The Official MARUSZCZYK CLUB!

[fourstr00]

It’s an off-book but common request called Blue Jeans. I wanted to get sonic blue, but with the top they would only do a transparent finish. That’s what we settled on.

Main idea of the guitar is that it’s a 335 style, but with all the modern updates you can’t get on a Gibson (locking tuners, steel frets, glowing side dots).

There’s also no tropical hardwoods; it’s all alder and maple. I like maple fretboards for dark stages and there’s no availability for that except for the Fender Starcasters.

I did try to get a Tele-style pickup selector but they couldn’t do it with the carve of the top. Tried to get direct mount pickups too, so I’ll probably swap out the rings for white ones that match.

 

[twangcat]

I just got word that my bass is stuck in Memphis on a US Customs delay. For anyone who has had this experience, I'm curious as to how long-ish it takes to get resolved?

 

[TK4261]

I just got word that my bass is stuck in Memphis on a US Customs delay. For anyone who has had this experience, I'm curious as to how long-ish it takes to get resolved?

It has happened to me a couple of times and it usually only takes a day or so to resolve at the Memphis hub.

 

[Barticus]

I just got word that my bass is stuck in Memphis on a US Customs delay. For anyone who has had this experience, I'm curious as to how long-ish it takes to get resolved?

Not related but a funny story nonetheless, I had a status streamline “bass”, come into the US and get stuck at the Indianapolis FedEx customs station quite a few years ago. It was held up for more than 10 days and we couldn’t get a status on it neither myself nor Dawn from Status who were both calling them daily.

We finally found out that it was held up by game and fishery because of the word BASS

It was then forwarded on to me once they had determined, that there were no fish or other animals involved whatsoever

 

[twangcat]

Thanks TK and Bart! As it turns out I didn't have to wait long for this to get resolved. Got a message from FedEx that my Joker B is due for delivery this Monday. At this point the wait has been long enough (going on 32 weeks next week) that 3-4 days won't kill me.

Bart... Love the story. I get a little sideways when I know that something I really want...usually something related to playing music...is at a shipping depot withing 5 miles of our house and I can't get it!

4 days till NBD now

 

[BlueTalon]

I get a little sideways when I know that something I really want...usually something related to playing music...is at a shipping depot withing 5 miles of our house and I can't get it!

I know exactly what that feels like. When FedEx is shipping me something I really want, I often watch the tracking go within two miles of my house on the way to a depot that's 300 miles away. The kicker is, there's a perfectly good FedEx depot less than ten miles from me!

 

[waver]

Order placed!

 

[twangcat]

Order placed!

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Outstanding! That looks great!

 

[waver]

Outstanding! That looks great!

Thank you!

The new 30-inch active Elwood L will be a good complement to my passive 30-inchers:

 

[BlueTalon]

Man, that's no joke. Seeing the position markers on a stage with tricky lighting can sometimes be problematic. I solved the problem on other basses with fishing lure stickers. I tried the Luminlay markers on my Frog and they do the job quite effectively. Any future Maruszczyk bass I order will have them.

@andronik just liked this post (thanks) which brought it up in my alerts. I'm kinda glad it did, because it allows me to revisit this topic.

After gigging many times with my Frog, with the Luminlay side markers (and everything else), I have concluded that they do not do the job of locating my fret positions as well as I would have hoped. The Luminlays are great, for as long as they're charged. The problem is that they fade relatively quickly. A few songs into a set, and I'm struggling to see where I am in moments of bad light.

Do I regret getting them? No, I do not regret it. But will I get them again? Probably not. That's an easy way to save some money (or just not spend more of it unnecessarily) if I'm ordering a new bass. As my quoted post shows, and as people who have seen my posts for any length of time can attest, I'm a big advocate of fishing lure stickers as fret markers. I ended up using them on my Frog also -- but I didn't have the heart to cover the Luminlay dots, so I got a hole punch just so I could punch holes in the stickers so I could still see the Luminlay dots. It gives the bass a bit of a funny look, like a series of fish eyes looking up at me. Regardless, now I never lose my place when I'm playing.

