Warrior Standard 5

This bass is a 1997 model made in Georgia. According to the certificate that came with it, it was built in June of 1997 and is called a Standard. It looks like the modern day soldier bass. It is swamp ash with a quilted maple top and has a purple heart stripe going thru the middle. It has basslines MM in the normal spot and a basslines jazz pickup in front of it. The bass is active and rocks like no other. The fingerboard is a VERY curly birdseye maple on a rock maple neck. Due to the date of manufacture, there was no purpleheart stringer and no sword at the 12th fret. One distinguishing feature of the earlier ones is a single trussrod of the ones that I have seen. It has a Gotoh bridge (which is awesome for intonation) and the B and E strings thru the body. It came with a gigbag and was on ebay but the auction had closed without the reserve being met so I got it after the auction.

I tend to play all styles but mostly slap and some creative prog rock. This bass has LOTS of tones with the 2 pickup setup and it sounds really full. I have not gotten any noise out of it. The preamp is very quiet. I am having a bunch of fun running this thru the ampeg 350h into the 4x10...I think this bass will do equally well in the studio and live. It will have its chance to do both because I do a healthy mix of both. So far, everything that I have played on it I like.

The bass did not come from the factory, but from an individual. I had to adjust the bass to my personal settings. The pickups, action and truss had to be adjusted because the strings were virtually laying on the frets and I like low action but not THAT low. For a 7 yr old bass, it has held up well. There is a small amount of player wear on it and there are the obvious nicks and some small scratches. The electronics are in perfect working order and there does not appear to be anything wrong with it at this point.

I think this bass will rock on the stage. Everything breathes quality, even for an early production model. The finish has lasted this long, I think it will go the distance with lots of playing. This bass has the recessed strap locks by Dunlop. They work well and the bass is well balanced and does not give me any real challenges for the shoulders. I think I can stand up all night and play this bass. I feel confident that I could take it on a gig and the only reason I would need a backup bass is if I break a string.

I have spoken to Mark Lewis and he is very nice and offered to give me a factory tour (since I only live 2 hrs away, that is even cooler)...I have not seen any blemishes or things that would require a trip to the factory. The bass came with a crack under the G string tuner but that was because of the person 2 owners ago. I am going to have that fixed and I will deal with it on my own.

I have been playing bass for 22 of my 34 years and have had my share of basses. In the current stable, there are a couple of Fenders, an alembic, an old Aria Sb 1000, my Stingray 5 and an old SD Curlee that was given by a friend. I asked all the appropriate questions before I got the bass and the man who sold it to me was very upfront and loaded with info. If it were stolen or lost, I would definitely get another one. The neck has a nice even feel with a smooth radius for my hand. I played a Warrior on demo in 1996 or 97 at a music store in Franklin, TN and was in love with the neck at that point. It was a four string standard. Since then, it has been a dream of mine to have at least one of these basses. The reality is, I would like to have a few more. I got into this bass for a lot less than some others would have cost me, and I am thankful that the seller was a genuine, honest man of integrity.

Made in Georgia USA in 1999. 34" 24 position double truss bolt on fretless with lines and epoxy coating over purpleheart board, mahogany purpleheart neck. Bubinga over Mahoginy with a purpleheart center laminate oil finish body. 3 ban active with one Bassline MM. Nice black bridge with body thru for the lower 2 strings, had to order a new longer bolt for the lowest saddle to intonate the E string...it was set up to use a low B. It's much nicer with a high C. I've a toggle that must throw it to single coil...too noisey, I use the bucker. I doesn't have dot inlays on the board...I'd prefer to have them but the big sword at the 12th position and the side markers are enough, Certainly didn't leave off anything I need.

I boost the mid and low on the bass quite a bit for the sound I like. I'd prefer it did better flat or with preamp EQ, but it likes to be EQed on the bass. I use it with Eden and Hartke mostly, it does well straight thru a board or with a sansamp too. Gets noisey in single coil mode. Sounds like a french horn and makes eveyones head spin around and ask "where'd you get that bass?" Freaks everybody out. It's serious fretless cut through mwah and make music tone.

Plays great with very low action. I set it up with low E high C in the existing purpleheart nut and it works great. I used strings bassed on a 40 set with lighter E and A strings...to bring out the mwah/mid tone. Intonation is great all the way up to the 24th positions. No flaws.

Solid as a rock.

I was going to buy a new one till I found this one used. I talked with the owner at some lenght about what to get in a fretless. He knows well what he's doing and the one I have is close to what he would have built for me. With the exception of the Bassline. He recomended a special Bart fretless set up...that may be why I have to boost the mids and lows to get the sound I want. They are very helpful. They sent me a saddle bolt for free.

I've played bass a whole lot. My other basses are a freted 4 Curbow Petite, Kubiki Ex Factor, Ovation accoustic, and a Turner Ren fretless 4. My main rig is a David Eden, I use a Harke Kickback 10 a lot too. I looked for years for this fretless to replace my Music Man, which was a real disapointment, never could get it to play well and it hurt my wrist to try. I tryed Tobias, Pedula, Warwick, PRS, and every other fretless I could get my hands on. I couldn't find a keeper. I really hate to give this bass a 10 for everything, nothing is perfect...but it's the best one I've found so I guess it deserves it. It's a keeper.
All my bass buddies like it too.

1997, bolt on, 5 string bass.
www.warriorinstruments.com
3 piece neck: mahogany, purple heart, mahogany. ebony fretboard, fretted, 24 frets I think.
Body is mahogany and purple heart down the middle to match the neck and the top is bubinga.
Single Seymore Duncan Basslines pick up, MM style in the sweet spot.
3 Band Bartolini electronics. Push/Pull contour for slap added to the volume control. Toggle switch for preamp boost.
Not sure about the bridge and tuners, but they work fine, no complaints.
Only Gripe is I wish it had the J neck pick up that seems to be the option of choice these days. But, these are hand built and custom made so what can I say?

