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Warwick Corvette Piezo FL Reviews  4 / 5 based on 2 reviewsI usually play small ensemble/duo, no drums, so I get to enjoy my tone. I realize that is a reare privelege, but I'll assume it's rare yet not unique to me.
So ... I 'll askip the general coverage of the Warwick Bubinga Corvette FL4 and address only the piezo aspect of this ax.
I bought it online from the owner and paid several hunnert Yanqui Greenbax.
I got it cuz I love piezos, but some piezos are more special than others, and in this case I could talk to the owner/player to get a good idea about how it goes with Warwick and FL piezos.
What I like BEST is the piezo. Otherwise I have nothing to say, cuz the Warwick Corvettes is well known and well reviewed.
Warwicks are made of very innerressin relatively rare woods, but a fretted bass masks too much of the nature of the woods. What I like about FL is it lets free the sound of the wood. What I like about piezo is it's an actual microphone [of sorts] that is listening right at the spot where the string meet the wood. A mag PU is just an induction motor/generator driven by the strings at some distance from where they meet the wood.
But sometimes the bridge is too massive, or the wood is not responsive and resonant, and so the piezo is of little benefit vs the magnetic PUs. This Warwick is NO PROBLEM. The bubinga under the piezo bridge is VERY resonant, and the other end of the string is riding on ebony. The piezos are treated to plenty of woody goodness.
Another cool thing is that you have three independently controlled PUs, and the bridge J-PU does sound very different from the J-PU at the neck, so this layout offers more options than my piezo StingRay, which has only the one mag PU, and EBMM does not offer piezos on dual-mag-PU StingRays :-(
Mine is an earlier version and lacks individual gain trimming pots for each string. Fortunately, this one seems quite even across the strings, but I have not changed them yet [I keep strings for on a bass for years at a time]. Anywayz, if you're considering a used piezo Warwick, be aware that only the later ones do have the trim pots, but I don't know what "Later" means. Mine is from around Y2K.
[Same as all the other Vetts in all the other reviews]
The Bubinga Corvette FL audibly benefits from the piezos. You get a more woody acoustic vibe than is offered by the J-PUs that you can blend with the J-PUs or play on it's own, whcih is mainly what I do. There is nothing weird or special-purpose about the voice of the piezo bridge without any J-PUs in the mix.
Even tho it's a fine piezo option, I'm gonna rate it against piezo basses in general, cuz this is a piezo-speciifc review. As "add-on" or "piezo option" piezos go, this is a very good one. Some sound really sukkie, and some are just not effective, not very "woody". This is a really good one.
But be aware that as a "piezo magnetic hybrid bass", it rates a "4" out of "5". Some other piezo-magnetic hybrid basses have semi-hollow bodies and wooden bridges, which really make the MOST of the piezo's microphone-like behavior. And I'm referring to production basses, not exotic stuff.
OTOH, the heavy does of exotic woods in these Corvettes is what keeps it from falling to a "3". I tried a EBMM Bongo piezo FL. Might as well leave the piezo off ot that ax. Very disappointing. All I got from that piezo bridge was some extra bottom. I'd rate that a "2" cuz at least it added a 3rd voice to an otherwise dual PU bass. Not to knock EBMM. My ash bodied piezo StingRay FL is a killer ax, it sounds very "acoustic" and woody. I think it's the basswood woody in the Bongo ... perhaps a piezo bridge needs to be mounted an a more resonant wood. The humbugger tone on the Bongo is magnificent.
So the Corvette FL piezo is being rated as a piezo bass, and gets a "4". The piezo option rated just as an option is worth a "5" for the later ones, cuz the individual string trim pots is important. Golem rated this unit on 2009-03-16. I usually play small ensemble/duo, no drums, so I get to enjoy my tone. I realize that is a rare privelege, but I'll assume it's rare yet not unique to me.
So ... I 'll skip the general coverage of the Warwick Bubinga Corvette FL4 and address only the piezo aspect of this ax.
I bought it online from the owner, and paid several hunnert Yanqui Greenbax.
I got it cuz I love piezos, but some piezos are more special than others, and in this case I could talk to the owner/player to get a good idea about how it goes with Warwick and FL piezos.
What I like BEST is the piezo. Otherwise I have nothing to say, cuz the Warwick Corvette is well known and well reviewed.
Warwicks are made of very innerressin relatively rare woods, but a fretted bass masks too much of the nature of the woods. What I like about FL is it lets free the sound of the wood. What I like about piezo is it's an actual microphone [of sorts] that is listening right at the spot where the string meet the wood. A mag PU is just an induction motor/generator driven by the strings at some distance from where they meet the wood.
But sometimes the bridge is too massive, or the wood is not responsive and resonant, and so the piezo is of little benefit vs the magnetic PUs. This Warwick is NO PROBLEM. The bubinga under the piezo bridge is VERY resonant, and the other end of the string is riding on ebony. The piezos are treated to plenty of woody goodness.
Another cool thing is that you have three independently controlled PUs, and the bridge J-PU does sound very different from the J-PU at the neck, so this layout offers more options than my piezo StingRay, which has only the one mag PU, and EBMM does not offer piezos on dual-mag-PU StingRays :-(
Mine is an earlier version and lacks individual gain trimming pots for each string. Fortunately, this one seems quite even across the strings, but I have not changed them yet [I keep strings on a bass for years at a time]. Anywayz, if you're considering a used piezo Warwick, be aware that only the later ones will have the trim pots, but I don't know what "Later" means. Mine is from around Y2K.
[Same as all the other Vetts in all the other reviews]
The Bubinga Corvette FL audibly benefits from the piezos. You get a more woody acoustic vibe than is offered by the J-PUs, which you can blend with the J-PUs or play on it's own, which is mainly what I do. There is nothing weird or special-purpose about the voice of the piezo bridge without any J-PUs in the mix.
Even tho it's a fine piezo option, I'm gonna rate it against piezo basses in general, cuz this is a piezo-speciifc review. As "add-on" or "piezo option" piezos go, this is a very good one. Some sound really sukkie, and some are just not effective, not very "woody". This is a really good one.
But be aware that as a "piezo magnetic hybrid bass", it rates a "4" out of "5". Some other piezo-magnetic hybrid basses have semi-hollow bodies and wooden bridges, which really make the MOST of the piezo's microphone-like behavior. And I'm referring to production basses, not exotic stuff.
OTOH, the heavy does of exotic woods in these Corvettes is what keeps it from falling to a "3". I tried a EBMM Bongo piezo FL. Might as well leave the piezo off of that ax. Very disappointing. All I got from that piezo bridge was some extra bottom. I'd rate that a "2" cuz at least it added a 3rd voice to an otherwise dual PU bass. Not to knock EBMM. My ash bodied piezo StingRay FL is a killer ax, it sounds very "acoustic" and woody. I think it's the basswood body in the Bongo ... perhaps a piezo bridge needs to be mounted an a more resonant wood. [The humbugger tone of the Bongo is magnificent.]
So the Corvette FL piezo is being rated as a piezo bass, and gets a "4". The piezo option rated just as an option is worth a "5" for the later ones, cuz the individual string trim pots is important. Golem rated this unit on 2009-03-16.
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