A huge question about RockBass Electronics.

Augie

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If it said MEC pre, or MEC electronics in the order form or online description of the product you may have a case for it being not as described. Basically they said it was one thing and sent you another.
 
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Hey guys,

A few weeks ago I sent Warwick an email just praising their products and Hans Peter replied to me personally. We sent a few emails back and forth. When this issue came up last night, I was very emotional and I sent him an email.

He responded back to me saying that some of them having an original german MEC Electronic and some of them (depending the price point) have electronics made in Korea. He went into further detail stating that the ones with a German preamp have the German MEC pots too, and the ones with the Korean preamp have Korean pots.


This, to me, explains the confusion and seemingly contradicting information out there. I'm not sure exactly which Rockbass models have the German MEC's, but I'd say it's obviously judging the price point. So the Fortress, Streamer NT, and Robert Trujillo signature should have the German MEC's, possibly the Corvette Classic and Premium have them too, but the others (Streamer LX and Corvette Basic Active) likely have Korean MEC.

Oddball, when you open up the control cavity, what does it say on the preamp - does it say MEC?
 
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I will check when I get home. I am feeling bad now. I sent an email to company that I bought the bass from this morning. I was a little emotional about this whole thing. The bass looks and plays great but the pre is a little lacking.

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Florin

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You should know I am reading this topic, and having some mail exchanges, hoping to bring a clear statement about electronics.

My personale take on this is - they are great basses for the money, with or without german electronics. I sold and owned ... a few of them... :)
Hard to tell the German one at a blind test, really :)
 
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Thank you Florin.

I do agree that all Rockbass basses that I have played sound great, and I understand not all models having German MEC electronics - especially the lower cost of the Streamer LX for example. However, it still does leave a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth that I was under the impression the Streamer LX had German electronics when I bought it. Whether or not they sound identical, that's not the point. I paid for the bass believing it had German MEC electronics. Period.

I think the website should clearly differentiate which basses have German or Korean MEC's to prevent this from happening in the future. But that is merely my opinion.

I will check when I get home. I am feeling bad now. I sent an email to company that I bought the bass from this morning. I was a little emotional about this whole thing. The bass looks and plays great but the pre is a little lacking.

Oddball, don't feel bad. I think everyone here understands such an emotional response. We are passionate about our instruments. Some of us treat them like an extension of ourselves. The feeling of being misled, even if it was completely unintenional, hurts.

To all, I just asked a follow up question to Hans Peter about the pickups. Hans Peter stated that all Rockbass pickups are German MEC's. Just so that's clearly stated.
 

Florin

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Matthew, the thing is we changed some things since we first announced the new Rockbass line. First batch was not really OK, we delayed first shippings, some of you remember this.
Specs had changed, so they are changed on our website too, but we couldn't remove all the promotional videos out there...
At the moment, fortress line has German MEC electronics, while the rest of the Rockbass line have Korean electronics approved by MEC.
So the electronics on the other basses are not made in China, but in Korea.

As a bass player I can see your disappointment, and I hope you consider keeping the bass as it is... If this matters to you, I never use any preamp MEC or Korean, the bypass switch is my best friend :)
 
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So my fortress should have German pickups and German Pre?



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How can I tell if they are German MEC?

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the rest of the Rockbass line have Korean electronics approved by MEC.

So the Korean electronics are not made by MEC in Korea, they are made by a different manufacturer, and the components have only been approved by MEC?
 
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I can prove that only Fortress comes with MEC pre-amp.

All the Fortress that we got in Colombia authorized stores got it (They were made on December 2013) and mine which is from 2013 has it too.

First of all you can see it by yourself opening the compartment cover and looking the pots, they must say MEC and well it comes with push/pull option for active/passive.

I kept my NT I, it does not have the MEC preamp but it is a killer bass.

So only Robert Trujillo, Fortress and Bootsy Collins got MEC preamps. The other ones got generic ones.

I hope this can clear the info for you. Even the user manual says it.
 
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Thanks Duvan. I'm curious what manual you're referring to though, I just looked at the one on the website and the Rockbass user manual doesn't state anything about MEC electronics... Just MEC pickups.


Warwick had a lot of youtube videos stating incorrect information (sure they only had one or two when I looked a few days ago, but they changed a lot of their videos at the end of last year - and there's a lot of videos that have been removed), and these videos were up for long time, sometimes years.


And just to say it... Deleting the incorrect videos and changing the specs on the webpage now, does not compensate those who purchased Rockbasses believing they were also buying MEC electronics for the last several years.

The quality/sound of the generic ones to the German made MEC electronics is also not the issue... The issue is that their products were falsely advertised and their customers were misled. It's this behaviour that makes customers feel betrayed and look to other manufacturers for all future purchases.
 
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Florin

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Matthew, at this point you suggest that we did false advertising, to make people buy RB line knowing we will not put MEC in them. This is not true.

The basses presented with MEC electronics looked nice in specs but were a total disaster in real life. IIRC we even changed the factory at that time. That's why we delayed the first Rockbass line so much.
What you have in hands now it is actually MUCH BETTER than the basses in those videos, but yes.. they do have a different preamp now.
We apologize again for not changing the specs on the website, and not removing the videos, it was not on purpose.
Thanks!
 
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Thanks for your reply Florin.

I am sorry if I suggested that Warwick intentionally misled people to make more sales... I don't think Warwick did it intentionally, but I'm sure sales went up with the belief that people were buying MEC made electronics.

