Play It Loud and Proud.

This bass will sustain me...

This is the Warwick Corvette "Double Buck ($$)". It is the bass that I desire over all other basses...for now. This conflict goes on in my mind constantly. If it's not this bass, then it’s a black 4 string American Fender Jazz with a maple neck/fretboard with block inlays, turquoise/abalone swirl pick guard, Audure preamp, Baddass bridge and Basslines pickups. Or a Rickenbacker 4003.The Fender would be cheaper, but only by a few hundred dollars. The Warwick is a factory hot-rodded 5 string that has unbelievable tone and just looks like it could beat up your honor student’s Fender P-bass. I play one at Guitar Center every time I go in there, hook it up to an Ampeg SVT-CL and a similar cabinet like mine and I’m good for a while. Then, it’s time to go.

Tone is, of course, purely subjective. I like a versatile sounding instrument, yet I seek a specific kind of versatility. Sounds totally convoluted. This is one of the things that, with experience, is really almost a curse. Chasing that “perfect tone”. One doesn’t really exist. I love the tone of my Schecter Studio 5. It does everything I need. However, the Warwick is just that much more.

The one pictured here is a special edition with a Khaler bass tremolo. I’ve always wanted one of those on a bass. This one was made for a customer, never paid for, now it sits at Bass Central for $2300.00. Speaking of Bass Central, that is the bass players Mecca in Florida. It’s a place in Fern Park run by Dave LaRue and Beaver Felton, both extreme bass virtuosos. I’ve met Beaver Felton before. Super guy, and has an incredible talent for the instrument. Oh, not that it matters, but he’s in a wheelchair too. It’s really a treat to watch and hear him play.

All right. I’m going to go noodle on my Schecter or maybe on Fuzzy’s former fretless. What tone do I want today?

2 Comments

Comment by Sam on June 15, 2008 at 10:37pm: I'd really like to hear that whammy bar. I bet you could really get the feel of a fretless by leaning on that a little while you play. Seeing as there's no locking nut, I wonder how it stays in tune. On a slightly un-related note, the guy at Guitar Factory told me that when Kahler almost went out of business due to the Floyd Rose lawsuit smackdown, they made golf clubs for a while. Weird.

Comment by Juan on June 16, 2008 at 9:20pm: Khaler Klubs? Interesting. The system used on the bass trem without a locking nut is a mystery as well. It does stay in tune, though. Victor Wooten ( who has little equal on the instrument) uses one on his boutique built Fodera's. I'll have to get a YouTube vid of him using one.