Warwick Corvette Standard 4-String

My Warwick is the Corvette std. bubinga with 4 strings and 24 frets. The scale is 34" and the bass is a 2008 model. It has two jazz-style MEC-pickups, and the electronics are passive all the way through.

The neck is made from ovangkol and the fretboard is wenge. The neck is quite narrow but also rather thick, but you don't necessarily need long fingers. The bass weighs almost five kilogramms which has aroused some criticism. But I think a normal guy can take the weight easily.

Warwick's growling sound cuts through the mix both live and in studio. I usually play the bass at home through Amplitube or GuitarRig and haven't really tested the bass through a decent amp. In studio and at home the sound needs a little eq-fiddleing but generally it's good and distinct.

The neck pickup can produce some precision-style Pink Floyd - Money bass sounds, but it isn't really very usable alone. I usually play so that the mic pan switch is centered, but when I need some serious growl and low-end massivity, I turn the mic pan all the way to the bridge pickup.

The bass was quite well set up by the dealer who is an official Warwick dealer in Finland. I have fiddled with the settings a bit and found out that the truss rod needed some loosening so that the neck could get more curvature. I've also adjusted the strings closer to each other at the bridge end and lowered the adjustable nut.

Generally I didn't find anything to mock about the bass as I bought it anew. It was adjusted the way it's manual recommends.

The bass is of a very solid structure and it will certainly take a lot of beating and damage before it breaks. The hardware is also quite tough.

The biggest drawback in durability is the bass's finish which wears out easily. I had already after a week of playing managed to wear out a spot over the neck pickup with my thumb. The bass has also sustained some minor scratch which don't actually show that clearly.

I can't trust the Warwick's strap locks completely. Particularly their locking system seems somewhat weak. Although so far they have done their task.

The dealer was very friendly and helpful when i purchased the bass. The bass is under warranty but so far I haven't needed it.

I've had the bass for a little over two months now and it's about 5 times better than my ex-bass, the Yamaha RBX170. Although the Warwick is about 5 times more expensive as well.

I knew Warwicks were a bit different compared to more traditional basses such as Fenders, so I haven't been disappointed with any of it's characteristics. The main excuse for getting a Warwick instead of a Fender Jazz was the Corvette's neck and sound.

2004 model, 24 frets, 4 strings, 3 knobs ( volume, tone, pickup blend), Passive J/J Mec's (very HOT sounding for being passive), Ovangkol Neck, Bubinga Body, Wenge Fingerboard, natural finish, fender jazz-esque body shape/styling, gotoh tuners, beefy 34 inch neck

The only Reason it's a 9 is because it doesn't have active electronic capabilities

The sound is Growling, Punchy, and clear. A more detailed analysis of the sound shows a: FAT,CHUNKY,HUGE bottom end (The Bubinga body and Ovangkol neck are to thank), a solid midrange (could be improved since all of the woods used on this bass are extremely heavy and mellow in sonic character), and a crystalline beautiful treble response. Great for Rock, Hard Rock, Punk (use a pick to get a crunchy, organic sound from this bass), Jazz, Blues, Funk, you name it. It's all about the player, with solid technique, artistic ability, and tweaking the knobs, this bass can accomplish the task of anchoring the rhythmic backbone of any style of song. You can get any kind of sounds from a very convincing P-Bass sound, all the way to a Stingray slap tone. This bass is a chameleon when it comes to adjusting itself sonically to a given piece of music. Sounds great in the studio, recorded an entire album with it. The pickup were quiet and the overall sound mesh extremely well in the mixing and mastering process. For live, it sounds good, 10 minutes on stage with this thing is a punishing experience for your neck and shoulders. The damn thing is about 12 pounds.

Nicely set up from the factory, pickups, bridge and finish were excellent. the major flaws is the input jack. Warwick is notorious for using poor quality input jacks that frequently fail and stop working after minimal use. The cable literally started to slip right out of the hole in the input jack from 3 months of use and absolutely no abuse. Do you self a favor and get it changed there not that expensive. Other that that the bass is dream to play and feel like a million bucks (except for that pesky input jack).

