Wishbass Club pt. 2

[kesslari]

LexTron

As a non-Wish owner and somewhat impartial observer - an observation.
You've made your point and shared your story, and your strong caveats about ordering a custom bass from Wish.

At this point, while others may disagree, arguing with them about their disagreements does less to strengthen the points you have made, and simply makes you look more like a whiner.

Your case is well made. Let it stand on its merits.

 

[LexTron6K]

LexTron

As a non-Wish owner and somewhat impartial observer - an observation.
You've made your point and shared your story, and your strong caveats about ordering a custom bass from Wish.

At this point, while others may disagree, arguing with them about their disagreements does less to strengthen the points you have made, and simply makes you look more like a whiner.

Your case is well made. Let it stand on its merits.

I'm not really trying to argue with anybody. I think it's odd that there are people here who think this is good business practice and that I brought it upon myself due to lack of research or by asking too much or whatever, but we're all entitled to our own opinions.

Whining? Is that really what you think this is? I'm stunned, appalled, frustrated, cheated. But whining? Come on now.

 

[Thunderitter]

You should wait and see what the mailman delivers - then come back with your constructive views/opinions or even your plain out criticism!

From what I understand right now, your posting is based on your worries, suspicions and a couple of photos and IMHO that's not the strongest starting point for constructive criticism or ever plain old in your face criticism!

I can't stress again, but while a squint saddle and a visible truss rod may not be esthetically pleasing to you, if it doesn't play then I think you've got a real issue. If it does play then you've got what looks to be rather a nice example of a Wishbass, made all the more special by the addition of some serious add-ons. Sure it needs some additional work but that's the nature of the beast.

Don't get us wrong here, I don't think anyone here is defending Wish, but rather taking slight issue with how you've gone about telling all and sundry what you think is wrong and airing your washing, which may, or may not, be dirty at this point!

As I bystander I am clearly not across both sides of the issue, but certainly from what you've posted to date on your side, I don't think you've got enough detail to have posted what you've posted - at least for now!

 

[Jeff Roller]

And for the record, Wish doesn't do forums for the obvious....if you search TB there is so much hateful stuff on here about his work. Statements I've read in the past amount to "I can build a better bass for ten dollars worth of Home Depot 2 x 4's " would tend to make even the most jaded person not read forums. As this thread indicates, there are many of us happy with what Wish does, I have four of his "creations" and am very pleased with what they are. Are they the same quality as my Dingwall? No, but I can buy about ten wishbasses for the price of a Dingwall, and that's the point.

 

[MooseLumps]

I have to side with lex on this one. I understand the nature of wish's instruments, but if you ask for a custom job you should get wish's full effort. It is poor business practice to tell someone that their bass was a pain in the *** build and send it to them before you have worked with each other to right some of the issues you have.

If it were me, comment would have been withheld until I played the bass, and I don't think that wish should have taken an order he was uncomfortable with.
I feel that Wish really dropped the ball on this one, but we all screw up and if he doesn't retire before I get the funds, I'll send him a custom order that I've been planning for a while.

Lex, Best of luck in recouping, it looks like the bridge is fairly easily salvageable and I hope it works out for you.

To Wish, hopefully a life lesson and hope you are ready for one more custom order before you hang it up.

Anyone think that i should take wish up on the offer to buy him out and continue making wishbasses? I've been kicking around the idea for a while, but I actually have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to luthery... very big detractor in my opinion, but I don't want to see wishbasses die.

 

[kesslari]

Anyone think that i should take wish up on the offer to buy him out and continue making wishbasses? I've been kicking around the idea for a while, but I actually have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to luthery... very big detractor in my opinion, but I don't want to see wishbasses die.

I think it will be hard for anyone but Wish to continue building Wishbasses.
More than any other maker, his basses are unique, idiosyncratic reflections of himself...

 

[LexTron6K]

Maybe there's a misunderstanding here.

It's not the instrument itself that I'm holding to task; it's Wish's way of dealing with the agreement that we had together to get the instrument made, and the fact that he completely and absolutely disowned our agreement. That's poor business on his part.

As soon as I asked a few questions about the instrument, Wish basically said that he had had enough with this particular instrument and he would not field any questions, and he proceeded to mail it to me without any consent or further queries on my part. This is what I'm having real issues with.

And, in all honesty, I have absolutely no idea what has caused this tremendous turn in Wish's behavior. Again, he is just practicing incredibly poor business.

I'm hopeful about the instrument, but damn, I can't support a guy that won't stand behind his instruments or his agreements in the egregious manner that Wish has demonstrated in this case.

And I think anybody that's interested in working with the guy should have the opportunity to bear witness to the way that the guy does business.

 

[rustynuts]

I think it will be hard for anyone but Wish to continue building Wishbasses.
More than any other maker, his basses are unique, idiosyncratic reflections of himself...

