Bassed on the need for change

This post is long overdue when I consider how long I have had this “new” bass of mine. It was spring time last year when actually that I sold my Fender Jazz Bass. I had gotten to the point of being dissatisfied with that bass and the sound that it had, or lack thereof, on the G string when I would play any high note there. It was as if my volume was cut by 2/3 everytime I played that string. Also, being a 24 fret bass, that was quite the trip to the first fret for my left hand, and after a series of weeks where I had lots of rehearsals and services at church as well as playing at some jam sessions with friends, I felt it was time to get something shorter.

So, the search for a new bass kicked in, and much like I did before, looked at some basses online and then went to play some around town. Some I instantly didn’t like but one I LOVED which was a Warwick Corvette $$ (the $$ being a reference for the two humbucker pickups). I played one at our local Guitar Center which had a swamp ash body and no color to the top at all—a natural look. Well, I loved the bass right away because it had much more thump and sound to it all over the fretboard, even on the G string, so that disappearing sound problem was immediately solved. The bass is a 22 fret bass so it is a shorter scale and not quite the reach that my other one was, thus solving the far reaching problem. The Ovangkol neck on this bass was amazing and it was so fun and comfortable to play, not to mention it was MUCH lighter and more comfy to play sitting on my lap. The only issue I had with it was that I did not like that natural wood look, so I began the quest to see what other colors that they had available. After checking online I noticed that they had bursts which I always prefer, but after seeing existing Corvettes for purchase online, I didn’t like their bursts, so instead I opted for a solid color.

After pondering the solid color choices they had, I decided on G Orange, in a high polish stain, which I thought would look great and be unique. I started emailing other Guitar Center stores as well as other Warwick dealers and long story short, no one had a Corvette $$ in that color, so I opted to order one through a store in IL that gave me an amazing price on the bass.

This is the point where the story stops being fun. Atleast for a bit. Though it was supposed to be here in 6 weeks, it actually took 12 weeks to arrive and when it did, all the standard black hardware on the bass was GOLD. I LOATHE GOLD HARDWARE on guitars, so I immediately called the store and told the problem to them. The bass went back to KY where the Warwick distribution hub is for the US, and we awaited the arrival of the Black hardware kit from Germany. Sadly, the geniuses there didn’t think to express the hardware, but instead they put it on a boat to cross the ocean with tons of instruments and it took WEEKS to get here, plus another 2 weeks before I got it back. Not my dealers fault—he was fabulous throughout the whole ordeal, but just people on the other end of the chain that have no clue about how to take care of customers.

Well, I got the bass back and all was well with the proper color hardware on it, and I have been enjoying it a lot ever since. It plays great, feels great, sounds great and looks great—thus all my criteria have been met! It was a long and wild ride to get it here and get it right, but it is a great bass that I will enjoy for a long time. Or, until something else comes along that grabs a hold of me and won’t let go, and I’ll find myself here once again writing another post, bassed on the need for change.