The History of Warwick Bass

[Warwick Official]

In regards to the Thumb Bass and John Davis...

The Thumb Bass was designed by Hans Peter Wilfer. John Davis was the first official endorser for Warwick...but did not assist in its design. Thanks!

 

[Florin]

Thanks Garey!

 

[Corvette_SR]

awesome reading, thanks for sharing

 

[Warwick Official]

Unfortunately, as we go through the information presented...there are quite a few factual errors. I have tried to email Max Novello, but so far to no avail...

 

[DiMarco]

Max no longer plays bass, Bas is still active here on the forum. Maybe it would be nice to have an official Warwick history documentation online, coming from Warwick themselves? This would clear everything up.

 

[Warwick Official]

Its being worked on!! Thanks DiMarco!

 

[Popo]

I can't seem to get to the Google Doc page. I would also love to read the Warwick History, but I guess I should wait for the official error-free version. Hope it doesn't take too long. Anyway, just wanted to say I am really looking forward to it!!!

 

[jester]

Odd, it still works for me with more than a couple of browsers, without being logged in to Google. I'd also like to welcome you to the forum Mr. Collins, very funky to have you here. :-D

 

[Popo]

Hey I got it!

Strange, it didn't work on several different tries and now it loads just fine. Looks amazing, photos are really nice, well done to everyone involved in making those! A fantastic thing to do, it shows people really love this company.

I am just about to get a Dolphin Pro II and have therefore been researching it and I must point out that the section on them in the Warwick History (page 29) is not quite accurate.

If I understand correctly Warwick Dolphin Pro II were made in generally Japan (by a company called Morris, i think it was) and only temporarily by a company in Germany called Shadow (around '93-'94) which produced a few hundred Sub-par models that had to be take off the market and were mostly destroyed. The Japanese product produced from 1989 until about 1993 is considered to be good quality (but I will be able to check that for myself when the one I ordered arrives!).

Oh and thank you Jester and DiMarco for making me feel welcome here and thank you warwick forum for all the infos and useful stuff I found here!

 

[Warwick Official]

Welcome to the forum Popo! You are right, the info on the Dolphin Pro II is not accurate in that Unofficial History. The builder in Japan was Morris Morridaira (MMI) Japan. Enjoy your stay here!

 

[sprocket]

Even if it had a few missses here & there , it was a nice one , we ll wait for the accurate version as some wrote beforehand

 

[Negyuh]

Hi guys, i am here again, thanks Jester for the kind words. thank you forumers for pointing out the faults. i am not sure weather it would be worth the effort to correct (a lot) of errors and recreate the Warwick history book but it is nice to see some of you guys appreciate the effort that's gotten in this work.
About Max i think you are correct, i have him in my contact list and have contacted him a few months back, he did not reply. i guess he is really retired from bass playing.

Me, i am still alive and kicking all over my bass and nowadays also on guitar and keys. in the recent months i have spent a lot of time on composing songs and stuff, i'll probably start a new thread around that subject.

nevertheless thanks again!, i little while back i got the impression the project had died a silent death.

 

[Popo]

Hey, just thought I'd add the info I have found recently on my Warwick Dolphin Pro II. It was made in 1991 and apparently was made in Germany (although it is widely believed that the Dolphin II was made in Japan at that time and not made in Germany until 1991)!! Here is the letter from H.P. Wilfer that I managed to track down on another Bass Discussion board (no help from the Ebay Seller who has never bothered to pass it on to me, although I asked him several times). So yeah, the Dolphin Pro II story gets more complicated...

Message from H.P Wilfer (Its in German - I can translate if anyone needs me to)
Dolphon Pro II 4 string
by Ihren Bass handelt sich noch um ein Modell aus Deutscher fertigung
welches die Firma Shadow damals für uns gefertig hat und die wir
damal auch angenommen haben. Bedingt durch die generelle sehr schlechte
Qualität der Instrumente haben wir den größten Teil damals nicht ab-
genommen die dann aber leider durch die Firma Shadow damals direkt
verkauft wurden.. diese haben aber alle keine Serien Nummern... und
sind daher relative leicht auf den Markt zu erorrieren...


Bass: Dolphin PRO II

4 string Bass

Serial Number: E-00400-91

Year: 1991

Month: Mai

Number: 400

Neck Wood: 3 pcs. Maple Wood

Fingerboard: Wenge Wood

mit Dot Inlays aus Mother of Pearl

Frets: Bronze Warwick Frets

Nut: Just a Nut I Brass Version

Neck construction: Bolt On Construction

Body: Eschen Holz

Surface: Foam Grean Black Sunburst Lackierung

Pickups: JJ MEC Pickups Active

Electronic: MEC 2-Band electronics

Hardware: Warwick Chrome Hardware


and here is a photo of it!

 

[Negyuh]

Nice and green have not seen it like that before.

 

[Popo]

Yeah, thanks! I'm a big fan of the look (its actually not a great picture, a bit too dark, I will try and take some better ones soon), I really love the green and the way it goes into black.

Still having trouble getting the setup right though. I've set the action quite high now and the pickups very low which is giving me a more pleasing sound but it has taken a lot of time and fiddling.. Initially I found the sound too crisp and high end for my liking, though I wanted a lower action for my playing style but in the end sound is more important. I am getting somewhere with it now... The slap and pop sound of it is fantastic now!

 

[sprocket]

Look forward to final print , keep it on guys , I guess it s worth it

 

[markoism]

Very cool! Just started reading.

 

[Popo]

Hey, just thought I'd add the info I have found recently on my Warwick Dolphin Pro II. It was made in 1991 and apparently was made in Germany (although it is widely believed that the Dolphin II was made in Japan at that time and not made in Germany until 1991)!!

Sorry just need to correct myself. That should have read: "(although it is widely believed that the Dolphin II was made in Japan at that time and not made in Germany until 1993)"

 

[Negyuh]

Well i could try and combine all corrections into a new volume but need more input, maybe if everyone informed me about my misconceptions i could make a start.

 

[Popo]

I like the idea and will share what I know but I think the history of the Dolphin Pro II is still unclear.

I have read a seemingly official statement on this forum saying the Dolphin was produced in Germany from '93 (by a company called Shadow - who made mostly low quality basses that Warwick could not accept and were largely destroyed, but some where sold by Shadow despite not having permission, which can all be identified by not having a serial number!) and before that was made by MMI in Japan.


Yet I have an email from H.P. Wilfer (posted earlier) that says my '91 Dolphin II was made in Germany by Shadow. So I guess this means the Dolphin II was made in Germany before '93 (as well as being made by MMI in Japan at the time too ?!!?)

and maybe it was from about '93 that Shadow made low-quality basses in Germany and Warwick no longer felt they were good enough to be sold and had to destroy most of them, as well as stop the production of the Bass in Germany by Shadow.... (my guess)

To show some of the varying stories I am talking about, here are links to discussions on this forum about the Dolphin Pro II with different versions of where it was produced and at what times! (The wikipedia entry also differs from what I have found out so far!)






If anyone from Warwick can give an official statement on the story of the Dolphin Pro II I would be really happy about it. I am getting a bit tired of reading so many differents opinions of what happened and would really appreciate some facts!