=The Warwick Thumb Club=

For Natural Oil Finished basses; I always use the Warwick Bee's Wax. I'm not sure if anything can be used as a substitute. The Warwick Bee's Wax may have some extra ingredients that soften it up as other bee's wax I've seen is a relatively hard material. Use a soft cloth that won't scratch the surface. I don't think you are supposed to use that Warwick Bee's Wax on any other Warwick finish.

For the wenge fingerboard...I used and a q-tip. My wife was impressed that I could use it in this application, as the oils are usually intended for aroma therapy and healing.

I use a lemon oil to clean the gunk and green buildup away from the frets and then used an oil containing tangerine and patchouli (among other oils) to oil the fingerboard wood itself. The stuff is expensive but a little goes a long way and it made the fingerboard on my bass smell good. The oil is actually called Peace & Calming and it is a pleasant odor when I open up my case.
 
You can aply the wax with your fingertips :-) I do it, I like it better this way, and the bass is happy.
Use very little amount ow wax, you don't want it to build up, you just want it to seal the wood. In the first months, wax it more often, like once per week, than you can do it once per month. Of course, if you play in humid atmosphere, you have to be extra careful.
 
Here's my Thumb.

It's an October '99 Bolt-on. When I bought it around 6 or 7 years ago (from Bass NW) the original pickups had been replace with Bartolini pickups and preamp by Mike Lull in Seattle.

I don't know what it sounded like originally but I do love the tone it has now. I made a recording of it in all three positions Middle, Bridge and Neck. I mic'ed my Eden D210XLT for the recording.

If you're interested in hearing it, . The tone is both richer and more complex in person. Maybe I'm biased but it is the best bass I have ever heard.


I took this pic a couple of years ago.



I just took this second pic today. I couldn't get the light just right to show the same shade as the first pic but thought I would include it because of the highlights. I just waxed it this morning and now it just glows!





:d

Joe.
 
Can anyone tell me what the body, neck and fretboard are constructed from? I know common woods for Thumbs are Bubinga, Wenge and Ovangkol but I don't know what I have for sure.

Thanks!

:d

Joe.
 
Hey Joe,
you have ovangkol for the neck & body & wenge for the fingerboard.
Cheers bud.
 
Gorgeous Grain Dazzla. Is that a Custom Shop? I don't recall a limited edition like that.
 
Cheers James! I am pretty certain its not a custom shop(no certificates and stuff). i bought it circa 01/02 from a guitar shop here in Queensland( i don't know my original serial number as i had a neck replaced a couple of years back). Maybe someone on the forum can shed more light on these style of thumbs.
 
Thanks Dazzla, It's a lovely Thumb

Hmmmm,.....I poked around at the limited editions, and the signatures, and didn't see one with that top. It looks like the Tigerwood, or perhaps the Zebrano I've seen on the Infinities.

Was the original neck different that the current one? What happened to it?
 
Yeh same here mate..i had a pretty decent look online a few years back to get some info on the bass. I found a guy's review on harmony central in which he says he has a thumb 5 bo with zebrano top and ash back and thats as much info as i could gain. Def not a custom and i really couldn't say if its zebrano or tigerwood top.

The neck was an unfortunate tale involving an "experienced" luthier who mainly worked on fenders(this guy hated working on the warwicks and thought fender was the best bass ever made). Anyways he broke the warwick nut and over adjusted the truss rod and after a couple of months of frustration i ordered a replacement( i now do my own set ups after an expensive lesson).The neck is a little lighter in colour from the original and could be from a corvette 5 i suspect.
 
seriously that bo thumb is a beauty! would love to try a thumb with those woods... check out the electronic/battery case, you find there a serial maybe:)
 
cheers herbie! i took your advice and checked the battery case just now..There appears to be no numbers anywhere in there either.. anyways thanks for the advice mate!
 
it really do lok like zebrano. i know its a while ago but mayby u wanna ask the musicstore where u bought it about s serial nr certificates or anything if u interessted :P i htink ur definatly the onlyone which such a nice BO Thumb in this forum. really love the grain. lucker :P
 
Really a sweet Thumb mate ... i thinki've seen a similar one in Milan about 7 years ago
 
Beautiful thumb, and the wood looks a lot like zebrano. If you give me the serial number, maybe I can find out more about this bass.
 
Cheers Warwickdread and Malommo! Hey Flo i had a neck replaced by a Music store here in Oz a couple of years ago. I stupidly forgot to write down the original serial number before the neck was replaced...Now i have just the new one mate(serial number).
 
just say hello

hi,
i'm leitnerjoe from munich, germany. i play bass for more than 20 years now. my new bass is a thumb 6 string. its really a nice instrument, a little headheavy, but i can handle it. unfortunately the body broke near the control knob, after transporting the bass in a bass case which was probably to small. i coud not believe that this happened. the bubinga body wood is really thin at the place where it was broken. the bass is now in a local repair shop... ♣♣♣♣ happens...
all the best
leitnerjoe
 
Hey Joe & welcome.
Sorry to hear about your Thumb's little mishap.This is the weakest part of any bass that has it's control cavity routed from the rear.
 
Greg said:
Hey Joe & welcome.
Sorry to hear about your Thumb's little mishap.This is the weakest part of any bass that has it's control cavity routed from the rear.
Click to expand...

+1

Makes the case for hardshell. I have a cheapo HS case and would trust my thumb to even the most expensive gigbags or softshells. YMMV
 
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