This bass is a workhorse and can take serious punishment very well. The hardware is resilient and the only wear I've seen is the MEC logos fade off of the Pickups. (it's just gold printing, purely cosmetic). I recommend using the warwick beeswax on the body and lineseed oil on the fingerboard at least once a month to keep this bass sounding like a champ. The strap buttons were solid as can be: a very pleasant surprise these days. Whenever the climate changes, check the intonation and truss rod. This bass has somewhat of a tendency to alter action and intonation from dramatic changes in humidity and climate. Solid and reliable to sum it up, but definitely keep a back-up bass.

I haven't had to speak with customer service yet, the bass has been working just great.

After 5 years of playing bass and trying all different kinds of amps and basses, The sound of wood really shines through the mix in all kinds of musical situations. I just wish i knew about the weight of this 12 pound axe. I love the sound and the colossal bottom end and low mid response whilst maintaining a velvety high register. I hate the weight and the input jack; but hey; that the price a pay for that wood. I wish it had active electronics but I can live without it. Make sure to get an extremely sturdy and comfortable strap because you WILL feel the weight of this thing on stage after 15 minutes, forget about longer gigs if you don't have considerable shoulder strength. Great value for a great bass, pleasure to play and own, highly recommend despite it's few imperfections.

corvette std 4string passive swamp ash version bought 2005. was new.

no fancy stuff, just a bassguitar!

i play mostly rock and a little fusion and
use it for fingerstyle only (slap ---> thumb nt^^).

i play it through an mpulse 600 with 2x12 warwick and 1x15 mesa cabs.

could use a little more sustain but overall the sound is great! i can get almost every tone i want. with the right electronics, which i havent found yet it would get a 10

with stock pus just a 7.

no noise! the stock pus sucked though so i got myself some from harry h??ussel. now it kicks ass :D

i bought it from a shop around the corner, verything was set up by them.
no flaws whatsoever.

next time i would buy it with another finish so it needs less caretaking.

well build.

stock jack never saw any birthdays but that was a minor problem.

stock straplocks sucked so i replaced them.

i always gig with both my basses as i need their specific sounds on different songs, but i would use it without backup.

mine looks a little punked now but i play it for min 2 hours a day and didnt treat it that nice. i gig about 3 times a month and it never failed me.

never dealt with them

i play bass for about 10 years now.
i also own a thumb nt4 and some crappy old yamaha.

really love the handling, it was the main reason why i bought it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
warwick necks are soooooooooooooooooooooo great :D

you cant have it hanging next to your balls, it needs to be worn pretty high but thats no problem for me.
it weights in at about 3.5 kg (~7 lbs), perfect for 1.5h+ gigs.

overall a great instrument.

if mine was stolen i would buy a new one. if i were rich i'd also hire some south african mercenaries to track down the thief and whip him to death with a wet towel.

Made in West Germany, 24 Frets, 4 String, Active MEC Pickups, Just-A-Nut 3, Made of Bubinga, Natural wood no finish, Jazz style with thin neck.
Very Good Features.

This sounds amazing with Jazz, Rock, Funk. I can go from a Vic Wooten sound to Claypool with just a turn on the tone knob. Not noisy at all, although i play through an Ampeg which are good about cutting fuzzy sounds. very freaking rich sound. Its pretty Dark and warm and with adjustments from the amp its quite bright.

Action-10+
Pickups-10+
Flaws-the pickups come a little loose sometime but thats not a big deal at all.

I use this bass for a Jazz band and Church. The Durability on this bass seems to be incredible. I think you could count on this bass for any life shows.

I have been playing bass for 4 years and i also own an Ibanez 5 and an old Austin bass, I run it through an ampeg combo. Im really proud to own this bass, if i lost it i would buy it again no doubt. I actually like it more than the Thumb bass.

I bought the corvette standard (active) about a year ago and I love it. This is the best bass I have ever bought to this point in my music career of nine years. It is the bolt on if that makes any difference and it just plays like a dream. I love long thick necks ( not wide) and this thing does it for me. The bridge has so many adjustments you can make on it, I had to ask a guitar tech what they all did. There is also a bypass for treble/bass knobs if you pull the volume knob out which is cool.

Sound is the best part about this bass. It sounds good into ANYTHING you plug it into. I play out of a david eden wt half stack and it makes it sound very warm crisp and responsive. This is not a bass for beginners because it has a lot of tone to it.

