=The Warwick Thumb Club=

[video=youtube;d03-61wcfGk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d03-61wcfGk&feature=related[/video]

was not sure where to post this .just found it and its given me gas for a thumb even though i already have one...
 
I've been using Thumb basses since 2004 and they are my favourite basses to play live and in the studio. Currently I have a fretless NT IV and my main bass is a Fretted NT VI. In fact I have recorded two solo albums on the Thumb VI . Released the most recent one almost a month ago. You can hear both album at . As far as I'm aware, these two records are the only albums recorded solely on a Thumb bass. Hope you like them ;)
 
Thumb '85 and '87; OBL pickups; sound question

I am the proud owner of two Thumbs, both from the beginning of the making. I bought my first Thumb in the 80's, it is a 4-string model from 1985 with EMG pickups. Its tone and playability is absolutely amazing.
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Last year I bought a 5-string Thumb, which I brought for maintenance to Paul's Bass Matters (if you happen to be in the Netherlands pay him a visit in Nijmegen). He did a wonderful job and the bass is ace to play.
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The bass is from 1987, the body is a mix of Wenge and Afzelia. It has passive OBL (Bill Lawrence) pickups and a MEC 2 band eq.

In comparison with the '85 4-string the 5-string's output volume is lower and there is less bass. I turn up the bass knob fully and push the low frequencies on my amp considerately to get some low weight. I also realize that the balance in volume output between the strings is not perfect. I have low-B tuning and the D and G strings are both lower in volume than the other strings.
Although it is my instrument of choice when performing, I feel the sound could still be improved, especially when comparing it with the 4-string, which has all the frequencies you could wish for.
I thought about replacing the pickups. Do you have any recommendations for a balanced sound? The pickups are positioned in quite a steep angle in comparison with the strings. Maybe its magnetic poles are not optimally centered below the strings.

Looking forward to some suggestions from your end.
 
I would suggest trying to raise the pick-up's a bit for a better sound.

I've recently bought a thumb myself and have it now set-up in DGCF tuning (a whole step down) so i had to raise the action a bit and then i encountered the same problem as you have (especially as i prefer to use the thumb in passive mode), there was a significant loss in sound and definition when playing it,
so i just raised the pick-up's a bit and it made a world of difference!!! ;)

(for passive i prefer 0.38cm on the neck pick-up under the E string,0.20cm under the G string and 0.25cm on the bridge pick-up under the E string and 0.17cm under the G string - respectively D&F string in my case - )


My settings may be a bit close to the strings for some,but for use in passive mode the pick-up height is just perfect.
The sound is full and strong with a deep well defined basstone and a very distinctive clear jazz-like tone on the higher notes.

Sounds very nice!

I really want a second Thumb bass for use in regular tuning now as well.. :)
 
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Warwick Thumb NT 4 finally here

Hi all,

I got my Thumb up and running. It is a 99 model, but you can hardly tell. 8:
 

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Single pics

Pics only
 

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Lotsa Dutch ppl in this club lately.
Is there something going on?

Nice bass there freaker!
 
Welcome to the forum freaky! The attachments will be fixed soon :-)
 
Here's a pic of my Bubinga thumb BO '98 after i restored it completely,
i've been working on it for almost a month now and replaced almost every part that i felt needed replacement and did a lot of work on the neck & body wood and electronics as well, but the result is well worth the effort and on monday i'm off to the studio to record our first album with this baby.

Can't imagine a better sound than this for my style of music (death/groove metal).

The first pic is of the thumb when she just arrived at my home and the second one is of the thumb how she looks now after all the work i've done on her, in real live the difference is like day and night and she sounds even better than she looks!8:

Thumbs up! ;)

(my next purchase will probably a fretless thumb 4 or 6 string)
 
The first Warwick I ever seen was Ryan Martinie's Thumb NT 5 in the video for "Dig", the first Warwick I ever held was an 03 Thumb NT 5. It was, to this day, the best bass I've ever played. Too bad I didn't have $2000 to drop on it. Although I'm playing a Pro Series Corvette 4 Passive, I look foreward to the day I can afford my own Thumb NT 5.
 
Thumb Collection

check my Thumbs :)
L-R:
NT4 2001 EMG J set
NT4 1988 Fretless EMG JV set
BO4 2003 Limited
NT4 1987 "JD" Emg J set
NT5 1992 Fretless MEC+custom made electronics
Front:
NT6 2010
 
Do you want to adopt me as you favorite son and inheritor? ;)


Great basses, thanx for sharing.
 
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