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Lets Buy A Wish Part II

so i finally got to try it out over the weekend,
i gotta say, i liked the wish. i played it through a nemesis 210, and it really sounded as much as an upright as i thought possible. i was really impressed with the sound. i found the trick is to pull a willis and let the amp do all the work. i kept the volume down pretty low, like 3-4, and turned the amp up, and i really liked it. of course, then i turned up the volume to max, and the tone really thinned out, and it didn't sound so hot. anyways, the sound really amazed me, and i really like it.

construction is a different matter, the construction really wasn't great. i know these have been addressed before, but the things like those small holes in the body and fretboard and the upside down puckup mistake kinda threw me off, the control cavity bothered me a bit, but none of it affected my playing. the neck is pretty thick, and i did almost have to hold it like maring holds his hyperbass, which is almost straight up, in order to keep good hand positions, but that isn't a problem for me.

overall, i liked it, an i think that i might like to get one in the long run, i don't need one, but in the case that i do need an upright tone, i would really consider one. of course, the only problem is that it is a one-trick pony, and i probably wouldn't be upset if i never got one, but they would be a nice addition to a collection. of course, i don't think it stands up to my fender or my versitile fairlane, but it really does have a nice sound at the bare minimum!

10 dollars well spent imo
 
Because Superbassman2000 lives just over the river, there, I got to try it too. I really like how it sounds -- a pretty convincing "upright-with-a-pickup" simulation. The position markers aren't that bad. It's really just the "ninth fret" one that's off a bit. It doesn't play that great, unless you really liked the way your high school's double bass played back in 1980. To fix it, I think you'd have to sand the bottom of the bridge and lower the nut. I wouldn't want to do it. I just hate the strings he's put on it (giant roundwounds) but I like the sound enough that I'd hesitate to change them.

(About that sound: you only really get the good sound when the volume is turned down on the guitar. About halfway. Turned up, it has a pretty ugly electric sound.)

So, for a few hundred dollars, you get a single, great sound. I've spent more for less over and over again (I'm looking at my pedalboard...). I wouldn't want it to be my only bass, but I think many (but not all) of the previous reviewers overlooked the thing's charms. Yeah, it won't compare to your Modulus (or even your SoundGear); it's folk art. Think of it in terms of a dulcimer or a didj rather than as a modern bass and it seems OK to me.

Sorry I didn't put $10 in, but I will pay for shipping to the next place. I considered gigging with it tomorrow night, but (1) I didn't put $10 in, and (2) it's embarassing-looking, although, to be fair, I'd feel the same way taking an EUB or really any bass with more than five strings to the gig. (Who the heck does he think he is? Jonas Hellborg?) (FWIW, no one thinks I'm Jonas Hellborg.)
 
Wishy has landed in Massachusetts. I'm still kinda busy so I don't have time for an in depth impression right now but I will give my full impression ASAP. If it's OK with the people stainding in line behind me I may ask to keep it a bit longer than a week in order to get together with a few other players I know and get some opinions from people who have never heard of Wish before.

MY first impressions are kinda surprising. First glance it looks MUCH better than I expected. I REALLY like the top wood (worm holes and all!!). At second glance I've noticed several things I'm amazed nobody's mentioned before. I'll elaborate when I have time to put it into the right words.

If y'all want to hold me to the one week, just let me know, It's not a big deal, but I'd like to see the reaction of a couple of bassists when they're blind-sided by the Wish.
 
The man makes bassses that look cool and play well. I own one so I know. Picking on a guy who has built 500 more basses that any of you is stupid. Plus who cares what a kid who has to ask his parents for $10 thinks. I've been playing 35 years and have owned a lot of guitars and basses. My Wish is a great bass at a bargain price. I have others, but I love playing that Wish.

Leave the guy alone and go play your bass. This thread is kid stff.
 
