It should last me a couple of years until I can afford a Quilted flame maple top hand crafted Warwick Vampire. I think as far as being a musical tool this version basically does the same thing as the over priced USA Hand crafted modles. It was made in China and I am impressed with the off shore quality control. I have been impressed with the guitars lately also that have been made in China. They are made right and supervised strict it seems.

Sound
I gave it a 10 because it has the same electronics as the high $$ version. Sound ties in too with what your running it with. I am using two Randal V-Max Guitar heads into a couple of 4X12 Krank Dime signature cabinets. Not a Bass rig but it sounds to me like I would be willing to run this up against any Bass set up period.

Features
The Warwick Vampyre didn't come with any wrenches or anything. However it came with a nice thick soft case that was inside the cardboard box it was shipped with. No owners manual. I personally felt like I really didn't need an owners manual. The instrument spoke for itself.

Ease of Use
It can be easy. Again this depends on the person and their experience with amps and guitars too. There always seems to be a myth regarding Bass Amps and then the world of guitar amps. My friend has a beautiful Ampeg stack with 8 10" speakers and it has EQ settings and all. it sounds great. But so does my two Randall V-Max heads with… read more their EQ's and my two Krank cabinets of 4 12" speakers. People will talk of differences but to me the only difference that matters is the idiot holding the instrument.

Quality
I give it a 10 for it's class. An Alder body. No major hand crafted quilted flamed maple but so what. It is cut well and I wanted to break away from all the traditional base designs. Again it has a sweet electronic pick up system. The neck is made very well and has a nice solid bolt on system like I have never seen before. The keys in the head stock say "Made in Germany" on them and are very precesion! It's ballance is even. The neck feels nice and narrow and it gives me confort way up high or sliding along or just thumping around and touching root notes. All I did was take an alen wrench and lower the saddles on the bridge to where I wanted and I didn't need to do any truss rod adjustment or level or recrown any frets. I have played regular lead guitar for 28 years and this Bass is a blast! If you like the look you will like the action and quality in my opinion.

Value
Yes it is worth is $$ by far.

Manufacturer Support
I have never had to deal with Warwick but I have heard good things from other people in regards to needed service. I gave em a 10 for building a good product and being around for a long time. In the Bass world Warwick is a big name. And I sure didn't need any help with this Vampyre. I was just hoping that it would play real nice and feel real good in action and it did for me pretty much out of the box.

The Wow Factor
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And again it depends on how good one may look in General who is standing on a stage with it or sitting in a studio with it or. I gave it a 10 because that is what I behold. It for the $$ was a very cool design and it let me get away from the regular bass designs that everyone seems to manufacture for the $$

Musical Background:
Active Musician for over 20 years.

Musical Style:
Rock-Hard Rock-Harder Rock-Blues-Adapted Grooves etc... read less