I play in church and a little bit of jam band. This is a slapper's dream bass and it still provides me with the warmth and definition that I want in a high end bass. I get a little bit of possible shielding noise when the electronics around me are bad (like having my amp and compuer/moniter on the same outlet) ot if the church platform is not grounded correctly (and all the musician's know it is the platform's wiring), other than that, she is very quiet.
The sound is like a beefy Stingray bass. The bottom is big, the EQ can provide all kinds of fireworks (sizzles and deep booms) and nice warm B-I-G notes that swell as well as some nice growls.
It is not as growly as my Warwick Thumb and the high pop's don't have exactly as much defintition in the snap/sizzle, but this bass excells where the Warwick does not do so well.
My only gripe is that I bought a used one and so I did not order one with a J pick up to get the P sound when I want it. BUT, the single pick up in the sweet spot comes so close and nobody says anything negative about the sound of this bass. The other musicians love it and I hear folks telling me to turn it up rather than down.

I bought it 4 years old and it looks fantastic, natural finish (stained?). The fit and quality of workmanship is top shelve. The materials have to be great also snce this bass has servived a nice break in period without any noticeable wear.

I think I gopt ahead and answered this already. This bass is a ten. It is 4 years old and has seen some battle time. I do bring it alone to gigs, but I always have extra batteries in the bag.

I have no personal experience, but the company was why I bought the bass. I heard the most fabulous things from many different people that had some experience with JD, the owner, and his company. On the basis of lots of other folk's stories, I am gonna say Ten again.

Playing guitar since 1991 and bass for 2 years. I went gear crazy and spent plenty in 2 years. SWR rig at church and a Hartke combo for practice. I have 2 high end basses I bought used and one high end bass I just sold. The Warrior is of equivelent quality with my Warwick neck thru Thumb($1200 used)and Devon D Fretless ($1000 used). Which one you prefer is a personal matter depending on the sound you like. If you are hunting for a high end bass, consider a Warrior.

Made for NAMM this year down in Rosswell GA.

The bass is a Warrior Standard 5 string with a swamp ash body, bird's eye maple bolton neck with a line of purple heart running through both the neck and body. The finish is a simple light varnish over the beautiful wood. The neck is insanely thin and the bass only ways 7.5 lbs. It freaks me out. The pickup is a basslines 5 string musicman type pickup with a 9 vold preamp, which can be switched from humbucking to singlecoil. The controls consist of bass, treble and mids. Includes a warrior (Levy's) gigbag.

The worksmanship is astounding on this instrument. There isn't a flaw on it anywhere...absolutely beautiful. The frets were perfect, the nut was filed correctly, the action and setup were insanely good...I can't believe how well made this instrument is.

I'm giving it a 10 because for what I bought it for, it was perfect. I would want nothing different on this bass, although a lot of people would prefer some different configurations. Warrior will build them however you want...so the features are dependent on what you specify...I specified this.

Geez! I am...er, was a Musicman fan. I have played them for a LONG time and could never find anything even close...maybe G&L was somewhere like them and Modulus made some nice stuff, but I just loved Stingrays. This bass is probably 2 steps beyond the stingray....and killed it. I immediately sold my MM.

Noisy? No way. Not at all. I've plugged into my SVT, Eden, Trace Elliot and GK and none of them are noisy...well, except the GK, but that's that amp.

The sound? A Musicman on steriods. I can dial anything from a Rich dark tone to a bright absolutely KILLER slap tone by just using the bass knobs. Most of the time I keep it flat, and my amp flat...which gives me the sound of the bass alone. I really haven't had to do much in most of my playing situations.

As far as variety goes...well, it's about as variable as a musicman stingray, but more extreme. I have a Warrior Jazz bass for the other tones that I want.

I honestly have NO dislikes in this bass. I will probably buy another (this is my third Warrior and I play them now exclusively) as a backup.

See the Features section. I have barely even had to tune this thing in 3 weeks. It is/was perfect when I picked it up and upon some seriously close inspection, I can only find one scratch in the wood and I think I did it. I've never played a bass fresh from the factory like this...or a guitar. Unreal.

I've been playing the fool out of it. It still amazes me how light it is and it scares me a bit too. I'm used to the stingray, so I now feel like I can fly...so I have to be careful. The bass is solid though. The strap buttons have a really big head on them, and although I would prefer strap locks, there is no way my strap is coming off (I even leave it on so it does't stretch it).

JD (the owner of Warrior) told me to put his polish on it about once every 8 weeks, so I think as long as I take care of it, it is going to last.

As far as the reliability, I would have no problem gigging without a backup...and have. Although having a backup is a GREAT excuse for buying another one.

Well, when you call the company, you talk to the owner. They've invited me down to their plant and the luthier even offered to have his wife cook me dinner. Can you get better customer support than that? These guys rock!

Add to the fact that they are christians and live up to the Bible (not the reputation). They see their work as a reflection of the majesty of God and it shows. Each bass is annointed and prayed over and it shows in the quality of the instrument, and it also shows in the character of the company. I haven't had a problem dealing with them at all, and I never suspect I will. They take great pride in the relationships they build.

I've been playing 20 years and have owned over 35 different guitars. This kills everything I have ever played. I wish that I had known about them 10 years ago because I would have saved a TON of money over that time. Hands down THE best instrument made.

I am no longer playing anything but Warriors. Doesn't that say enough?