Having recently celebrated the 70th anniversary of Framus and Warwick’s 35th, company founder, Hans-Peter Wilfer celebrated his 60th birthday by being presented with a bass built on the original design of the firm’s iconic Thumb Bass.
The instrument is based on the original design of the Thumb Bass and is made high-grade tone-woods, some of which had been stored 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. The bubinga burl top features a wane part, while the matte UV satin finish transforms into a shiny UV high polish finish.
In addition, 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.
Warwick says the planning and building of the birthday bass in the Custom Shop in Markneukirchen, Germany were kept top-secret from Wilfer before its ceremonial presentation. 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.
