Warwick Alien Acoustic Bass User Manual

Warwick Alien Acoustic Bass

Dear Customer,

• Congratulations on your new Alien Acoustic bass by Warwick!
• Warwick’s continuing stance on innovation by utilizing the most state-of-the-art technology and the diligence and dedication of each and every Warwick associate combines to create instruments that are cherished by bass enthusiasts worldwide. Our tradition of innovation and contemporary appeal continues with the Alien Acoustic bass. The
• Alien Acoustic bass offers musicians worldwide a high-quality, reasonably priced instrument.
• At Warwick, our customers are FIRST. We strive to give our consumers the best possible product and best possible customer service and it is you, our satisfied cus-tomers, who continue to give us our worldwide success. We are eternally grateful.
• Have fun playing your new Alien Acoustic bass by Warwick!
• Yours sincerely,
• Hans-Peter Wilfer

Tuners – Stringing / tuning procedure

Tuners:
All Alien acoustic basses come standard with high quality precision tuners (18:1 ratio). Warwick tuners feature a sealed, self-lubricating gear that warrants high tuning stability and needs no maintenance.

• The tuners are installed slanted facing the player to improve ergonomics and handling.
• The turning resistance of the tuners can be adjust-ed using a screwdriver.

Stringing / Tuning Procedure:

• Place the string’s ball end on the bridge string holder. Hold the ball end down with one hand and with the other feed the string to the tuner.
• RockBass Alien basses come with slotted bridge pins. Before you pull out a bridge pin, make sure that there is no tension on the string.Put the ball end into the slot in the bridge and press the bridge pin with its slot turned to the string.
• Cut the string approximately 8 cm / 3¼” behind the tuner. You’ll need this excess length for the windings around the tuner’s post.
• The tuner’s post has a slot with a hole in the center. Put the string in that hole before you start winding. This system avoids the string poking out to the side of the tuner and stabilizes the winding and thus the tuning overall.
• Tighten the string while winding it around the post. This avoids string slippage and increases tuning stability.
• 2 – 4 windings around the post are ideal for good tuning and stability.

Truss Rod Cover / Truss Rod Adjustment

Truss Rod Cover:

• The truss rod cover of an Alien acoustic bass gives you – when needed – quick access to the truss rod. You’ll need a flat screwdriver to unlock the integrated latch mechanism.

Truss rod adjustment:

• A neck is set up correctly if it has a slight forward bow. You can easily verify this by pressing the lowest string at the 1st and last fret and measuring the distance between the fret and the string at the 7th fret: it should read between 0.06“ and 0.02“. This value is independent from the action (height) setup of each individual string.
• Turning the truss rod key clockwise (direction A) will tighten the truss rod and give the neck a back bow. Turning the truss rod key counterclockwise (direction B) will loosen the truss rod and give the neck a forward bow. These adjustments should be done in small steps because the neck’s reaction is not in-stantaneous. You should check the results after approximately one hour and probably check again the following day. Readjust the truss rod if needed.
• A change in humidity, particularly during the changing of seasons or during strong weather fluctuations, is when one should pay attention to the neck’s setup and the corresponding truss rod adjustment.

Nut / Bridge

Nut:

• All Alien acoustic basses are coming with Just a Nut III nuts, made out of High-Tech-Material for best tone and performance.
• Use a 1.5 mm Allen wrench to adjust the string’s height at the nut.

Bridge:

• Press down on the string at the 3rd fret.
• Check the distance between the first fret and the string. It shouldn’t read more than 0.3 mm /0.01″, which equals the thickness of a business card.
• The wood of a new Alien Basses can still change and will be in movement for a certain time, because of this the pressures on the piezo-saddle pickup can vary. Since the piezo-saddle pickup works by using pressure, this can lead to uneven output. The Alien bridge and saddle are built to have some wiggle room to adjust that varying tension but sometimes you have to manually reset the position of the saddle for it to adjust correctly again.

