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The Official MARUSZCZYK CLUB!

#2,042
BassmanM said:
Good day fellow Maruszczyk fans!

Some of you may remember that a few months ago, I decided to sell my Frog due mainly to some handling issues. I had since advertised it in two forums as well as the ebay classfields.

Nevertheless, I pulled it out of its bag every now and then to feel and hear the bass I was about to sell. Although somehow biased, it always ended up in the bag again - until yesterday. I played it for a while seated without a strap and it appeared very playable and sounded pretty good too... :woot: So I decided to fasten the strap to hold the instrument in the position it had been in while I was sitting.

My conclusions:

- Due to the long upper horn, the body remains broad for my chest and takes a completely different position than a Fender-style bass. Not bad, just unusual and I now think I can handle it. Access to the high notes is excellent.

- I think I might initially have looked for a classic sound with modern aesthetics. However, the bass has a (modern) sound of its own, not far, but still clearly away from any "classic" bass sound. And I like it....

- As before I thought I would sell it, I used the bass for looping yesterday - very enjoyable too, especially as it has 24 frets and a very clear sound.

- The bass was made specifically for me according to my specifications.

- I have always thought that the Frog, especially the headless version, is a work of art. I particularly love my version of it with the sea foam green body (apparently a love or hate thing), maple fretboard and white pickup covers.

--> THIS BASS IS GOING NOWHERE! :hyper:

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Congrats to you! I've been going through a similar "crisis of identity" with my Elwood Absolution. I think the important thing is to take a step back and try to separate the instrument from the player. When I bought mine (off the rack, i.e., not custom, but an existing instrument from the website), I knew what I was potentially in for. I knew (as I've said in this thread before) that I'm a bridge pup player, and that being such is a dicey proposition. If the bridge pup is too close to the bridge, the tension is too high, and suddenly it feels like you're pulling on the cables that suspend the Golden Gate. I saw that the jazz style Delano was very close to the bridge indeed, and I knew I was taking a risk. (Plus, I'm used to soapbars, EMG-style, so the surface under my fingers was going to be smaller with the Elwood.) In any event, to this day I'm working on adjusting to it. I've even contemplated adding a ramp or swapping out the bridge pup with a Delano soapbar pup (and that means finding a local luthier who can rout). But all of that has nothing to do with the objective qualities of the instrument; it all has to do with the subjective qualities of the player (me). The fact is, it's a beautifully crafted instrument. It sounds and (mostly) feels fantastic. The feel of the neck is amazing. It's clearly a well-designed and gorgeous object. I finally decided that its "faults" were really more to do with me, and the micro-habits of how I play, than with the bass itself. Like you, I realized that I have to meet the bass halfway, and try to make it work for me and my stupid habits (acquired over decades, now, of thoughtless playing). So I'm not sure what I'm going to do, ultimately, but I really love this instrument. I've had these weird fleeting moments where I've thought of "moving on," but most of the time I hope I can fine tune it to "down to my level."
 
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#2,043
Five Six Seven said:
Congrats to you! I've been going through a similar "crisis of identity" with my Elwood Absolution. I think the important thing is to take a step back and try to separate the instrument from the player. When I bought mine (off the rack, i.e., not custom, but an existing instrument from the website), I knew what I was potentially in for. I knew (as I've said in this thread before) that I'm a bridge pup player, and that being such is a dicey proposition. If the bridge pup is too close to the bridge, the tension is too high, and suddenly it feels like you're pulling on the cables that suspend the Golden Gate. I saw that the jazz style Delano was very close to the bridge indeed, and I knew I was taking a risk. (Plus, I'm used to soapbars, EMG-style, so the surface under my fingers was going to be smaller with the Elwood.) In any event, to this day I'm working on adjusting to it. I've even contemplated adding a ramp or swapping out the bridge pup with a Delano soapbar pup (and that means finding a local luthier who can rout). But all of that has nothing to do with the objective qualities of the instrument; it all has to do with the subjective qualities of the player (me). The fact is, it's a beautifully crafted instrument. It sounds and (mostly) feels fantastic. The feel of the neck is amazing. It's clearly a well-designed and gorgeous object. I finally decided that its "faults" were really more to do with me, and the micro-habits of how I play, than with the bass itself. Like you, I realized that I have to meet the bass halfway, and try to make it work for me and my stupid habits (acquired over decades, now, of thoughtless playing). So I'm not sure what I'm going to do, ultimately, but I really love this instrument. I've had these weird fleeting moments where I've thought of "moving on," but most of the time I hope I can fine tune it to "down to my level."
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Nicely said sir....:thumbsup:
 
