When this bass arrived I couldn't stop myself from smiling the rest of the day and I still do every time I pick it up.
To start off, The finish and body work are flawless. No sharp edges to be found anywhere on the body or neck. Warwick (or thomann, I'm not sure who did it) already set it up perfectly, so there was nothing to do there. I did notice that the pickups can't go much lower, which is fine for me, after hearing and playing it. I'm happy to leave it as it is, but it's worth mentioning.
It barely required tuning but i find the angled tuning pegs brilliant. It's nothing vital, but being able to reach your tuning pegs this comfortably feels good and it makes me wonder why Warwick is the only one doing this. Perhaps a patent thing?
this bass Being a hollow-body, I just had to play it acoustically first before anything else and I was not disappointed. The hollow body resonates the notes beautifully with a very nice sustain ok. time to plug it in.
Long story short, It still sounds gorgeous. The sustain is still there, which only adds to the richness of the sound,
When playing close to the neck, you get that beautifully warm fretless sound i was looking for. When playing closer to the bridge you get that more punchier "jaco" sound.
Unlike the Lee Sklar fretted signature version of this bass, it does have a functional pickup switch and I find that's really all I need when I need a change in tones.
So, is there nothing bad to say about this bass? Nope, not for me. There are a few things people may have issues with though:
- the location of the strap lock. It's located behind the neck, instead of on top of the body as with most basses. It forces you to play in a certain upright-ish position, which suits playing this bass perfectly. It's similar to what hohner does on their violin bass.
- the frequency range of the tone knobs is fairly limited. the first 50% doesn't make much difference, but it increases the higher you go. I find setting them to about 70-75% gets the best sound combined with the pickup switch.
- The signal connector remain rather stiff, making it unusually hard to plug/unplug your connector, regardless of what I do (add graphite to your jack plug for example has produced no change after 3 months) or how often i plug in/unplug. no biggy, but you have to be a bit more aware than with other instruments when plugging and unplugging. Perhaps it'll wear down over time.
- The last, and probably most important "downside" i have to mention is that it's a major issue getting a case for this instrument from thomann. The problem is that the body is 5 cm wider than most regular basses, so it won't fit in any regular case thomann has to offer. The only case it will fit in, according to Thomann is item no 263559, which was out of stock when I asked thomann about it. Of course, Warwick sells cases that do fit, but they are rather expensive if you need them shipped. Luckily the bass comes with a nice sturdy gigbag, which does the job for now until I can get to Warwick to pick up a case. No disrespect to thomann, but I prefer a square case instead of an "accoustic-looking" case.
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