All my other basses are fender p or jazz basses so this was new territory for me. I bought this bass to use in my U2 tribute band. I chose to buy the Adam Clayton Warwick over the Adam Clayton Fender as it seemed to me the Adam Clayton used this bass a lot more the the green jazz bass. It was half the price and really looks the part.
The first thing that struck me about this bass was the weight. It's roughly 8 lbs which is ideal for a 2 hour gig. I have had this bass for about 5 months and have gigged with it regularly. It balances very well on the shoulder and feels very comfortable.
The Seymour Duncan SPB-3 pickups sound really great. They are hotter than stock fender p bass pick ups and they really cut through the mix in a gig.
The control layout is great with master volume, tone and bass knobs. This really gives the player alot of control over the tone of the instrument. The bass sounds full and articulate and has a vintage, familiar p bass sound. The action was low and the intination good straight out of the box!
The neck is very like a jazz bass with the same comfortable 1.5" width at the nut. Also I'd say that it is easier to access the notes higher up the neck than the fender basses. It has 21 frets too. It has a satin soft finish that feels fast and smooth. It's a three piece bolt on neck.
In terms of quality, I have to mention a few things: firstly two of the machine heads were loose as the thread on the washer was too shallow. The machine heads would slip slightly when I tuned the bass and they would require tuning on a more regular basis. This is not acceptable for a ¤1,000 bass. Secondly, the strings that come with it are of a poor quality ( ¤10 strings.... not good). These strings started to ware away at the frets (which are not brass despite the Warwick description).
I have up-graded my bass with some parts purchased from Warwick to try to bring it nearer the ¤5,000 custom shop version.
1. Ebony truss rod cover ( the plastic "Adam Clayton" one was too garish)
2. Just-a-nut III brass. ( I didn't like the cheap plastic one)
3. Ebony tuning pegs.
These upgrades give the bass a more elegant look but at an additional expense of about ¤200.
Finally I brought the bass to my local luthier for a checkup and setup. He fixed the issue with the machine heads easily enough and replaced the original plastic nut with the new brass one which he also filed to prevent the strings catching. He also put a fresh set of good quality DR strings on it. Now I have the bass I wanted! It's incredible what a difference a good set of strings can make. He did not need to make and adjustments to the neck and the bass had no loose frets either. Electrics were all sound too.
In conclusion, this is a decent light weight great sounding and versatile bass with some minor build quality issues, but at 1/5 the price of the Warwick custom shop Adam Clayton version. However unlike my fender basses, I would not gig with this bass without a backup.
