The Nobby Meidel bass was the first bass built by Warwick. Many of the design features common to all current Warwick's were first developed for this bass. In many ways, the Nobby was Warwick's test bed for all the instruments that followed!

In September of 1982, Hans Peter Wilfer was just starting Warwick and was looking for ideas for what to build. Hans Thomann, owner of a large and influential music store, put him in touch with one of his bass playing salesmen, Nobby Meidel. Nobby cut the wings off of an "Aria-something" and told Hans Peter that headless basses represented the future of bass playing. The Washburn "Bantam" further influenced the original design. Hans Peter later realized that Ned Steinberger's headless design was the original source of much of Nobby's inspiration. The final design is an amalgam of influences from Washburn, Aria, Steinberger, Nobby and Hans Peter Wilfer.

Hans Peter had a terrible time initially with neck stability, trying and rejecting many woods and truss rod designs. (Early Nobby's are notorious for their unstable necks). Wenge, which is a hallmark of modern Warwick basses, first found its way into a Warwick bass on the Nobby. Warwick's original removable 2-way truss rod also was first used in the Nobby.

The body is Rosewood, the neck is laminated wenge/rosewood. The stripes down the middle are lighter colored rosewood or bubinga (HP can't remember). The original design featured EMG pickups, MEC 2-band electronics and Schaller bridge and tuners. Later units came standard with Schaller pickups, with EMG being an upgrade. The neck features 26 of Warwick's trademark silver bronze alloy frets, also first used in this bass. A total of around 950 were build between Dec. 1982 and 1992. There were also approximately 30 special Nobby Meidel guitars built exclusively for the US. A special stand was designed to hold the instrument. The only bass on display in Hans Peter's house is a Nobby.

Nobby Meidel still plays bass and has a small studio in Nurenberg.

  info@warwick.de (international, outside USA)
  DBGLit@danabgoods.com (USA only)

Also visit:
RockBass by Warwick         Framus Guitars & Amps