The Official MARUSZCZYK CLUB!

[Lamma]

Normally, how many weeks do you guys have to wait for your custom bass orders?
I’ve been waiting for mine for almost 23 weeks now, but I saw a post from Wojtek on his Facebook about two weeks ago,
and in the picture, I could see a bass neck with the wood grain pattern that matches the specs I chose.

That made me feel a bit more reassured.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Normally, how many weeks do you guys have to wait for your custom bass orders?
I’ve been waiting for mine for almost 23 weeks now, but I saw a post from Wojtek on his Facebook about two weeks ago,
and in the picture, I could see a bass neck with the wood grain pattern that matches the specs I chose.

That made me feel a bit more reassured.

View attachment 7351241

Excellent!

Eh...you may want to edit-out the caricature(s) in the photo.

Riis

 

[Lamma]

Excellent!

Eh...you may want to edit-out the caricature(s) in the photo.

Riis

Haha, If adrian made this on a maru t-shirt, I would buy it.

 

[PotsdamBass8]

I’ve been using my Woodcraft Ampmaster 5 for the last year and decided to bring my Elwood 5 30” to practice last night to show it some love. Man, that bass is just awesome in so many ways. Mainly, the thick heft that it brings and just always locks in with the bass drum so well. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bass that has such a fat bottom end.

 

[Assumer]

Currently putting together an Elwood. What do you guys think about the stock 5 string bridge vs the others they offer

 

[PotsdamBass8]

I'll give my negative experience.

I got a P/MM and had two main complaints. (1) Despite both pickups being of a humbucking nature, this bass picked up as much noise as the $130 Squier Bronco I owned. (2) I chose the in house pickups, and it turns out the pickup covers he uses have perfectly squared sharp edges, which makes them an uncomfortable thumb rest. Had I otherwise liked the bass, I'd have fixed this by filing them down, but I didn't bother because it didn't take long for me to regret the purchase.

While it looked absolutely beautiful, I'd put the build quality on par with a few Made in Mexico Fenders I've owned. For the added cost and wait, I wasn't impressed. And to make matter worse, these things have almost no resale value, so if you're unhappy, be prepared to feel like you're giving it away.

But there's a thread full of people buying multiple basses from them, so maybe I just got unlucky with a bad build.

Besides the two things you mentioned with the pickups, were there other build problems? You’re certainly entitled to your own opinion on the bass, but it sounds like a big jump to compare it to a MIM fender based only on the pickups.

 

[T McClure]

Besides the two things you mentioned with the pickups, were there other build problems? You’re certainly entitled to your own opinion on the bass, but it sounds like a big jump to compare it to a MIM fender based only on the pickups.

I mean, I'd say a custom built bass with two humbucking style pickups still being one of the noisiest basses I've owned is a huge negative.

I guess I could also say I didn't like how the back of the neck being a glossy nitro made it sticky, but I didn't bring that up because it was a different type of disappointment where I didn't realize his nitro finish was going to be so glossy on both the neck and body. But that isn't diminishing how well it was otherwise made but was more a sadness because I didn't know that's what I was getting.

 

[4$$]

How dare you to compare Maruszczyk/Mensinger products with Fender!

 

[BlackWolf]

Thank you!

From left to right: Elwood with Aguilar AG 4J-HC, Jake with Aguilar AG 4P-60, Frog Omega with Nordstrand Zen Blades and Mopped B 5-string with Nordstrand Big Splits.
View attachment 7056926

Honeymoon is over of course, but everytime I pick one of these basses I’m always satisfied. Excellent quality and no regrets!

Yesterday I played with my Jake after months of using only the Mopped B 5-string.

 

[foothilla]

Another happy customer here.

My first frog (6 string) was finished in March 2011 and its still my favourite bass of all time that gets played nearly every day.

I got another in 2013, a passive 6-string fretless frog, but I never really played tot much, due to it being fretless, so sold it in 2023.

I got another frog 6-string in 2018 to mark the occasion of my son's birth and another in 2022 to mark the occasion of my daughter's birth.

Build quality is good, maybe not great, but it's absolutely fine, definitely similar to some American fenders I played.

I'll admit that though the honeymoon phase is definitely over for the 2011 frog, my view might still not be entirely neutral, due to it being my first "good" bass (I just had an Ibanez ATK400, sr500 and GSR180 before). The bass feels like an extension of myself at this point.

View attachment 7342421

When you say the build quality is not great, can you explain?

I've owned a pair of them briefly, and thought they were built nice. Now I am considering a shortscale headless, because I want something tiny that I can take on my motorcycle. I've seen a bunch of cautions about the build quality though, so would love to hear what issues people had.

 

[Barticus]

I've seen a bunch of cautions about the build quality though, so would love to hear what issues people had.

There is a lot to read throughout this thread, I'd say the majority is positive feedback on the builds received... from myself included, and all headless (search is your friend).

I'm wondering where you're seeing a "bunch of cautions"?

