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The Official MARUSZCZYK CLUB!

#8,661
xbud said:
I don't know if Adrian will do this from the factory but I found that North Coil/Series/South Coil wiring a much better fit for my needs.
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I'm pretty sure, when I wired mine up, I saw that it was an option on the switch wiring diagram for the Delanos, so I don't think it would be a problem to point that out and request it.

I actually like all three modes, depending on the situation, especially when I'm playing passively with my Delano extenders. It's good to have choices.
 
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#8,662
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#8,663
Hey, any 30" 5-string players here? If so, please tell me about your bass:

Basics of the build, how does it play, what do you particularly like, what would you do differently, etc.?

(There's a lot of info in this thread. I've read a couple of years' worth!)

I'm thinking about having one made. Thanks in advance!
 
#8,664
Anyone have any experience installing Hipshot Ultra-lite Tuners aftermarket? The tech I take my instruments to said the Ferrules for the old tuners were epoxied in and he couldn't remove them - So he was going to install the ultra-lites in the existing WSC ferrules. Given that the hipshots have their own threaded bushing, the math doesn't feel like it's mathing to me.
 
#8,665
I had hoped to join the club - having ordered a custom Jake TB with some really great upgrades. I worked with Randy at Bass Spotlight - and ordered back in August. When Adrian got ready to ship the bass, I checked in with Randy on weight - and sadly some of my choices drove a weight of just over 9 lbs - which I can't manage given neck and shoulder issues that come with old age. (I'm 64 - playing for 52 years). I'll likely restart the process with decisions really focused on weight reduction - so that I can truly join the club. Alas - this one needs a home.

Adrian shipped the bass directly to Randy who has been kind enough to sell it in his store. It's 100% new - as I didn't take possession - so here's a chance for someone to grab a really tricked out Maruszczyk without the 20 week wait. And to top it off - it's a gorgeous transparent purple - with matching headstock.

Here's the couch shot from Adrian:
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It has the Haussell Thunderbird pick-ups (with frames), Noll 3-band preamp with sweepable mids. There are three concentric controls: Vol / Blend, Mid Freq / Mid control, and Treble / Bass control. It's a chambered alder body with an upgraded quilted ash top, upgraded Hipshot A bridge (19mm spacing), upgraded Hipshot Ultralight tuners, and an Ultralight bass extender on the E string. Flame maple neck (check the pic!) with an ebony fretboard, Vintage blue Luminlay dots on the fretboard and 3mm blue luminlay dots on the edge of the fretboard.

You can see more pics from Randy's Bass Spotlight FB page, etc. I really hope somebody gives this bad boy a great new home. That would take some of the sting out of things for me....
 
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#8,667
jefframm said:
I had hoped to join the club - having ordered a custom Jake TB with some really great upgrades. I worked with Randy at Bass Spotlight - and ordered back in August. When Adrian got ready to ship the bass, I checked in with Randy on weight - and sadly some of my choices drove a weight of just over 9 lbs - which I can't manage given neck and shoulder issues that come with old age. (I'm 64 - playing for 52 years). I'll likely restart the process with decisions really focused on weight reduction - so that I can truly join the club. Alas - this one needs a home.

Adrian shipped the bass directly to Randy who has been kind enough to sell it in his store. It's 100% new - as I didn't take possession - so here's a chance for someone to grab a really tricked out Maruszczyk without the 20 week wait. And to top it off - it's a gorgeous transparent purple - with matching headstock.

Here's the couch shot from Adrian:
View attachment 5329831

It has the Haussell Thunderbird pick-ups (with frames), Noll 3-band preamp with sweepable mids. There are three concentric controls: Vol / Blend, Mid Freq / Mid control, and Treble / Bass control. It's a chambered alder body with an upgraded quilted ash top, upgraded Hipshot A bridge (19mm spacing), upgraded Hipshot Ultralight tuners, and an Ultralight bass extender on the E string. Flame maple neck (check the pic!) with an ebony fretboard, Vintage blue Luminlay dots on the fretboard and 3mm blue luminlay dots on the edge of the fretboard.

You can see more pics from Randy's Bass Spotlight FB page, etc. I really hope somebody gives this bad boy a great new home. That would take some of the sting out of things for me....
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I picked up a Frog headless used locally and ended up moving it on for the same reason. At 9.8 pounds (and a headless???) it was just too heavy. Luckily Randy took it in on a trade for a used S. Martyn - which showed up with its own issues and he was awesome to work with. He sold the Frog and arranged for Martyn to build me my own custom headless to my specs and only pay the difference in price to the Frog. It should be done in a few months.
 
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#8,668
Yes, I've changed out tuners twice, once in a Maruszczyk Elwood. it was no problem getting the ferrules out- I used a socket (from socket wrench set) and tapped it with a rubber hammer. There's a videa where Low End Lobster demonstrates that.

The issue was that the Hipshots were too small for the holes, even though I had emailed Adrian and he told me which ones to get. My mechanically-minded friend who was helping me had some very thin aluminum sheets and made a liner/shim for the holes. Otherwise everything turned out perfectly.
 