To make that adjustment, we’ve put together some instructions to explain how to do that:

• Detune your strings as much as possible and check to see if your saddle (pick-up) has some front to back wiggle room. Than rock the saddle a little bit, and lean it back and tune up the strings working from the outside strings inward. i.e. B —– G , then E —– D, then A. Once up to pitch, with your hand try to lean the saddle back (away from the neck) and also apply down pressure to the top. Double check to make sure your strings are up to pitch and then check the output.
• If you still are experiencing the issue after that, with the instrument plugged into an amp and on try pressing down on the saddle and rocking it back away from the fret board, keep trying this adjustment and you should get an even output.

Strings

Standard String Gauges for Warwick and RockBass Alien Acoustic Basses.

Alien Acoustic Bass

Saiter

• Warwick Black Label – Acoustic Bass Strings / Medium Scale: .045″ .065″ .085″ .105″ (36200 MS 4)

5- Saiter

• Warwick Black Label – Acoustic Bass Strings / Long Scale: .045″ .065″ .085″ .105″ .135″ (36301 LOS 5)

6- Saiter

• Warwick Black Label – Acoustic Bass Strings / Long Scale: .025″ .045″ .065″ .085″ .105″ .135″ (36302 LOS 6)
• RockBass Alien Standard und Deluxe Akustik Bass

4-Saiter

• Warwick Red Strings – Acoustic Bass Strings / Medium Scale: .045″ .065″ .085″ .105″ (35200 MS 4)

4- Saiter

• Thinline Deluxe Warwick Red Strings – Bass Strings / Medium Scale: .045″ .065″ .085″ .105″ (42200 M 4)

5- Saiter

• Warwick Red Strings – Acoustic Bass Strings / Long Scale: .045″ .065″ .085″ .105″ .135″ (35301 LOS 5)

5- Saiter

• Thinline Deluxe Warwick Red Strings – Bass Strings / Long Scale: .045″ .065″ .085″ .105″ .135″ (42301 M 5B)

6- Saiter

• Warwick Red Strings – Acoustic Bass Strings / Long Scale: .025″ .045″ .065″ .085″ .105″ .135″ (35302 LOS 6)

• Attention on Warwick Alien Acoustic Bass!!!

• If the string gauge is thicker than .125″ we strongly recommend using tapered core strings. Otherwise the string won’t fit in the ball end holder. Warwick Black Label

• Acoustic bass strings are with tapered core and available as 5-string set with string gauges:

• Warwick Black Label – Acoustic Bass Strings 5-Strings / Long Scale:.045″ .065″ .085″ .105″ .135″
  (36301 LOS 5)

• Warwick Black Label – Acoustic Bass Strings 6-Strings / Long Scale: .025″ .045″ .065″ .085″ .105″ .135″ (36302 LOS 6)

Piezo – Pickups

• All Alien acoustic basses are equipped with a Fishman or a Shadow Transducer system. In close co-operation with the well-known American manufacturer Fishman, ours piezoceramic pickups are devel-oped: at www.fishman.com or www.warwick.de
• TIP: To increase the life of your battery unplug the cable from the guitar between playing sessions.

RockBass Alien Standard Acoustic Bass

• Pickups: Fishman Sonicore Piezo
• Preamp: Fishman Sonitone
• The control section is fixed to the rim of the soundhole.

