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MGR/Golem « Warwick Streamer Standard »
Published on 10/16/08 at 15:00Mostly play in a duo, with "Ms Diva" on vocals and KB. Play old stuff, small room, not loud. Otherwise, enjoy some old rock and roll, gotta have the "roll', tho .....
Several hunnert dilapidated Yanqui GreenBaques. At ParkWay Music in Clifton Pk NY USA. Face-to-face retail.
This 4-string is a replacement for the 5-string version I parted with about 10 yrs ago. I had loved the sound, but not the Warwick 5-string neck. Most Wick 5's are mizrizzable, too narrow and too thick.
It is mellow without being dull. It's rich, but not overly bright [this is not a blonde joke]. It also has a fail-safe passive bypass that will play without the battery.
I do like the thick neck on the 4-string, which has normal string spacing [the 5 was too tightly spaced]. The upper strap pin is opposite the 12th fret, so balance is great, even with the big neck.
It has a PU pan knob which I like much better than dual volume knobs, It's a dual humbucker, my fave PU config, and the PU's seem well located to render a rich tone. Even tho its features and materials are nothing like a P-bass, it can do the P-tone better than a Fender, yet there's much more avaialble tones.
The E-string tuner post is a good distance from the nut, so you don't get a lotta fat main winding wrapping around the post. The nut is adjustable, very good feature.
PU's are on springs, much better than simple pads, very adjustable. Truss rod is double acting, another excellent feature.
The 2-band EQ is a stack knob. I find those to be risky, damage-wise. The carolena body dents easily, altho at least it's not under one of those glossy opaque "automotive" finished that emphasise every minor dig and ding. Minor dents kinda blend in with the natural grain pattern.
There's no seperate battery rout, or even a clip in the main rout. The battery is just tossed in loose [dumbast]. Add a little foam and it's OK.
The undoubtedly worst thing about any Streamer Standard is the very low output. It's adequate, if you have a decent, not too noisy, bass rig. Output is lower than you prolly think I mean when I say it's low. And it's even lower than your now-adjusted thinking. It is, as I said, "adequate" which means "the first useable step above useless". However, it has a very rich mellow tone that is hard to get from other fretted basses. An good small outboard pre-amp, like is used for an URB, is not a bad idea. For some players maybe a necessity. It's a negative aspect but not a deal killer if you really like tone
f this ax.
It's a typical Warwick except for the bridge, which is some POS but serves OK. Typical ick means no finish, except the wax you apply periodically, which I never bother with .... I prefer oil. Neck is ovangcal with a wenge FB, double acting truss rod, and brass frets. Looks and sounds cool.
There's a zillion basses in this price range, and this one is not suitable for some of the modern tastes or playing styles. It's not even made anymore. It works best in tha same contexts as an URB or a plugged in AEB. If you play in such a context, and you encounter one of these for sale local to you, don't pass up a chance to check it out.
It's a niche market thing, now discontinued, and since all its shortcomings would condemn it if it weren't for its unique attributes, I'm going to rate it '3' on the '1-5' scale. But I wanna emphaise that this is not a "3 = mediocre" rating, where everything about it is mediocre. Quite the contrary, so much of it is either a '1' or a '5' that, by the numbers, for a single-number rating I'm stuck with the '3'. IOW, if you don't love its peculiate attributes, you'll hate it.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
Several hunnert dilapidated Yanqui GreenBaques. At ParkWay Music in Clifton Pk NY USA. Face-to-face retail.
This 4-string is a replacement for the 5-string version I parted with about 10 yrs ago. I had loved the sound, but not the Warwick 5-string neck. Most Wick 5's are mizrizzable, too narrow and too thick.
It is mellow without being dull. It's rich, but not overly bright [this is not a blonde joke]. It also has a fail-safe passive bypass that will play without the battery.
I do like the thick neck on the 4-string, which has normal string spacing [the 5 was too tightly spaced]. The upper strap pin is opposite the 12th fret, so balance is great, even with the big neck.
It has a PU pan knob which I like much better than dual volume knobs, It's a dual humbucker, my fave PU config, and the PU's seem well located to render a rich tone. Even tho its features and materials are nothing like a P-bass, it can do the P-tone better than a Fender, yet there's much more avaialble tones.
The E-string tuner post is a good distance from the nut, so you don't get a lotta fat main winding wrapping around the post. The nut is adjustable, very good feature.
PU's are on springs, much better than simple pads, very adjustable. Truss rod is double acting, another excellent feature.
The 2-band EQ is a stack knob. I find those to be risky, damage-wise. The carolena body dents easily, altho at least it's not under one of those glossy opaque "automotive" finished that emphasise every minor dig and ding. Minor dents kinda blend in with the natural grain pattern.
There's no seperate battery rout, or even a clip in the main rout. The battery is just tossed in loose [dumbast]. Add a little foam and it's OK.
The undoubtedly worst thing about any Streamer Standard is the very low output. It's adequate, if you have a decent, not too noisy, bass rig. Output is lower than you prolly think I mean when I say it's low. And it's even lower than your now-adjusted thinking. It is, as I said, "adequate" which means "the first useable step above useless". However, it has a very rich mellow tone that is hard to get from other fretted basses. An good small outboard pre-amp, like is used for an URB, is not a bad idea. For some players maybe a necessity. It's a negative aspect but not a deal killer if you really like tone
f this ax.
It's a typical Warwick except for the bridge, which is some POS but serves OK. Typical ick means no finish, except the wax you apply periodically, which I never bother with .... I prefer oil. Neck is ovangcal with a wenge FB, double acting truss rod, and brass frets. Looks and sounds cool.
There's a zillion basses in this price range, and this one is not suitable for some of the modern tastes or playing styles. It's not even made anymore. It works best in tha same contexts as an URB or a plugged in AEB. If you play in such a context, and you encounter one of these for sale local to you, don't pass up a chance to check it out.
It's a niche market thing, now discontinued, and since all its shortcomings would condemn it if it weren't for its unique attributes, I'm going to rate it '3' on the '1-5' scale. But I wanna emphaise that this is not a "3 = mediocre" rating, where everything about it is mediocre. Quite the contrary, so much of it is either a '1' or a '5' that, by the numbers, for a single-number rating I'm stuck with the '3'. IOW, if you don't love its peculiate attributes, you'll hate it.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com