6 String Thumb BO VS 4 String Thumb Bleach Blonde

BO 6 string OR LTD (2003) 4 String

  • Thumb BO 6 String

    Votes: 4 36.4%

  • Thumb LTD 'Bleach Blonde' (2003) 4 String

    Votes: 7 63.6%
  • Total voters
    11
Pedro

Pedro

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Hey guys,

I was hoping to get hold of a Dolphin SN but unfortunately someone else beat me to it, but it does mean that I've now got a little bit of cash to buy a new bass with. I've been having a little scout around on the old ebay and seen a couple of thumbs that interest me, so I was wondering what you guys thought.

First up is a standard 6 string Thumb BO. From what I've heard I really like the Thumb tone, but I'm not sure if it will be suitable for the music I play. Although I do love playing metal in the confines of my bedroom, the two bands I'm in are a punk rock band and a classic rock, and I get the impression that the Thumb BO will have a little too much growl, and not enough 'cut' to get through the mix. However, having said that I really like the idea of getting a six string model, as it'll just give me a little extra to mess around with. But, having said that I'm also a little concerned about the width of the neck. When playing I usually have the bass just about waist height, and I'm not sure if the wider neck will mean I will need to hoist it up towards the chin, which, although practical, will not look good on stage.

So, the second option is a LTD Thumb Bleach Blonde. Four strings, will solve the problem of wearing the bass too high but then I already have two 4-string basses. The all maple construction would suggest a tighter, sharper sound which might be a little more in tune with the style of music I'm playing, but that's just a theory. Does anybody know what advantages maple has as a finger board wood over wenge, I know its rarely used by Warwick so was just wondering what kind of characteristics it displays? I'm a bit of a 'less is more' kinda guy, so looks wise I think I almost prefer the standard thumb, although the more I look at the LTD the more I get to liking it.

Ofcourse, this could all be irrelevant is the auctions go above my somewhat modest budget, but hey its always interesting to hear ppl's opnions anyway!!
 
Hey Pedro,

The Thumb is generally accepted to be a bass you wear high up. If you play in a punk band and like something low slung then I would say the Thumb is probably not the most logical choice for you (but that does not mean it's necessarily the wrong choice!).

Maple as a fingerboard wood tends to have a brighter tone and many people claim it is a faster wood to play. Personally I am not so sure the speed difference on a maple neck is that noticable although I do prefer the overall 'feel' of the wood.

If you want something for Punk/Rock then I am going to go out on a limb and suggest an FNA. They come up from time to time at very reasonable prices second hand. Definately a 'less is more instrument' and balances well when played low.

My advice is to play some Warwicks! Wierd things happen when you play a bass! An example happened for me a couple of weeks back when I got to play a Katana for the first time. It's not a design I am a huge fan of but after 10 minutes I realised it fits PERFECTLY to my body shape and playing style and now the more I look at it the more I like it!

Check out your local Warwick dealer and play a few different basses and see which one fits, take a strap and ask to play it standing up so you can see how it balances and see where you end up!
 
throwofftom said:
Hey Pedro,

The Thumb is generally accepted to be a bass you wear high up. If you play in a punk band and like something low slung then I would say the Thumb is probably not the most logical choice for you (but that does not mean it's necessarily the wrong choice!).

Maple as a fingerboard wood tends to have a brighter tone and many people claim it is a faster wood to play. Personally I am not so sure the speed difference on a maple neck is that noticable although I do prefer the overall 'feel' of the wood.

If you want something for Punk/Rock then I am going to go out on a limb and suggest an FNA. They come up from time to time at very reasonable prices second hand. Definately a 'less is more instrument' and balances well when played low.

My advice is to play some Warwicks! Wierd things happen when you play a bass! An example happened for me a couple of weeks back when I got to play a Katana for the first time. It's not a design I am a huge fan of but after 10 minutes I realised it fits PERFECTLY to my body shape and playing style and now the more I look at it the more I like it!

Check out your local Warwick dealer and play a few different basses and see which one fits, take a strap and ask to play it standing up so you can see how it balances and see where you end up!
Click to expand...


