The Official MARUSZCZYK CLUB!

[xabicho]

I noticed that the ETS Frog Standard bridge has no intonation screws. I've never had a bass without them if I remember correctly, should I swap it for the Hipshot A-Style just in case?

I was looking at the configurator and it looks like the ETS Standard Bridge has all the capabilities for intonation, height, angle and lock.

 

[BlackWolf]

I had 3 basses like that, all Fretless.
Mayones Mauricio Rolli 5
F BN 5
Sandberg Thinline

What I didn't like was not exactly the intonation screws but the ability to modify the height of the strings. The only way was to remove the Bridge and install some shins under. Too much hassle.
I will go for a Hipshot A Aluminum Bridge to have control over intonation and height. Necks move with the season changes.

View attachment 4941124
I was looking at the configurator and it looks like the ETS Standard Bridge has all the capabilities for intonation, height, angle and lock.

Thanks a lot for the help, I appreciate it.

 

[xabicho]

Thanks a lot for the help, I appreciate it.

You are welcome

 

[BlueTalon]

View attachment 4941124
I was looking at the configurator and it looks like the ETS Standard Bridge has all the capabilities for intonation, height, angle and lock.

What I didn't like was not exactly the intonation screws but the ability to modify the height of the strings. The only way was to remove the Bridge and install some shins under. Too much hassle.
I will go for a Hipshot A Aluminum Bridge to have control over intonation and height. Necks move with the season changes.

The intonation screw is a big deal for me. It makes making fine adjustments to intonation a lot less fiddly that it would be for any bridge design that doesn't have them. It doesn't mean those bridges won't intonate, it just means the process is trickier.

 

[BlueTalon]

I have a ziricote fretboard on my Adamovic bass that I hope to have within a month or so. I have no idea what it looks like, but I can tell you the knobs and the pickup covers will be made from ziricote as well, and maybe even from the same piece of wood.

Just for reference, this finger board and knobs are Ziricote. It has nice figuring and is pretty dense and oily like ebony. View attachment 4940957 View attachment 4940958

I probably should have been clearer. I know what ziricote looks like, and I know it can vary from wildly figured to not very figured at all. But I haven't yet seen the particular piece of ziricote that was used for my Adamovic fretboard, so I don't know what it will look like. I anticipate it's going to be gorgeous, though. The body top is Boire wood, a wood I'd never heard of before visiting the Adamovic website. I do know what my top looks like.

 

[Barticus]

I probably should have been clearer. I know what ziricote looks like, and I know it can vary from wildly figured to not very figured at all. But I haven't yet seen the particular piece of ziricote that was used for my Adamovic fretboard, so I don't know what it will look like. I anticipate it's going to be gorgeous, though. The body top is Boire wood, a wood I'd never heard of before visiting the Adamovic website. I do know what my top looks like.
View attachment 4941597

Yeah, that top looks great!… I was just providing another Ziricote reference point as I've not seen the type of figuring on the piece that I used for my build (zoom in, it's got some amazing details).

 

[xabicho]

My Sputnik has been upgraded with a 3 Band John East Preamp. Vol/Blend, Bass/Treble with Push/Pull on the Treble, Mid/Mid Frequency Selector. A Chameleon of tonal possibilities.

 

[TK4261]

Randy sent me this pic today informing me that Adrian has my 30" Jake back from the factory and they added the passive tone knob and moved the jack to the side. All good now and it is shipping out to me on Monday.

I hope the dual Delano Xtenders pair well with the Aguilar OBP-2 preamp that I chose.

 

[Barticus]

Randy sent me this pic today informing me that Adrian has my 30" Jake back from the factory and they added the passive tone knob and moved the jack to the side. All good now and it is shipping out to me on Monday.

I hope the dual Delano Xtenders pair well with the Aguilar OBP-2 preamp that I chose.

Such a cool little bass!!!

I think you and Twang have the coolest short scales and both are blue!!!

 

[TK4261]

Such a cool little bass!!!

I think you and Twang have the coolest short scales and both are blue!!!

Thank you Bart!
I'm excited for this one and excited to see the Quilt in person. Do you have any experience with Aguilar Preamps?
This will be my first Aguilar pre. I've had Nordstrand 2b & Delano 2b pre's before and I currently have a Noll 3b in my Elwood and a Glockenklang 3b in my other Jake.

 

[twangcat]

Such a cool little bass!!!

I think you and Twang have the coolest short scales and both are blue!!!

Thanks for the thumbs up, Bert!

And, yes, I completely agree that TK's newly refined 30" Jake is a real beauty. Waiting for the revamping will have been time well spent.

 

[swartzfeger]

Randy sent me this pic today informing me that Adrian has my 30" Jake back from the factory and they added the passive tone knob and moved the jack to the side. All good now and it is shipping out to me on Monday.

Can someone explain the passive tone thing to me? I've been seeing this on a lot of builds lately...

 

[Barticus]

Thank you Bart!
I'm excited for this one and excited to see the Quilt in person. Do you have any experience with Aguilar Preamps?
This will be my first Aguilar pre. I've had Nordstrand 2b & Delano 2b pre's before and I currently have a Noll 3b in my Elwood and a Glockenklang 3b in my other Jake.

