Log in
Log in

or
Create an account

or
< All Warwick Fortress One reviews
Add this product to
  • My former gear
  • My current gear
  • My wishlist
Warwick Fortress One
Images
1/238
Warwick Fortress One
Price engine
Classified Ads
Forums
Audiofanzine FR Audiofanzine FR
Published on 03/16/09 at 16:02
Value For Money : Excellent
(Originally written by xsl/translated from Audiofanzine FR)
Maple body for a clear sound.

Wenge neck for compressed and tight mids and highs.

Mine has a Seymour Duncan preamp: [/url]http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/cutting-edge-1/stc2_stc32_3ban/Stage II) with Seymour Duncan...

Thumb NT

and the Fortress...

Excellent value for money. I give it a 9/10." rel="ugc noopener" target="_blank">

with a push/pull to shape the mids and boost the lows.

The Warwick preamp doesn't sound that great, but it's close to the Seymour (especially regarding high frequencies).

UTILIZATION

The neck is thicker than that of a Jazz Bass, the fingerboard is flatter.

Perfect access to the upper frets.

The horn gives a good balance to the instrument.

What about the sound? It's good when you use each pickup separately. The middle position sounds different from a J/J combination because the bass has a a P/J configuration.

It doesn't have the sound of a Streamer but it's close to Jamiroquai's sound.

SOUNDS

Don't expect the round sound of a Jazz or Precision bass.

On the contrary, the sound is accurate, and with a Seymour or Aguilar preamp it turns really good.

It doesn't sound like a Jazz Bass with ash and maple neck, which is the wood combination of all twangy basses à la Marcus Miller... The sound is more compressed with powerful high-mids...

Even with the Seymour Duncan preamp you get a Warwick sound: tight, without muddy low-mids but not crystal-clear either.

It's an authentic old Warwick, different from a Streamer and with a better playing comfort thanks to the long top horn.

I would prefer a swamp ash body to get deeper lows.

OVERALL OPINION

I find Warwick has three reference models:

Streamer (Jazzman or Stage II) with Seymour Duncan...

Thumb NT

and the Fortress...

Excellent value for money. I give it a 9/10.