Hi everyone,
I have been on the hunt for a new "main bass" for a while. I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted, I just did not find anything that I liked. Finally I decided to have a bass built to my specifications. Here is how it went:
(Oh, and by the way: You will find a song attached that of course features the bass. Let me know what you think!)
Ordering and building process
For my new bass, I was torn between Maruszczyk and one other builder. At first, I leaned towards the other, as it is a more established company, I have already played their basses and there is a few famous players playing their instruments. Maruszczyk I only knew from positive internet reviews, so it would be quite a gamble to order from them. What made me choose them anyway was the easy ordering process: The online configurator covers a lot of options, and whenever I had a question, Adrian would respond my e-mails usually within a day, always friendly and helpful.
The building process was as quiet as can be. You do not get any updates, no pictures, and Adrian took a lot more time answering my mails once I had paid the advance. I recon that is to keep costs low, building times down and allows Adrian to focus on the more important questions during the planing phases, so I can live with that very well.
When I asked about an estimated building time, Adrian said they would usually say 4 months, but normally they are a bit quicker. And sure enough, after 3 months, I got the famous couch picture of my bass, and just a few days later it arrived at my door. That is how it is done!
Unpacking
The first thing to appear under a thick layer of packaging is the nylon gigbag, which is unexpectedly nice, with a leather (imitation, I guess) grip and a good padding. Inside I am surprised to find an even nicer, beautiful padded leather (real, this time!) belt. That is a serious gimmick, very cool! Then there is also the shirt, some allen wrenches and fancy paperwork: a build certificate, a catalogue and a manual that explains in detail how to set up a bass.
Oh, and of course there is the bass itself.
Optics
Well, let us just all agree that this is the most beautiful bass ever built. Okay, beauty is subjective, but I should mention that this thing looks exactly like the preview in the online configurator. Only the black part of the greenburst finish isn't actually black but kind of misty. It has an Ash body, nothing fancy, but still features a beautiful grain.
Built quality
Seems pretty decent to me. The tuners are a bit stiff, the individual monorail bridges are not exactly aligned... minor details, the important parts are spot on. Neck pocket is excellent, knobs turn smoothly, no sharp edges on the frets, even the setup was very well done. Just the action had to be raised slightly and then...
Playability
... it plays really well. Of course this is very subjective as well, but there aren't really any "flaws" that would bother your standard bass player. The finish on the neck feels nice, the fretboard is slightly rounded, just a bit of neck dive (I didn't choose the leightweight tuners, so that is on me). If I wanted to be picky I'd say that the frets are a bit high, but honestly I don't notice it while playing and there are no issues with fretbuzz.
Sound
First off, you should keep in mind that maybe 95% of Maruszczyk basses are individual configurations with different woods and pickups. So everything I can say about the sound of my bass may be a testiment to the overall quality of the bass and materials, but it says nothing about how other Elwoods with different configurations might sound.
Besides the ash body, I chose a roasted maple neck and Nordstrand J-Blades "Warm & Woolly" pickups and passive electronics. I have heard this combination of woods + pickups in one of Adrian's demo videos on Youtube before and liked it, although the tone was a bit too much on the bright side for me. But, that is what the tone blend is for, and when it comes to highs, I'd rather have too much than too little. And, as expected, this bass has a bright top end, easily manageable by the tone blend. What I didn't expect, and what I absolutely love, is the uncharacteristically strong lower midrange. Overall, the pickups deliver a modern interpretation of a Jazz: The scooped sound with both pickups on, the bridge pickup is kind of punchy in combination with the tone blend, and the neck pickup sounds nice and smooth. Unlike a classic Jazz, though, it will not do that nasal thing so easily with the bridge PU. Overall, it just sounds as if it's got a few extra horsepower in it. More like an active than a passive.
One of the Jazz's strong parts is how it fits in a mix, so I rolled out a few songs in my DAW and put it to the test. Oh boy, we have a good one here: While the bass overall maintains the J-qualities and thus settles easily in a mix, maintaining its definition and delivering the nuances of the playing, the added lower mids just give each song that bit more natural warmth without being "oomphy".
Is it worth its price tag?
Short answer: It depends. The basic Elwood starts at 1.290€ (when I ordered, it was actually 100€ cheaper, so… good for me). My modifications added another 350€ to it, of which I would only count the roasted maple neck (50€) and the Nordstrand PUs (80€) as an objective improvement of the bass's quality. The other modifications were to please my taste. I think that, for that price, you could easily find an instrument off the rack with equal or better build quality in any shop. It may not be overpriced, but it is not exactly cheap either.
But, if you go for a Maruszczyk, you are not getting just any mass production bass, you are are getting something built for you personally. Maruszczyk makes that not only easy and fast, but also, compared to a lot of other custom builders, affordable. They have found a gap between good off the rack instruments and high end custom builders, and they are doing an absolutely excellent job of filling that gap. If you are, like me, willing to pay that extra buck for some quirks of yours, I highly recommend you talk to Adrian.
Conclusion - Am I happy?
100%! I did a lot of research before ordering and after over a quarter century of playing bass I know what I like. Maruszczyk delivered exactly what I asked for and they did a very solid job. My Elwood is a good, upper midrange instrument that I am sure will stay with me for decades to come.
