Warwick Streamer Jazzman 5-String

2004 model, with active MEC three band eq, rather than the Seymour Duncan Basslines eq. Oiled finish, and with custom ordered chrome hardware rather than standard gold (Warwick will put any hardware on any model you want for no charge, you just have to wait for the order to come through). I actually got this second hand - someone was selling the exact bass that I wanted, so it saved me a few quid and a few weeks waiting time. But in as new condition.

MEC pickups - one musicman-style HB which has three settings - series, parallel and coil tapped, and one jazz-style s/c. The outer ring on the stacked volume control is a centre-notched pickup selector. The volume control pulls up to switch to passive p/u settings. And finally, three centre-notched tone controls for bass, middle and treble.

Comes as standard with Warwick straplocks. Fully adjustable bridge and nut. easy access to control cavity for changing the battery.

Nice padded gig-bag, truss rod tool, hex keys, beeswax (for finish), manual (!). There's nothing thery haven't thought of.

This is my second Streamer jazzman 5, and I'll compare and contrast. My review of the first one is down the list somewhere.

Covers pretty much anything you could possibly want. Even before you plug the bass in, the wood is incredibly resonant, and gives real depth to the sound. The Sound Of Wood isn't just a slogan!

For my comments, the amp used is a Hartke HA350 head and Marshall 1x15 cab.

Sound-wise the star is the humbucker, with three distinct sounds, to which you can add as much of the jazz p/u as you want. I play indy/punk/slap/anything else I fancy, and I tend to have a very bright sound. I tend to mostly play slap or a kind of tapping on the strings John Entwhistle style. Pushing the tone controls up really adds power without distortion.

One of the h/b settings (series I think) is a little prone to distortion, but that was solved by lowering the p/u height. Rolling off the volume would have worked just as well, but I prefer to have my basses set so that everything is on full and i don't have to change too much apart from pickup settings mid-gig.

My previous Jazzman had the Seymour Duncan Basslines eq, and I was a little disappointed to find that it now comes as an extra. However, the active sound is no different - there's so much flexibility in the eq settings that you can get anything you want, well, anything I want anyway. It does mean that there isn't a slap pre-shape, but I never used that previously, and it is fairly easy to scoop the eq if you really want it.

The slap pre-shape has been replaced by a passive p/u setting - effectively it switches off the eq. The volume drops, and the brightness and power from the eq settings is instantly removed. In theory this is far more flexible than previously, but in practice I can't think when I'd ever want to use it. But if you prefer an old-school sound, it might appeal.

the other thing to mention is just how well it handles the low B. I've played a few five strings, and have always had trouble with the low B sound - OK, the string gauge will make a big difference to the tone, but they usually flap around in a nasty distorted way, at odds with the tone from the other four strings. The Jazzman handles it brilliantly - much tighter and focused, and while you will hear the difference when you play a note on the B string, it won't jump out at you.

My one area of niggle.

The bass is so good in so many areas, but there are two major flaws.

The first is the finish. The oiled maple looks stunning. However, if you rest it against a hard edge it'll take a nick out of the wood or leave a mark. Inside of a weekend of getting it there were marks on the back of the upper horn, buckle rash, and dents in the top surface from my playing style. It's a trikcy one - I'm a fan of the oiled finish, as it adds resonance to the wood. And after all, this is the second one I've bought, so i only have myself to blame. But unless you keep the bass locked away it's going to pick up knocks and dinks almost every time you pick it up.

I'm happy enough with this, as I want a "player" rather than a museum piece, and adding varnish might well impair the wood's resonance, but you might want to go for a varnished finish if you have concerns. I really don't understand how the previous owner kept it in pristine condition for the two years before I bought it. He must have had it locked away!

The second one, and this one does upset me, is that the tail piece has five uniform gaps cut to hold the ball end of the strings. On a D'Addario low B of 130 gauge (not overly heavy) the gap isn't wide enough to let the string through. So every time i change the low B I have to try and squeeze the string windings with a pair of pliers to be able to get it into the tail piece.

Considering how well set up and adaptable the rest of the hardware is, this is a major failing.

