Warwick have a fine reputation in Europe, although until now they have only had sporadic availability in the UK. Made in Germany the Warwick bass range includes the outlandish 'Buzzard' bass, designed in conjunction with John Entwistle. It is once again thanks to the Bass Centre in Wapping for bringing in yet another specialist instrument which will undoubtedly provide serious competition for Britain's own bass-makers.

The sample on review here is the 'Thumb' bass and lies in the professional bracket in terms of price. It features some intriguing designs and timbers but it is important to realise that it is not entirely original. The shape and styling follow very closely the lines of the American made Spector instruments with whom a certain Mr Steinberger has had some involvement. However, Warwick's design is possibly even more specialised in providing an ultimate 'Slap' bass; one thing is for sure, this bass is designed purely to improve the sound and performance of the musician — at a price.

The construction of the Thumb bass is straightforward in concept, but far from ordinary. Employing a straight-through neck the bass uses an all-wood construction of Wenge, Bubinga and Rosewood. A seven-piece laminate of these three timbers is used for the neck, the chocolate brown of the Wenge contrasting with the lighter Mahogany brown of the Bubinga and Rosewood. The neck is thin in width at the nut opening out to a fuller section towards the body and it is certainly well shaped and comfortable. Wenge is used again for the fingerboard which features 26 (!) frets of a thick section made from an extra hard German silver and chrome alloy. Small Abalone face and side dot markers are featured adding to the classy appearance of the instrument.

A small headstock design is used to help the balance of the bass and again there are obvious similarities between this and the Spector design. An unspecified dark timber facing is featured here with a small Abalone 'W' inlay. The truss rod adjustment is placed on the headstock hidden by a cover plate with the model name on it.

The body of the thumb bass is made from Bubinga and on first glance it appears to be a solid lump, under which the straight-through neck passes. On closer inspection, however, you can see the joins where the timber has been cut into three pieces, two of which form the 'wings' and the centre piece is laminated to the top of the neck 'spine'. This is all rather cleverly done with great care going into matching the timber grain patterns.

The whole shaping of the body is interesting in that the back is carved away in a concave manner while the front is almost 'arch top' in its shaping. This, of course, makes for a very comfortable instrument, especially when it is strapped high on the body. The horns protrude in an asymmetrical pattern and there are no straight lines anywhere — everything is beautifully carved, more like a wooden sculpture than a guitar.

Warwick have chosen not to apply a lacquer to the instrument — instead it is treated with beeswax (a tin of which is provided) which makes for an unusual feel and appearance. It does, of course, make the neck very fast but I would imagine very careful cleaning and polishing would be necessary to keep the instrument looking clean and natural.

While the hardware is pretty standard it is its positioning which makes it unusual. A Schaller 3-D brass bridge is fitted, although it bears a Warwick logo. It is positioned on the curve of the body so that it angles backfrom the line of the string. This increases the behind-the-saddle string angle and supposedly gives the G a fatter sound and the E a clearer sound than a conventional flat fitted bridge.

Likewise the M4 machine heads, made for Warwick by Schaller, are angled towards the body so that they are easier for the musician to access. Certainly this is a good advantage as when the bass is strapped high on your body the headstock does seem a long way away!

There didn't seem any problem with the workings of the bridge or heads — certainly the design is well proven, although questions have been raised about the durability of the 3-D bridge in the hands of a hard slapper.

The nut is an ingenious design which incorporates screw height adjustment for each string. Made from brass the nut has four grooved screws which can be screwed up or down to change the height of the string. This is a little fiddly to achieve but definitely works, although I do wonder how often adjustments to the nut height would have to be made. However if there is wear on the nut, all that has to be done is to raise the screws — the nut itself would not have to be replaced.

Two EMG J pickups are employed and the bridge unit is angled toward the bridge on the bass side to increase the top. As well as being active pickups an active tone circuit is also included. The control circuitry combines active electronics with simple control — a master volume, pickup pan-pot with centre detent and tone control. While the volume and pan controls are straightforward the tone control is a little more complicated. It is, in fact, a dual concentric pot, with the top portion taking care of treble cut and boost while the bottom portion takes care of bass cut and boost. As with the pan-pot each of these sections on the tone control has a centre detent indicating the 'flat' position.

The internal electronics are well screened with a combination of copper foil and conductive paint. The electronics themselves are made by a company called MEC and provide extremely low noise levels, higher output plus a quoted 'three times longer battery life'. The compartment cover sits on top of the back as opposed to being recessed and is held via six brass cross-head bolts which locate into brass inserts in the body. No chance of a screw becoming loose here. However I can't see any reason for removing the backplate as the battery is sensibly mounted in a separate compartment with a clip-on lid. The ¼" output jack socket is neatly recessed into the side of the body and really there is nothing to fault about the construction of this instrument at all.

For an instrument of such obvious quality you can't expect a sound anything short of brilliant and that is exactly what you get. It is the only bass I've put straight into a studio desk without pre-amp or anything, and it has sounded great. It is impossible to get a bad sound out of the instrument, which goes to prove the sense in such careful attention to materials and electronics. With the EMGs on board the sound is clear and full, and to be honest you don't need the active controls at all to produce a wide range of tones. Sensibly the active circuitry is not too extreme and the only time you'll encounter noise is if you turn the treble full up and the bass full off.

It may be called a 'Thumb' bass but it is far more versatile than just a slapper's delight. For the slapper, though, it's extremely good, the extra frets providing a very comfortable thumb position, although I felt a little more timber could be removed under the strings to aid finger 'pinging'.

However, the bass is a bit neck heavy which isn't surprising with such a long neck and small body. It isn't unbalanced though — it just feels a little weighty after a while. Playing the bass in a sitting position also reveals that the lower horn is a bit uncomfortable — it digs into your leg as it's so small — but you soon forget about these quibbles when you get into playing the thing. The combination of neck and sound makes this easily one of my favourite basses to date — I don't think anyone would be disappointed with paying out the hefty price tag if they take their craft at all seriously.

Not a perfect instrument but one that comes pretty close. The construction, sound and playability are faultless and it is only in terms of the instrument's comfort that I'd raise criticism. The bottom line is in the performance, which is where the Thumb bass really scores, and this instrument could be easily used as a market to illustrate value for money. £895 is a lot but this is a lot of bass, especially in terms of sound. Options on this model include Seymour Duncan or Bartolini pickups at an extra £25 while a custom colour will cost another £75. The bass comes with a natty gig bag padded with that acoustic tile-like foam. A pro's instrument without a doubt but you don't have to be a pro to try one out — just nip down to The Bass Centre, (Contact Details) and see what you're missing!

Warwick Thumb Bass - RRP: £895