#2,044
ebozzz said:
I guess that it's time to get my pennies together...... :D

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Okay, I've now seen all of the responses and strong opinions on the finish. Totally respect individual opinions. But I think that bass is absolutely stunning. I'm not sure what your baseline was in terms of expectations (e.g., how it may have looked in the Configurator), but that thing is gorgeous! It might be the case that nowadays we need to take a step back and remember the basses we played in our youth, in days of yore. Today's instruments are routinely jaw-dropping in terms of fit and finish. I remember, in the late 1970s, lusting after a Peavey made out of a slab of ungainly oak. Super cumbersome and not all that great as an instrument, but the wood grain and the "natural" feel was so appealing. Then came the freaking 1980s with the hi-gloss techno finishes, all sparkly and totally concealing of the natural wood. I didn't even understand or appreciate distinctions between this or that wood back then. Hardly anybody did! Because the only basses around back then (for the most part) were buried under millimeters of paint!!! (Of course, Alembic was always the exception, but who could afford that sh*t?) Anyhow, we live by a different standard today, and what I see builders doing now in terms of making swamp ash look amazing is just mind-blowing. This is just my opinion, but I would be totally thrilled by that couch shot.
 
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#2,045
Five Six Seven said:
Okay, I've now seen all of the responses and strong opinions on the finish. Totally respect individual opinions. But I think that bass is absolutely stunning. I'm not sure what your baseline was in terms of expectations (e.g., how it may have looked in the Configurator), but that thing is gorgeous! It might be the case that nowadays we need to take a step back and remember the basses we played in our youth, in days of yore. Today's instruments are routinely jaw-dropping in terms of fit and finish. I remember, in the late 1970s, lusting after a Peavey made out of a slab of ungainly oak. Super cumbersome and not all that great as an instrument, but the wood grain and the "natural" feel was so appealing. Then came the freaking 1980s with the hi-gloss techno finishes, all sparkly and totally concealing of the natural wood. I didn't even understand or appreciate distinctions between this or that wood back then. Hardly anybody did! Because the only basses around back then (for the most part) were buried under millimeters of paint!!! (Of course, Alembic was always the exception, but who could afford that sh*t?) Anyhow, we live by a different standard today, and what I see builders doing now in terms of making swamp ash look amazing is just mind-blowing. This is just my opinion, but I would be totally thrilled by that couch shot.
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Thanks! Man, I'm not upset at all! The only baseline that I had was the configurator and I've already admitted several times that image would never be an accurate representation. So, that couch pic hasn't changed how I feel other than to cause me to want to complete the deal so that I can see it in person. I think anyone would be lying if they said that appearance had little to know importance to them. I'm no different in that respect. It's just hard for me to get a true feeling on the bass in the sofa shot. It's only one pic. Based on how things have gone with the order, I have every confidence that if there is a problem with something my concerns would be heard. In fact, I'm already making plans for a third Maruszczyk. This one will be a Jake Classic and pretty basic.
 
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#2,046
I promised myself .... no more bass purchases in 2018, I swore to myself that this year was all about "pedals", oops I meant "practicing", yeah that's it.

BUT ....

When I saw that Pelham blue with white racing stripe, Jazzus a few pages back, that was enough to make break that silly "no more" resolution.

Maruszczyk & GAS ... a wonderfully dangerous combination.
 
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#2,047
David Sutkin said:
I promised myself .... no more bass purchases in 2018, I swore to myself that this year was all about "pedals", oops I meant "practicing", yeah that's it.

BUT ....

When I saw that Pelham blue with white racing stripe, Jazzus a few pages back, that was enough to make break that silly "no more" resolution.

Maruszczyk & GAS ... a wonderfully dangerous combination.
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We're all in the same boat... Only question is where to get the time to play all these wonderful instruments?
 
#2,049
Well, after a few years of drooling, I'm finally in the club! The Frog Omega fretless headless 5er is still on the GAS list, but I just ordered this:

svo160107.jpg
 
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#2,056
David Sutkin said:
Question, I recently found a great deal on a 5 string Frog, before I pull the trigger and buy her, does anyone know if the stock nut on that bass will all for an E-C stringing without rattle?

Thanks!
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You'll be fine. From what I've seen, all headed Frogs use a zero fret in addition to the conventional nut. Installation SOP should render the desired results.

Riis
 
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