My German Pro Series Streamer LX5 sounds odd!?

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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
 
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Is bridge "locked" with the screws? I found out that when having bridge raised this high, it makes difference if the bridge is locked.

I highly doubt it is the reason, but never hurts to check.
 
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Is bridge "locked" with the screws? I found out that when having bridge raised this high, it makes difference if the bridge is locked.

I highly doubt it is the reason, but never hurts to check.

Yes, absolutely. The black locking screws at each side are fastened tight.

I can't help but think it is the material the bridge is made out of. Yet I've had so many wicks with cast bridges and they have sounded ok.

A part of me was wondering whether a solid brass bridge and a JAN3 brass would be the cure, but I feel loathed to spend a further 400+ Euros on something this new.

If I tap the bridge near an edge i.e. where it is resting on height and locking screws it sounds solid. As I move inwards towards the centre of the bridge the tap sounds much more 'hollow'. I guess it's because that part of the bridge is very much 'floating'.
 

aguacollas

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Something is wrong with that bass. Use your warranty. Warwick should fix it for you. It's a new bass.
 
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Yeah, you're probably right. I'll just see if anybody else chimes in here with any thoughts. If not I'll contact Warwick customer service during the week. I've got all the original packaging, so can send it safely to Germany to be looked at.
 

schlobodan

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is the return period over already?
 

schlobodan

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I would order a bridge from thomann and check it out myself
 
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I would order a bridge from thomann and check it out myself

Hmmm, something else I did think about. Thomann only sell the cast bridges, so I would be buying an identical bridge to the one on my bass (in theory). But, I did take the bridge out of the bass and couldn't find anything amiss with it to be fair. :?:
 

schlobodan

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if your bridge is not defective what is?
 

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Keith... the first thing I noticed is the bridge is way above the body on the top side. None of my 3 Wicks are above the body. Close, but their below the wood. I know some peoples are like this and have no issue...but the first thing I'd try, is too bring the whole bridge down some. You should be able to adjust the string height to your liking with the saddle and nut, since you like it pretty low at 2.5mm anyways.

Main reason I think this matters, is on all of my Thumbs, that side of the bridge is touching the body. So there is a definite solid metal/wood connect there. A pretty crucial spot to be solid imo.

GPS_LX5_05.jpg

I know you mentioned you took apart the bridge.... have you removed the tailpiece as well, to make sure it's solid? Also....is the truss rod totally secure, one direction or another? I had a new one that the TR was just floating in it's neutral point, kind lose....until I firmed it up in one direction or another. Could change the solidness of the sound if the TR is not doing anything.

Anyhoot....just my thoughts :)

Good luck!!
 
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golem

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`



If your old Vett is also a 5-string, borrow its bridge
to the Streamer and see what happens. Also FWIW,
you have not commented on your PU height.

In any case, bubinga is killer stuff, and you are now
comparing cherry to bubinga. Factor that into your
impressions of the Streamer's voice. The cast bridge
is the same one thaz been on Wicks for years. It's
hardly the most likely possible culprit to suspect.

Since you know your way around a set up, you know
that you can shim the neck socket to drop the neck
deeper into the body while maintaining the same set
up specs. And acoarst you did tighten the neck bolts ?
 

tpa

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Battery/electronics could also be a cause but your description indicates some mechanical issue. Neck is correctly seated and secured? Base plate of the bridge correctly seated in the cavity? Truss rod has reasonable tension etc etc. Seems you have thoroughly checked all the trivial things so in your shoes I would contact Warwick Customer service.
 
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if your bridge is not defective what is?

Good point Schlobodan. The noise does appear to be originating from the bridge and nowhere else. (I've listened all along the bass).

Think I will ask Warwick customer service about this. See if they have heard of a similar occurrence in a bridge before.
 
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Pickups are absolutely fine. I've had enough Warwicks with the gold MEC J pickups to know they are doing their job properly. They are just picking up something that is already there mechanically/acoustically.
 

aguacollas

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Like tires in a car, maybe it's the small black pieces that hold the strings.

Have you tried rising those pieces even higher and lowering the bridge, if possible?

That bridge is really flying
 
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Keith... the first thing I noticed is the bridge is way above the body on the top side. None of my 3 Wicks are above the body. Close, but their below the wood. I know some peoples are like this and have no issue...but the first thing I'd try, is too bring the whole bridge down some. You should be able to adjust the string height to your liking with the saddle and nut, since you like it pretty low at 2.5mm anyways.

Main reason I think this matters, is on all of my Thumbs, that side of the bridge is touching the body. So there is a definite solid metal/wood connect there. A pretty crucial spot to be solid imo.

View attachment 24968

I know you mentioned you took apart the bridge.... have you removed the tailpiece as well, to make sure it's solid? Also....is the truss rod totally secure, one direction or another? I had a new one that the TR was just floating in it's neutral point, kind lose....until I firmed it up in one direction or another. Could change the solidness of the sound if the TR is not doing anything.

Anyhoot....just my thoughts :)

Good luck!!

Thanks Hoggles. Yes you are right. The first thing I noticed about this Wick compared to all others I'd owned was the height of the bridge above the body. Then when I looked on the Warwick website and Thomann I noticed that a fair few new basses (particularly the German Pro Series models) all had high bridges.

I did also check the tailpiece and it is fine and now everything is screwed down again secure, but still sounds the same. The truss rod is a bit past the neutral position, a few turns into the tightening area so I'm pretty sure it's not that rattling. Plus I've had basses with rattling truss rods and know what that sounds like.

Cheers

Keith
 
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`



If your old Vett is also a 5-string, borrow its bridge
to the Streamer and see what happens. Also FWIW,
you have not commented on your PU height.

In any case, bubinga is killer stuff, and you are now
comparing cherry to bubinga. Factor that into your
impressions of the Streamer's voice. The cast bridge
is the same one thaz been on Wicks for years. It's
hardly the most likely possible culprit to suspect.

Since you know your way around a set up, you know
that you can shim the neck socket to drop the neck
deeper into the body while maintaining the same set
up specs. And acoarst you did tighten the neck bolts ?

Thanks Golem

Other Vette is a 4 string so can't swap the bridge. Pickup heights I did mention. 2.5mm on bass side, 2mm on treble side with strings pressed down at last fret. Same measurements for both the neck and bridge pups. All pretty standard stuff.

I did try and tighten neck bolts with a screwdriver but they were already tight, so not that. Yes I could shim the neck socket to drop, but then again the main thing is why would I have to do any of this on a brand new bass? Especially one that is made in Germany and as Warwick keep promoting is a step up in quality from the older Korean Pro Series?
 
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Like tires in a car, maybe it's the small black pieces that hold the strings.

Have you tried rising those pieces even higher and lowering the bridge, if possible?

That bridge is really flying

Hi. No I haven't tried that. For the most part because that seems to go against the standard bridge adjusting advice that Warwick give. They maintain the individual saddles are just set to match the radius and should be as low as possible and that the main bridge plate should then be raised to suit.

What I will do is contact Warwick support and throw it back to them. I'm not happy with how my bass sounds. I'd like them to hopefully tell me why this might be and whether the way my bridge has bee set up is the culprit.

I've already invested a lot of my time (and money in buying several extra sets of strings) on trying to make this bass sound better. I'd like them to help now.

Thanks for your suggestions.
 
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