, I really like the feel and look of Warwicks, especially the thumb. I just had a solid brass nut made for it.
IMG_20200405_164609270.jpg
IMG_20200405_164633006.jpg
 
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Hi tgsm7, welcome on board!
Your nut look like very solid yes but you loose the adjustment possibility.
 

kimgee

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It's tuned EADG, and its scale length is 32 inches. It's exactly as if we capoed at first fret and tuned down a half step. You don't have to move your frets when you use a capo, do you?

The intonation is still perfect.

We also moved the dot markers on the side of the fretboard. You can see the dot at the new third fret in this picture. View attachment 21385

Well, if it makes you happy........that's all that really matters.

However, I would like to point out that a capo does not, and is not used for, changing the scale length. It is commonly used on "egg slicers" to facilitate the easier playing of certain songs. If you place a capo at the 5th fret on said 6 string your open strings would change from EADGBE to ADGCEA. The intonation doesn't change in this scenario because you don't change the tuning, you are just fretting all the strings at the 5th fret. It appears you have effectively shortened the scale length by approximately 2 inches. I am pretty certain that the distances between the frets on a 32" and 34" scale instruments is not exactly the same. It would be very close, but not exact. Please understand that I am not trying to discourage or upset you. I am just presenting some, hopefully useful, factual information. There may be a member here with much more knowledge in this area than me, and if so, I invite them to share their insight on this topic. If I am incorrect in my analysis here, I would definitely like to know where I am going wrong.

I would like to add that I use a capo on my basses on a regular basis as a setup tool. I put it at the first fret and then I can easily hold down a string at the fret closest to the pickups and check the neck relief by measuring the gap between the string and the 12th fret.
 
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Hi tgsm7, welcome on board!
Your nut look like very solid yes but you loose the adjustment possibility.

Thanks for the welcome Luc

I'd rather have the full contact of the nut,t 2 small points of the JUN 3, also I trust my tech with the set up.
 
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Please understand that I am not trying to discourage or upset you. I am just presenting some, hopefully useful, factual information. There may be a member here with much more knowledge in this area than me, and if so, I invite them to share their insight on this topic. If I am incorrect in my analysis here, I would definitely like to know where I am going wrong.

If you compared the fret spacing of a 34-inch bass from the first fret to the bridge, and the fret spacing of a bass that has a 32-inch scale length from the nut to the bridge, you'd learn something very interesting. They're identical.

True fact!
 

kimgee

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Here is a link to a very useful fret position calculator provided by the StewMac luthier tool and supplies company. It clearly shows the fret spacing differences between a 34" and 32" scale:

Fret Position Calculator | stewmac.com
 
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Here is a link to a very useful fret position calculator provided by the StewMac luthier tool and supplies company. It clearly shows the fret spacing differences between a 34" and 32" scale:

Fret Position Calculator | stewmac.com
Perhaps you're not understanding what you're seeing. Plug in a scale length of 34-inches and look at the fret spacing from the first fret up. Then plug in a scale length of 32.08 inches and look at the fret spacing from the nut up. You'll see that they're identical to within a thousandth of inch.
 
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Well, I believe the solution you found is creative. It is not about mm or 1/1000 inch. If you are happy with the bass playability, this is what counts!! Enjoying playing!!!
 

kimgee

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Well, I believe the solution you found is creative. It is not about mm or 1/1000 inch. If you are happy with the bass playability, this is what counts!! Enjoying playing!!!
As I stated previously, I completely agree. I am just trying to prevent the spread of misinformation, as there is already an overabundance of that around.
 
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Hey all! I am new to the group and joined to get some inform and advice about my Thumb (bass).
Its a 91 NT 5.
Iv had it for a number of years now and have always been happy with its sound.
I have been thinking lately about moving it along and trying another tye of Warwick bass.
Firstly, if i were to sell, what sort of price does this type of Thumb go for?
Secondly, what other Warwick basses have an equally (if not better) sound and feel than the Thumb?

Thanks!
 

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Hey all! I am new to the group and joined to get some inform and advice about my Thumb (bass).
Its a 91 NT 5.
Iv had it for a number of years now and have always been happy with its sound.
I have been thinking lately about moving it along and trying another tye of Warwick bass.
Firstly, if i were to sell, what sort of price does this type of Thumb go for?
Secondly, what other Warwick basses have an equally (if not better) sound and feel than the Thumb?

Thanks!

Welcome, mate!

Worth of a 91‘ Thumb NT5: maybe 1.800 Euro here in Germany.
Better sound: most people would say there is no better sound.
Better feel/playability: a lot of people dislike the neck dive of a Thumb 5 string. Only the Buzzard and the Stryker are worse, all other Warwicks offer a better balance.

My thoughts! Greetz!
 
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Hey all! I am new to the group and joined to get some inform and advice about my Thumb (bass).
Its a 91 NT 5.
Iv had it for a number of years now and have always been happy with its sound.
I have been thinking lately about moving it along and trying another tye of Warwick bass.
Firstly, if i were to sell, what sort of price does this type of Thumb go for?
Secondly, what other Warwick basses have an equally (if not better) sound and feel than the Thumb?

Thanks!

Nothing sounds quite like a thumb, in my experience. Other basses sound different. Better or worse - that's a matter of taste entirely.
 
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The one with another unique sound but better playability would be a Streamer II (imo) - probably around the same price
 
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1988 OG Pomelle Bubinga with a bit of burl mixed in there. Played like a dream right out of the box when Fed-Ex dropped it off this afternoon... it sat around for sale on Reverb and Talk Bass forever. But I'm glad it did or I wouldn't own it. Has one flaw with a non proprietary truss rod cover being fitted (screw holes mercifully covered by standard version). I'm in love though, plays like a dream, super easy to play elaborate chords on, lightening fast and easy to finger. Way more playable than I'd have thought (my previous bass was a Tune Zi II that I begrudgingly played for years - fast neck, crap tone and super high string tension that always bugged me. Neck dive out the wazoo too).

I'm finally a member after a lot of years of standing in the door. I first played a Warwick Thumb in 1992 at the Bass Player in Melbourne Australia. It was a 5 string NT that always stuck in my head as being the nicest bass I'd played outside of a late 80s PRS bass I jammed on when I was pretty young. This is obviously a 4 string. But it's from the era I wanted, and there's plenty of time to get a 5 as well. Just so over the moon, I'm not really into the modern hype about wood, but I'm loving that weird grain from the burl. Not that appearances matter, I'm pretty sure back in the day a bass like this one was considered a problem sell (has grain shifting on the back that is cool as hell, but would have been a defect in 1988).
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