And I'm sorry to say, it's the same as on my previous bass, on which i had to chip out a wider gap to be able to change the strings properly. I can't help but think that either Warwick just haven't learned over the period they've been making five string basses (which doesn;t seem right), or they just don't care. There's no excuse for this on such a high level instrument.

Out of interest, are the windings on Warwick brand strings and slimmer than on my D'Addarios...just to add a conspiracy theory to my complaint...

The rest of the bass is imacculate. No complaints about the finish, the frets, the neck or any of the hardware (apart from those matters above). Anything you don't like, you can adjust. genius.

There's a big chunk coming off this score because the tail piece genuinely affects the playability of the instument - I'd hate to think about changing the B string mid-gig. But that's really the only serious area of concern, and the rating should be viewed with my comments, and not as an overall reflection of the instrument.

The only concern is the finish - see above. For all that, it won't affect the playing, or cause the bass to break during a gig. The addition of straplocks since i had my previous bass should be applauded - why would anyone make an instrument without them? That's just cheap.

As for the overall package, the gigbag - from the Warick Rockbag line - is really top quality. I don't trust them, so will be replacing it with a Warick hard case, but if I wanted a gigbag, this would be the one to go for.

I'd never gig without a backup - too much experience of breaking strings - but that's just common sense, and nothing to do with this bass.

I've e-mailed Warwick about a few things over the years. In this case i wanted some info about the Streamer Double Buck, which has two musicman-like pickups. Inside of 24 hours I had a full reply from the company, comparing and contrasting with the Streamer jazzman, and not just from a "well, they're different" point of view, but drawing attention to the effects of the different woods as well as the pickups.

Having said that, I've not had to complain to them, so I can't say how good they'd be if they weren't chasing a sale. maybe I'll ask them about the tail piece, and see how I get on.

But so far, very good.

This is kind of a sucker question. I'd previously owned one, I wanted a new active five string, and so i bought a bass I knew I'd love.

I've been playing bass for about 18 years, though for the last few years I've mainly been playing guitar in bands - that's why I sold my last one, as I just wasn't using it. Back in a band playing bass, need a new active five string...

My other bass is a 1975 Rickenbacker 4001. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Over the years I've also had a Wal 5 string - great bass to play but the low B was very distorted and unfocused.

I tried a load of other 5 strings when I got my original Jazzman, and the Warwick was the clear winner, for neck and sound. really the sound sold it to me - I can get my way around any neck, but very few of them sound anywhere as good as this one.

The Hartke head and Marshall cab are my main set up, and a special mention for Monster Bass leads - they really do tighten up the sound, and they've the most reliable leads I've ever used. In fact I now use them in my guitar set up (as I use the same pedal board), and the guitar sounds better now too.

For the price i paid, you can't beat it. Even if I'd bought it new and paid he full price, it's still head and shoulders above the competition.

If I needed a new active five string, would I get another one...well, I just have.

Just one point off for the tail piece.

Swamp ash body, flame maple capwith mahogany laminate. its pretty, one of those things that people go oooooooh when its removed from the case. Pickups are p-style at the front and twin humbucker at the back, you read the other reviews. had it ordered in from germany so it wasmade this year 2005. passive pickups with active built-in preamp, smoothe like passive with a bit extra grunt. Ive got in natural oil. came with a rockbag soft-case (best softcase ive ever seen) all the allen keys you need, truss-rod tool (very nifty) and body finnish

Running thru a carvin red eye 4x10 and emminence 1x15 and a cheaphead the sound is...anything you want really. i play metal, blues and some funk and i can get it all front pickup givesa nice fender p-bass sound whilst the back give a much darker almost piano like sound. playing with the tone settings and the pickup pan and humbucker selector can get you anything from very warm, jazzy sound to very darkgloom indeed, bossting the middle gives a very funky,almost synth kinda feel. Tried it with a boss odb-3 fuzz box and it turned the fuzzy little pedal into a frightening metal monster.

