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The Official MARUSZCZYK CLUB!

#9,321
I just joined the Maruszczyk club. Picked up this Elwood multi-scale and it finally came today. It's visually stunning for sure. It's my shortest multi-scale 5 string.

Looking forward to putting her through her paces once I get it restrung and set up to my liking. I also need to swap out the Schaller pins for Dunlops.
IMG_6129.jpeg
image.jpg
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#9,324
Got it out and played it some today. It's interesting. Multi-scale without the 37" stretch. Lol. But my biggest surprise is how dark it sounds. It came with Elixer Nanowebs on it and I was going to change over to flats, but now I'm not so sure. Single coil, dual humbucker, tone at max in the middle and rolled off... I've never played anything with the EMG TWX pickups before. Such a different tonal palette from my Dingwalls. It's really kind of cool. Lastly I wasn't sure what I would think about the 19mm string spacing, but I find this bass very easy to play, so overall I think it's a winner.
 
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#9,325
Fazed said:
I just joined the Maruszczyk club. Picked up this Elwood multi-scale and it finally came today. It's visually stunning for sure. It's my shortest multi-scale 5 string.

Looking forward to putting her through her paces once I get it restrung and set up to my liking. I also need to swap out the Schaller pins for Dunlops. View attachment 7226809View attachment 7226812View attachment 7226813
Click to expand...
Neat!

Which headstock is that? Definitely not the standard Elwood; is it what they use on their multiscale basses?
 
#9,327
who said:
It's the Jazzus headstock. I was wondering the same thing; @Fazed, did you ask for that headstock specifically, or did they just build it that way?
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You are correct, it's the Jazzus headstock. I've not seen another like it. I found this one used (barely) on reverb. And after looking over the specs of it, and listening to it on YouTube...



I thought that is exactly what I would ask for minus one thing, the pickups. The more I play it, the more they sound amazing, but I really wanted a fully passive instrument. This still requires a 9v battery to drive the pickups. A minor thing, I'll just throw an extra in the case, but I wouldn't have chosen them. Perhaps it's a good thing though, because they really do sound awesome!

Family Pic... It fits right in!
IMG_6146.jpeg
 
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#9,328
Fazed said:
You are correct, it's the Jazzus headstock. I've not seen another like it. I found this one used (barely) on reverb. And after looking over the specs of it, and listening to it on YouTube...



I thought that is exactly what I would ask for minus one thing, the pickups. The more I play it, the more they sound amazing, but I really wanted a fully passive instrument. This still requires a 9v battery to drive the pickups. A minor thing, I'll just throw an extra in the case, but I wouldn't have chosen them. Perhaps it's a good thing though, because they really do sound awesome!

Family Pic... It fits right in!View attachment 7227574
Click to expand...

That's a cool bass!

I have those pickups in one of my headless basses with a BQC pre and love them.
 
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#9,332
JJHH said:
Could you tell me about the quality of the maruszczyk bass you are using?
I checked reddit and basstalk and I don't see any bad reviews.
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There seldom are. There have been one or two people here that didn't like their basses, but the majority is pretty excited with the quality. Of course some of that may very well come down to the old "I spent a lot of money and I configured this thing myself, so now it just has to be good!", but the fact is: real problems seem to be very rare. You don't hear about bent necks, misaligned bridges, uneven fretwork... you know, the stuff that you can actually verify and quantify (instead of just personal taste if something sounds or feels good). On top of that they are very reliable: You order and they deliver in time, often sooner.

I ordered a Maruszczyk J two or three years ago and I do not plan to part with it.
 
#9,333
Micha84 said:
There seldom are. There have been one or two people here that didn't like their basses, but the majority is pretty excited with the quality. Of course some of that may very well come down to the old "I spent a lot of money and I configured this thing myself, so now it just has to be good!", but the fact is: real problems seem to be very rare. You don't hear about bent necks, misaligned bridges, uneven fretwork... you know, the stuff that you can actually verify and quantify (instead of just personal taste if something sounds or feels good). On top of that they are very reliable: You order and they deliver in time, often sooner.

