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Hi folks. I apologise in advance for the long waffle below, but this is bugging me and I kind of need to get it off my chest!
Ok, so I bought a brand new German Pro Series Streamer LX5 at the start of the year and I now feel that the 6 weeks of owning it have been a bit of a struggle for me to like it.
When I received it, straight out of the box the stock strings were dead, so it sounded pretty 'meh' on the first playing. The action was also high and it had too much relief, which generally made it feel stiff and a bit lifeless. Nothing a new set of strings and a good setup won't cure I thought. I've done all my own setups on my basses and guitars for years. I'm experienced in this area and also with electronics, so it's a non issue.
New set of black label 45-135s put on and a full setup i.e. getting bridge all adjusted to board radius etc. I like all my basses with 0.010" relief, action 2.5mm at last fret on bass side, 2mm on treble, pickups 2.5mm from strings on bass side and 2mm on treble side (with strings fretted at last fret) - all pretty routine stuff.
Still sounded kinda underwhelming compared to my 2004 Bubinga Corvette standard. The best description I can give is that it somehow sounded boxy and slightly muted, whereas the corvette was open and sparkly.
Now along the way I did discover with Warwick customer service that they had moved the pickups on this model further towards the neck, which will make things a bit warmer and less punchy anyway. It's also possible that the US Cherry wood has qualities that are more similar to Mahogany rather than the AA maple that has always been used on the older German models and current CS models.
But I think the culprit is somehow the bridge (I'll come to that in a minute). I've since tried other sets of strings and nothing really works any better. Gone back to Warwick Black Labels, because the tapered low B just generally works better with this bridge design.
When the bass is played acoustically there is a kind of nasally, hollow-sounding overtone on the strings coming from the bridge end. If you tap the bridge with a finger or pen etc, there is the same kind of 'hollow' sound to the tap, rather than it being 'solid'. Recorded sounds also seem to be subject to this overtone, in the way of having a kind of boxiness and subdued sparkle. The strings also feel somehow more unyielding, despite this being a gauge of string I have always used.
Now I've also had everything apart and checked out the hardware. Everything is fine and making contact ok. I will say though that the main bridge block does need to be lifted up quite high to get the right action - you will see in the pictures below. Not sure if this is anything, but I have noticed a lot of other wicks that have their bridges this high.
Anyway, I'm a bit unsure as to what to do next. I'm not sure I can just ride with this, given how much I paid for the instrument (EUR 1,534.77) I wonder whether it's something I should take up with Warwick, since it still has a warranty in place?
The pics below show each bit of the string travel from tail piece to tuning pegs and you will see that everything looks spot on.
View attachment 24958 View attachment 24959 View attachment 24960 View attachment 24961 View attachment 24962 View attachment 24965 View attachment 24966
If anybody has experienced this before, or has any suggestions that would be most welcome.
Cheers and sorry again for the ramble...
Keith
Ok, so I bought a brand new German Pro Series Streamer LX5 at the start of the year and I now feel that the 6 weeks of owning it have been a bit of a struggle for me to like it.
When I received it, straight out of the box the stock strings were dead, so it sounded pretty 'meh' on the first playing. The action was also high and it had too much relief, which generally made it feel stiff and a bit lifeless. Nothing a new set of strings and a good setup won't cure I thought. I've done all my own setups on my basses and guitars for years. I'm experienced in this area and also with electronics, so it's a non issue.
New set of black label 45-135s put on and a full setup i.e. getting bridge all adjusted to board radius etc. I like all my basses with 0.010" relief, action 2.5mm at last fret on bass side, 2mm on treble, pickups 2.5mm from strings on bass side and 2mm on treble side (with strings fretted at last fret) - all pretty routine stuff.
Still sounded kinda underwhelming compared to my 2004 Bubinga Corvette standard. The best description I can give is that it somehow sounded boxy and slightly muted, whereas the corvette was open and sparkly.
Now along the way I did discover with Warwick customer service that they had moved the pickups on this model further towards the neck, which will make things a bit warmer and less punchy anyway. It's also possible that the US Cherry wood has qualities that are more similar to Mahogany rather than the AA maple that has always been used on the older German models and current CS models.
But I think the culprit is somehow the bridge (I'll come to that in a minute). I've since tried other sets of strings and nothing really works any better. Gone back to Warwick Black Labels, because the tapered low B just generally works better with this bridge design.
When the bass is played acoustically there is a kind of nasally, hollow-sounding overtone on the strings coming from the bridge end. If you tap the bridge with a finger or pen etc, there is the same kind of 'hollow' sound to the tap, rather than it being 'solid'. Recorded sounds also seem to be subject to this overtone, in the way of having a kind of boxiness and subdued sparkle. The strings also feel somehow more unyielding, despite this being a gauge of string I have always used.
Now I've also had everything apart and checked out the hardware. Everything is fine and making contact ok. I will say though that the main bridge block does need to be lifted up quite high to get the right action - you will see in the pictures below. Not sure if this is anything, but I have noticed a lot of other wicks that have their bridges this high.
Anyway, I'm a bit unsure as to what to do next. I'm not sure I can just ride with this, given how much I paid for the instrument (EUR 1,534.77) I wonder whether it's something I should take up with Warwick, since it still has a warranty in place?
The pics below show each bit of the string travel from tail piece to tuning pegs and you will see that everything looks spot on.
View attachment 24958 View attachment 24959 View attachment 24960 View attachment 24961 View attachment 24962 View attachment 24965 View attachment 24966
If anybody has experienced this before, or has any suggestions that would be most welcome.
Cheers and sorry again for the ramble...
Keith