Hollowbody49 said:
The man makes bassses that look cool and play well. I own one so I know. Picking on a guy who has built 500 more basses that any of you is stupid. Plus who cares what a kid who has to ask his parents for $10 thinks. I've been playing 35 years and have owned a lot of guitars and basses. My Wish is a great bass at a bargain price. I have others, but I love playing that Wish.

Leave the guy alone and go play your bass. This thread is kid stff.
Hubba-wha?????!!!
:eyebrow:
I guess that's one way to revive a thread.
:D
 
Hollowbody49 said:
The man makes bassses that look cool and play well. I own one so I know. Picking on a guy who has built 500 more basses that any of you is stupid. Plus who cares what a kid who has to ask his parents for $10 thinks. I've been playing 35 years and have owned a lot of guitars and basses. My Wish is a great bass at a bargain price. I have others, but I love playing that Wish.

Leave the guy alone and go play your bass. This thread is kid stff.

But building 500 basses doesn't mean a thing if every bass is really no better than the last one and is not even on par quality with $200 basses in a store. If you've built 500 basses and you still can't level a fingerboard properly, route pickups without making a mess, and put neck position markers in the correct spots cleanly, and evenly, something is wrong.

Now, I don't build basses, and I would love to but I don't really have the room to do all aspects myself (neck construction and body shapes really..no room for the equipment). But I know if I did, I'd know enough to measure, double check my work, look at other basses for guidance if something doesn't look right, and plain out not even sell the thing unless I knew that it was atleast considered pretty good, as opposed to something downright poor that could be outdone by a kid in woodshop.

It sounds to me like you're a guy who never got $10 from their parents, that's why you're mad :)
 
Heh, well that was kinda funny what transpired since the last post I read hehe.

I honestly do not feel any of us have picked on Wish. In fact I think we all tried to be open and wanted to like the bass. Even those of us that did like it, had problems with it. The fact is, we bought the thing to try it out, and give our reviews. If the thing was worth its salt, it would have gotten many better reviews, it wasnt.

If you have a Wish and you dig it, awesome, Im really glad for you and hope it remains to keep you happy. But just because your experience was a good one, doesnt mean ours wasnt. People have just as much right to post those negative opinions based on our experiences with them. No one here is posting heresay, we have all played it.

I think the guy enjoys what he does, simply doesnt care about quality and craftsmanship all that much, and thats fine, but people should be as aware of that as they are that a lot of folks do like his work and its cheap.
 
Juneau said:
I think the guy enjoys what he does, simply doesnt care about quality and craftsmanship all that much, and thats fine, but people should be as aware of that as they are that a lot of folks do like his work and its cheap.

I can't figure out why if a guy has the obvious ability to make basses and the want to do it, why he wouldn't care about quality. Like I said, there are some including myself who would love to do that, but either don't have the money, the space or the skills to even make a birdhouse.
 
Every napkin holder and every clock I saw made in my 7th grade woodshop class showed higher craftmanship than the Wish basses that I have seen. Crooked and uneven??There is absolutely no excuse, that is like buying a car off the lot with one wheel tweaked out, or the rear axle cockeyed causing the car to turn when you're trying to go strait!! I don't need to play it to know that it can't be for me, I can't get over the craftmanship issue!!
I really feel wierd commenting on something that another person made, it's like calling their kid ugly. We are all given abilities and gifts to work with and Wish may be making the most out of his, or maybe he doesn't care. I'll tell you one thing, he's sold more basses than I have!!
 
But, selling a bunch of basses to me would only mean something if people were enjoying them and getting something out of them. So far it seems like most people don't like his basses, and those who have bought them and do use them only use them as beater basses and not for anything serious.
 
I've got an idea. Why don't we get Wish to design a bass and have one of our aspiring TB Luthiers actually build it? I would gladly contribute $20 for materials to see one of Wish's brain nuggets flawlessly crafted into a bass we could take a bit more seriously. It could be passes around for some reviews and sold on E-bay with procedes going back to TB...