Download image

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, 4 string in LINED FRETLESS VERSION. The fretless conversion has been performed by a good luthier.

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.



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.

In this case we have installed flatwound strings and these reduce the sustain a little bit but add warmth. These are perfect for the fretless board too.

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.

The neck pickup rivals the deep sound of an upright bass. The bridge pickup shows more attack, of course but in a good way. Blending both pickups produces a beautiful all round type of sound.

By the way, you can use this bass for just any style of music, but it excels at flamenco and it is probably the most affordable fretless bass for that style. After all, it's not so different from Flamenco bass master Carles Benavent's Gibson EB-2D fretless (as used with the Paco de Lucía Sextet for decades).

The medium scale (32") is also a joy to play and makes playing in tune easier.

This instrument comes with all the tools you need to set up.