You are right that you apologized on Warwick's behalf for the wrong specs and I do appreciate that. I will admit that this issue has made me very emotional though, and I've reacted in ways that are out of my norm. I apologize for that and making such a scene.

Also, I was never aware about the issues with the earlier Rockbasses. I only saw my first Warwick/Rockbass in real life in early 2011 and it was the revamped RB Streamer LX. When I saw it and realized I could afford it, I did all kinds of researching, and truly believed it had the German MEC preamp, and I went out and bought it. After that, I loved Warwick basses, but to be honest, my faith in the company currently is a bit different due to this issue.

Anyways, so the earlier Rockbasses had German MEC electronics in them? If so, when did they change to the generic ones? I know my LX is a 2010 model, and I'm just trying to understand why it took roughly four years for Warwick to realize the pretty substantial error in specs.

Thanks.
 
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Florin

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IIRC the Rockbasses with MEC preamp were never out for sell, we called them back since we were not happy at all with their quality.

I am sorry you lost your faith in Warwick, but at this point I am not sure what else we can squeeze from this subject. Why it took 4 years to notice the wrong specs? We forgot to change them on the website, and it took roughly 4 years until first customer complained about this, and we changed the specs immediately. Your point of view is that you were mislead by the ads, my personal point of view is that you actually received a better product than advertised, because yes, the new rockbass line is insanely good!
Please contact [email protected] if you need more explanations, because I personally think that that's all we can say for a forum conversation. Also please contact the dealer that sold you the bass, or Korg Canada, if you think this is a case for refund. But I think Hans Peter Wilfer personally gave you this info already.

Thanks!
Flo
 
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Thanks again Florin.

Honestly, I now somewhat understand why the specs were wrong... But I feel the need to recommend that Warwick should be a little more careful in the future with the information that you present to the public, and that your staff is better trained in the differences across different models.

I still love Warwick basses. They have the best playability, feel, look, and hardware that I have came across in any bass. I'm not interested in returning the Streamer LX I have, nor do I feel that I over paid for it, but I still feel a little "ripped off", if that makes sense.

Anyways, Florin, as you said, not much else can be squeezed out of this. Thanks for clearing things up, and your honesty... I feel better now and sorry for being as argumentative as I was... My emotions got the better of me.
 
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Instead of adding a new post, I just wanted to edit my last one, but it seems that too much time has passed...

Anyways, just wanted to put there that I still love Warwick basses, and I'll still be my buying a Rockbass Corvette 6 String in the next week or two. I'll post pics and a review when it arrives. Thanks again everyone, and I apologize for how I overreacted.
 
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Wow, it's been a while since I didn't come here.

My two cents after a few months with my new RB Streamer NT I, it sounds great as Florin said. I got 4 RB and I love them, if you play them with your eyes closed you could feel a professional bass.

Now, the only RB that truly comes with MEC pre-amp is the Fortress, mine came with it, we got 14 Fortress on stock to sell (many of them 2013 and made on november/december) and I opened them all and you can see the MEC pre-amp there.

I think this is because this one is the top of the line of the RB line.

I can upload photos if you want.

I'd like to ask Florin...

Am I right when I say that this is the only one that comes with MEC pre-amp? (Bootsy Collins and Robert Trujillo got them, but this is a different line).

Will Warwick change Fortress Pre-Amp on the future or this is intentional.

Thanks for all of your replies :)

Regards,
 
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Please take a photo of the pre on the fortress.

Thanks

Shaun

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Wow, it's been a while since I didn't come here.

My two cents after a few months with my new RB Streamer NT I, it sounds great as Florin said. I got 4 RB and I love them, if you play them with your eyes closed you could feel a professional bass.

Now, the only RB that truly comes with MEC pre-amp is the Fortress, mine came with it, we got 14 Fortress on stock to sell (many of them 2013 and made on november/december) and I opened them all and you can see the MEC pre-amp there.

I think this is because this one is the top of the line of the RB line.

I can upload photos if you want.

I'd like to ask Florin...

Am I right when I say that this is the only one that comes with MEC pre-amp? (Bootsy Collins and Robert Trujillo got them, but this is a different line).

Will Warwick change Fortress Pre-Amp on the future or this is intentional.

Thanks for all of your replies :)

Regards,

Please take a photo of the pre amp in the fortress.

Thanks

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Florin

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Wow, it's been a while since I didn't come here.

My two cents after a few months with my new RB Streamer NT I, it sounds great as Florin said. I got 4 RB and I love them, if you play them with your eyes closed you could feel a professional bass.

Now, the only RB that truly comes with MEC pre-amp is the Fortress, mine came with it, we got 14 Fortress on stock to sell (many of them 2013 and made on november/december) and I opened them all and you can see the MEC pre-amp there.

I think this is because this one is the top of the line of the RB line.

I can upload photos if you want.

I'd like to ask Florin...

Am I right when I say that this is the only one that comes with MEC pre-amp? (Bootsy Collins and Robert Trujillo got them, but this is a different line).

Will Warwick change Fortress Pre-Amp on the future or this is intentional.

Thanks for all of your replies :)

Regards,

Hi Duvan,

Yes, fortress is the only one that comes with MEC preamp. It is hard to predict the future, but for the moment it stays with MEC :)
... and I can see what you are doing, hahaha!!
 
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