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#8,670
waver said:
Yes, I've changed out tuners twice, once in a Maruszczyk Elwood. it was no problem getting the ferrules out- I used a socket (from socket wrench set) and tapped it with a rubber hammer. There's a videa where Low End Lobster demonstrates that.

The issue was that the Hipshots were too small for the holes, even though I had emailed Adrian and he told me which ones to get. My mechanically-minded friend who was helping me had some very thin aluminum sheets and made a liner/shim for the holes. Otherwise everything turned out perfectly.
Click to expand...

Yeah mine is an Elwood and I could not get the ferrules out myself using exactly this method. The shop said they were epoxied in.
 
#8,673
Booksbrown said:
Beautiful Basses! How much do you like/love the Lionel? I have had my eye on one for some time. And what is the nut width? I wonder how close it comes to a Fender P feel in terms of the neck.
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The Lionel has a very nice neck, feels kind of flat on the back, very easy to move around. Nut width 38 mm, 1.5 in. It feels as though the string width widens out as you move up the neck, with the back of the neck staying kind of flat. For me, the nicest neck I've played.

To your question, I wouldn't say they're going for the classic P feel with this neck.

The Elwood has a very similar-feeling neck, slightly rounder back, with a 40 mm nut (which I think I like better, although the difference is barely noticeable). Also a very nice feel. The two basses feel similar enough that it's very comfortable moving from one to the other, which I often do.

My main long scale bass is a Fodera P bass (the only 34" I've kept after moving to shorties). The Elwood and the Lionel play just as nicely as this one.

Maybe later I'll take some measurements and compare just for fun.
 
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#8,675
BlueTalon said:
A nut filed too high might cause playability issues, but not buzz (edit: except as noted below by @Ralph Manak). A nut that's filed too low? Well, no such thing really, unless the slots are filed so low that the integrity of the nut is compromised. That's the whole point of a zero fret -- since it's just one more fret on the neck, the arc of the frets is really easy to predict and adjust with precision, so the only job of the nut is to keep the strings in alignment. The elevation of the strings is already handled.

If I was in this position and that was my bass, I'd take it to an experienced guitar tech who has a PLEK machine. I have a bass with a bit of a ski ramp on the treble end of the fretboard that made it unplayable for the last few frets. A PLEK job was able to overcome the warp in the neck. It had to remove most of the fret material on the last couple of frets, but it became a fully playable instrument.
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I took the bass back to my local luthier who did the original set up. He was able to get rid of the buzz. The string height seems a bit wonky. The neck bend is higher in the mid section. String height between the 7-9 fret on the E string is about 3.3 mm from bottom of the string to top of the fret. This is higher than my other basses that run between 1 mm and 1.3mm. Since I am using low tension flats, it still feels playable, but just not the same as my other basses. I am wondering if the next step is a PLEK job to get the action lower, and if I should see about it locally or send it somewhere? Thanks for all the suggestions!
 
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#8,676
Booksbrown said:
I took the bass back to my local luthier who did the original set up. He was able to get rid of the buzz. The string height seems a bit wonky. The neck bend is higher in the mid section. String height between the 7-9 fret on the E string is about 3.3 mm from bottom of the string to top of the fret. This is higher than my other basses that run between 1 mm and 1.3mm. Since I am using low tension flats, it still feels playable, but just not the same as my other basses. I am wondering if the next step is a PLEK job to get the action lower, and if I should see about it locally or send it somewhere? Thanks for all the suggestions!
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I am a BIG advocate of PLEKing! If you have a local tech with a PLEK machine, go ahead and use him/her. Unless you have someone else with a reputation in mind. Mike Lull did the PLEK jobs on a few of my basses before he died, and it was worth it to me to drive 4-5 hours one way to have him do it. (But Lull was the only tech with a PLEK machine within 500 miles, so I didn't have a local option.)

I have a bass that had a somewhat pronounced ski jump at the treble end of the neck. A PLEK job fixed it. It removed most of the fret material on the upper frets so that the frets there are almost down to nothing, but that's what it took to make the neck playable all the way up. And I was fine with that. Any option involving reshaping the wood would have been far more involved and expensive.
 
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#8,680
Booksbrown said:
It seems I have a second possibility of a shop outside of Columbus, oh. Just out of curiosity, were any of the bass guitars that you had plekked experiencing string buzz due to the neck shape?
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The one I mentioned that had the ski jump -- I would get fret buzz if I played between about the 16th and 24th frets. The 24th fret would never buzz, obviously, but the shape of the neck caused issues. The PLEK compensated for that. When I first took it in, there was some question about whether it would work, but they determined that it was close enough for it to work. By "close enough," I mean the PLEK had to remove most of the fret material on some of the frets because that's how far off the neck shape was. No guarantees it will work for you, but PLEKing can fix your problem if the shape of the neck is within the tolerances for the PLEK job.
 

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