1983 Warwick Nobby Meidel Guitar Natural Headless Guitar #15 of 30 West Germany Handmade

The only six String Electric Guitar ever made by Warwick. Number 15 in a matte finish. Most likely made in 1983 or 1984 and brought to the USA for a show. One of the last remaining (estimate only 15 guitars remain out of 30 produced). Original passive humbucker pickups. 6 position rotary knob pickup selector switch:

Gold hardware (no fading). Weight: 6 pounds 4 ounces. Neck width at zero fret: 1 5/8" Original floor stand, strap arm, aftermarket case fitted to hold this guitar. The strap button on the back of this guitar was repaced with a larger button; the original strap arm does not fit on properly. Excellent condition. No dings, dents, etc. Setup by local luthier; plays well as it should.

6- All coils on

5- top coil on each pickup on, bottom off

4- bridge pickup on (both coils)

3- 2 middle coils on (highest and lowest ones off)

2- neck pickup on (both coils)

1- bottom coils on each pickups on, top off

Interesting history: Hans Thomann introduced Nobby Meidel, the former bass sales rep from the Thomann Company, to Hans-Peter Wilfer. The first Warwick model was then designed together with the bassist. This bass, which bore the Nobby Meidel name, was based on the newly popular Steinberger bass, which back then was also already imitated by manufacturer Washburn with the Bantam bass. An essential characteristic was the headstock-less neck and the tuning pegs located at the bottom end of the body. 

Nobby Meidel was absolutely pragmatic in the design phase of the new bass: he basically sawed off the headstock and lateral designs of the body to unmistakably make clear how he imagined the ideal headless electric bass. The Warwick boss himself created the hardware design and electronics; he even drew the schematics for the prototype. The brass parts were supplied by metal turner Walter Zeitler from Röslau, the rosewood came from a local lumber dealer, the 3-D bridges from Schaller in the town of Feucht, the pickups from Shadow in the town of Erlangen and the instrument’s finish was done at a specialty shop in the town of Eltersdorf. That’s how shortly thereafter a novel instrument, completely built in the Franconia region of Germany, came to market. 

The body is Rosewood and the neck is laminated wenge/rosewood. The neck features 26 of Warwick's trademark silver bronze alloy frets, also first used in this bass. There were also approximately 30 special Nobby Meidel guitars built exclusively for the US.