factory settings were a great medium, had toplay aroundand nowhave it very low indeed which makes it an extrmely fast bass to work with, jumbo fretwire helpshere as does the adjusta-nut and user friendly bridge. the pickups werefine but i had tolower them when i lowered the action, particularly on the low-b. the finnish was naturaloil and all ican say is U MUST SPEND TIME WITH YOUR BABY AND POLISH IT!!! itcomeswith body finnish and this is essential toprevent scratching the wood. and tomy delight it really took a few weeks to properly coat it and the maple flames really come out after amonth of carefull finishing. the neck really feltbetter afteracaortof fret board(lemon) oil.soundswierdbut the neck is untreated and it needs a bit of moisture

seems toughas nailsforapretty little (sic) thing. the hardware and bridge seem very stable and durable. haven't had it long but it lookslike ill have this one for along timetocome. the finnish doesnt matter as i apply it myself, just ensure to treat the areas most used with more wax. the trussrod neededadjustment once, here in adalaide, Australia in spring it goes from very humid to very dry over night almost so a bit of fix was needed. the damd thing will stay in tune for days in a soft case! the strap lock system (included) are solid as holding up the wieght (4.8kg) even when im jumoping around and headbanginglike mad. lots of confidence there

this one 's a keeper. lolks increadible, pale wood, gold hardware yet it looks tough enough to bring out for ametal gig, and if the lookswont do it the HUGE belly busting low end and brutally sharppops this thing is capable of will get you noticed. my other bass (soundgear 4string) was struggling to cut through two down-tuned guitars in the mid range but this baby allows me to be heard from the low-b all the way up to crisp, belllike high end. im a warwick man for life now, for blues, jazz, funkof th heavy stuuf this gives me exactly what i want.

2004 5-string Streamer LX Jazzman
Flammed maple top
Single coil Jazz and Musicman style humbucker pickup bith M.E.C. (standard Warwick pickups)
Controls: Volume(pull volume knob to cut preamp), treble, mids, Bass,

I call this bass the "Bill Payer"!! No matter what kind of session/gig I'm going to I'm going to break out this bass first. With the single coil Jazz and musicman pickups I can from a dirty P-bass like tone to a tight fusion growl. I don't know what bass the other reviewer was playing but I went on tour with a Funk/R&B and thump the crap out of that thing and everybody was drooling over the tone. The only tone I can't seem to get is just a smooth non-aggresive tone.

Action was perfect when I got it and I haven't messed with it sense.
Everything looked great, sounded great, I just wish I had ordered black hardware instead.

I've thrown this bass around a stage, and it holds up fine not 1 problem. There are alot scrathces and dents, but that's how I like my basses. I bring a back-up when I doing a big rock show(just in case, you never know) but for anything else I bring just the warwick.

N/A
Never has to deal with warwick and I don't think I am going to have to any time soon

I've been playing for 8-9 years. I also own a SSD Czech Spector 5 and I've owned many diffrent basses (diffrent types of spectors, Elrick, Tobias, Ibanez, Fender) and this bass has to be the most veritile bass I've ever owned. If this bass we're stolen I would have to buy other one because there is not another bass out there that I could think of to get those types of tones on the fly. I actually sat down with my bass and a Modulus and compared. The only this the Mod had over my bass was that smooth, clean jazz tone. Trust me though, if you don't want to get lost in the mix get one of these basses!

-2004 Germany
-24 jumbo bell brass frets 5 strings
-Large pole and jazz MEC pups with MEC BEC-III 2 3ways active electronic
-ash+maple body ovangkol neck with wenge fret board ...flame maple top.....and it's HOTTTT!!!!
-natural finish
-warwick gold hardwear

I mainly plays metal and hard rock and this baby is so great nomatter where i am..on stage or in studio...i'm using the ampeg svt 2 head right now...and trust me...it sure rocks....it does get noisy if i boost the high up...but that's acceptable considering its rich and growly sound i got from it...it's just amazing

the factory set-up was ok but a bit too high for me..i have to lower it a little...the pups are also too high...other than that it's just great

i have to tighten up the strap buttons once after one of my concert...but i cant actually blame them with this...my band's like a thai version of norma jean ...hahaha
after a couple of months and 5 concerts..i already have loads of scratch on it...but that happens with most of my bass...but still...i can depend on it in every show