1. Volume Control : Controls the overall gain.
2. Tone Control: Controls the amount of high frequencies being cut.

RockBass Alien Deluxe Acoustic Bass

Pickups: Fishman Sonicore Piezo
Elektronik: Fishman Presys+™

1. Low battery indicator
2. Tuner: The preamp also has a built in chromatic tuner. The display shows the note actually played. The red light on the left side of the display shows when the note is flat, the green light in the middle shows when the note is in tune, the red light on the right side shows when the note is sharp. When the tuner is activated, the sound is muted.
3. The tuner is in true bypass mode when deactivated.
4. Volume Control: Controls the overall gain.
5. Bass Control: This is a boost / cut shelving tone control for low frequencies.
6. Middle Control: This is a boost / cut shelving tone control for mid frequencies.
7. Treble Control: This is a boost / cut shelving tone control for high frequencies.
8. Notch Filter: This is a fixed-level, variable-frequency filter for eliminating feedback or unwanted resonance. The Notch Filter is effectively turned off in the full counterclockwise position.
9. Brilliance Control: This is a resonant-style boost / cut filter that adds presence to the sound.
10. Phase Switch: The Phase Switch compensates for acoustic phase differences that often occur between instrument and speaker. It can be used as a tone filter at low volume levels or as a feedback filter at high levels. The Phase Switch can correct any electrical phase difference between the piezo system and an outboard instrument microphone. Flip the Phase Switch several times and use your ear to find the optimum setting. The best position for the Phase Switch may change depending on the sound system and/or venue acoustics.

Alien Acoustic Bass / Alien Acoustic 6-string Bass / Rockbass Alien Deluxe 6-string Bass

Pickups: Fishman Acoustic Matrix
Elektronik: Fishman Prefix Plus-T

1. Notch Filter: This is a fixed-level, variable-frequency filter for eliminating feedback or unwanted res-onance. The affected frequency is variable from 40 to 500 Hz. The
2. Notch Filter is effectively turned off in the full counterclockwise position.

Low battery indicator

1. Volume Control : Controls the overall gain of the Prefix Plus-T™.
2. Bass Control : This is a boost / cut shelving tone control for low frequencies.
3. Contour: This is a wide-range semi-parametric filter. It is used to selectively shape the instrument’s tone. The Contour Level slider controls the amount of boost or cut applied to the selected contour frequency. The Contour Frequency slider determines the frequency band that is boosted or cut by the Contour Level control. The frequency is variable from 250 to 10 kHz.
4. Treble Control: This is a boost / cut shelving tone control for high frequencies.
5. Brilliance Control: This is a resonant-style boost / cut filter that adds presence to the sound.
6. Phase Switch: The Phase Switch compensates for acoustic phase differences that often occur between instrument and speaker. It can be used as a tone filter at low volume levels or as a feedback filter at high levels. The Phase Switch can correct any electrical phase difference between the Prefix™ system and an outboard instrument microphone. Flip the Phase Switch several times and use your ear to find the optimum setting. The best position for the Phase Switch may change depending on the sound system and/or venue acoustics.
7. Contour Frequency: You can scoop out harsh midrange by setting the Contour Frequency slider slightly above center with the Contour level cut to taste below the center detent. You can also cut midrange by boosting the Bass and Treble sliders to realize an “implied” mid cut at 800 Hz.
8. Tuner: The preamp also has a built in chromatic tuner. The display shows the note actually played. The LEDs beneath the display indicate whether the note is flat (lower red LED), sharp (upper red LED) or in tune (green LED in the middle). When the tuner is activated, the sound is muted. The tuner is in true bypass mode when deactivated.

Deluxe Thinline Acoustic Bass

1. Battery:
   • Please use 2x AAA 1,5V batteries.
2. Volume:
   • This is the Mastervolume of the preamps.
3. Piezo Tonecontrol:
   • Controls the tone of the piezo pickup.
4. Magnetic Tonecontrol:
   • Controls the tone of the magnetic pickup.
5. Blend:
   • Balance between Magnetic pickup and Piezo pickup. und Piezo Tonabnehmer.
6. Tuner Switch:
   • By pases the electronic and switches on the Tuner.
7. Phase Switch:
   • Here you can switch the phases.

Tips for Body, Neck and Fingerboard Care

Tips for Body Care

Satin Finish (Warwick Alien):

• A matte and transparent surface with visible wood structure and accentuated grain is the essential characteristic of the Satin Finish. This sealed and non-colored finish does not need special care. If the surface gets dirty it should be wiped with a damp cloth or with one of the many non-abrasive spray cleaners available in selected stores or specialist shops.

High Polish Finish (RockBass Standard and Deluxe):

• A High Polish Finish is produced with the use of a high polish lac-quer. The wood is completely sealed under the finish;
  the surface is as smooth as glass and without noticeable wood grain structure. As with Satin Finish, care is limited to the visual aspects. You can wipe the surface clean with a damp cloth or with a suitable spray cleaner, or you can use polish that reinstates the full shine of the finish and can also get rid of small scratches and typical traces of playing.