The bass was not set up bad out of the factory but it sure wasn't good either. I paid $100 to get this guy to set it up for me and wow, was it worth it.

One bad thing about this bass is the finish. You are supposed to wax it about once a week so the wood can breathe. I do it about every 2-3 weeks and it is already wearing down on the neck some. I play a lot of bass, but 1 year is not long enough to feel neck wear. Also I rest my thumb on top of the front pick up when I play; there is a worn out spot where the finish is rapidly fading right there. But this will always turn on and put on a good show. Just make sure you have a spare 9-volt.

Never needed them

This is a great bass. I do have 2 main issues with it though. It weighs a metric ton!! After standing up and gigging for 3-5 hours your back will start to get tight. Also it comes with a "rockbag" which is the biggest piece of **** I have ever owned. For such an expensive bass it should come with a hard case but whatever.

Mine is a 2004, Made in Germany,
24 fret, 4 string. The Body is Ash, with a Satin Oil Finish, Bugundy Red. 2 MEC Gold Active J pickups, with a 2 band eq. Nearly any sound you like.

With a bit of eq fidleing, any sound you like, hard rock, metal,
i do session work, 15 years playing, The bass cost me 590 pounds, ex demo. Very suited to Jazz or funk sounds, also slapping, due to the ash body. If you can afford it go for a Streamer Stage II, the ultimate alrounder.

No problems what so ever, factory set-up, never needed to touch it.

Will suit studio, live, any situation and wont ever let you down,
(it's a warwick). The high E can get a bit out of sound, nothing abit of light compression, or limiter wont cure.

excellent

It's a 10/10 for this bass, excellent value for money. Next step up is a Warwick streamer stage 2, or alembic.

Warwick Corvette Standard 4 String, manufactured in Germany 07-13-06
24 Jumbo Bell Brass Frets
Volume, pick-up pan, and tone control knobs wired to 2 MEC passive Dynamic Correction pick-ups
Burgundy satin finish on ash body with ovangkol neck and wenge fingerboard all complimented with black hardware
Comes with awesome Rockbag by Warwick which includes all your accessories (can of wax, truss rod tool, allen keys, strap locks, owners manual...) in a little trapper keeper sort of thing
Go Warwick! :-)

This bass is great for slap, it has a real crisp woody sound with the tone control turned all the way up and a real mellow warm sound with it turned all the way down, which is great for finger style players. A lot of people prefer the active sound but I really don't need four or five different knobs to get the sound I want out of this thing, it's pretty great as is. A lot of people bash MEC but I've always found them pretty suitable for that Warwick sound. The passive pickups can be a little noisy at times but the wiring makes them easily replacable. :-) Not quite perfect, but really good stuff.

I've had no problems with the action set-up straight from the factory. The only thing that I had to adjust was the bridge pick-up because for some reason it was really high and there was some annoying distortion, but that's an easy fix. The body feels solid, but it's not built like a tank like the bubinga models... since it's ash, this makes it a little easier to get a scratch or a ding on that satin finish. Overall though, no poor construction here, only the best from that German craftsmanship.

This is the part where you got to be careful... Warwicks are a very solid and durable instrument, but because of the exposed soft wood it seems prone to some dings... I haven't played it long enough to notice if the satin finish begins to wear off with use but I don't really see that happening unless you absolutely abuse this thing. Hardware looks like its going to last forever, again that German quality really shines through. The strap locks that come with it I recommend replacing, I've heard a lot of bad experiences with Dunlop and I really wouldn't want to risk it with at instrument I just forked over a grand for. But basically, if you take care of it, use it... not abuse it, you can really depend on this to last you for a long time.

Never dealt with them, haven't had to. :-)

I love pretty much everything about this bass, it's simple in it's nature and that's one of the beautiful things about it... no need for all the knobs, everything you need is just right there. It doesn't weight as much as the bubinga models but still gives you all the playability that they have. Almost the entire bass is adjustable, so there's no way you couldn't get comfortable with it. The Corvette models are among the best basses I have ever played, and pretty much anything Warwick makes is great. If you're debating on any kind of bass to get, just go to Warwick, you won't lose. :-)

The Warwick Corvette is hand made in Germany, 24 frets and 4 strings. It comes stock with MEC J/J passive pickups which deliver quite a nice sound. The body is made of African Bubinga wood which has an awesome 3-d esque texture. The fretboard is also a very dense African wood called Wenge. And the neck is made of another African wood called Ovangkol. The one i got came with a Warwick deluxe gig bag which is actually very nice, as well as a warwick trapper style thing which contained beeswax, instructional guide, truss rod, as well as some other goodies.

