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The Official MARUSZCZYK CLUB!
- Thread starter ulasengin
- Start date
As others have pointed out, the appearance is probably due to the extra fret on the Jake. But even if there was a slight difference in the position, you'd never hear it.
It does look a little closer on the Jake but the Jake has 21 frets and the standard P has 20 frets... Thats my guess as to why it seems closer
This, plus probably 70s position of the J pickup. An optical Illusion so to speak. If 100% clarification is required, email the boss.
thanks! I played with the configurator for MONTHS before finally pulling the trigger. So hard to decide with all the options
Good photo. It's the extra fret. If you measure from the center of the P pups to the 20th fret, they are pretty close.
It took me a long time (couple months) before I finally settled on the options that I wanted, and then going over them with Adrian. I believe my Maruszczyk will arrive sometime in April or early May at the latest.thanks! I played with the configurator for MONTHS before finally pulling the trigger. So hard to decide with all the options
The top that I chose from the two tops that I had to choose from looks incredible!!!!
To those who have an "L" series (Elwood or Jake), how does the chambered body interfere with the sound? I know it's great for a lightweight instrument, but how does it impact sound? Low/mid/high frequencies? Punch?!!
yes, it is so nice that he sends options for the tops. I decided to go flamed maple eventually, and Maruszczyk US informed me that those are all considered "standard" so they don't send the options. Which is understandable.
I spent most of my time going over the bridge options. Since it will be strung piccolo tuning, I need to be able to use guitar ball-end strings for the top ones. I went with a string through option, that way I can be sure to be able to slide a bass ball-end through the guitar one and have it catch on the ferrule.
another cool thing Adrian did was make me a custom video of a 30 scale Cazpar 6-string played with a footstool, since that is how I play 90% of the time! He's so accommodating of requests!
I compared my Elwood L4p 32 with two Stingrays and two G&Ls I've since sold and it was just as punchy and not lacking in any part of the spectrum. Playing it back and forth with my solid alder Cazpar 5 32 it sounds a bit throatier, but I suspect that's just as much the Maruszczyk P/HB pickups as the chambering.
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It's only an issue inasmuch as it is an aesthetic issue for you. If you think it looks fine, great! If you think it looks wonky, then you need to either order one with pickups placed where you don't think they look wonky, or get used to the wonky-to-you look. I think it looks fine, but I don't see with your eyes.
Sound-wise, it's not an issue at all. If you were blindfolded and had to listen to two or three different P basses with different pickups, and a Jake, they might all sound a little different, but you'd be unable to tell which one was the Jake just based on the pickup placement.
Yeah looks are one thing.... but on a PJ configuration, you also want your P and J pickups to be quite apart otherwise it cancels out all the mids in your sound. The regular PJ spacing from Maruszczyk is too wide for me (see photos above), so I might ask a 60's position for the J pickup, which would visually looks something like that:
(Screenshot from a YouTube video)
This is much more akin to Fender's spacing for PJ pickups.
Another question to owners of chambered Maruszczyk basses.... is the chambered option impacting the sound that much? A lighter bass is nice... but I know what a non-chambered Maruszczyk sounds like as I have one.... and I'm worried that choosing the chambered option might color the sound in a way that could disappoint me... thoughts?
Mine is chambered and there is nothing I actually know that is affected, tone wise. The bass has an odd reverby sound to it, but I actually doubt at this point it is because of it being chambered. It seemed like it could be, but I listened to a demo of a bass with the same pickups on it, and it had the same sound I am not jiving with, so it may be the pickups. I personally think a bass being chambered is unlikely to affect the sound in any systematic way.
My anecdote is that I once heard a guitarist I like very much play both a chambered tele and a custom metal tele (I don't know what kind of metal it was, but the whole body was at least covered with metal), and I couldn't hear any difference, and how different can a body get? Anyway...
I kind of don't want to bag on them, because I really like the company, but they are the p/j set from Aguilar. I'm extremely frustrated by it, and I can't believe it's just the bass (I like everything about it, except the sound). I think the previous owner had the same problem, as the pickups were set about a mm from the strings, and it had flats on it, but it still had that weird reverby sound. I've somewhat given up on it.
I have the same worry as you and I've been leaning toward a preference for solid bodies with no chambering. My unscientific comparisons in the Kiesel showroom and with Ibanez EHB models suggest chambering can mellow the tone and/or affect the sustain negatively compared to a similar solid body.
For any who may not already know, Maruszczyk and Mensigner basses have truss rods different from any other bass builder I have ever seen or heard of. Turning the nut clockwise loosens the rod/ increases neck bow. Unfortunately I had an issue with one of mine. I am told some classical guitars are built this way, but this is the 1st electric bass builder I have heard of doing this. His instruction sheet, which is included with every bass, clearly states this. I post this for informational purposes, since many may not bother to read an instruction manual for a bass.
