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Ampmaster Woodcraft Short Scale Bass
- Thread starter Heart_Reaper
- Start date
Hi friends -
Wanted to share the experience I had with Amp Shop Bass Exchange last year. Different bass (I bought a 30" Wombat 5-string J with Bartolinis), but similar stuff to some of the other posters.
Conclusion first: After all was said and done, I really don't think Gary et al at ASBE are intentionally deceptive people, with language or otherwise. I just came away thinking that it was one of the most poorly run operations I've ever dealt with. Like staggering, especially for the amount of money they're asking for their instruments. In telling the story, I question my own sensibility in going through with a transaction, (big) BUT:
I will say the bass is awesome. Sounds great, plays beautifully, and has gotten lots of compliments — including from Mas Hino, who was one of Atelier Z's main builders in Japan before coming to NYC.
Wanted to share the experience I had with Amp Shop Bass Exchange last year. Different bass (I bought a 30" Wombat 5-string J with Bartolinis), but similar stuff to some of the other posters.
Conclusion first: After all was said and done, I really don't think Gary et al at ASBE are intentionally deceptive people, with language or otherwise. I just came away thinking that it was one of the most poorly run operations I've ever dealt with. Like staggering, especially for the amount of money they're asking for their instruments. In telling the story, I question my own sensibility in going through with a transaction, (big) BUT:
I will say the bass is awesome. Sounds great, plays beautifully, and has gotten lots of compliments — including from Mas Hino, who was one of Atelier Z's main builders in Japan before coming to NYC.
- I thought I was ordering a completed bass from their website, when in fact it was a pre-order. After getting an email, I was told over the phone the site hadn't been updated in a long time to reflect this change. Based on what I could find out about the instrument — which was all positive —I got a refund and decided to put down a deposit.
- It was, in fact, disclosed to me that the bass would be built in CA with European parts — this was not an issue for me. But waiting on such parts caused some delays, during which I was not communicated with well at all. I had to reach out numerous times over the 5 months it took to get the bass, just to make sure there was a pulse on the other end.
- When it was finally "done," I was sent a picture of a bass with the wrong neck/headstock configuration. I ordered a 3-2 and it had a fender-style 4-1.
- That was corrected after a few days, and shipped: to the wrong address. I found out after getting a successful delivery notice from UPS, and of course, not having the bass. One of the staff had ignored the new shipping address I provided via email, and sent it to the billing address associated with the PayPal account, which was an apartment I hadn't lived in since 2012. Freaking out, I had to take a car to my old place at midnight and wake up the current tenant, who turned out to be quite gracious.
- Gary was apologetic and reimbursed me for my Lyft rides.
Sounds like a similar roller coaster ride to my experience, definitely not for the faint of heart!
Totally agree with your assessment, fundamentally this is a company with good intentions and they make unique instruments that are genuinely great. But they do absolutely need a customer service / marketing person.
I got a Ampmaster 5 a few weeks ago and would agree with all that's been said. Awesome bass, lots of bass for the value, different but similar quality to my Maruszczyk short scale 5, and they sent me the wrong bass the first time 
They were apologetic and made it right, but I agree they could benefit from some PR and more attention to details not related to building the bass. I will post a thorough write up at some point but it's been through 2 gigs and many hours of playing at this point and it's a keeper.
They were apologetic and made it right, but I agree they could benefit from some PR and more attention to details not related to building the bass. I will post a thorough write up at some point but it's been through 2 gigs and many hours of playing at this point and it's a keeper.
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I live near this shop and I recently bought a 4-string Ampmaster 2 P/U, same color scheme as the OP. These are really nice guys over there, but being musicians themselves, they are not the most organized or transparent. I don't think they are malicious about these situations, but Gary is a European, and my experience with other European makers has been similar. I think they can have a more relaxed attitude than most of us yankees. Their trains are always on time, but that's about it. All that said, my bass is incredible, and it stands side by side to me many vintage and modern basses. I hope you will enjoy as much as I do mine.
Did a little research on what "Made in the USA" legally requires. There is Federal Law and an even more strict California Law…
The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") standard for products labeled and marketed as "Made in the U.S.A." requires that "all or virtually all" of a product be made in the United States, examining the foreign content of a product as a whole. According to the FTC's guidelines, "all or virtually all" means that "all significant parts and processing that go into the product must be of U.S. origin," or "the product should contain no — or negligible — foreign content.
