Welcome to “Meet Your Maker,” a series dedicated
to bringing you closer to the individuals
behind the instruments that inspire us.
THE NARRATIVE ARC COMMON AMONG
many guitar builders usually centers on the
conversion of a bedroom, garage, or small
office into a modest workroom proudly filled
with hand tools that point to the personal
touch of the builder. Not so with Warwick.
This company’s tale is one of factories, production
floors, and machines, of industrial
life and state-of-the-art technology and an
insatiable quest for mechanized precision.
Such is the story of Hans-Peter Wilfer, known
to many in the music industry as H.P., a man
celebrated for his entrepreneurial spirit,
business sense, and vision for refining the
bass building process.
A FAMILY AFFAIR
At only six years of age, H.P. began working
for his father, Fred Wilfer, founder of
the renowned German musical instrument
manufacturer Framus. “I was born in the
factory,” H.P. jokes. “When I was very young,
my father would allow me to try and repair
instruments that were damaged, which
increased my passion for production and
working with my hands.” Captivated by the
world of manufacturing, the young Wilfer
ended his formal education after middle
school and began working full time for his
father’s company, until it went bankrupt in
1975. In 1976, however, his mother opened
up her own production business, and H.P.
went to work for her soon after. “I started
out in sales but quickly moved to manufacturing,”
he says. On a typical morning, he
would get up at 4 AM to spend a few hours
in the workshop, switch to sales for the
next six hours, then back to production
until 10 PM. He loved being on the factory
floor, and such a work ethic would soon
serve him well in his own endeavors as a
business owner and manager.
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| Streamer Stage I |
Unfortunately, his mother’s factory also
fell upon hard times and closed its doors
in 1981, leaving the youngest of the Wilfer
family on his own to find work. “This was a
very hard time for us,” he recalls. “We had no
money, no work, and no plans.” After a year
of working in sales for a variety of German
companies, H.P. found himself once again
longing for instrument manufacturing, so
he decided to try his hand at starting and
running his own company. Hiring three
former employees from his mother’s factory,
he opened Warwick on September 13, 1982.
FACTORY FLOORS &
HEADLESS BASSES
The beginning was rough. Lacking a clear
focus, H.P. and his employees struggled
that first year to design and produce a
groundbreaking instrument. That changed
in 1983 when Warwick designed a bass
that combined features of the popular
Steinberger and Washburn Bantam headless
models. “We made 28 Nobby Meidels
that year,” H.P. remembers. “At the music
show in Frankfurt that year we sold every
one of them—and nothing else.” Convinced
that unconventional instruments were the
key to their success, they set themselves to
designing and building basses that appealed
to experienced and open-minded players.
“We didn’t see any reason to build Fender
copycats, which players could get easily and
cheaply from Asia, so we decided to focus
only on high-end, innovative instruments.”
In the mid ’80s, the Spector NS was tracking
well in the U.S., but these basses proved hard
to come by in Europe. H.P. saw that problem
as a potential solution for the direction of his
company and took up the task of designing
his own version of this popular, ergonomically
friendly instrument. That venture resulted in
Warwick’s first widely successful instrument:
the Streamer Stage I.
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| Thumb SC |
Encouraged by this success, H.P.
began looking for ways of improving his
company’s efficiency and increasing its
productivity. “Growing up, my university
was the factory, so I began looking for
how to grow our company in a way that
would build on what I had learned from
my years of working in production.”
Additionally, from his father H.P. had
learned that good artist relations were
essential to building great instruments. “I
was not a player. I understood that as a
company we needed to work closely with
musicians in designing our instruments.
We helped them by providing basses, and
they helped us by giving us feedback and
playing our instruments.” This devotion
to players has served him well. Indeed,
Warwick’s reputation for treating its artists
like family is well established, and
many endorsees publically celebrate the
generosity of this company.
TAKING THE LONG VIEW
H.P.’s philosophy toward designing and
building basses centers on efficiency and
utility—two lessons he learned on the factory
floor. From their patented Just-A-Nut
to their two-piece bridge, Warwick basses
allow players to tweak any instrument to
fit their particular comfort and style. “I’m
always thinking about how we can make a
bass easier for the consumer to use,” he says.
“We make working gear, and my basses have
to work equally well for someone playing in
Alaska or South Africa, in India as well as
South Carolina.” That commitment, he argues,
results in basses that sport user-friendly
features, stable necks, and sturdy hardware.
Warwick’s evolution in the last two
decades speaks to H.P.’s goal of providing
a secure and promising future for his
company. “My current business decisions
are not driven by the bottom line,” he
insists, “but rather the final product.” As a
result, he invests all profits right back into
new technology that enables Warwick to
refine and improve their instruments. For
example, they recently bought a $1.4 million
machine for their shop in Germany
that enables them to cut fret slots with
incredible precision, eliminating the need
for leveling afterwards. For a shop that only
makes 150–170 instruments a month, you
can imagine how long it will take to recoup
that cost—but H.P. doesn’t sweat it. “I am
not worried about making money fast. I am
more interested in acquiring machinery that
benefits the end quality of the instrument
rather than just lowering the production
cost.” Committed to this long view
in all
matters, Warwick has invested not
just in
high-end machinery over the last few
years
but in green technology as well, resulting in
a prized FSC certification last year.
H.P.’s passion and energy about building
basses, expanding his company, and celebrating
his customers is contagious, evidenced
each year at NAMM by the large crowd of
players—professional and amateur—who
gather at the Warwick booth to chat energetically
with him and each other. And the
energy he displayed as a youth shows no
sign of waning. To this day, he still heads
into work at 4 AM and leaves around 8 at
night. With such discipline and dedication,
it’s no wonder Warwick has experienced
such success. And if H.P. has anything to
do with it, they’re not done growing yet.
WARWICK
Builder Hans-Peter Wilfer
Location Markneukirchen, Germany
Price range $2,799–$13,699 (custom);
$699–$2,319 (import)
Mission To create instruments unsurpassed
in quality and consistency using
the most technologically advanced machinery.
Notable players Bootsy Collins, Steve
Bailey, Jonas Hellborg, Robert Trujillo
Contact warwickbass.com