I have been on the hunt for a new "main bass" for a while. I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted, I just did not find anything that I liked. Finally I decided to have a bass built to my specifications. Here is how it went:
(Oh, and by the way: You will find a song attached that of course features the bass. Let me know what you think!)
Ordering and building process
For my new bass, I was torn between Maruszczyk and one other builder. At first, I leaned towards the other, as it is a more established company, I have already played their basses and there is a few famous players playing their instruments. Maruszczyk I only knew from positive internet reviews, so it would be quite a gamble to order from them. What made me choose them anyway was the easy ordering process: The online configurator covers a lot of options, and whenever I had a question, Adrian would respond my e-mails usually within a day, always friendly and helpful.
The building process was as quiet as can be. You do not get any updates, no pictures, and Adrian took a lot more time answering my mails once I had paid the advance. I recon that is to keep costs low, building times down and allows Adrian to focus on the more important questions during the planing phases, so I can live with that very well.
When I asked about an estimated building time, Adrian said they would usually say 4 months, but normally they are a bit quicker. And sure enough, after 3 months, I got the famous couch picture of my bass, and just a few days later it arrived at my door. That is how it is done!
Unpacking
The first thing to appear under a thick layer of packaging is the nylon gigbag, which is unexpectedly nice, with a leather (imitation, I guess) grip and a good padding. Inside I am surprised to find an even nicer, beautiful padded leather (real, this time!) belt. That is a serious gimmick, very cool! Then there is also the shirt, some allen wrenches and fancy paperwork: a build certificate, a catalogue and a manual that explains in detail how to set up a bass.
Oh, and of course there is the bass itself.
Optics
Well, let us just all agree that this is the most beautiful bass ever built. Okay, beauty is subjective, but I should mention that this thing looks exactly like the preview in the online configurator. Only the black part of the greenburst finish isn't actually black but kind of misty. It has an Ash body, nothing fancy, but still features a beautiful grain.
Built quality
Seems pretty decent to me. The tuners are a bit stiff, the individual monorail bridges are not exactly aligned... minor details, the important parts are spot on. Neck pocket is excellent, knobs turn smoothly, no sharp edges on the frets, even the setup was very well done. Just the action had to be raised slightly and then...
Playability
... it plays really well. Of course this is very subjective as well, but there aren't really any "flaws" that would bother your standard bass player. The finish on the neck feels nice, the fretboard is slightly rounded, just a bit of neck dive (I didn't choose the leightweight tuners, so that is on me). If I wanted to be picky I'd say that the frets are a bit high, but honestly I don't notice it while playing and there are no issues with fretbuzz.
Sound
First off, you should keep in mind that maybe 95% of Maruszczyk basses are individual configurations with different woods and pickups. So everything I can say about the sound of my bass may be a testiment to the overall quality of the bass and materials, but it says nothing about how other Elwoods with different configurations might sound.
Besides the ash body, I chose a roasted maple neck and Nordstrand J-Blades "Warm & Woolly" pickups and passive electronics. I have heard this combination of woods + pickups in one of Adrian's demo videos on Youtube before and liked it, although the tone was a bit too much on the bright side for me. But, that is what the tone blend is for, and when it comes to highs, I'd rather have too much than too little. And, as expected, this bass has a bright top end, easily manageable by the tone blend. What I didn't expect, and what I absolutely love, is the uncharacteristically strong lower midrange. Overall, the pickups deliver a modern interpretation of a Jazz: The scooped sound with both pickups on, the bridge pickup is kind of punchy in combination with the tone blend, and the neck pickup sounds nice and smooth. Unlike a classic Jazz, though, it will not do that nasal thing so easily with the bridge PU. Overall, it just sounds as if it's got a few extra horsepower in it. More like an active than a passive.
One of the Jazz's strong parts is how it fits in a mix, so I rolled out a few songs in my DAW and put it to the test. Oh boy, we have a good one here: While the bass overall maintains the J-qualities and thus settles easily in a mix, maintaining its definition and delivering the nuances of the playing, the added lower mids just give each song that bit more natural warmth without being "oomphy".
Is it worth its price tag?
Short answer: It depends. The basic Elwood starts at 1.290€ (when I ordered, it was actually 100€ cheaper, so… good for me). My modifications added another 350€ to it, of which I would only count the roasted maple neck (50€) and the Nordstrand PUs (80€) as an objective improvement of the bass's quality. The other modifications were to please my taste. I think that, for that price, you could easily find an instrument off the rack with equal or better build quality in any shop. It may not be overpriced, but it is not exactly cheap either.
But, if you go for a Maruszczyk, you are not getting just any mass production bass, you are are getting something built for you personally. Maruszczyk makes that not only easy and fast, but also, compared to a lot of other custom builders, affordable. They have found a gap between good off the rack instruments and high end custom builders, and they are doing an absolutely excellent job of filling that gap. If you are, like me, willing to pay that extra buck for some quirks of yours, I highly recommend you talk to Adrian.
Conclusion - Am I happy?
100%! I did a lot of research before ordering and after over a quarter century of playing bass I know what I like. Maruszczyk delivered exactly what I asked for and they did a very solid job. My Elwood is a good, upper midrange instrument that I am sure will stay with me for decades to come.