 

[fourstr00]

I’m kinda surprised yours are losing charge quickly. How soon is “fast” in this case?

The ones on my Maru and Carvin stay bright for hours, assuming I run a flashlight over them a couple times before downbeat.

 

[BlueTalon]

I’m kinda surprised yours are losing charge quickly. How soon is “fast” in this case?

The ones on my Maru and Carvin stay bright for hours, assuming I run a flashlight over them a couple times before downbeat.

I can sit the bass in front of my stage lights for a half hour, get the Luminlays nice and bright, and they won't stay bright enough to be useful for a whole set. So in other words, less than an hour of useful illumination is my experience.

 

[Core Creek]

I’m kinda surprised yours are losing charge quickly. How soon is “fast” in this case?

The ones on my Maru and Carvin stay bright for hours, assuming I run a flashlight over them a couple times before downbeat.

I have the same problem with luminlays. All my Kiesel guitars and basses have them and when charged they’re faded within a song or two.

 

[ole Jason]

I can sit the bass in front of my stage lights for a half hour, get the Luminlays nice and bright, and they won't stay bright enough to be useful for a whole set. So in other words, less than an hour of useful illumination is my experience.

They need to be charged with a blue LED directly on top of them for a few minutes (see the 'Luminlay flashlight' sold on Amazon). Ambient lighting won't actually charge them. I tested this using my plant grow lights which are very bright. I put the bass under them w/ luminlays facing the light for a few hours. They did glow brightly when I first took the bass out from under the lights but, just like you mentioned, faded quickly within a few minutes.

Personally I find them more trouble than they're worth and won't be ordering any more guitars with them. The tech just isn't good enough on its own. It does work if you're taking the time to manually charge each dot but I'm rarely in a situation where it's worth my time to do that. YMMV of course.

 

[BlueTalon]

They need to be charged with a blue LED directly on top of them for a few minutes (see the 'Luminlay flashlight' sold on Amazon). Ambient lighting won't actually charge them. I tested this using my plant grow lights which are very bright. I put the bass under them w/ luminlays facing the light for a few hours. They did glow brightly when I first took the bass out from under the lights but, just like you mentioned, faded quickly within a few minutes.

Personally I find them more trouble than they're worth and won't be ordering any more guitars with them. The tech just isn't good enough on its own. It does work if you're taking the time to manually charge each dot but I'm rarely in a situation where it's worth my time to do that. YMMV of course.

If the blue LED flashlight really is a superior method of charging Luminlay dots (and I'm not doubting that it is), Maruszczyk should automatically include one in each guitar/bass order that has Luminlays (and charge for it, of course). Maybe it would have made a difference for me?

But I kinda doubt it. I came to the same conclusion that you did, that they're more trouble than they're worth. They're still cool, but since I put the fishing lure stickers on, I don't rely on the Luminlays to show me where I am any more. The thing they're most used for now is to elicit responses of awe from people I show the bass to.

 

[nyxy_bot]

Ordered my first. 24 fret 5 string Elwood L in Sterling White metallic.

 

[twangcat]

Thank you!

The new 30-inch active Elwood L will be a good complement to my passive 30-inchers:

View attachment 5356463

Every time i see a black bass I like them more and more. Yours looks outstanding! What is the neck/fb combo on it?

 

[waver]

Neck and fb on the black one are maple. (It’s a Sandberg.)

 

[MrVentures]

Out of curiosity, is there some sort of ‘secret menu’ of colors that aren’t listed in the configurator? For instance, I’ve seen several basses in “Mangrove Green” and some guitars in “Blue Jean” (mentioned recently).

 

[jefframm]

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....

Just a heads up that I have this listed now in the classifieds. $2200 shipped - it's brand new and sitting with Randy at Bass Spotlight - my cost was $2650 - and you can avoid the 15-20 week wait.