 

[foothilla]

There is a lot to read throughout this thread, I'd say the majority is positive feedback on the builds received... from myself included, and all headless (search is your friend).

I'm wondering where you're seeing a "bunch of cautions"?

Yea, unfortunately I don't have time to get through a 475-page thread, but I have hopped around in this thread and read a lot of pages. I have seen a bunch of comments that resemble the one I quoted above, "good build quality, but not great," but they don't really articulate what they didn't like. That's what I'm referring to when I say "cautions."

I had a minor problem with one of my headless bridges, but I wouldn't consider that a build quality issue. The other one I had I didn't like the pickups and had a problem with one of them. They sent me a replacement, and the pickup cavity was so tight that I had trouble getting the original out and the replacement in. When I got the original out I could see they sanded the plastic to get it to fit. I wondered if the malfunction was a result of the pickup being sanded and jammed in there so tightly

Otherwise, I thought the two I've owned were built nice. But, I'm curious what people didn't like about their build quality prior to ordering one.

 

[Esdamion]

Imo the quality is okay for the price, but there is plenty that isn't good or great.

The block inlays are a bit messy. The binding looks cheap and isn't always perfectly glued it seems and uneven. I have one fret that constantly buzzes no matter what I change in the setup.

The pickups were terrible so I replaced them myself. The monorailbridge saddles weren't all the same somehow, one was of a different model and higher than the other 3 which makes zero sense. It's a more than decent bass, it sounds good and it's easy to play (after changing a few things), but for over € 2K I expected more attention to detail tbh. I don't think I'll ever order another one, especially since they at first built me a bass that didn't look like the configurator at all.

 

[foothilla]

Imo the quality is okay for the price, but there is plenty that isn't good or great.

The block inlays are a bit messy. The binding looks cheap and isn't always perfectly glued it seems and uneven. I have one fret that constantly buzzes no matter what I change in the setup.

The pickups were terrible so I replaced them myself. The monorailbridge saddles weren't all the same somehow, one was of a different model and higher than the other 3 which makes zero sense. It's a more than decent bass, it sounds good and it's easy to play (after changing a few things), but for over € 2K I expected more attention to detail tbh. I don't think I'll ever order another one, especially since they at first built me a bass that didn't look like the configurator at all.

Thank you, this is the kind of stuff I needed to hear. Looking back over the thread I see there were problems that caught my attention 5 years ago. I guess I needed the reminder. I'm OCD and definitely wouldn't want the flaws you mentioned. I guess I need to look elsewhere for my small "motorcycle bass". I wish Status was still making Streamlines.

 

[4$$]

I live near the shop and own a Cazpar. I can tell you there is hundreds of basses and all in a very good condition. No flaws. I could pick mine up in the shop so could choose. Adrian is very helpful too.

 

[gln1955]

Thank you, this is the kind of stuff I needed to hear. Looking back over the thread I see there were problems that caught my attention 5 years ago. I guess I needed the reminder. I'm OCD and definitely wouldn't want the flaws you mentioned. I guess I need to look elsewhere for my small "motorcycle bass". I wish Status was still making Streamlines.

My own experience and echoed by many here is that the build quality on my Jake couldn't be better. It's not impossible that they turn out a lemon every once in a while, everyone does. You also have to consider that some people are never happy with anything.

 

[foothilla]

I live near the shop and own a Cazpar. I can tell you there is hundreds of basses and all in a very good condition. No flaws. I could pick mine up in the shop so could choose. Adrian is very helpful too.

The headless Cazpar that I bought used was pretty sweet. I thought that one was built really well, played great and sounded great (it had Aguilar DCB's in it, with passive electronics). It had the bridge issue, but that's a hardware issue, not a build issue. I only sold it because it was a 5-string and as a longtime 4-string guy, I just never meshed with that extra string.

My Frog headless was absolutely gorgeous. It was a stocked bass that I bought new from Adrian. But I hated the pickups/electronics - and it had that pickup cavity issue. I didn't love the way it played/setup either, so I sold that one pretty quickly.

I'd be happy if I got one built like the Cazpar that I sold. But I'd be totally bummed if I got one with some of the other issues I read about and experienced with my Frog. At this time I'm thinking it's probably not worth the risk. But I can attest, the ones that are good are really good for the money.

 

[Esdamion]

My own experience and echoed by many here is that the build quality on my Jake couldn't be better. It's not impossible that they turn out a lemon every once in a while, everyone does. You also have to consider that some people are never happy with anything.

Are you suggesting I'm never happy with anything after I just listed a number of issues with my bass that are objectively not in order?

 

[Barticus]

Thank you, this is the kind of stuff I needed to hear. Looking back over the thread I see there were problems that caught my attention 5 years ago. I guess I needed the reminder. I'm OCD and definitely wouldn't want the flaws you mentioned. I guess I need to look elsewhere for my small "motorcycle bass". I wish Status was still making Streamlines.

S Martyn

 

[foothilla]

S Martyn

Pretty cool looking! I'm going to read up on them.