Up until now, the state of California has implemented a stricter standard, prohibiting the use of the phrase "Made in the U.S.A." when any merchandise or "any article, unit, or part thereof"—no matter how small—has been "made, manufactured, or produced outside of the United States." And as is often the case when different standards are imposed on goods that are distributed nationally, that stricter California standard has exposed many unsuspecting manufacturers to litigation, some of which remains pending. Discussing this standard, the California Supreme Court, in Kwikset Corp. v. Superior Court, 51 Cal. 4th 310, 246 P.3d 877 (2011), emphasized that "labels matter," and "n particular, to some consumers, the 'Made in U.S.A.' label matters." Kwikset had marketed its locksets with "Made in the U.S.A." and similar designations, even though some the products contained screws or pins made in Taiwan and some components were assembled in Mexico. The California Supreme Court held that the plaintiff in that case had standing to sue under the state's Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law solely based on the allegation that the plaintiff bought a product purportedly "Made in the U.S.A." when that product "in fact contained foreign-made parts or involved foreign manufacture," giving the California standard more teeth and rejecting the argument in that case that there needed to be an allegation of a real economic injury to confer standing
The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") standard for products labeled and marketed as "Made in the U.S.A." requires that "all or virtually all" of a product be made in the United States, examining the foreign content of a product as a whole. According to the FTC's guidelines, "all or virtually all" means that "all significant parts and processing that go into the product must be of U.S. origin," or "the product should contain no — or negligible — foreign content.
Up until now, the state of California has implemented a stricter standard, prohibiting the use of the phrase "Made in the U.S.A." when any merchandise or "any article, unit, or part thereof"—no matter how small—has been "made, manufactured, or produced outside of the United States." And as is often the case when different standards are imposed on goods that are distributed nationally, that stricter California standard has exposed many unsuspecting manufacturers to litigation, some of which remains pending. Discussing this standard, the California Supreme Court, in Kwikset Corp. v. Superior Court, 51 Cal. 4th 310, 246 P.3d 877 (2011), emphasized that "labels matter," and "n particular, to some consumers, the 'Made in U.S.A.' label matters." Kwikset had marketed its locksets with "Made in the U.S.A." and similar designations, even though some the products contained screws or pins made in Taiwan and some components were assembled in Mexico. The California Supreme Court held that the plaintiff in that case had standing to sue under the state's Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law solely based on the allegation that the plaintiff bought a product purportedly "Made in the U.S.A." when that product "in fact contained foreign-made parts or involved foreign manufacture," giving the California standard more teeth and rejecting the argument in that case that there needed to be an allegation of a real economic injury to confer standing
I missed the link in the post
California Relaxes Its “Made in the U.S.A.” Law
To the consternation of many, California law has long imposed a “Made in the U.S.A.” standard that has been more stringent than the federal standard, requiring manufacturers of all types who wanted to make a country of origin claim to adopt dual sets of packaging and labeling materials – one for...
Valiant, ampmaster, form factor, woodcraft. All same factory and sold through Amp Shop Bass Exchange. Also the Albridge parts.
I had a similar journey with a Form Factory short scale jazz that had a prototype Aldridge bridge on it that broke.
I had a similar journey with a Form Factory short scale jazz that had a prototype Aldridge bridge on it that broke.
Hey everybody, after a bit of back and forth communications, Gary at with Woodcraft Ampmaster gave me a full refund of my deposit. We parted on good terms. We still have a disagreement as to what "Made in the USA" means. I stand by what the Federal Trade Commission says. He says all US builders use foreign parts in their builds. Maybe, but not the Body and Neck! I say Those are the "Main" components of the bass, as defined. Thanks to all for your input.
Most likely yes, but I'm more of a collector of unique left handed instruments that go up, or at very least hold their value. I've been doing it for over 40 years. A custom bass "Made in the USA" is a sure thing, but not if the body and neck are made in Eastern Europe.
Sorry to hear that. I believe over all I'm up, but I hold them for 5-20 years, and rarely purchase new. Plus, there's a built in rarity for quality Left Handed instruments. Even US brand custom shops won't make them for you. This order was an anomaly for me. I wasn't familiar with the brand and specifically asked where they were made. They replied "North Hollywood California". I thought they were going to be a competitor to Serek basses out of Chicago, and wanted to get one before the demand went up. Truth was the Body and Neck are made in Eastern Europe and assembled in NoHo California. I ended up Buying a new in stock Serek "The Grand" for a little over $300 more.