N/A

i've been playing bass for 12 years now and i own other 6 difference basses...and this bass stand out from the crowd...before i bought it , i tried several other basses but this one is the best...in my opinion...it's even better than the infinity ltd.... the sound is almost identical with the FNA jazzman but the comfort of streamer body design is an ease to use.....on strap or sitting down.....i'd surely get another warwick if this bass was stolen...but this time i'm gonna get it customised! zebrano body streamer lx 5 with black hardwear and broad neck option.....i'm drewing already

Made in July 2004, so it's pretty new. 24 frets, 5 strings, AA flamed maple top, honey violin - the best piece of art I have ever seen !
It has A volume with pickup selector on one button, treble, bass and mid tones - all active and a little switch that turn the big MM pickup to a parallel, single and hambacker - really makes a different ! And the volume can be lift to bypass the electronics and go passive, this gives the bass a warm sound.
no need to write about the streamers amazing body, just read the other reviews. The neck is pretty fat thou, it took me some time to get used to it.

this bass got it all, and i mean ALL !!! from bright to dark, from mid punchy funk to dub bass to high slap, no meter how you turn the buttons in what position it will sound AMAZING, there is nothing I don't like here. I own a musicman and an old jazzbass too, don't expect the warwick to fully and exactly copy them, but it dose get damn closer and sounds great by it self !!!
It also goes great on the stage and in the studio

I got the bass with a very high action, it took me about 3 days to get the right action - this bass is not easy ! but once i got there, no problems at all and no buzzes. the body is heavy but sits good on my lap and better with a strap. there's a little hiss on some positions but nothing you can't fix with the right pedal

will last forever !

warwick are really tolerant, they will answer the dumbest questions !

I'v been playing for 15 years and got through a lot of basses. as I said before, a jazzbass is a jazzbass and your stingray will stay a stingray, But the jazzman is SO good you wouldn't touch the others for at least 6 months. I play mostly on trace elliot but is sounds good on any amp i used, I use Ernie ball 045' - 130 stings, i think they sound best on this bass (I usually use GHS).
I tried many basses before buying this one, it wins big time !!!

Made this year, i.e. 2003 in Deutschland. I ordered it from the local music shop and had to wait 2 months. Was it worth the wait? Do bears shit in the forest?
24 frets, 5 strings, ash body, maple top, antique tobacco stain, high polish. Cost an extra 150 EUR for the high polish finish compared to the natural oil but i figured that if i was going to spend this kind of money on a bass, i'd better buy the one that looks the best to me.
Pickups are MM and J. You have a switch to split the humbucker and can really hear the tonal variations. Added tonal options come with the J pickup in the mix. You can pull on the volume knob, this activates the 'slap contour'. Can affect the volume of your sound though.
Bridge and nuts are fully adjustable, tuners are smooth, strings are tight, the neck is comfy, the frets and the fingerboard feel great. Came with a gigbag.
The bass looks stunning, especially on stage with the lights and everything. Features are a plenty, so definitely a 10.

Sound matches looks. Versatile it is but it's the sound quality that sold it to me soundwise. The shop where it was ordered was well stacked at the time and i took my time to test every damn instrument. I played through active Fenders but i already got an excellent Fernandes Jbass copy and wanted a different sound. I tried the Ibanez ATK which was less than half the price but just doesn't play and look the same. They had a Yamaha TRB 5II P that cost quite a lot more and wasn't bad but the sound wasn't as aggressive. Same thing with a 5 string Peavey Cirrus.
What amazes me though is that i could not find a bass that sounded bad. It seems that most of todays basses are well put together.
The FNA Jazzman had almost the same sound but the Streamer looks a lot better in my opinion.
My favourite pickup selection is MM only with the split switch in the down position. Bass, mid and treble controls are sensitive, it's easy to shape in the desired sound. On stage it works great, never used it in the studio though. Dislikes? Non! String spacing is a bit close when switching from a 4 string though.

Bass was set up neat with action halfway between low and mid. Pickups were perfectly adjusted, no chips, finish flaws or anything of the type. Well put together.

I haven't had it for long but so far it works like it's meant to work. Must pay attention to the finish, it's too expensive to just have it around other people.

N/a, i haven't talked to them, but the guy at the shop phoned them or their distributor and they had answers immediately.