Thanks for your advice man! Trying out a few warwicks is not an easy option for me, unfortunately around where I live you'll be lucky to find a shop that stocks anything worth over a couple of hundred pound, and, as you probably guessed, if they do stock anything 'high end' it tends to be the Fender Standards. I played a Thumb at a music show a while back, wish I'd actually paid more attention instead of just messing around.

Odd that you mention the FNA though, there is one thats been kicking around on ebay at a very reasonable price, never really considered it to be the 'right' bass for me but it may be worth having another look at it.
 
...a bass has 4 stringzzz....:lol:
 
Hey Pete,

I agree with you that the Thumb BO is not the best bass for you if you play classic rock... But it is probably the best cutting bass out there. Really!!!

The FNA is nice, corvette STD is nice, Streamer LX - cool, the bleach blonde - should be fine too.

Just try some, or be sure you buy them second hand at good prices, so you can resell them later, and buy other Warwicks, untill you find "THE ONE".
 
Thanks guys, just got some info from Tom (thanks again, man!) about a warwick dealer in Poole. It's a bit of a trek, but I've got a few friends in that direction that I havn't seen for a while so I may have to take a trip down there on Friday and annoy some staff members.....wonder if I could learn 'smoke on the water' on time lol
 
I think a 4string is more than enough for classic and punk rock. So you'll have to decide: Pleasure(6string) or More Usage(4string). Plus the dirty blond would look really weird in a punk band.
 
I say, split the difference and get a 5 string! Florin is right about cutting through....except for popping that G string. I'm not much of a slapper but I can't get a beefy "pop" tone. Everything else can be dialed in. I think the Thumb is fine for ballads and reggea as well. I happen to know someone selling one pretty cheap for a NT5....(shameless self promotion)
 
~SuperSkunk~ said:
I think a 4string is more than enough for classic and punk rock. So you'll have to decide: Pleasure(6string) or More Usage(4string). Plus the dirty blond would look really weird in a punk band.
Click to expand...

ha, the bleached blonde would look too beautiful!
 
~SuperSkunk~ said:
I think a 4string is more than enough for classic and punk rock. So you'll have to decide: Pleasure(6string) or More Usage(4string). Plus the dirty blond would look really weird in a punk band.
Click to expand...

You make 2 very very good points. Firstly, if I did get the 6 string I would run the risk of making my Fortress obsolete, as, being a 4 string, I might find that I won't be able to use it in band situations if I've been using the extra strings whilst writing songs.

Second point: The LTD would, your right, look very very odd in a punk rock band, it's quite a sophisticated looking jobby.

Sooooo gonna head down to Abolsute Music tomorrow, made a short list of instruments I'm gonna have a play with.
4 string and 5 string Active Vette STD Ash
4 string Passive Fretless Vette STD Bubinga
5 string Streamer Bolt On - Anybody got any info on these, it seems to have a black chrome finish? Could it be a Chrome Tone model?
4 String Vette $$
4 String FNA
4 String Streamer LX

The budget would fit all the standard Vettes, and depending on how flexible the nice guys at the store are perhaps the $$ and the FNA. (I'm gonna try the LX just for a laugh!) Shame they don't have a Thumb in stock, I would like to have a little play with one. Any input from anybody on the list, I've never really considered the $$ before but if they are as versatile as is claimed, it could be the way to go?
 
Hey,

I don't think that Streamer is a chrometone. It's a metallic finish but not chromed.

The $$ is a very versatile instrument but you will probably find out more playing it than me talking about it!

Let us know how you get on!
 
I wouldn't say the LTD Thumb would be awful for a punk band. Alot of bass players in Classic Rock and Punk used basses with bright tones like Maple necks and frets, some with Maple bodies.

There's a guy who's got a Bleach Blonde on Youtube look he did an AC/DC songs and it sounded pretty good.

If you don't like the natural look, Paint Job! Seriously, you could get the body painted black or hot pink or whatever is considered punk now a days.

