Having recently celebrated the 70th anniversary of Framus foundation and Warwick’s 35th, company founder, Hans-Peter Wilfer has celebrated his 60th birthday by being presented with one of the most impressive Warwick basses yet.
The instrument picks up the original design of the Thumb Bass and is made high-grade tone-woods, some of which had been stored, maturing for up to 30 years: The body’s back is pommelé bubinga. The neck-through construction with seven stripes combines wenge and bunge (bubinga) with a white maple veneer. The fingerboard’s marbling originates from a piece of ebony heartwood. On the bubinga burl top, which features a wane part, the matte UV satin finish transforms into a shiny UV high polish finish.
As if that wasn’t enough luxury, a trail of gemstone inlays is decked out over the body frontside and fingerboard, following the dynamics of the wood design. Gold-set sapphires back-lit by LEDs have been used for the dot inlays and side-dots. On the ebony pots, diamonds mark the positions. Real gold applications embellish a framed inscription on the cover of the electronics compartment, the truss rod cover, and the diamond-studded W-logo on the headstock. A gilded shimmer is emphasizing the wood structure of the top’s naturally gnarly part.
Warwick says the planning and building of the birthday bass in the Custom Shop in Markneukirchen, Germany were kept top-secret from Hans-Peter before its ceremonial presentation on July 20th. The bass is said to be worth in excess of US$170,000 and will be on display at next year’s NAMM show in Anaheim, CA.
Info: www.warwick.de