These are the most affordable Warwick basses ever. They are made in a small Chinese factory under Warwick’s strict quality control. Initially these were made with the beginners market in mind, but quality is so good that even experienced players have bought one or several Rockbass instruments to their arsenal.
What you get is a bass that not only looks like a Warwick. It plays and sounds surprisingly similar to a Warwick, because it is a Warwick in essence. Amazing value for money.
Whether you are a beginner and want to start playing with an affordable instrument that actually sounds good and allows for low action or if you are an experienced player that just wants to know how a 5 string or a semihollow bass feels, a Rockbass is an excellent choice.
This model in particular is the Warwick Rockbass Star Bass II series in Vintage Sunburst, 5 string
The body is made from AAA flamed maple (back, front and sides) and the neck is made from maple and ekanga, a really solid and stable combination plus it has the classic Warwick oil finish which makes it a joy to play. The wenge fingerboard is just perfect.
Warwick's frets in this series are made from Silver Nickel, an alloy that sounds great and copes with wear pretty well.
Sustain in this bass seems to be endless indeed. This is also thanks to the great tailpiece/bridge combination which allows the strings to have the perfect break angle at the bridge. Of course you can adjust the bridge in all directions: overall and individual height, intonation, string spacing, etc.
Small details such as pickup height adjustment have been redisgned and improved using metal inserts for the screws in the body of the bass meaning you can set the correct pickup height effortlessly. Cool.
Of course there's a two way truss rod so you can tweak the neck yo suit your climate and/or playing style. The truss rod can be accessed easily.
Also electronics are easily serviced. No tool is needed to access the battery which by the way is found inside an ultra clean electronics area. Just use your fingernails to open the rear electronics plate. Cool. Conductive paint is used thoughout and just the right amount of wireand top notch parts. We love it.
Warwick's trademark headstock is also ergonomic. All tuners are placed for the player to reach them easily. The adjustable nut (a classic feature from Warwick) is the final touch on a perfectly designed bass.
Passive MEC electronics are used. Noiseless and effective. You get 2 Volume and 2 Tone pots plus a 3 way switch for pickup selection.
Two great sounding passive MEC Humbucker pickups are used. They sound really old school which of course makes sense as this model is based on the Framos StarBass from the 60's. After all, Warwick's CEO Hans Peter Wilfer is the son of the man who created Framus guitars in the 50's.
With the stock roundwound strings the bass sounds beautiful but if you want to get a seriously vintage tone please add a set of flatwound strings when you order it from us and you'll be in heaven.
The low B sounds surprisingly good and there's no lack of volume at all. You can also order this bass from us with tenor tuning: EADGC. This opens up a whole new range of possibilities for chords, melodies, etc.
This instrument comes with all the tools you need to set up.