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The Official MARUSZCZYK CLUB!
- Thread starter ulasengin
- Start date
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Heys Guys - Looking at ordering my first Maruszczyk. Some quick questions for those in the know. Any help is appreciated.
1. Does Maruszczyk offer ramps as part of the build? If yes, will they make them out of the same top wood as the bass?
2. What is the current build time? Looks like 15 weeks?
3. I read where another member required ultra low action and said he worked with the company to do some extra fretwork as part of the build. Can we request that?
4. I'm getting an Elwood and leaning towards Bassculture pickups and passive preamp. I am just going by demos I heard. Any impressions on these pickups?
5. I had a dealer from TB in Canada contact me. Is it easier/cheaper to go through a dealer?
Thanks in advance.
1. Does Maruszczyk offer ramps as part of the build? If yes, will they make them out of the same top wood as the bass?
2. What is the current build time? Looks like 15 weeks?
3. I read where another member required ultra low action and said he worked with the company to do some extra fretwork as part of the build. Can we request that?
4. I'm getting an Elwood and leaning towards Bassculture pickups and passive preamp. I am just going by demos I heard. Any impressions on these pickups?
5. I had a dealer from TB in Canada contact me. Is it easier/cheaper to go through a dealer?
Thanks in advance.
I've had one Maru build with literally none of what you're asking for, so take my response with a grain of salt. But I'd recommend using the configurator to get the basic bass you want, then emailing those specs to Adrian with all of your questions. He's super communicative and will get back to you relatively quickly.
As for the last question, I know a lot of people here have had success going through dealers. I dealt directly with Adrian and I felt my price was way more than fair....honestly highway robbery considering the incredible build quality and my complete satisfaction with the final product. Maybe you can get a quote from the configurator and compare with what a dealer tells you?
2) It varies. It really depends on what you order. And there have been some supply chain issues that have negatively impacted build times lately. But some people have still gotten theirs in 8-10 weeks, while others (including me) have had longer builds. They will more than likely quote you 12-15 weeks, and then you just hope for the best. I think the longest I've seen recently was 20+ weeks, but there were definitely supply chain issues on that one.
5) I used a US dealer. It saves a little bit of money (my quote from configurator after converting from Euros to $ was $1851 + import taxes, and from the dealer it was $1825 including the import taxes). My dealer was also super in helping me to make a few decisions that I was agonizing over, and he made some good suggestions that I had never even considered. Obviously Adrian could do this too. For me the dealer was just the most convenient & easiest way to order the bass I wanted.
Go through a dealer, it will be cheaper and they can field all of your requests to Adrian.
He will make ramps but usually between pickups as opposed to completely covering them, for this reason I’ve opted to build my own for my latest build that I’m still waiting to receive.
The basses have a zero fret so action is good by default. I play VERY low action and have no issues on both of mine and sure my next one will be just as good by design. Get a tapered B string if getting a 5/6.
Quoted build time is always 15 weeks, depending on components it may be quicker. If selecting Bassculture or other European electronics, this will help you stay on time vs a US supplier.
I can't answer many of your questions, but I would suggest going through a dealer. I'm in the UK and used a dealer, and my bass annoyingly got lost in transit on the way to me.
Now, I'm sure dealing with Maruszczyk would be fine, but in this situation it meant I didn't need to really do anything, and I didn't have to explain my issue through any potential language barrier etc. My dealer handled it all and I had a new bass in my hands a couple of months later.
I just placed an order last week for an Elwood L (chambered body version) through a US dealer. Saved a couple hundred dollars and it was great having him be the go between with Adrian who's English skills are decent, but not his strongest language. Response time was still super fast with questions and clarifications.
If you were in the US, I'd 100% recommend the dealer that a bunch of us have used.
Is there some kind of rule against naming the dealer? Seems like most people in this thread don't mention who they actually go through. Are FretSpot and South Shore the only American dealers?