Tips for Neck Care

• All neck surfaces of Alien acoustic basses are sealed with a Satin Finish. This sealed and non-colored finish does not need special care. If the surface gets dirty it should be wiped with a damp cloth or with one of the many non-abrasive spray cleaners available in selected stores or specialist shops.

Tips for Fingerboard Care

• All fingerboards of Alien acoustic basses are non-lacquered and thus require a little maintenance once in a while to avoid getting rough or dull. To clean and protect the fingerboard use products specially made for this purpose and that are available at selected stores or specialist shops. Please refer to the manufacturer’s product information to achieve the desired result.
• You can order our cleaning products on our webshop: www.shop.warwick.de.

Access to the Battery Compartments

• The piezo pickup systems are powered by a 9V battery.
• To change the battery you can open the electronics compartments as shown below:

Warwick Alien and RockBass Alien Deluxe:

• The battery and electronics compartment can be easily opened with your fingernail. Push the battery in until it locks in place.
• Please mind the correct polarity!

RockBass Alien Standard:

• The battery compartment is located directly beside the output jack. You can easily open the compart-ment with your fingernail. Push the battery in and close the lid. Please mind the correct polarity!

Security Locks

• All Warwick and RockBass Alien acoustic basses ship with Warwick Security Locks, which need to be installed. The Warwick Alien and the RockBass Alien Deluxe are equipped with a strap holder that also contains the output jack. This cannot be replaced. The strap lock can only be installed at the neck joint, where the wood is thick enough to hold the screw (see illustration).
• Do not try to install the security lock on the side of the guitar.

Assembly:

• Put the piece with the outside thread in the strap hole.
• Put the ring on the thread from the other side of the strap.
• Screw the nut on the thread. Tighten with a wrench.
• Install the strap lock only at the neck point, which is strong enough to hold the screw. Drill a hole with a 2mm wood drill first.
• The standard endpin is not included for transport reasons.
• Press the button of the Security Locks to unlatch it so you can remove the strap or put it on.

User-Kit

You also receive the Warwick user-kit with your Alien Acoustic bass. It contains useful supplies like:

• Trussrod Tool
• Polish Cloth
• 1,5 mm Allen key
• 2,5 mm Allen key
• Warranty Cardc

Warranty / Customer Service

• Warwick’s warranty for all musical instruments is limited to 2 years, but this condition may vary from country to country. Please, contact your local Warwick dealer for more information.

• In case of a defective product please refer to your musical instruments dealer.

• We wish you a lot of fun with your new Warwick Bass!

• If you have further questions about your instrument feel free to contact us:

• info@warwick.de or service@warwick.de.

• The manufacturer reserves the right to any technical modifications.

• Visit our website:

• www.warwick.de

• Sign up for our Warwick Newsletter:

• www.warwick.de

• Join the Warwick Forum:

• forum.warwickforum.com

• Visit our Webshop:

• shop.warwick.de

• Join our social network on:

• facebook.com/warwickframus

• twitter.com/warwickframus

• youtube.com/warwickofficial

• Do not trash.
  Dispose of accordingly.

• Weee-Nr.: DE93670540

• U.S.A. DISTRIBUTION

• CHINESE DISTRIBUTION

• NORTH

• EUROPEAN DISTRIBUTION

• Framus & Warwick Music USA, Inc. info@rockboard.net

• 629.202.6790

• Warwick Music Equipment Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.

• info@warwick.cn

• +86 21 34060110

• www.warwick.de

• info@warwick.de

• www.w-distribution.de

• www.facebook.com/warwickframus

• Headquarters: Warwick GmbH & Co. Music Equipment KG 08258 Markneukirchen / Germany +49 (0) 37422 / 555 – 0

• Family Owned

• Solar Powered

• Sustainably Manufactured in a Green Environment

References

• Warwick Forum
• W-Music Distribution
• Fishman | Fishman - Inspired Performance Technology
• en/Home.html

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