1996 Warwick Fortress Masterman 4-String Bass

Made in Germany. I have the registered warranty and August 1996 date of manufacture confirmation from Warwick GmbH in Markneukirchen.

This 1996 Warwick Fortress Masterman 4-string bass contains all of the German bass goodness that a 'Wick should have. The flame maple body with honey violin oil finish has an extended upper horn which gives the bass the nicest balance you could ask for. Factory installed Jim Dunlop strap locks and buttons included. The wenge neck is slim, fast, and straight with a thin D profile, flattening towards the bridge. String spacing is 19 mm at the bridge, with adjustability to go a little bit either way.

All-original Warwick gold and brass hardware shows virtually no wear. MEC Twin Jazz M 60209 pickup with two individual coils and two independent preamps; stacked bass and treble controls. Weight is 9.25 lbs. The bass is in excellent shape with very minor playing wear on the back of the body. Ships in the matching Warwick hardshell case. Also included: a matching Warwick gig bag, hex wrenches, an extra set of DR High Beams – and the original Warwick Warranty Card.

• flame maple body with honey violin oil finish
• Warwick gold machine heads
• bolt-on wenge neck with wenge fretboard
– 34" long scale
– nut width 1.5" (38.5 mm)
– 12th fret width 2.1” (54 mm)
– 24th fret width 2.4" (62.1 mm)
• brass Just-A-Nut
• 24 Warwick bell brass frets
• Warwick brass bridge
• MEC Twin-J pickup with 2 preamps
• MEC active electronics
– stacked volume / pickup pan
– stacked treble / bass neck pickup EQ
– stacked treble / bass bridge pickup EQ
• Warwick gold control knobs

Warwick Fortress Masterman basses were produced from 1996-2000 and discontinued in 2000. You might be able to order one from the Warwick Custom Shop, but last I heard they only had about 10 of the original bodies left.

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Detailed Descriptions of the Controls and Pickups on this Bass Guitar

Stacked Pick-up Pan/Volume Control:
The top knob controls the volume of the bass. By rotating this control clockwise, you will increase the volume of your bass. The bottom knob allows you to pan between your neck pick-up and your bridge pick-up. The center detent of the pan control means that you are getting full output from both pick-ups. By rotating the knob clockwise, you get more of the neck pickup. By rotating the control counterclockwise you get more of the bridge pick-up. When the knob is rotated fully one direction or the other, you are only getting one of the two pickups.

Stacked Tone Controls:
There is one stacked tone control for each of the 2 individual pickups that are in the MEC Twin Jazz, which has a neck pickup and a bridge pickup under a single cover. Each tone control operates one of the 2 preamps. These 2 stacked knobs control treble and bass for each pickup. The top knob boosts or cuts the treble and the bottom knob boosts or cuts the bass. Rotating either control clockwise will boost the respective frequency, while rotating the control counterclockwise will cut the respective frequency.

Note: the volume control on the Masterman Fortress does not have a pull pot. That type of control appears on other Warwick models, like the Corvette and Thumb. A pull pot works thusly: pulling on the volume knob and putting it into the 'up' position bypasses the onboard active preamp, which effectively deactivates the tone controls.