Warrior Signature Studio 5

Yesr 2000 Studio 5 Signature - 5 String
Neck Through the Body
2 Piec and 1 piece Purple Heart Neck. 24 Frets Really low and Built to Shred 35" scale Ultra thin neck
Figured Maple Top
Bartolini MM and Jazz (Bridge) Pickups
Bartolinin 18v 3 Band EQ with three position mid selector 250/500/800hz has internal gain control called "shimmer" Makes this extremely bright
Oil Finish
Bridge is Gold plated E and B strings string through the body.
Warrior Tuners

Takes some time to find the right sound, probably need to reduce the shimmer.
I have rehersed a lot with this through a Genz Benz NeoX400. The guys I worked with LOVED this Bass. So I guess I finally had gotten the sound right.
No noise, even though it was so bright. I had to use the parametric on the Genz to back down the mids which were distractingly high.

Action...Phoenominal 1.8mm on the G and 2mm on the B
After JD serviced it, there was clearly poor work done on the adhesive or something like that on the frets. Did not get the stains out of the Birdseye maple fret board. Did not use a sealer or finish on the board which would have helped the bass look great fro a long time.
THe bridge was hung crooked originally. It was brought back to him for correction. He begrudgingly corrected that, so he says, as he refused to allow me to inspect his work in the shop when I came to pick it up.
Wood flaw in the rear by the instrument jack. Discoloaration like a knot.

The bass is strong. Because it is not a sealed finish I believe the neck needs more adjustment than other instruments. In the Humid south and east there is clearly a lot working on the wood. Found the same issue with Adam Nitti's bass, with the string so low they are sensitive to climate and can become unplayable quickly.
Would keep a back up handy for sure.
These things are really the finest looking Basses I have seen, and play Excellent, but they appear to be more works of fine art rather than working instruments.

Mr. Lewis is no help at all. He does not read letters, or e-mails. Well he might, but he certainly does not respond in writing or by telephone.
He had this instrument for 2 months, and never made any contact even though a visit to the shop revealed the bass with my letter taped to it.
I called and he read the Riot Act to me over the phone. Said my letter made him angry. I guess he was angry about the Bridge being mounted crooked by his shop. Probably the problems of the pry marks that were around the electronics plate that the first owner said were on the bass after it came back for the Warrior Shop. All the hardware was also loose when it got back from the shop the first time.
I asked for an Estimate in the letter, he never gave one. He just started the work.
I waited an additional 4 months for hope of communication and resolution. Did not get any, just a call that the Bass was ready and I owed them $200-400.
Drove down to the shop met J.D. again, met him 17 years ago though a former singer I worked with, and to see his work.
It did not go well, but I got the bass, no money changed hands. I am selling it. The worst Customer Service experience in my life. Expected more from what is advertised as a Christian operation. Not really surprised at what was true.

Been Playing 31 years. This Bass is as good as Fodera, or Specter, or Ken Smith....anything offered at Boutique level.
Warrior has an Adam Nitti Signature Line. I knew Adam before J.D. ever did. I saw J.D.'s work 17 years ago. Hoped for a fruitful relationship picking up again after so many years and finding Adam playing his handiwork. Was encouraged by that fact as Adam is so precise and discriminating.
Since this event I am now the proud owner of 5 Ibanez BTB's (6st Fretted BTB456, 6st fretless BTB 1006E, and 2 5 Strings BTB405's and 1 5 String BTB455). They are the only good looking 5's and 6's with decent looking wood, feeling necks, versitile sound, decent string spacing and great prices, that I like. They play really well, almost as nice as the Warrior (that is truely saying a lot for Ibanez). The industry is learning alot from the Boutique guys and we are all benefitting.

Next Bass? I have commissioned a Double neck double 5 with David King Kingbass.com.
That tells you that none of my money will go to Warrior.
If this bass was lost, stolen, or lost to fire, I still would not go back to Warrior, even for a dry crust of bread when starving.

Warrior Signature 5 string. Solid maple body with flame maple top, maple neck and maple fret board. 2 Bartolini Soapbars with
3-band eq and 3-way selectable Mid switch with an 18 volt preamp. 24 frets with arrow inlays for dots, and a sword inlay at the 12th fret. It is beautiful.

Sounds every bit as good as it looks. Maybe better! It can sound deep and rich for R&B, or high and puchy for Jazz and funk. It slaps like no other bass I've ever played. It even makes my cheap 8" rouge practice amp sound good. But when I play it through my Hartke 4.5XL cab, there's nothing it can't cut through. The wood used to build this instrument is over 100 years old. You just can't get great sound like this from young wood.

