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The Official MARUSZCZYK CLUB!
- Thread starter ulasengin
- Start date
A bit ambiguous, as I didn’t understand the actual percentage you were able to get off of the configurator price.
Asking for this detail:
What was the percentage off?
You could be 16 weeks in and waiting for tuners that I would have assumed they had on the factory shelf.
It is definitely frustrating, but these are frustrating times for the world. I guess my frustration is what the kids call a first world problem.
On my original build, I remember the exact percentage was 12% cheaper than the dealer quote. Being my first Adrian purchase, and being nervous about the shipping/customs from Europe, I very nearly paid the extra 12% to the dealer. My thought being that the dealer would protect me, if something went wrong.
After my first build went so easily and flawlessly, I went directly to Adrian for the next two. I started by using the configurator, which gave me a starting point idea. I then contacted Adrian directly with what I wanted. I told him that I would appreciate whatever discount he could offer me. I kindly reminded him that I was a repeat customer that was brokering my own deal (i.e. "no unnecessary dealer copping a profit"). The prices he offered me were well below the quote generator prices.
This isn't rocket science. I've worked for music shops. For years the industry standard for STOCKED items was a 15%-20% dealer markup. So, if your dealer made the standard 15% markup on you, and you think that price was 15% less than Adrian would have charged you,....then that means that Adrian is offering dealers instruments for 30% less than he is offering them direct-to-the-public. Why would Adrian do that? He would just be killing his customer-direct marketing. The dealer didn't stock the bass, the dealer didn't promote the sale of the bass, and very few dealers even carry Adrian's basses. If he depended on the dealers, he'd have no business here in the USA. His direct to the customer marketing is exactly what is making him so successful. His prices are so good, because there is no need for a dealer acting as a "mark-up" middle man.
On an item that the dealer pays for, stocks and markets; the dealer gets a heavy discount for their purchase and promotion of the merchandise. But, on a custom ordered build from a manufacturer that offers customer-direct marketing, that dealer discount isn't going to have the same disparity.
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Couch pics are definitely taken at Adrian's place in Germany. Maybe they're doing a video with your bass? That was done with one of mine and I didn't find out until I saw the vid on Youtube...
Depends. I have lived overseas where negotiating is expected (in certain contexts), and I have on many occasions negotiated for items in music stores that had prices marked. One of my fond memories as a teenager was taking my mom to a music store, and getting her to agree to buy a microphone for me. We walked up to the counter, and my mom was getting ready to write the check for the seventy-something dollars it was listed for, when I asked the guy, "Will you take $60.00 for that?" He said, "Sure." My mom, who had never done anything like that before and hence didn't know it was possible, was in a state of utter shock and disbelief. Good times!You've never negotiated price on gear when there is a clearly listed price? I am the opposite. Outside of Mesa Boogie (who will not negotiate), I almost never pay the list price on new gear.
As long as you were happy with your price, it's all good.
In this context, I guess I never thought about negotiating with Adrien for a couple of reasons. One is that the value for the money is already high, at least compared to other high end guitar makers. The other is that the dealer discount already represented a significant savings. There's a little more room built into the price (obviously, if you can haggle down even farther), but they still have to pay their bills and their workers and make some profit. So for me, it's a conscious decision that enough is enough, and I'm happy with the dealer discount, and that's enough for me. If I order another Maruszczyk bass at some point, and I think it's likely at some point, I'll probably just do something similar to what I did this time.
Edit: I just read your above post, in which you said,
I might try that as well.
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A couple things to consider.
If you are paying Adrian the same price a dealer is paying Adrian, why would that lead to Adrian having trouble paying his bills and workers? Adrian would be getting the same amount of money. The dealer, who is providing no tangible service in this transaction, is simply being eliminated. Adrian comes out of it the same.
The beauty of Adrian (or a company like Keisel) is that they are willing to deal directly with the customer. Because the middle-man is being eliminated, that savings 'might' be passed on to the customer. I would rather support that platform, as opposed to unnecessarily cutting a dealer in on middle-man profits; when the dealer is providing no necessary service to me or Adrian.
Finally, I love Adrian, and have owned a bunch of his stuff. But when you compare his values to "other high end makers", it's often relative. I think Adrian's stuff is very comparable to a company like Keisel. And they are in the same ballpark, price-wise. But, it wouldn't be fair to compare Adrian's stuff (or Keisel's), to Alembic or Fodera (or some of the other truly high-end builders). Adrian and Keisel both give you awesome stuff for the money. But, some of the more expensive builders are clearly in a league above.
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Yea, sorry. I didn't mean to disrespect Kiesel in any way. I don't own any of their stuff (they're not my taste, aesthetically). But my buddy owns two of their basses, and they seem fantastic for the money. I just mentioned them because they have Adrian's custom 'direct-to-the-customer' approach; for similar money.
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None taken. I never played a Kiesel and probably never will. Not a fan of their stuff.
Anyone inquired about off menu woods lately? I'm interested in an Elwood L w/ black limba body and wenge neck. I've seen both woods used on builds in the past but they don't seem to be regular options. I'll shoot out an email later, just wondering if anyone has recent experience asking about it.
I asked about doing a 3-piece Wenge neck and he complained. Please ask and see if you get a more positive response.
You still waiting for that bass with the Nordstrand Zen pickups? I've gotten no update on mine in the last 2+ weeks, so still waiting for tuners I guess. I'm going to follow up at the end of the week.
That's what I was afraid of. I know wenge can be a pain to work with but I love it. Warmoth might be my best option for what I want to do.
I would still ask if that’s what you want.
I was asking for a Headless with a set neck so very different from what you may be asking for. It can never hurt to ask, all he can say is no.
Yes I am still waiting on the Paddock headless, fretless with Zen Blades!
He also ordered pickups from Delano in late May but the Zen blades finally showed up before the Dellano‘s did.
I’ve been told that Adrian is going to Poland in the middle of July and he will pick up my bass the week of July 16 to bring back to Germany for videos/pictures and finally sending it out. I don’t expect to receive this bass anytime before August, making it potentially one of the longest build wait times from them in this entire year since it will be 7 1/2 to 8 months!! setting records!
Thank you Nordstrand for your lack of customer service and making this take many months longer than it should have!
PS - if you’re following my headless build threads you’ll see that I will have built three complete instruments (#1 done, 2 from scratch #2 almost done and built all of the tooling) during this time (started April 3rd) I’ve been waiting.
so I’ve decided to just forget about the Paddock until I get the message that it’s on its way. 
