Warwick FNA 5

My FNA 5 was made in Germany in 1999. I purchased the instrument used for $1,025. I believe both neck and fingerboard are wenge (looks like wenge), 3-piece bolt-on neck, solid ash body, 24-fret, 34" scale. Brass frets, bridge, anchor, knobs and controls. Has a single humbucker with active electronics, low/mid/high/gain controls. No dot inlays on the face of the fretboard (which I really like, as it keeps the neck less cluttered), but has small inlays on the side of the fretboard. Who looks at the fretboard when playing, anyway? ;-)

No included accessories.

Suits my style fairly well. I play finger, pluck and toutch-style much of the time. I don't use a pick or play slap/pop. The bass is very easy to tap on and the action is fairly low, so my slight CTS does not act up while playing. The neck has the right balance of thickness and playability; it fits my left hand very well. When anchoring my thumb on the humbucker, as it is not grounded, there is an oh-so-slight hum. Sound is bright--again, good for tapping--can play slap/pop with ease, as well.

On stage, I use a Furman power conditioner, EA amp/cab, Line6 BassPOD Pro (with Floorboard), and Korg stage tuner. The bass can produce a variety of sound, from bright, almost piezo sound, to low growl, to phat funk/jazz (with the right effect).

The only thing I don't like about the bass is how far back the humbucker is situated. In order to play finger-style, one has to pluck almost at the bridge, which creates a very bright, somewhat muted sound. Other than that, the bass is amazing for the price. I love it.

Whoever owned the bass before me must've played with a pick, or had long fingernails, as there are tiny indentations about the lower portion of the body. Other than that, the finish on the body and neck/fingerboard is flawless. The brass pieces are all in like-new condition, with no rust. Everything fits tightly; there are no rattles or buzzing anywhere. I can't speak for the factory condition, but judging by what condition the bass is in now, it must've been a thing of beauty rolling off the assembly line.

This bass is a joy to play live, no backup necessary (although I do have a Washburn XB926). I've only had to adjust the truss rod a few times, during initial setup and changing string guages, but have never had to adjust while playing live; the neck is pretty stiff and holds its shape well.

The hardware is good quality, and will most likely last a lifetime. The finish on the neck/fretboard is excellent, and will last forever. The finish on the body might wear substantially, with enough use, but one can always have the body refinished, if necessary. The strap buttons are nice and fat--your strap isn't going anywhere. The bass hangs well on the player, even when riding high, as I play, and the weight distribution is great.

I've been playing bass for six years. I started off in classical guitar and didn't care for it, so I picked up a bass and tought myself to play. Having guitar lessons helped immensely. I play bass guitar, electric upright bass, and the Warr touch guitar.

My gear is mentioned above; I have a pretty simple setup when playing bass live. If the bass were lost or stolen, I have a Washburn XB926 and an NS Designs 5-string upright to pluck around on. I'd be pissed, but it wouldn't be the end of the world.

My favorite feature is the neck and fingerboard. Very smooth playing overall, and makes my touch-style playing sound great (great for being a bass). Like I mentioned above, my least favorite feature is the pickup and its placement. The pickup sounds great, but is not grounded or placed propperly. I wish it had piezo pickups.

1998 model, made in germany, 24 frets, wenge neck, wenge fretboard, ash body, flame maple top, walnut veneer, mec humbucker and 3 band basslines active eq with slap countour. Satin finish with honey violin color, gold hardware, 2 pc warwick bridge

KILLER SOUND, however not quite as punchy as my 4 string FNA (also reviewed, I got the 4 string first), this may be due to the pickup being closer to the bridge, so it isnt as deep, or maybe due to the different neck wood, wenge. In my 4 string FNA review, I thought I had a wenge neck on that bass as well, but it turns out it was really just an oddly dark piece of ovankol, this bass however, has an all wenge neck. I have elixers on the 4 string, and some boiled dr's on the 5 string, the strings could be the ticket, im hoping/expecting to be able to get a brighter tone when I get some elixers for it.

Similar problem of hiss when the treble is cranked, but other than that its a totally awseome tone. With SWR its as pro as you can get as far as tone is concerned

I always have to raise the action a bit, and I like to straighten the neck a little, after a few adjustments, the neck didnt change much, so I left it alone, I guess im real picky about that. The neck isnt quite as rigid as the one on my 4 string, maybe ovankol is a bit stiffer than wenge.

Since I bought it used, I dont know what the factory setup was like

extremely solid, howver it only has dunlop straplocks, which are built into the body, so it does not have protruding strap buttons like other basses, so as long as the straplocks dont pop out on stage, it should be fine, will have to see (my 4 string has standard strap buttons, that were fat enough to not need to install straplocks)

id use it without a backup, but if a string broke id be screwed! (since its my only 5 string)

customer support in usa is great

i bought this bass because I like my fna 4 string so much, and aside fro the differences in tone (and smaller frets, which I forgot to mention), I like it almost as much as my 4 string

I wish it was 35" longscale, but its 34" warwick is going to be making basses available with different scale length options soon (32" and 35"), so maybe in the future i can afford one. Also, would have prefered wide neck, but that is not yet avail in that model