Product: Warwick JD Thumb
Price Paid: GBP 950
Submitted
05/30/2007
at
05:12am
by
Mike F
Features
:
10
1989 German-made Thumb variant. 4-string fretted active bass with 26 frets, volume, blend, and top-hat bass and treble controls (no pull for passive option). One-piece bridge. Bubinga/wenge neck, body and fingerboard.
The difference between this and the standard Thumb (or any other Warwick) is the slimmed-down neck (and the slightly thinned-down body). Rather than the deep, clunky standard Warwick neck, this is a shallow, fast neck, which suits my smallish hands.
Sound
:
9
Sounds good to me. I use it for everything (rock, country, reggae, trad, folk), sometimes dry (generally through a GK 200MB), sometimes with a bit of flanger or chorus from a Digitech BP200.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
Setup was good, not quite how I like it but just needed a little tweaking (see below). Other than that, everything on it was perfect.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
When I first got it, I tried to tighten the trussrod a little and it either broke or became detached (I later learnt that these early Warwick trussrods turn the opposite way to normal). It was repaired under warranty and was absolutely perfect afterwards - after tweaking it to just how I liked it, I haven't had to touch it. I've had no problems at all except for the jack socket getting a bit weary and needing replacement, but that was when it was about 15 years old and I see that as normal wear and tear. Natural wood finishes are great for lasting - there's a little mark at the top of the neck pickup where I tend to rest my thumb and a few marks on the back (largely, I think, from A-stands with poor padding at the top). The Warwick straplocks are still going strong nearly 20 years on.
Customer Support
:
7
Moderately helpful, though they seem to respond to an initial enquiry then not do anything to follow it up.
Overall Rating
:
10
I've been playing for thirty years. The Warwick has been with me for nearly twenty, after I traded in all the basses I then owned and sold my soul into slavery for a year. I've played and owned quite a few four-string fretted basses and have never encountered another one as good to play as this. On my quest for the perfect fretless, I finished up getting a later standard Thumb bass and having it defretted and the neck skimmed down to the same dimensions as the JD - perfect.
If this got stolen, I'd cry, get another one if I possibly could, and hunt the thief down and kill him and all his family.