I ordered a Maruszczyk J two or three years ago and I do not plan to part with it.
Click to expand...
I see, I will probably receive maruszczyk in 1-2 months.
At first, I thought about ordering it because I liked the appearance, but after hearing the sound and reading various reviews, I decided to order it.
I was just curious about the reviews of users who received it first and used it.
Thank you for your answer. Have a nice day.
 
#9,334
JJHH said:
Could you tell me about the quality of the maruszczyk bass you are using?
I checked reddit and basstalk and I don't see any bad reviews.
Click to expand...

I currently have 3 Maruszczyk basses:
  1. A fretless Frog 5P 34" with a single Bassculture 38HB, purchased from Public Peace's stock
  2. A custom Frog 5A 32" with two Delano Times Square pups and a John East Uni Pre 4 preamp
  3. A used Jake 5P 34" with a Delano P (large poles) in the neck and a Delano MM (large poles) in the bridge
It is important to know that I do not have extensive experience with different types of basses. I played a Fender Jazz 4 string for many years prior to purchasing #1 as a second bass, and then #2 replaced the Jazz and #3 came later. I have played other models in stores, but I don't feel like I have a wide variety of basses that I'm familiar with and can compare to Maruszczyk. (Side note: the one bass that surpassed everything in the short time I played it was an F Bass BN 5 string)

That said, the Maruszczyk's are extremely comfortable, especially the Frogs. That body shape fits mine really well, and the necks (satin/matte) are a night and day difference from glossy Fender necks. All of the basses are quite light as well, which helps with my bad back. They all sound great to me, and I love the versatility of #2 and #3. Build quality is excellent.

For me, there has only been one downside: the B strings on #2 and #3 have been a pain point. I have been trying different strings with different gauges (tapered seem to work best), lowered the pickups fairly low, set intonation, checked witness points, etc. However, the B continues to sound like a dull thud and out of tune with the other strings. I know that sounds like an intonation issue, but I use the same method to set the intonation as the other strings and those are great. As I go up the fretboard I also get a bit of a chorus effect, which I've read this is usually a pickup height issue or twisted string, but I've checked those things multiple times. This could be my fault or a lack of experience with Bs, for sure, but I've been tinkering away and can't seem to get it right. I don't know if this is common with 34" or shorter scale Marus, though I believe @Barticus has been happy with his Bs so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Overall, they are fantastic basses and I feel lucky to have 3 of 'em!
 
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#9,335
MrVentures said:
I currently have 3 Maruszczyk basses:
  1. A fretless Frog 5P 34" with a single Bassculture 38HB, purchased from Public Peace's stock
  2. A custom Frog 5A 32" with two Delano Times Square pups and a John East Uni Pre 4 preamp
  3. A used Jake 5P 34" with a Delano P (large poles) in the neck and a Delano MM (large poles) in the bridge
It is important to know that I do not have extensive experience with different types of basses. I played a Fender Jazz 4 string for many years prior to purchasing #1 as a second bass, and then #2 replaced the Jazz and #3 came later. I have played other models in stores, but I don't feel like I have a wide variety of basses that I'm familiar with and can compare to Maruszczyk. (Side note: the one bass that surpassed everything in the short time I played it was an F Bass BN 5 string)

That said, the Maruszczyk's are extremely comfortable, especially the Frogs. That body shape fits mine really well, and the necks (satin/matte) are a night and day difference from glossy Fender necks. All of the basses are quite light as well, which helps with my bad back. They all sound great to me, and I love the versatility of #2 and #3. Build quality is excellent.