Agreed it's deceiving. My Form Factor had "usa" stamped on neck and body. I believe it's all the same European sourced parts. They're not cutting necks and bodies anywhere in the US.
That being said, it was a good bass for the money. Would take it over a USA made Fender (not that they make a short scale jazz)
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I've played Woodcraft and the Wombat basses.
House brands for Amp Shop
They are good basses IMHO.
Neck profile on the Woodcraft basses were not for me, but that's a personal preference.
Gary goes to NAMM and strikes relationships with builders and parts makers.
I've seen all kinds of instruments represented at the shop which is part of the fun going there.
It was the first place years ago that I saw an F bass.
I would say that the house brand basses are setup and possibly assembled at Amp Exchange depending on the bass.
I've had basses set up up there and had work done on them.
Generally I've been satisfied with the work.
There was a wiring repair which could have been done better, and I just fixed myself, because they are not local to me, but that really was the exception to my experiences there.
No one's perfect certainly.
As stated above, it's if they make things right or not when asked to.
I've been interested in a Wombat for a while, haven't pulled the trigger on one, but have played them and plan to buy one eventually.
When you're not making thousands of instruments, (or assembling them), there can be a variance between them for sure.
It can be argued that if you're a small batch shop everything should be perfect, but I've had issues with other custom shops and it comes with the territory.
No one wants to get a bad rep, and I find most shops want your experience to be a good one.
Whether here or anywhere else, make sure that you can return it if you're not satisfied before purchasing and the terms are stated on the receipt or online listing.
House brands for Amp Shop
They are good basses IMHO.
Neck profile on the Woodcraft basses were not for me, but that's a personal preference.
Gary goes to NAMM and strikes relationships with builders and parts makers.
I've seen all kinds of instruments represented at the shop which is part of the fun going there.
It was the first place years ago that I saw an F bass.
I would say that the house brand basses are setup and possibly assembled at Amp Exchange depending on the bass.
I've had basses set up up there and had work done on them.
Generally I've been satisfied with the work.
There was a wiring repair which could have been done better, and I just fixed myself, because they are not local to me, but that really was the exception to my experiences there.
No one's perfect certainly.
As stated above, it's if they make things right or not when asked to.
I've been interested in a Wombat for a while, haven't pulled the trigger on one, but have played them and plan to buy one eventually.
When you're not making thousands of instruments, (or assembling them), there can be a variance between them for sure.
It can be argued that if you're a small batch shop everything should be perfect, but I've had issues with other custom shops and it comes with the territory.
No one wants to get a bad rep, and I find most shops want your experience to be a good one.
Whether here or anywhere else, make sure that you can return it if you're not satisfied before purchasing and the terms are stated on the receipt or online listing.
I'm 1000% confident these basses are being built by Vadim Gravishinko who also builds Valiant in Ukraine. Perhaps Valiant is shipping parts to be assembled in the USA some some similar arrangement?
I can tell right away since I own the Valiant purple wildflowers Jupiter from the NAMM show. Even the font used on the necks are identical as is the trussrod cut in the fretboard, the hardware etc.
That being said. The Valiants are absolutely amazing instruments and quality of all the house built hardware and attention to detail is amazing. Valiant would easily be $5k+ if made in the US for this level of quality.
I can tell right away since I own the Valiant purple wildflowers Jupiter from the NAMM show. Even the font used on the necks are identical as is the trussrod cut in the fretboard, the hardware etc.
That being said. The Valiants are absolutely amazing instruments and quality of all the house built hardware and attention to detail is amazing. Valiant would easily be $5k+ if made in the US for this level of quality.
In addition, I would also put my money on Valiant making albridge bridges as well. The appearance of the materials and finish are spot on. That being said still amazing quality stuff.
Reviving a dead thread but idc.
I worked for Ford building Super Duty pickup trucks and Expedition/Navigators.
They are assembled in the US. But a LOT of parts come from Mexico, China, etc.
I'm still looking at a Woodcraft Bass. As long as the setup is good and it sounds okay, I don't care where the wood of the bass is manufactured.
I worked for Ford building Super Duty pickup trucks and Expedition/Navigators.
They are assembled in the US. But a LOT of parts come from Mexico, China, etc.
I'm still looking at a Woodcraft Bass. As long as the setup is good and it sounds okay, I don't care where the wood of the bass is manufactured.