The action is like butter. I play it for hours just sitting on the couch by myself. It's just fun to play. The neck is the thinest I've ever felt. I thought my Pedulla had a thin and fast neck. I was wrong, this is faster.

I can't imagine any bass built by J.D. Lewis not standing up to live playing or anything else.

The absolute best to deal with. Hand down.

What else can I say? J.D. builds the best basses I have ever seen or played. Warrior will be the last bass I ever need to buy. I've been playing in bands since I was 15. I'm 49 and still rock'n. I'd replace this bass in a heart beat if it were stolen. I've been seriously searching for what I call the "Holy Grail" of basses for a while now. Warrior brought me to the end of my search. In the last 2 years I've played Pedulla, Elrick, Ibanez, Gretch, Modulus, Carvin, Yamaha, etc. I'm so glad I have my Warrior. :)

This is more of an eye opening testamony than review.2001 is the year made serial [no.1 usa 538]no.(# 1)because its one of a kind for the first of this signiture design,USA made in Rossville GA. #538 studio collection five string.24 frets,quillted maple top with custom carved cut out that he allowed me to design.and he matched it exactly to my drawing.Bass,trebble,mid,blend,volume active passive pull/push knob. two 3 postion toggle switchs ( Owner JD also said this was a first time, useually its only one switch) for each of the custom oversized bartolini's with a pearl {W}inlay between the two pickups.internal gain pot for the 18 volt preamp,neck maple/purple heart/maple body is a five piece mahogony body wings maple/purple heart/maple/mahogony studio body shape(comes to a point at the bodies bottom istead of being rounded off).Heavy brass bridge with G factor string-thru for B/E strings scale goes from 37 to 34 unbelievable desighn pearloid keys(waiting on custom abalone tuners)34 neck-thru thin as a credit card purple heart fret board thin frets(slappers dream) pearl/abalone inlay,allen renchs for truss/and bridge action. and warrior leather gig bag.

I play Gospel/Jazz/ R&B/ Funk.The Slappers that I let try It dont want to give it back!With the two 3 postion tolggles gives me 18 possible configurations just for coil settings thats not even includeing the blend knob for each oversized bartolini soapbars thats and for some reason the midrange control along with wood combinations is the most versitle of the on board EQ and 18volt preamp with internal gain pot I go from Jaco, to Marcus Miller,to flat rythems of James Jamerson.and if i use my Messa Boggie 2000 and can hit fieldy clickty clicks from limp bisket,but I much prefer my David Eden WT-800 410XLT cab that gives me that punch that will alter your bodys vibratory ballance (shake your inner man) .there is not any sound with nickel or stainless steel strings that this sword wont hit and hit hard.I traded my lakland 55-94 sight unseen for this bass and sent the original back and had him start from scratch and gave me total control of my project.I have laid down two CD"S in studio time and live all i need is my rig up to 4000sq ft then i add a 15 sub and shut the house down!!!

Im a "just because" type of person I know that original set ups always change during the shipment trusrod final adjustments also dont take full affect for about 3 to 4 hours so I use a guy here in stlouis who does setups for life or the life time of that particular instrument so he knows I want and how low and tight and thats how I keep it.Now the overall finish is a work of art.If your reading this and have never seen warrior's work go to there web sight wariorinstruments.com I chose oil over clearcoat and its a warm natural finish 72hrs just in fishing time...

live it's a dream come true it's made by a company called warrior and there moto is put down your ax and pick up a SWORD!And thats just what ive done live and studio if a ever need a back up it would be this ones twin brother.

My experiance with JD the owner and Barb his asst have been hassle free.I originally baught Soilder 5 which is the one with the round body and MM/jazz configuration and I wasnt happy with the tone and pickup configuration with out hesitation JD offered to do whatever it took to make me happy.IT didnt take long to figure out what was going to make me happy didnt exsist........yet. =Then he proceeded to Enlighten me that In order for me to be happy I had to create the tone punching eye cacthing studio savy recorder's dream slapper's machine So I did created one of his most creative basses of that type so says the owner founder JD and he did it all in 4 weeks turned mental into matter....he allowed me to name it "SOLOMANS WISDOM" ONE OF A KIND ASK HIM HE TELL YOU THE STORY........

I have been playing for 5 years and owned six diffrent axe's,,before I found my sword.if any thing diffrent i would have gotten the star of David on the fret board.....if any thing ever happened to it I would have to have another,no dislikes so if you yours serious and have the cash flow to do it then do it and dont look back you never regret it,because its your vission brought to life!!!!!