I honestly love this bass even unplugged it's got the signature Warwick growl that is sought after for some many bass players. I play pretty much any style of music i try to stay varied in music. This bass tackles any and all styles of music perfectly to my taste. This bass is perfect for live settings, or for studio it's just got that great bass tone that is unmistakably warwick quality.

Straight from the factory the bass played amazingly well, i've never seen any guitar or bass come straight from the factory set up so well, (i've seen quite a few, working in a music store and all) Everything was just awesome straight from warwick

This bass is litteraly built like a Sherman tank it's rock solid and not very heavy at all really. After a long gig it can get a bit tiring however. The hardware seems very high quality, from the tuners to the bridge all awesome specs. I don't think i would need or want a backup to this bass, i would rely very heavily on it.

Haven't dealt with them and i hope to never deal with them

I've been playing guitar and bass for quite some time, i have no regrets after getting this, no buyers remorse what so ever just a great investment, if you've been considering go with it!

Standard Corvettes have evolved only slightly over time. Standard features are available at Warwick website. Subject model being reviewed was made in 1996. Wenge neck and fingerboard were standard that year.

+ Likes +: 1) Tone woods. 2) Lack of poly finish. 3) Neck is natural and oiled. 4) Body is waxed. 5) Bell brass frets and nut. 6) Body shape. 7) Neck shape. 8) Standard J pickup routes allow for easy replacement of stock MECs. - Dislike -: 1) MEC pickups were brittle sounding, low output, and hum producing to the extent of being unusable. Replaced MECs with passive humbuckers with sound spectrum characteristics of standard J pickups. My favorite sounding bass once pickups were changed. Sound rating reflects pickup change, a simple mod that is common, inexpensive, and easily reversed. Gigging amp is Eden through 2x12 cabinet at 4ohms. Practice amp is Hartke Kickback 10 at 8ohms. I play fingerstyle with no effects. Staccato, percussive, warm, round, jazz/funk oriented sound.

Well crafted and engineered. German pedigree. Make sure to wax the body often according to factory advice to avoid body cracks.

Reliable and durable. Used live weekly without backup

Have dealt w/Dana B Goods (US distributor) by email and phone with good results

My Corvette is my favorite bass. My American Standard Fender Jazz is currently relegated to unplayed back up. I am extremely fortunate to have both of these excellent guitars.

The features etc have been well covered already - this review is primarily to focus on a single aspect of Warwick basses, the just-a-f*k*g-nut II. So it could apply to just about any new Warwick bass.

My Corvette sounds great. Very versatile bass. Warwick make nice pickups.

No problem... APART FOM THE NUT!!!

The point of this review applies to any Warwick bass because as far as I know they all come with the cursed just-a-nut II.

This is a bad design in so many ways - the edges are sharp and can scratch the player easily, it is not very nice to adjust the height on (takes far too much force on the hex key) and by far the worst problem is the two retaining clips that hold it in.

Mine broke. Take a look on ebay and check a few Warwick bass auctions - pretty soon you will find one with one or both retaining clips snapped off.

Why? Because the design is stooooopid. You can't expect a super thin piece of brittle plastic to survive without getting snapped off sooner or later. It is an insult to the rest of the instrument and has no place on a quality bass.

Please Warwick, wake up and design a better nut. I know you already think you did as this is mark II but you need a mark III!!!

Apart from the nut, everything else is great.

I emailed and they were very vague in responses to my criticisms about the nut design. I felt they were not listening.

I have been playing for many years and Warwick make some of the best basses out there - no doubt about it.

With a good nut, my Corvette is a 9 or 10 maybe but I ain't giving it that because of the crappy nut.

There is an old Proverb - "Don't spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar" which is exactly what Warwick are doing with the Just-a-nut II design.