A Very Special Warwick.....at Least To Me

RIP

RIP

California U.S.A.
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My Fortress I

About 5 months ago I decided to start looking for a Fortress I. After a few months I came across a '94 German model....it was in need of some work but I thought I would be a nice project bass

I've read that the old Fortress basses had baseball bat necks....I didn't really think to much of it as my old Rockbass Fortress neck was just fine. I figured it would be about the same......after receipt of the bass I found out I was WRONG!

That neck was the biggest fattest neck I've ever played in my 35 years of playing.....so what to do? I mean I want this bass to work, but man, this is going to take some work.....so I emailed Warwick and talked to Florence Wilfer

Ta-Da!....she gave me the answer I wanted

2 months after I placed the order, my new neck shows up.....in the mean time I did a little hard ware, electronic and cosmetic upgrade......so here's what this is

Body '94 Maple
2017 Hardware
Neck 2018 Masterbuilt Wenge
Finish.....RIP Custom
Pups, MEC Passive
Pre, MEC (from a 2015 Thumb)

First the neck.....notice the new neck has a Serial Number saying it's a '94 (last 2 digits if you can see em)

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Awesome! I wonder what the profile shape is like, if it's like my 2009 Streamer LX. My profile is something between a C and a D and on the thin side, something like the 90s necks.
 
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Okay....welp I'm having trouble loading pics....I'll try back a little later when I get on my Lap Top

I really want to show this bass in it entirety :)
 
jester said:
Awesome! I wonder what the profile shape is like, if it's like my 2009 Streamer LX. My profile is something between a C and a D and on the thin side, something like the 90s necks.
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It's just like my '17 Streamer LX and Thumb.....very thin. It so thin you think your playing a 4 string Jazz neck
 
Had to break out the Lap Top....here's some more pics

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Here's a side view of the neck.....look at that Beautiful Wenge!!

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Awesome job!

The neck on my Dolphin (Ovangkol) is like that too. Very nice thin profile. Play without ever thinking. It is just that naturally smooth feeling. I never minded neck profiles much but still..
 
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What a beautiful new neck, congrats!

What are you going to do with the old neck? I love the fat necks, my first Warwick was a 2005 Corvette FNA Jazzman 5, built like a tank, slapping on it felt like beating on a brick wall, so solid...
 
Thanks for all the kind words guys!
 
Narcdor said:
What a beautiful new neck, congrats!

What are you going to do with the old neck? I love the fat necks, my first Warwick was a 2005 Corvette FNA Jazzman 5, built like a tank, slapping on it felt like beating on a brick wall, so solid...
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I had to destroy it and send them pictures.....it's Warwicks way of not having duplicate Serial Numbers....at first I was like what??.....but then it made perfect sense

Check it out

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Narcdor said:
What a beautiful new neck, congrats!

What are you going to do with the old neck? I love the fat necks, my first Warwick was a 2005 Corvette FNA Jazzman 5, built like a tank, slapping on it felt like beating on a brick wall, so solid...
Click to expand...

The thumb knows!
 
aguacollas said:
Very nice bass and new wenge neck. May I ask how much for the new neck?
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$600.00 for the neck, $900.00 for the bass and $100.00 for the pre amp..... $1600.00 total

Seems like a lot, but I figure it like this.....a new Fender is 2k, so this doesn't seem that much for something that comes with a special mix of MOJO :)
 
Oh my.... I understand and I can’t think of a better way but still it seems like a waste of a perfectly good (to someone else) neck. Look at that beautiful wood going to waste! You could always use it as a baseball bat har har
 
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Narcdor said:
Oh my.... I understand and I can’t think of a better way but still it seems like a waste of a perfectly good (to someone else) neck. Look at that beautiful wood going to waste! You could always use it as a baseball bat har har
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Oh believe me.....I had a real hard time doing it.

I was almost sick
 
Yeah destroying craftsmanship is hard, I know first hand how much time and effort goes into building a neck. Anyway the new fortress is up and running with a beautiful new neck that suits you, that’s the important thing. May it give you many years of fine service!
 
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Wow. Amazing RIP! Congrats! She's a beauty! Never heard of an old neck having to be destroyed. Guess it makes sense, though too bad there wasn't the option of just sanding down the old serial enough that it was no longer visible.

Nevertheless, great story and you've got a kick as custom Fortress. Stoked!
 
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Hoggles said:
Wow. Amazing RIP! Congrats! She's a beauty! Never heard of an old neck having to be destroyed. Guess it makes sense, though too bad there wasn't the option of just sanding down the old serial enough that it was no longer visible.

Nevertheless, great story and you've got a kick as custom Fortress. Stoked!
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Thanks Hoggles!
 
Hoggles said:
Guess it makes sense, though too bad there wasn't the option of just sanding down the old serial enough that it was no longer visible.
Click to expand...

I think this is more about not having W necks on non-W bodies.
 
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