Think I found a 1990 custom Warwick the other day at local GC ( yes I nabed it :)

J

Jose Andreas

Joined
Sep 26, 2012
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Never really played a Warwick. When I picked this bass up, it just had a feeling of uniquness. Lined fretless with epoxy coating 5 string thumb bolt on. It had 6 bolts instead of 4 bolting the neck on. Thought that was a little unusual. Looks like a deep burgandy stain on an ovankol body maybe. High gloss, not oil.

Im a little confused though, because when I did a serial number search, all it said was it was made in 1990, ovankol oil finish, with wenge neck. Did not mention the fretless or burgandy high gloss or 6 bolts bolting the neck on.

Think it was a custom ?

Pardon the mispelling please 557093_106280179526762_1520335983_n.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This is an odd one. It has a Thumb BO body and what seems like the 2-band MEC pre but the neck looks like it's cut from an NT but the back of the neck has the routing like a BO neck. Pics of the headstock?
 
This is indeed an odd one...I will check with the head of production and get back to you with the a definitive answer. I, personally, haven't seen this configuration before - thanks for your patience.
 
I saw that one on the website whilst browsing last week or the week before.
 
Thanks much. I have several custom fretless basses, and this is my new favorite player. Really like the tone and feel of this bass.
 
well, I asked Hans Peter Wilfer, and he said he never seen such a bass. Sorry buddy, but I guess it was made by someone.

so it doesn't look like a Warwick. In 1990 we used Wenge for neck, that is not a wenge neck. do you have a serial number?
 
Serial No.:B-072596-00
Article Code:1225080000BZOWWW
produced:15/02/2000
Info: Thumb BO, 5-string
Natural Oil finish
ovangkol body with wenge neck body

Can you show us a picture of the serial number and front and back of head stock? I suspect somebody transferred a legitimate serial from the original BO neck to this replacement neck.
 
Florin beat me to it...If you would please post some pictures of the front/back of the headstock, etc. It would indeed seem that someone used a legitimate serial number onto this bass, as Jeff suggested. Best regards,
 
Well the nice thing is that GC has a great return policy. If you like the bass you can either go back with the receipt and ask for a partial refund, or just get a refund in whole since it (looks like) it's not a genuine Warwick.
 
hi jose

you have here one awesome bass, if you ask me:)
i woudn't care if the neck or anything else isn't original.
to be honest yes there are unusual specifics on this bass but somehow i think it is original.
i remember a thumb bolt on prototype on this forum from 1989 with the same neck joint.
serial? who cares! as long you like your intrument as it is than everything is cool.
the bass has a coated fretboard which has to be good such as the red finish looks unique and great too, enjoy it man.

cheers,
herbie
 
Herbie it just looks to professional to not be a Warwick. Anythings possible I guess. I just got home here. I'll get some pics up of the headstock after I fix dinner here.

If this is a lawsuit bass wow it sure is nice
 
Interesting. The serial number is only on there with a marker. They are usually stamped into the wood.

Unauthorized factory prototype? :D
 
Can you adjust the bridge height on these ? The individual saddles are almost as high as they can go. Appears to be 3 set screws on each side of bridge. I like my action low on fretted but high on fretless.

Can anyone provide a link please, on how to do this if possible ? Thanks

I FOUND IT in the Warwick manual pdf ;)

Notice the continuous grain from neck to body wood. Someone put time and effort in this piece. IMG_1532.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This has to be the most mysterious Wick/non-Wick ever. :-)
 
It is no misterious at all. Hans Peter Wilfer ( owner and CO of Warwick) told me that he never seen such a bass in his life.
Our basses have at least 4 laminations in the neck for the 5 strings bass, and the neck should be ovankol.

The serial number is the last thing we do on a finished bass, after everything is checked and setup, and the bass is ready to be suipped to the new owner.
There is no such a thing like marker written serial number, we don't do that...
Tuners are not Warwick.

This is a beautiful bass, and it should sound like a beast, so if you like it, enjoy it, brother! But it is not a Warwick.

Most likely the bass had a broken neck or something, and someone did a great job by building a new neck.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
That´s a cool bass, indeed, but it has too many wrong details to be a Warwick, and, if the Boss says he´d never seen that bass, well, you have what seems to be a very nice copycat.

The issue here, IMHO, is that Guitar Center is selling copycats as originals. That´s not nice.
 
Nachobassman said:
The issue here, IMHO, is that Guitar Center is selling copycats as originals. That´s not nice.
Click to expand...

They probably didn't know. We knew because we are Warwick enthusiasts. It's not possible for someone to know everything about every instrument. If someone set an Ibanez bass with a neck someone else built down in front of me that had the same headstock shape and tuner shape, I probably would have no idea that it wasn't genuine. This is the only example I have seen, so to say "copycats as originals" would imply that they are doing it often. I'd say they wouldn't be able to stay in business if they were doing that. Warwicks are somewhat "rare" as it comes to basses in the US. It's not surprising that someone taking a used Warwick in on trade wouldn't know exactly what to look for to determine if it were real or not.

I'll go back to what I said to the original poster earlier.. if you like the bass, take a printout of this thread and your receipt back, and tell GC they sold you an imposter bass that was advertised as genuine. Talk to a manager. You could get some money back. Or, just get a full refund if you want to continue to look for a real Warwick.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks all for your time in this matter. May take it back and get that used 6 string Broadneck fitted w/Seymour Duncans I saw the other day. Not sure what Im going to do. If GC will take off $500.00, I may keep it
 
Let me know which gc. I might buy it after you return it :)

I think it was just a replacement neck and they had the bass refinished while they were at it
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top