Overall, i think it's somewhere on the top. Can't really build better basses than this. It feels, looks and plays like a dream. I compared it to other basses as mentioned above and it was exactly what i was looking for. If You are looking for a bass in this price range, i don't think You can go better.

Warwick Streamer LX Jazzman, 5 string, Oil finsh... Check out Warwick's home page for all the spec's.

Ideal for all styles, however you can't help but get funky!

Fine beauty! Liked the adjustable Nut too.

No problems so far!

Never been required.

Playing for 10 years, prefered style's Jazz Funk. I play my jazzman through a Trace Cab and Trace head unit. Would definately buy again!I love its warm and growling bottom end and sweet sexy top end, Mid isn't bad either! Prefered the Warwick against the Musicman because because it seemend to work for me, and overall felt right for my playing style. Although I still like and respect the Musicman, the Warwick was the one for me.

Made in 2002 in Germany.
2 pieces body : swamp ash back and "Flammed" maple cap.
3 pieces laminated Ovangkal neck. wenge fingerboard, 24 frets, 34 scale.
Active/passive new Bec 3 way electronic : Volume with push pull, bass, mid, treb, blend and three way pick ups selector.
MM style bridge pick up with jazz style at neck both made by MEC.
Gold hardware. natural oil finish.
Great 2 pieces bridge very adjustable. Incredible shape and feeling. Too much details to list them here like a very useful back plate for electronic that you just pool, no screws...
+a great gig bag by Rock bag, very dependable.
I give a 7 just because of a few things.
1 those basses were sold before with Seimore Duncan pre-amp but are no longer. This is an option thatcoast 250 ?.
2 the top is said to be flammed maple but nothing realy figured on mine, it just look like classic maple.
3 I wanted black harware but had to wit three month. But tha's the fault of the french disributor and not Warwick themseves.

The Streamer Jazzman is at the top in that cathegory. I choose it for its versatility thanks to the pick-ups configuration. It can cover everything from dark to bright slap tone, from groovy stuffs to melo...absolutly magic.
The sound realy cut through. Yet I only have it for 1 day so I'm still exploring. I didn't know what was the "Warwick sound" before but now, I'm sold on it.
I'm playing in a rock fusion band (rock, metal funk jazz...) and in a jazz trio and I think that the Streamer Jazzman 5 will have its place in both of them.
The B string is well define and slap great.
It would be a 11 for this cathegorie.

My dealer made a good job in adjusting it so cannot judge on factory set-up. Finish was nearly perfect, just a tinny flave near the pots.
This instrument seems to be realy well built and will no doupt last.
The only problem could be the natural oil finish. It has a very great natural woody touchbut is also far more fragile than gloss finish. But gloss would have no sens on such a beauty.
Fret work is perfect, action is set incredibly low and yet no buzz.

As I said it, finish is a beat worrying but the bass itself would stand a war and could be in perfect condition. Strap button are large and solid ut I would have prefered the strap-locks that Wawick no longer put on them. I'll certainly put myself some Dnlop strap-locks. I could be sick just by seeing that beauty fall on the floor.

1 year warranty.
Warwick webb site is great. I sent many many mails before making my mind on the SJ and they always answer within the 24 next hours and always been very helpful. Great guys, just at the cntrary of Carvin but that's another story.

I played for 11 years and this is my 6 th bass. I also own a Carvin B4 and an Ibanez ATK 305. My amp is a Marshall B150 combo.
Warwick basses are realy special instruments. I'm very proud to be a member of that great family. It the kind of instrument that reminds you that sound is just a question of wood, a thing that you often forget because of the gloss finish of manybass.
With its silky feel, its great ovangkal neck that I'm fond of cause very playable (even morethan my ATK) and its great pick-up, this is for me the ultimate bass.
I'm sold on Warwick and I'm proud of it.

Beautiful Maple/Ash body, oil finished, adjustable everything, from bridge unit to nut height. The main feature that distinguishes the bass from other Streamers is the JazzMan pixkups - a single coil (Jazz) and coil-tappable (three settings) humbucker (Musicman-style). Master Volume/Blend stack, three-band tone controls, pre-set slap shaping, mini-toggle for selecting the coil-tap option. Complete with gig bag, relevant hex-keys, truss-rod tool, manual, and tin of beeswax to maintain the finish!