I ordered 2 basses, first one ordered on Jan 1st and 2nd one on Feb 24th. I received the couch picture for the 2nd one in 12 weeks and arrived to my door in 13 weeks.
The first one has been held up by Nordstrand’s lack of urgency for builders (builder orders are 5+ months) and poor customer service practices by not communicating these biz practices. /soapbox=off
Those pickups have FINALLY arrived and we’re now going into 24 weeks, so I’m sure the couch picts will be coming very soon (maybe this week?). This is definitely not the norm and totally due to the supplier’s lack of responsiveness.
The dealer has kept me updated with progress along the way, which is also good.
All in all, compared to just about ANY other custom builder (even with the delays I’ve uniquely experienced) these delivery times are ridiculously fast in comparison to others.
AND the resulting instruments they’re shipping are amazingly great build quality!!
So for me, while I’m not crazy about the delay, it’s definitely worth the wait.
Randy at Bass Spotlight out of Chicago, great guy to work with!
He’s also a pro player and very knowledgeable if you have specific features/questions you’re thinking through.
As Barticus said, Randy at Bass Spotlight is the man! Super quick with replying, super helpful in getting me *exactly* what I want and double and triple checking before submitting the order.
Randy is fantastic to work with and saved me about $600
Solved, sortta: Back buzz on a headless paddock B string. Using
K & S 9715 Brass Strip, 0.016" Thick x 1" Wide x 36" Long
I considered this a temporary solution. But it's been working so well I've stopped thinking about a permanent one. The strip doesn't move at all and all the noise is gone.
The brass shim tucks neatly under the WSC headless retainer (WSC 5-string Headless Headpiece). This could be considered for any zero fret back buzz problem--one could even mold a little hump shape using extra fret wire, but I like this 'tuck under the retainer' alternative.
K & S 9715 Brass Strip, 0.016" Thick x 1" Wide x 36" Long
I considered this a temporary solution. But it's been working so well I've stopped thinking about a permanent one. The strip doesn't move at all and all the noise is gone.
The brass shim tucks neatly under the WSC headless retainer (WSC 5-string Headless Headpiece). This could be considered for any zero fret back buzz problem--one could even mold a little hump shape using extra fret wire, but I like this 'tuck under the retainer' alternative.
Which frets are actually buzzing with the B string? Have you tried determining which fret is causing the problem and just leveling it instead of raising the height of the B?
13-15. There's not one obvious offender. I'll have to get the strings off and measure. In the meantime, the shim helps a lot.
I have never used a dealer for my Maruszczyk/Mensinger basses, and I have bought several. There is no point in adding an unneeded middle-man in on your transaction.
1) Adrian responds super quick. There are fewer communication delays without a middle-man.
2) There is no risk of your dealer miscommunicating any of your specs to Adrian.
3) Adrian ships directly to you. No shipping stop-offs at dealerships.
4) Adrian will cut you a better deal than the dealer. No middle-man adding to your cost.
Builders that deal directly with the public are the best. Adding a dealer to the transaction only complicates things and adds to your expense. The key is in understanding that Adrian may negotiate, if you ask him nicely.
Well I would beg to differ.
- I saved 15% of overall costs, didn’t have to deal with customs or shipping costs in addition to the cost of the bass.
- I was provided with a final cost (all fees, taxes, shipping included) which was 15% less than going direct.
- Also once all of my details were confirmed and I approved them they were then handed off to Adrian.
If you "saved" 15% through a dealer, you must not have negotiated with Adrian. I had the opposite experience with my first build. After all the fees, shipping and tax estimates, the dealer quoted me about 12% more than I negotiated directly with Adrian. And the dealer told me that the bass would ship directly to them for "inspection", and then they would ship to me.
If you think about it, it seems pretty unlikely that adding another set of profiting hands (the dealer) would make your overall price cheaper. Although I am sure the dealer wants you to believe that.
Maybe I am saying something I shouldn't be saying, so this is the last time I will say it.......but the key is negotiating with Adrian. Don't assume that quote generator is the best he will do for you.
