Warwick Buzzard #56 1986

This is our extremely rare Warwick Buzzard, the 56th made from 1986. It was designed by John Entwistle (The Who) in collaboration with Warwick who issued the following press release in 2001 following John Entwistle's death:

"Hans Peter Wilfer, the founder of Warwick basses, was approached by John Entwistle to create a special bass for him in 1985. John had some very unique ideas as to how the bass should look and play, so he sat down with Hans Peter and the two of them sketched out the design that the world knows today.

Hans Peter came up with the idea of the distinctive "hand grip" on the lower horn, the stylized headstock and many other design specifics that make the Buzzard such a wonderfully unique bass. Then, after the basic body shape was agreed upon, Hans Peter and John sat in a London nightclub called Maggie's and decided to name the bass the Buzzard. In all honesty, Hans Peter says that many drinks were consumed that night and he cannot remember exactly who thought of the name the Buzzard, but he thinks it was John's idea.

In the days that followed, Hans Peter then made a few prototypes for John to play and critique, and the design was further polished. The photo shown below is of one of those early prototypes, which shows an early headstock design. It was after the duo decided on the name Buzzard, that the headstock was changed to more closely resemble the beak of said bird.

After playing the Warwick-made Buzzard for a while, John became curious about the various benefits of graphite necks. He contacted his friend Geoff Gould, who was the President and founder of Modulus Graphite. John had known Geoff for quite some time and the two had worked together before, so he asked Geoff to make him some Buzzard basses with graphite necks, which he did. "What John was looking for was a combination of factors", Geoff told me via email. "He liked the fact that the neck was relatively impervious to weather changes, since he liked to play with the strings so close to the frets, they were almost laying on top of them. This was quite difficult with a wood neck because it would necessitate constant truss rod adjustments. He also liked the sonic characteristics of the neck because his dynamic playing style, from the soft, deft touches to the thunderous hammering."

This is an amazingly rare pre-owned bass in fantastic condition, especially considering it's over 30 years old. It has minimal damage to the rear of the body as seen in our photographs.

• Model: Buzzard Bass
• Serial Number: I 56 86
• Year: 1986
• Month: September
• Number: 56
• Neck Wood: Wenge Wood with Zebrano Lamination
• Fingerboard: Wenge Wood with Mother of Pearl Number Inlays
• Frets: Bronce Warwick Frets
• Nut: Just a Nut Brass Version
• Neck Construction: Neckthrough hidden neck
• Body: 2 pcs. solid Zebrano Wood
• Surface: Oil Finish / Beewax surface
• Pickups: Active EMG PJ Pickups
• Electronic: Active MEC 2 Band Electronic
• Hardware: Gold Hardware, made by Schaller for Warwick
• Made In: Germany / 08258 Markneukirchen