But if you're going to change it to that list... I'm going with the LX or $$ Corvette, because I have a $$ 5er and it's pretty bright in tone, but growly to boot.
 
heh...if ya really wanna try all da basses from yo list, I guess there'll be not much time left to meet da 'few friendz that ya haven't seen for a while'....:lol:

Anywayz...enjoy 'n have fun Pete !...8:
 
OK been down to Absolute Music in Poole today, first thing i gotta say is it is a really really cool shop!! On the middle of an industrial estate, from the outside it looks like a little shack but its state of the art inside. I wondered in, said to one of the staff I wanted to have a play with the warwicks so he set me up in a little glass-fronted room with a Warwick Blue 30watt Combo amp, asked what I wanted to have a go with and left me to it...happy days :d All the basses were tuned up with fresh strings and ready to be played.

First up was a Corvette STD Bubinga Fretless. I intentionally grabbed this one first because I thought, being passive, it would be the least impressive of the bunch. So, obviously it actually turned out to be an absolutely staggering instrument!! Played with it for about 15 minutes, tried out a bit of slap and other finger styles and absolutely loved the tone. The Warwick growl was always present, but cranking the bass up really pushed it to the back, where as letting loose on the treble enhanced the attack. Obviously, being passive, the tonal range on it wasn't expansive, but it was an absolut joy to play, and the fretless neck was so quick under my grubby little fingers as well. Balanced perfectly, and wasn't stupidly heavy. Good start, then!

So, eventually got around to putting that 1 down and picked up the Vette STD Ash Fretless. This one was active, and for some reason I had already decided that it was going to be better than the Bubinga because it was active and because it was Ash. The preamp did, obviously, give extra tonal options but I personally thought that, overall, the passive Bubinga Vett was the better of the two instruments.

Third: FNA. This thing was heaaavy. 5 string jobby, and a fretted model as well - which felt very very weird after playing a couple of fretless models, I have to say. I've never really considered the FNA models but this was actually really good, gave a really deep, thumping sound, which I guess is due to the Bart Preamp. Although it was heavy, it was comfortable to play and the range of tones I could get out of that single pickup was incredible - even managed to make my Slap sound good, which really is saying something about the bass! Wasn't overly sure about having the extra string, as it meant that the fretboard was a little more crowded than I'm use to. But, overall still a very impressive bass.

And finally: The mighty Vette $$. Now I knew from reading abut it on this forum that the $$ was going to be a bit of a beast, but I wasn't really expecting it to be that aggressive!! Loads and loads of attack, an absolute monster of a bass guitar. Sat well and was comfortable to play, I was messing around with it for about ten minutes and know for a fact that I didn't even scratch the surface of its tonal capabilities - for instance, I couldn't find a great slap tone, although I'm sure theres one in there somewhere. I could have played it for hours longer, but I think the sales guy had been told to either sell me something or boot me out (think I'd been in that room about 45 minutes lol) so I begrudgingly returned the bass, and did a runner :d

I still can't quite decide which of the 4 I preferred, I now know that the Corvette Ash is definately not the right instrument for me, but other than that I'm still undecided. Definately need to sleep on it for a day or 2, me thinks!!
 
Good point. I think the $$ won't really work for me. It's a great 'stand-alone' bass - sounded awesome in the shop and would be loads of fun - but for what I want I think it'll be too aggressive. If I was joining a metal band, it would definately be the first bass I would go for, though.

At the moment (as surprising as this is to me) I can't stop thinking about the FNA, it really did have such a character about it and a real thundering sound. Am I right in thinking the mighty Mr Gollum was a little in love with his FNA?
 
Glad to hear you had fun!

Personally I am a 4 string guy! I have a 5 but tune to high C as I just cannot get on with a low B!

Is interesting that you assumed active would be better on the ash fretless, now all bass players are different but the majority I have come across prefer a passive fretless, I would always go passive on one.

The $$ is a real monster!! plus if you played the blue one (?) then it's an incredible colour as well!

Glad to hear you enjoyed it down there though!
 
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