For me, there has only been one downside: the B strings on #2 and #3 have been a pain point. I have been trying different strings with different gauges (tapered seem to work best), lowered the pickups fairly low, set intonation, checked witness points, etc. However, the B continues to sound like a dull thud and out of tune with the other strings. I know that sounds like an intonation issue, but I use the same method to set the intonation as the other strings and those are great. As I go up the fretboard I also get a bit of a chorus effect, which I've read this is usually a pickup height issue or twisted string, but I've checked those things multiple times. This could be my fault or a lack of experience with Bs, for sure, but I've been tinkering away and can't seem to get it right. I don't know if this is common with 34" or shorter scale Marus, though I believe @Barticus has been happy with his Bs so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Overall, they are fantastic basses and I feel lucky to have 3 of 'em!
Click to expand...
I too have limited experience with other brands. My primary comparison is the Dingwall. I have 2 of them (pictured in my above post) and in my opinion, they are perfection. Is the Maruszczyk a Dingwall? No. But I wanted a 5 string jazz/P and the Dingwall Super-J/P aren't made the same as they used to be (Both my Super-J and ABII are 20 years old), and are prohibitively expensive with a really long wait time. I like and prefer the old style Super-J/P. I've seen some for sale on here and Reverb, but even those prices are inflated. I get it, they are awesome basses and worth it IMO if you have the money... I don't.

So I started looking at Multi-scale bases from other manufacturers and came across many, but being able to hold them, play them, hear them, etc. just doesn't work for rural old me. In doing my research, I came across the YouTube video also posted above of the very bass I was looking at purchasing. Needless to say, that and the copious amount of posts in this thread, I took a chance on it. I figured I could sell it and get my money back if I didn't like it.

My first impressions after having it nearly 2 weeks now, amazing. The fit and finish are near perfect. The tone with the EMG-TWX pickups is huge. The feel is very different than my Dingwalls... The neck is fatter and wider with a wider string spacing. I wasn't sure how I would like that, but it works for me better than I thought it would.

Overall, I'm very happy I pulled the trigger and purchased this bass. I have no regrets.
 
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#9,336
MrVentures said:
I currently have 3 Maruszczyk basses:
  1. A fretless Frog 5P 34" with a single Bassculture 38HB, purchased from Public Peace's stock
  2. A custom Frog 5A 32" with two Delano Times Square pups and a John East Uni Pre 4 preamp
  3. A used Jake 5P 34" with a Delano P (large poles) in the neck and a Delano MM (large poles) in the bridge
It is important to know that I do not have extensive experience with different types of basses. I played a Fender Jazz 4 string for many years prior to purchasing #1 as a second bass, and then #2 replaced the Jazz and #3 came later. I have played other models in stores, but I don't feel like I have a wide variety of basses that I'm familiar with and can compare to Maruszczyk. (Side note: the one bass that surpassed everything in the short time I played it was an F Bass BN 5 string)

That said, the Maruszczyk's are extremely comfortable, especially the Frogs. That body shape fits mine really well, and the necks (satin/matte) are a night and day difference from glossy Fender necks. All of the basses are quite light as well, which helps with my bad back. They all sound great to me, and I love the versatility of #2 and #3. Build quality is excellent.

For me, there has only been one downside: the B strings on #2 and #3 have been a pain point. I have been trying different strings with different gauges (tapered seem to work best), lowered the pickups fairly low, set intonation, checked witness points, etc. However, the B continues to sound like a dull thud and out of tune with the other strings. I know that sounds like an intonation issue, but I use the same method to set the intonation as the other strings and those are great. As I go up the fretboard I also get a bit of a chorus effect, which I've read this is usually a pickup height issue or twisted string, but I've checked those things multiple times. This could be my fault or a lack of experience with Bs, for sure, but I've been tinkering away and can't seem to get it right. I don't know if this is common with 34" or shorter scale Marus, though I believe @Barticus has been happy with his Bs so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Overall, they are fantastic basses and I feel lucky to have 3 of 'em!
Click to expand...
Keep in mind I've only owned headless basses from them, so there's no chance of a twisted string in that scenario. The tapered strings definitely do help in my experience.

With that said, I think their build quality, fit, and finish are all superb.
 
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#9,337
End of week 13 for the wait of my 32" Cazpar order. I'm hoping for a Couch shot soon. I have some plans for this one. I ordered basic passive electronic specs as I have a set of EMG X pickups and a LHZ (Spector HAZ clone) preamp that I plan on installing in this Cazpar. I requested that the transparent White stain only be applied to the top wood and not the Alder body. I also requested a Paddock shaped headstock because I like the look of the rolled over edges on the Paddock headstocks. 🤓


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