The Heads Up Thread

jester said:
Sounds so odd... Normally if you tighten the rod a bit, which you most probably will, it will stay in place. The usual problem I've seen with old non-volute Wicks is the neck snapping because some super excited bass player smashed the headstock to a wall or something.
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Really a lot of old Wicks have fixed cracks on a typical position at the back of the neck. When the truss rod is maxed out the tip of the truss rod gives too much pressure on that point and the thin wood breaks. To solve this (and the beheading too) they updated the construction with the volute.
 
Hardy said:
Really a lot of old Wicks have fixed cracks on a typical position at the back of the neck. When the truss rod is maxed out the tip of the truss rod gives too much pressure on that point and the thin wood breaks. To solve this (and the beheading too) they updated the construction with the volute.
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I didn't know the necks would crack from truss rod pressure alone... Funny thing is that I recently had to apply lots of truss rod force on a neck without a volute from 1994 that had a persistent front bow. Thankfully nothing snapped although I went pretty medieval with it.
 
I never once touched the truss rod on the '87 Streamer I just sold. Nor have I ever on the '85 Thumb. Luckily, the relief is perfect and can be adjusted slightly with different tensioned strings. I know I'm being a bit silly on the way too careful side of life, but it is amazing how thin the wood is below the nut, on the early ones. Talkin' pencil thin.
 
Hardy said:
Really a lot of old Wicks have fixed cracks on a typical position at the back of the neck. When the truss rod is maxed out the tip of the truss rod gives too much pressure on that point and the thin wood breaks. To solve this (and the beheading too) they updated the construction with the volute.
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I don't think the trussrod itself cause this, owned so many of them and I adjust trussrod pretty often, and pretty fast, I skip te "settle down" time.
I think accidents cause cracks, where trussrod puts pressure.
If the neck is NOT cracked, and you don't drop the bass on the head it will not crack by itself. I actually smashed my 84 on the floor right on the back of the neck once- no crack.
If the neck is cracked and repaired, it will not crack on you.
If the neck is cracked and not repaired, it's an easy and stable fix.

So that thin neck is a vulnerability, but I am not that sure it is a problem by itself, you can buy with confidence any non volute Warwick.
 
Florin said:
I don't think the trussrod itself cause this, owned so many of them and I adjust trussrod pretty often, and pretty fast, I skip te "settle down" time.
I think accidents cause cracks, where trussrod puts pressure.
If the neck is NOT cracked, and you don't drop the bass on the head it will not crack by itself. I actually smashed my 84 on the floor right on the back of the neck once- no crack.
If the neck is cracked and repaired, it will not crack on you.
If the neck is cracked and not repaired, it's an easy and stable fix.

So that thin neck is a vulnerability, but I am not that sure it is a problem by itself, you can buy with confidence any non volute Warwick.
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That’s right. Still most of the players just want to play bass and not care about the stability of cracks in the neck of their basses. The advantage though of the non volute Wicks is the easy way to replace the truss rod. I do not understand why the new construction wasn’t made the way that you still can remove the truss rod without taking off the fretboard.

Btw we are still on topic: heads UP of your Wicks! ;)
 
Hardy said:
That’s right. Still most of the players just want to play bass and not care about the stability of cracks in the neck of their basses. The advantage though of the non volute Wicks is the easy way to replace the truss rod. I do not understand why the new construction wasn’t made the way that you still can remove the truss rod without taking off the fretboard.

Btw we are still on topic: heads UP of your Wicks! ;)
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It's the two way trussrod system that needs to have the nut part glued there. Rarely I needed the trussrod to work the other way around, but when I needed it saved my bass. Trussrods are solid, if you use proper keys and proper force they last a lifetime.
I played bass professionally over 20 years, that means over 2000 gigs, and much much more practice and rehearsals time. touring, basses were in truck, winter, summer, bases were dropped, etc.
I can tell you all the accidents I had:
1- B tuner on Music Man- My tech tuned B string one octave above by mistake. I was able to retune and finish the gig but the tuner was damaged.
2- One plastic nut screw worned- bass dropped on the nut. Placed a piece of paper underneath and continued touring
3- one broken W tuner, had a spare with me, no problem.
4- stage fight with guitarist during punk-rock gig :) I kicked him, and he tried to kick me back while playing, and cracked my bass where the electronics compartment was. I could just play the bass as it was for many years, but I fixed it :)

That's about all. The "Flo bass incident" was with a cracked and unrepaired bass, the fall opened the crack completely so it was actually much easier to fix after. I played a lot of shows with the back of the headstock cracked with no issues.

Besides, an occasionally loose wire, worn battery, loose/ worn output jack. I don't remember anything else, and I hardly imagine someone abusing basses more than I did. Oh, and never had a spare bass with me, I play with one bass only.
The only real concern when buying a sh bass is- trussrod for volute Warwicks, and check for warped necks, this are really hard to fix. Everything else are non- issues.
 
Very nice Taranis (the original German series) from Italy. Good price, amici!

5669813_1524010297.jpg


WARWICK BASSO TARANIS 4 CORDE - #5669813 - su Mercatino Musicale in Bassi Elettrici 4 corde
 
Florin said:
The only real concern when buying a sh bass is- trussrod for volute Warwicks, and check for warped necks, this are really hard to fix. Everything else are non- issues.
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Sorry to keep this fine thread derailed, but what exactly do we mean by "warped neck"? Uneven geometry across (e.g. persistent "belly" around the middle of the neck) or uneven relief across strings? (e.g. flat relief under the thickest string and lots of relief under the thinnest). There's both the terms "warped" and "skewed" being used at times, which can be a bit confusing. I'm working on a neck that fits the "hard to fix" description but I'm not sure what to call it really. :-)
 
In joinery terms a piece of warped wood is 'generally' bowed longitudinally but it can be applied to any piece of wood that is not straight or stable so twists can be classed as 'warped'. If someone uses the term warped with regards to a bass neck, I'd just expect it not to be straight (with appropriate relief) and/or twisted.
 
Hardy said:
Rockbass Infy for 599,- EUR - new! At Thomann:
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It is a shame, they use newsilver as material for the frets, due to the nickel inside I can't play them... Otherwise I would have try it :)
 
Stainless said:
It is a shame, they use newsilver as material for the frets, due to the nickel inside I can't play them... Otherwise I would have try it :)
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Allergy? So that's where your username comes from. :-)
 
eyvindwa said:
Now €499! Or €459 for B-stock!
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That´s right. But have a closer look: the new 2019 generation is back at the higher price level of 900,- EUR. I guess the first run was of no good quality, so they kick it out of the store.
 
Hardy said:
That´s right. But have a closer look: the new 2019 generation is back at the higher price level of 900,- EUR. I guess the first run was of no good quality, so they kick it out of the store.
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I suspect more than a couple of sessions involving HPW and swearing, concerning the far east manufacturer.
 
Hardy said:
That´s right. But have a closer look: the new 2019 generation is back at the higher price level of 900,- EUR. I guess the first run was of no good quality, so they kick it out of the store.
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Just look at the 1 review on the Thomann page link.. ouch!
 
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