New to Warwick...with questions.

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ScottyJ

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Hi all: Just acquired a 1995 Fortress One (my first Warwick) and have a couple of questions:
1. The Warwick website says that these are 2 piece maple bodies. Mine would seem to be 3 pieces. It has the honey finish and it is clear that the upper and lower pieces are attached to the center piece. Wouldn't this make it a 3 piece and if it is indeed a 3 piece, is there a chance it didn't come from the factory like this? The bass looks fine and plays normally so this question is just out of curiosity.
2. I'm having a problem with one of the control knobs. I still haven't figured out exactly what this knob controls other than it isn't the volume one but the knob itself is "stuck" to the post. The post is loose and needs to be tightened but until the knob comes off, I can't access the nut, at least not with any tool I own. Any suggestions short of cutting the knob off and just replacing it? I have tried carefully pulling on it but it won't budge and I am reluctant to give it a good yank.
3. This bass did not come with anything else. Short of going to the factory for a Warwick truss rod tool or wax, is it possible to buy aftermarket tools and wax? If so, is there a typical non-original equipment tool or wax that is recommended?
4. The bass itself is in reasonably good condition but being a perfectionist, I would like to repair some of the dings if possible. Any suggestions? Can these things be buffed or sanded out if not too deep?

After years of using my 1968 all original Fender Jazz, I am looking forward to having something "new" to play with.
 
1. 3 piece is possible
2. I don't understand
3. fortress - no wax as it has satin or hp finish - need pics to be sure
4. better post pics to get good advice
 
1. Welcome aboard.

2. Post pics, it would be easier for us to help you that way (except with the knob issue, ofc).
 
Doesn't the knob have a screw at it's side to loosen it? Otherwise: pull tight!
 
Theres always a screw or alan bolt if its the standard knobs Warwick uses.
 
Hi,Welcome to the forum.
It is very possible that your bass was produced with a three piece body.
The original Warwick knobs are secured to the pot shaft with a screw.If your knob doesn't have the screw,it may have been forced on,so I guess it needs forcing off.The Fortress was available with active or passive pickups,active pickups were supplied with a 2band EQ and the passive pickups were supplied with either the 2 band EQ or 2 passive tone pots,one for each pickup.it could also be the balance pot for the pickups.
Your bass sounds like it has the coloured oil finish,so wax isn't used on it.You can just use standard metric allen keys to adjust the truss rod and bridge,although a ball end 5 mm t bar Allen key is easier for the truss rod.
Post some pics of the dings and also the rest of the bass including the electrics cavity,it will make helping easier.
Cheers
Verb
 
I have personally seen a three-piece flamed maple body on a 5-string Fortress. It was honey violin, or whatever the colour name is.

Perhaps you need a 2.5mm allen key to loosen the knob - it HAS to come off somehow. If there's no screw, then you should be able to just pull it off.
 
Wow, had to go away for a couple of days and was unable to read the responses until just now. Thanks a bunch to all of you guys. With regards to the knob, there is no set screw and the other 3 just pull off. Somehow, this one is either glued on or just stuck on so tight that nothing I have done so far will budge it. From your responses, it sounds like I may have after market knobs and they seem to be plastic, so worst case, I'll grind it off and replace it with something comparable. It may take me a while but I'll get some pictures and post them and I really, truly appreciate everyone's help.
 
Verb: The picture of your bass leads me to ask you specific questions about the control knobs as mine looks just like yours. Is it safe to assume that all Warwick basses would be wired the same? If so, maybe you can help me understand the workings of each knob. I've only been able to spend a short amount of time with mine but my knob in the same 3 o clock position as yours is clearly the active/passive 2 position volume control. The 6 o clock position knob seems to be the bridge/neck pickup knob, the 9 o clock knob is treble and 12 o clock knob is bass. Is this the way yours is wired?
 
My Fortress one now has active EMG pickups,two volume controls and an Aguilar OBP-3 3 band EQ,and I can't remember the original pot layout.
But I have found the older Warwick manual which shows the standard Fortress pot layout.
Using the pic of my bass,12 o'clock is pickup pan,3 o'clock is bass,6 o'clock is treble and 9 o'clock is volume with EQ bypass P/P.
Hope this helps.
 
Hey, that helped a lot. What it seems to be telling me is that someone may have worked/re-worked the electronics in the past. My pots are not even close to the layout you just described. Oh well, everything seems to be working fine so I guess it doesn't make any difference. The good news is that I was able to free the stuck knob. The bad or somewhat bad news is that the shaft of this pot is different than the other 3. It has a straight round post and the other 3 have posts with grooves in them. Again, since it seems to be working perfectly, maybe I shouldn't care. The bass got a thorough cleaning, tightening and set up yesterday. Played on it for about 4 hours and have figured out which knob works what. For the miniscule amount of money I paid for this thing, I'm thinking I made myself a pretty good deal. Thanks again for everyone's help.
 
Glad you got it sorted.
The original MEC pots had smooth round shafts,that's why the Warwick knobs have screws to hold them in place.
 
Glad that you sorted out those issues.

Anyway, according to Forum´s "non-official rules": No pics, no bass. ;)
 
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Here are a couple of pics of my 95 Fortress One. The clarity of the interior cavity might not be up to par. Now that I have had an opportunity to play around with the bass some more, I do have a couple more questions. 1) Does anyone know what would work to clean the inlays on the side of the neck? A couple of them are nice and clear but it is assumed that funk has built up over the years on some of the others making them very hard to see. I have tried using just warm water and a clean cloth but that has shown little improvement. 2) This is my first active electronics bass. There is a HUGE difference in the output between the active and passive modes. I know there is supposed to be some but in active I have to turn the volume down quite a bit and passive, the volume has to come way up. Also, in passive, it is very difficult to discern any difference between the bass and treble controls. This can't be normal. Short of taking this to a bass tech, is there something I can do on my own to figure this out?
 
Verb: Sorry, I can't seem to figure out this picture posting thing. I have an icon directly above me that says "insert image". Apparently that is not what I am supposed to be using to post pictures but it is the only thing I can see to get this done. Any suggestions?
 
ScottyJ said:
Verb: Sorry, I can't seem to figure out this picture posting thing. I have an icon directly above me that says "insert image". Apparently that is not what I am supposed to be using to post pictures but it is the only thing I can see to get this done. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

As I was closing out of the Forum, there was a box on my computer that, I believe, was the final instructions to attach the pictures. Let me know if that worked.
 
Use the go advanced button for your post.You can upload and attach your pics in the manage attachments section.
You could try lemon oil to clean the fretboard and the markers.
The output in passive mode and active mode should be about the same with the EQ set flat,I believe there is a trim pot on the EQ board to adjust this.
Passive mode is actually an EQ bypass,so the signal goes straight to the jack from the volume control.The EQ controls will have no effect.
 
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