Warwick Review: Corvette 5 string

History:

Purchase: Originally I was looking for a Fortress bass from Warwick, but the Rockshop here in Christchurch didn't have any in store at the time. Never mind, what other 5 strings did they have? They showed me the Corvette, I took it for a test drive, and bought it there and then for $1700 NZ (5 years ago - the price has since risen to over $2100)

What I Like About This Warwick Corvette 5 string: A drummer that I have played with in 4 different bands described this bass best when he referred to it as "the growly bear". This thing cranks - with no effects you can go from a light jazz tone to a seemingly distorted rip-off-your-head-poo-down-your-neck tone just by digging in with the fingers. It's the most versatile and most responsive bass I've evr owned, and I can't see myself ever owning anything else.

What I Do NOT Like About The Warwick Corvette 5 string: The body came with a light oil finish, which is quite susceptable to damage and marks. After 5 years, hundreds of gigs, and far too much abuse, it's really starting to show the wear and tear. Also, alas the frets are worn down to the point where I may have to convert it to a fretless. I tend to sweat a lot when I play, and various bits of hardware are starting to corrode, and the brass nut has gone green. this is not a criticisim of the manufacturer, it's just an unfortunate consequence of many years in the firing line.

Warwick Corvette 5 string Quality Rating: Hmm, interesting. The bass is made of a solid bubinga neck, with a bubinga fretboard, and what appears to be an ash body. I cannot find any obvious fault with the overall construction, the fretwork is (was) immaculate, and the electronics are clean and well assembled, but last year the bass had an accident that resulted in the wood supporting the volume knobs (all 3 of them) being pushed through. This revealed the control cavity to have been cut far too deep, and at the weakest point there was only 2 mm of wood covering the cavity. You can also see the bottom of the bridge from the inside of the cavity. Removal of the bridge means you can see right through the bass!

Review Summary: If you don't mind a few minor construction gliches that don't really matter unless you want to start punching your bass, and if you want tone that will cause other bassists to drool, guitarists to run screaming, and sound engineers to break down in tears, then this is the bass for you.

Rating of this Warwick product: 5

This Warwick Corvette 5 string Bass Guitars Review Submitted By: String Breaker

Review Date: 2002-03-12