old Warwick Streamer (paddle head)

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struberg

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Got this beauty today. Nicknamed it 'Rosalie' (which fits to my 2009 CO LX-5 called 'Bertl').

Seems to be from somewhen in 1985. Indicated by the 'licensed by spector' on the truss rod cover at least.
I could not find any readable serial number on the headstock though. There is also nothing written in the electronics area.

The beauty has a very slim neck (even slimmer than my Jazz) and weights 3.8kg. The neck is pretty straight still. The frets are worn down a bit, but still very playable. Need to level the frets a bit on the higher G registers though. Otherwise the string heigth is very nice and playable.

And now the best part: I found this by accident in an auctions house. Not ebay or internet but a real old austionary (with numbers and stuff). It had a call price of 260 EUR and it seems I was the only one who knew what this little sweety is. All in all I paid 325 EUR with all the auctioning costs. Guess it was a left over from some estate case.

Sound is great via my small Ampeg. Going through DI into a mixer and headphones uncovers some hiss. So any tips for a replacement OpAmp is welcome. Guess it's a TL072? Number is sanded off...

The hardware is black which seems to have been an option?
The battery cover does NOT have the 'licensed by Spector' on it. Only the truss rod cover has.
Some of the pickup screws seems to be not original anymore. They feel a bit sharp and too big of size.

Pots do have mid position click (all but volume) and are still amazingly clean and smooth. No noise when turning them.
Just ping me if you need more close up photos.
 

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Whoops, should have posted this to Warwick vintage, not Framus. Can any1 plz move it? Txs!
 
Ty's for moving!
Is it just me or did the original post with the pics not make it over to here?
 
It was moderated at first but I checked and approved it. First 10 posts are under a restrictive policy to not give any spam acounts the option to post images or hyperlinks.

Welcome to the forum btw buddy!
 
Txs DiMarco! And no worries, will post the story again while sitting in the train to $$dayjob.

I was in lurking-only-mode since many years already. Basically when I got my first Streamer on eBay back in around 2010 (the CO NBK LX-5 on the picture). It is nick named "Bertl" and as the new beauty is much slimmer and weights considerably less (3.8kg) I named her "Rosalie".

So here is how I got to know Rosalie.

I stumbled across her in an auctioning house. Not something on the internet but some real old-style auctioning house with exhibition area. You know, the ones where you have to sit in this huge columned hall and have to raise a number card if you like to bid. The auction was mostly about paintings and old furniture. I felt like being part of an old movie somehow.

They have only a few musical instruments enlisted. Some are weirdly overpriced (e.g. a pretty new Gibson for 1800 call price, and if you now add the 25% auctioning costs...), others are totally off the other direction. They e.g. have an Esh Stinger 5 (medium condition) but have it filed under 'Guitar' (probably because it has more than 4 strings?).
The streamer was filed under 'antiquity'. She was also marked as 'defunct' as she misses some screws for the battery cover. Guess I can fix that ;) Good thing is that it only had a call price of 260 EUR and I seem to have been the only one who knew what this baby actually is. So all in all I only paid 325,- EUR (260 + auctioning costs). I guess it was a left over from an estate case (Verlassenschaft).

It is an old Streamer with paddle head and the 'licensed by Spector' on the truss rod cover. Which leads to the guess that it is from somewhen in 1985. I could not identify any serial number though. There are a few 'candidate spots' which might be a serial, but that could also be some cracks and dongs in the wood. With much imagination one of them could be '51'. But guess there is something missing in front. Maybe someone from Warwick can help me with more identification marks. I did not find anything written in the battery box nor any other spot which is sometimes used to leave identification marks.

The bass itself is in a pretty good condition! It plays very well and I was even able to further reduce the string heigth. Only the highest frets on the G probably need some leveling. Intonation is perfect. Strings are still the old ones and I will probably change them for Thomastik Infeld Jazz Flats. Or any other recommendations?
Of course there is a decent amount of fret wear and it was already levelled down a few times I guess. This baby was really 'used' but thankfully not abused. So not many dongs and wicket 'repairs' or mods. All seems pretty much original to me. Except a few screws on the P EMGs probably (they feel a bit sharp to me).

* No readable serial number
* The neck is _very_ slim. Much slimmer than my Jazz even.
* There is 'licensed by Spector' on the truss rod cover, but none such on the battery cover
* Neck is pretty straight. Just a very small curve. Didn't try to adjust the truss rod as it is still very playable.
* There is a slight hiss at loud levels. Only hearable when going to the desk and headphones, but not when playing over my amp. Maybe there is a replacement for the OpAmp which anyone can recommend. Seems to be a TL072?
* Pots have a mid click (except volume pot of course).
* Black hardware. Seems to have been an option?
* Corpus is Wenge/Cherry
 
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Amazing bass at an amazing price.

BTW, nut is not original, at least is not the adjustable brass Just-A-Nut.

Congrats and welcome.
 
Nachobassman said:
BTW, nut is not original, at least is not the adjustable brass Just-A-Nut.
Click to expand...

I'm not quite sure on this one. Looking at other pics from 'paddles' they also look like a solid brass nut to me. At least they don't have any visible screws neither. But I'm not an expert for those old Wicks and have no clue what is really original or not. But it all feels very much like of a piece.

And thanks all for the warm welcome!

If you are interested in more pics then just ping me with the parts you want to have a closer look at.
 
struberg said:
I'm not quite sure on this one. Looking at other pics from 'paddles' they also look like a solid brass nut to me. At least they don't have any visible screws neither.
Click to expand...

You may be right, I forgot to say "... but I´m no expert on this." ;)
 
the pre is the original emg-84 warwick put in most acive basses until early 87. they have a complete replacement available
so they should be able to anwser your question regarding the opAmp. ([email protected])
 
Hi all!

Still in love with this beauty. I already 'waxed' her - and not only the legs ;)

And now I'm thinking about even 'piercing' her.
The strap pin on the horn is perfect, but the outer strap pin (bridge area) is off center on the body. You can see this on the picture above, it's clearly outside the neck strips. It's more upwards than usual. That makes the lower part of the bass hang slightly away from the body.
And now I'm tempted to simply drill a hole into the center of the body and mount another Schaller security lock to it. Exactly on that dead center position where all my other basses have the strap pin. On that bass it would be the middle wenge strip.

I know that that would probably lower the resale value but I honestly don't care. A bass - even an old one - is here for playing and not simply because it's old. Thus I really just care about the playability and sound.
Did any paddle owner already do such a 'mod'? Is it worth it? Or is it a sacrilege?
 
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