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The Official MARUSZCZYK CLUB!
- Thread starter ulasengin
- Start date
These are the two that I am currently waiting for. Ordered this 30" Cazpar the first week of Feb and ordered this 30" Elwood L last week. 
30" Swamp Ash Cazpar with Nordstrand Zen Blades, Delano sonar 2 pre, Hipshot harware and 3 piece roasted Flame Maple neck with this White Ebony fb.
30" Elwood L: Alder body, very unique looking Spalted Maple top, roasted maple neck with Wenge fb, Delano Xtender humbucker (in sweet spot), Noll 3 band pre and Hipshot mini clover tuners.
30" Swamp Ash Cazpar with Nordstrand Zen Blades, Delano sonar 2 pre, Hipshot harware and 3 piece roasted Flame Maple neck with this White Ebony fb.
30" Elwood L: Alder body, very unique looking Spalted Maple top, roasted maple neck with Wenge fb, Delano Xtender humbucker (in sweet spot), Noll 3 band pre and Hipshot mini clover tuners.
Very cool! I'll be interested to hear about what you think of the Delano Times Square pickups when you get it.
I got a frog with a pair of those with the Delano sonar 3-band + 2 3-way switches
I must say I quite like them, they sound very clean compared to my other frog, with delano FE humbucker and single coil with large pole pieces.
You can get quite some tones out of them with the switches and the preamp, but I find them best suited for a clean super-jazz sound. The neck pickup sounds absolutely amazing solo'ed as well, very fat and rich sounding.
I finally decided that the original Delano SBCs weren't quite clear and full-range enough for this Frog, since the Ziricote top and Macassar Ebony fretboard already serve up a dampened, folksy midrange and hi-end. The Aguilar DCB P4's (6 strings) required a little filing of the back edges to fit, but they're in now. They definitely open up the tone. I put in a Mike Pope 5-knob, 4 band, so no more switches. I don't miss them. It was a very easy install--I used twist wire connectors to swap in the existing battery boxes. The pickup wires just clamp in with a small flat-head screwdriver. I like it better than the Noll 4-band, which produces more hiss when turned on. The Pope has a very slight hiss, but it's pushing 18v--the headroom is worth it (it also has less hiss than the stock Maruszczyk preamp). I need some knobs--one push/pull, one stacked and 3 others. What would be best?
Looks great, I love my Aguilar DCBs as well and have always wondered about the Pope pre any chance you're gonna post some sound samples?
What did you fill the switch holes with? Are you just gonna go with black dome knobs or are you looking for nice wood knobs?
If you've heard the Noll 4-band, I'd say its similar except less hiss. I like 4-band over a 3-way mid-switch. On the SBC's I used to boost high-mids and cut low-mids (just a compensating bit) to open up the tone a bit, but that is no longer necessary with the DCBs. Now its all about string noise control, which I expected. I'll try some recordings in the morning. It's easy to hear the ZirEbony tone of this Frog, but it requires peculiar EQ compared to other basses and it always sounds like ZirEbony--sometimes I feel like I'm just EQ'ing string noise--the bass tone doesn't change much. That's why I wanted clearer pups. Great for Blues and any Americana/electric folk.Looks great, I love my Aguilar DCBs as well and have always wondered about the Pope pre any chance you're gonna post some sound samples?
What did you fill the switch holes with? Are you just gonna go with black dome knobs or are you looking for nice wood knobs?
Holes are filled with Chicago screws. I have black too, but I like the nickel finish so far. I'm leaning toward wooden knobs for this one.
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They're good quality ETS 2-part bridges, I like them better than the monorails because you can adjust the string spacing if desired.
Awesome!
What about the headpiece and the locking mechanism up there? Any idea what the material is?
Not sure what the metallic material is.
I looked on their website and they don't really have a description about the materials used. I tried to stick a magnet to it and it will not adhere, it seems to have a powder coating on it. Maybe someone else can chime in.
I think they have moved away from the ETS system now, I know I was able to buy an ETS headpeice and bridge from them for my headless NS-1ish 5 String.
That colour is pretty cool. It's not something that I would normally consider, but it's starting to grow on me. Low End Lobster recently had a video about a parts bass finished in a "Lamborghini Arancio Borealis" which looks somewhat similar.
Where is this info coming from?
I have 2 on order now with ETS 2-piece bridge. One of them is a custom order with Piezo saddles (longer order time due to custom). The option for ETS is still available in the configurator as well.
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Ok cool, I just remember them telling me they were hard to get, so maybe they just added another system as an option.
For mulstiscale, ask your distributor or, if placing order on the website, just put multiscale in the notes. A straight-fret, headless frog should be an option in the configurator. This Frog has an ETS two-piece bridge. I'm not sure you can get that one for multiscale anymore. Adrian has been recommending WSC monorails, so that's likely what you'd get. Pickup selection is limited also--options include Delano oval Xtenders, SBC soapbar and JSBC jazzbars. I like the jazzbars, but if you get the SBC soapbar shape you can switch to other P4 shape pickups such as Nordstrand or these DCBs (like I did). Theoretically, you can get Nordstrand as multiscale to start, but I've found it's easier to get agreement on an invoice based on pickups they use regularly.
If you don't go multiscale, there are more options.
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The Watermelon Man head makes a good tone tester for me, since I play the bass head on the B and E strings so I can hear the Eb and F on the B string (Flat with Pope on and Bass Boost+Low Mid Cut+Hi Mid Boost+Treble Cut, all small turns since 18v). Next is the melody head, same pair of settings, played on the D and G string, frets 10-14.Looks great, I love my Aguilar DCBs as well and have always wondered about the Pope pre any chance you're gonna post some sound samples?
What did you fill the switch holes with? Are you just gonna go with black dome knobs or are you looking for nice wood knobs?
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I think I like the Pope a little better than the Noll, mainly because audible hiss when switching on is less with the Pope compared to Noll or Maruszczyk. I may be having an easier time with EQ settings too, but its been a while since I played with the Noll on my Corvette $$. EQ Flat tone with Pope is very similar to Off but with a little warm polish.
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