Warwick has been making their high quality basses in Germany for decades. The quality of wood, the unique designs and overall thought that goes into these instruments helps you to understand why the brand comes at a premium price.

Now Warwick offer a new line of guitars in the lower price bracket, perfect for beginners or existing Warwick players wanting a second or third guitar. Introducing (drum roll please) the Warwick Rock Bass series.

The new Rock Bass instruments are built in China using cheaper woods and hardware, but essentially this line of basses is the same as those built in Germany. They come in four of Warwick's popular shapes; Dolphin, Streamer, Infinity and the classic Corvette, all with the option of four or five strings and a huge selection of high polish and natural wood finishes.

I was given the four string active Corvette to look at and was highly impressed – and a little sad to give it back.

At first glance it's hard to tell this is a low cost version of the original – until you pick it up. They seem to be half the weight of their predecessors but that's an exaggeration as they are really only about half a kg lighter.

The construction and finish on this 34" guitar makes it a bargain at only $999. (You can expect to pay more than double that for a new German-made version.) The body of the instrument has been built using three pieces of alder, hence the lighter weight, and has four offset bolts attaching the five-piece maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. The JJ style MEC pickups are the same ones found on the German-made models and the Chinese factory has outdone itself with the handiwork and precision found under the plastic cover in the back – although you will need a screwdriver to change your battery.

So I attached a strap and put her on. Being a female I liked the feel instantly – it's not too bulky and looks in proportion to my body. The weight was actually a relief after dealing with the load of my Warwick Fortress for so many years.

I wasn't too impressed with the tone of the guitar unplugged – it lacked the full round tone found in the bubinga wood-made Corvettes, but the neck feels great right up to the 24th fret, helped a lot by the heel being so rounded and flat. The Corvette came straight out of the box set up perfectly and needing no tweaking – making it easy for the beginners these guitars are probably aimed at. If you do want to use a pick the action may need to be adjusted to keep away any string rattle as the action is quite low.

Time to put the pedal to the metal. I plugged the Corvette into my Mesa Boogie 400+ and 8x10 cabinet to test it with a bit of power and was blown away with the guts in this guitar. I was expecting to have to crank my amp but there was no need. With the EQ flat on the Mesa I started playing around with the control knobs (there are four: treble, bass, blend and volume). There was no problem in finding good tones within seconds of trying. I asked the bass 'how low can you go?' and she replied with a shaking of the floor, and when there was a question of tops she sent out glass shattering treble. After playing a little a bit of a slap, tickle and pluck I decided that my personal favourite was to just keep the treble and bass at full and the blend straight down the middle for a great rock sound. The tones achievable with these active pickups combined with the two-way electronics make this bass again a bargain at just a grand.

There are actually a lot of basses available at present in this price range and I would recommend going to your local music store and spending some time there trying a variety out. Personally I am overly impressed with the good people of Warwick for giving you more bass for your money and for giving beginners a great choice of bass guitar at a reasonable cost.

Lani Purkis plays bass for Elemeno P and for Foamy Ed.