Yep, Aguilar OBP3 is my favorite pre I have them in 3 basses right now. I also play Aguilar amps, so a bit of a fan so happy to answer questions.

I know they won't enable the mid frequency selector (400/800) for you but if you prefer the 800 vs 400 it's an easy mod.

EDIT added more thoughts
There's 3 ways to wire the mid frequency selection

1. Solder as either 400 or 800 with no way to select
2. Use a switch to select
3. Use a push/pull pot (e.g. - down 400 / up 800)

If you tend to use the 800 more, you could flip the push/pull to 800 down 400 up.

 

[Barticus]

Can someone explain the passive tone thing to me? I've been seeing this on a lot of builds lately...

It's just a tone control like in a passive bass, but there's 2 ways to implement with an active bass.

1. Only engaged when you're in passive mode (probably most common)
2. Always engaged in both active/passive modes

Maruszczyk will usually implement #1, but I prefer to solder up my builds with #2 since it allows you to rolloff a bit off the brightness while in active mode too. With my OBP3s I like to do a concentric volume pot with the tone on the bottom.

 

[swartzfeger]

It's just a tone control like in a passive bass, but there's 2 ways to implement with an active bass.

1. Only engaged when you're in passive mode (probably most common)
2. Always engaged in both active/passive modes

Maruszczyk will usually implement #1, but I prefer to solder up my builds with #2 since it allows you to rolloff a bit off the brightness while in active mode too. With my OBP3s I like to do a concentric volume pot with the tone on the bottom.

Ok, that's what I thought -- thanks

 

[BlackWolf]

I have to wait until March/April, but at least my configuration is almost complete! Do you prefer it with dots or blocks?

Specs:

• alder body, wenge top and matte finish;
• hard rock maple (3-piece) neck, matte finish, 38mm nut width with carbon rods;
• katalox fingerboard, super blue 2mm side dots with ring and 14" fingerboard radius;
• matching headstock, matte finish and silver logo, black nut;
• Nordstrand Zen Blade 4 pickups, passive with 2 switches for serial/single coil/parallel;
• black hardware, 19mm bridge spacing;
• ETS knobs, Hipshot A-Style (aluminium) bridge and Hipshot Ultralite Y-style 3/8 tuners.

 

[TK4261]

I have to wait until March/April, but at least my configuration is almost complete! Do you prefer it with dots or blocks?

Specs:

• alder body, wenge top and matte finish;
• hard rock maple (3-piece) neck, matte finish, 38mm nut width with carbon rods;
• katalox fingerboard, super blue 2mm side dots with ring and 14" fingerboard radius;
• matching headstock, matte finish and silver logo, black nut;
• Nordstrand Zen Blade 4 pickups, passive with 2 switches for serial/single coil/parallel;
• black hardware, 19mm bridge spacing;
• ETS knobs, Hipshot A-Style (aluminium) bridge and Hipshot Ultralite Y-style 3/8 tuners.

Nice! I tend to like the dots on the Frog fretboard.

 

[J_Bass]

I have to wait until March/April, but at least my configuration is almost complete! Do you prefer it with dots or blocks?

Specs:

• alder body, wenge top and matte finish;
• hard rock maple (3-piece) neck, matte finish, 38mm nut width with carbon rods;
• katalox fingerboard, super blue 2mm side dots with ring and 14" fingerboard radius;
• matching headstock, matte finish and silver logo, black nut;
• Nordstrand Zen Blade 4 pickups, passive with 2 switches for serial/single coil/parallel;
• black hardware, 19mm bridge spacing;
• ETS knobs, Hipshot A-Style (aluminium) bridge and Hipshot Ultralite Y-style 3/8 tuners.

The first one. Mother of pearl, I believe?

 

[BassmanM]

I have to wait until March/April, but at least my configuration is almost complete! Do you prefer it with dots or blocks?

Specs:

• alder body, wenge top and matte finish;
• hard rock maple (3-piece) neck, matte finish, 38mm nut width with carbon rods;
• katalox fingerboard, super blue 2mm side dots with ring and 14" fingerboard radius;
• matching headstock, matte finish and silver logo, black nut;
• Nordstrand Zen Blade 4 pickups, passive with 2 switches for serial/single coil/parallel;
• black hardware, 19mm bridge spacing;
• ETS knobs, Hipshot A-Style (aluminium) bridge and Hipshot Ultralite Y-style 3/8 tuners.

I am okay with block Inlays on jazz (style) basses. I therefore prefer dots on this one. How about no inlays? That would be my choice.

 

[BlackWolf]

Nice! I tend to like the dots on the Frog fretboard.

Thanks!

The first one. Mother of pearl, I believe?

Thanks and yes, you're correct about Mop blocks.

I am okay with block Inlays on jazz (style) basses. I therefore prefer dots on this one. How about no inlays? That would be my choice.

Thanks for the suggestion, to be honest I prefer dots over no inlays.