Sounds great! I always liked Musicman pickups, but never really liked their Fender-y necks. This one really is a beast, and copes with pretty much everything, from slap to metal and all points unbetween. I cover a lot of different styles with my band (check out www.exploding-monkey.co.uk), and this handles them all. The Jazz p/u is good on it's own too, and a blended sound can take some of the rough edges off the humbucker. Because there are a lot of features you need to spend time getting the set-up right, but it's well worth it.

Set up from the box wasn't too my liking - very light strings & too low an action, but it's fairly easy to adjust. Pickup heights needed playing around with too. The oil finish is nice, but offers very little protection to the maple top, and the wood under the strings quickly got full of dents from my fingernails, thanks to my John Entwhistle-style finger technique. A scratchplate would have helped, but ruined the look of the bass, so I guess there's no easy solution. The body is pretty small, though feels fine when playing. If I had to replace it I'd probably go for a bigger body style, but keep the JazzMan p/u arrangement.

No technical problems with the bass, but the finish is getting pretty worn (see above). I've also had problems with strings breaking at the bridge, not very frequently, but more often than for other basses I've got. It's defnitely my number one for gigs, but I wouldn't use it without bringing another one as a spare.

not had to ask them about anything

I've been playing for about 15 years, and my main bass has always been a Rickenbacker 4001. i wanted an active 5 string to replace a reluctantly sold-Wal, and the Warwick fitted the bill. I tried quite a few without being very inspired, and wasn't too impressed with other Warwicks until I tried a 4-string JazzMan - the necks were all OK, but the sound of the JazzMan sold it! The only other bass that I tried that sounded anything like as good was a secondhand custom 5-string with a Bartolini p/u. However, getting a 5-string JazzMan was more of a problem, and I had to get one mail order, which I'm reliably informed was the last one in the UK until Warwick could import a new batch some six weeks later. Going Mail Order also had the bonus of reducing the price by over #200.

I've played it through my main amp - a Marshall Super Bass 100 valve amp, and a Trace Elliott solid state head, and no problems with either. It does take some time to work out what sounds are best for particular styles, but it will come up trumps.

I thoroughly recommend it to anybody. It's just a shame it has the word "jazz" in it's name...

This guitar was built in 2000 very well finished as usual from Warwick.
It is a 34", 24-fretted 5-string bass, completely active with 1 Mec humbucker as bridge pickup and 1 single-coil neck pickup.
Basslines 3 band preamp with coil selector for the humbucker provide a good panel of sounds. It came with a gig bag and adjustment tools.

Sound of wood branding is true. If you're looking for an aggressive slap sound a la Mark King however, you'll find an annoying hiss when pushing the treble control. On some amps this might not be an issue, but I use an SWR system with tweeters and can hear the hiss quite clearly. I thus have doubts about studio useability. There are lots of different sound capabilities, finding your sound can be cumbersome, and the balance between the 2 pickups is not well adjusted, you can get fairly strong gain changes when changing it.

The factory setup is so-so, I am in the process of adjusting it, should not be a problem. Looks like good hardware, the gold plating on the bridge looks a little cheap up close.

I hasn't budged yet, seems reliable. I would use a backup for slap solos however when applicable

I have asked Warwick advice about the hiss problem 3 days ago. Still waiting for feedback.

I had it for one month now, and I am fairly happy with it. As a matter of fact, I chose this bass after having tried several dozens ranging up to $4000 but selected this one for the sound character and playability. I use it with an SWR Bass350 head, Goliath Junior III and Son of Bertha Cabinets again from SWR, and have a Focusrite Tone Factory inserted for compression and mor precise EQ. If it was lost or stolen, I would have a look at GB basses, Rumour model in the UK, but then again, they are in a different price range and should not be compared directly. I tried Tune basses, Neuser, Status, Sadowsky, Lackland and chose this one in the end. I might get the body refinished to something more to my taste, looks were not a selection criteria, and I am still looking for a pream solution with less hiss (only when treble is pushed hard), but it is a good bass overall and I can recommend it.