Probably true. Even if "Wishbass" doesn't die, the spirit of it will. I know I, for one, couldn't build them like he does. The misaligned string holes (does he use ferrules?) and position markers would drive me nuts.

 

[MooseLumps]

Let me rephrase.

Should i buy wish's tools and rights to his shapes and names and produce a wishbass-esque product as a fellow who has mad love for the brand but no experience making guitars?

 

[jbybj]

I hope he does stop making them. Then in 10 years I can get $5K for my purpleheart hyper ;-)

 

[MooseLumps]

I hope he does stop making them. Then in 10 years I can get $5K for my purpleheart hyper ;-)

:scowl:

 

[Thunderitter]

Maybe there's a misunderstanding here.

It's not the instrument itself that I'm holding to task; it's Wish's way of dealing with the agreement that we had together to get the instrument made, and the fact that he completely and absolutely disowned our agreement. That's poor business on his part.

What was the agreement you had? You haven't gone in to that so that's maybe why we've been basing our replies on your criticism of the instrument that is currently in the mail to you.

And I think anybody that's interested in working with the guy should have the opportunity to bear witness to the way that the guy does business.

I think you have to realise that Wish is not a street savvy businessman, rather he is an artist; not everyone likes or even gets his art but that's what he is.

And, in all honesty, I have absolutely no idea what has caused this tremendous turn in Wish's behavior.

It sounds like, for whatever reason, valid or invalid, it was you! Maybe you were trying to teach an old dog new tricks? It sounds to me and for whatever reason, your expectations were out of whack with what Wish does.

 

[LexTron6K]

My expectations were for Wish to complete the instrument that he agreed to build before I paid him the deposit.

He made the choice to send me the bass, unfinished and decided that because of this I don't have to maintain my end of the agreement, which was to pay the remainder of the fee.

He agreed to build me a bass and finish, and I agreed to pay X amount of dollars. HE DID NOT MEET THIS AGREEMENT. If this is something that Wish does, than yes, my expectations were out of whack. But I know that when I make a business (artist or not) agreement with somebody, I expect them to carry their end out, just as I expect to be offered the opportunity to carry my end out. In this instance Wish refused both.

The bottom line here is that Wish agreed to make me an instrument, and he has decided that he's not going to do it AFTER he has been paid for his services.

He should not have taken this project on, apparently. I don't know how you can place the blame on my shoulders when the guy not only agreed to take on the project but also accepted my money to lock the agreement.

 

[Thunderitter]

What's not finished about the instrument?

 

[LexTron6K]

I'm not even sure what's finished and what's not. That's really getting to the root of the problem here, and the issue that I'm having with Wish.

I know that he hasn't gone through the "final setup." I know that he hasn't finished the electronics, but I've got no idea where he is with either of these elements, or with anything for that matter. The only thing that I've got to tell me these things would be the two low-resolution photos that I've shared with you guys.

When I began asking questions, Wish said he had had enough and it wasn't getting sent out, so honestly I couldn't tell what has been done and hasn't been done with the instrument.

What I can tell you is that Wish has completely failed to hold up his end of the agreement.

 

[LexTron6K]

Oh yeah. I noticed from the pictures that there are no strap pins (?) on the instrument, and I also noticed that he is not using the factory provided knobs for the electronics that I ordered, but is instead using his own.

What is the status of these items? Your guess is as good as mine.

 

[MJLuke]

LEX, it really looks to me like you're about to recieve a very descent Wishbass for less than most of us paid for ours... allbeit perhaps not finnished to your exact specifications...

I hope you can get all your hardware back... sounds like you sent it all in to Steve for him to install and finnish... not what I would have done but... you know...

I really hope this all works out for you in the end... I think it really just might.

 

[Thunderitter]

I'm not even sure what's finished and what's not. That's really getting to the root of the problem here, and the issue that I'm having with Wish.

Suggestion: wait for the bass, find out and then re-start your discussion/posting. etc. Speculation is not useful right now.

I know that he hasn't gone through the "final setup." I know that he hasn't finished the electronics, but I've got no idea where he is with either of these elements, or with anything for that matter. The only thing that I've got to tell me these things would be the two low-resolution photos that I've shared with you guys.

I didn't think these basses got a final set-up!

How do you know he hasn't finished the electronics?

When I began asking questions, Wish said he had had enough and it wasn't getting sent out, so honestly I couldn't tell what has been done and hasn't been done with the instrument.

I thought you said he had sent the bass already? If this is just a typo, deep breath, and wait for the bass to arrive!

What I can tell you is that Wish has completely failed to hold up his end of the agreement.

Completely? Can't agree on that one; partially maybe (although I'm not so sure) but from those pics it looks like you've got a pretty functioning bass and you'll find out for sure when you get it out the box!

Oh yeah. I noticed from the pictures that there are no strap pins (?) on the instrument, and I also noticed that he is not using the factory provided knobs for the electronics that I ordered, but is instead using his own.

What is the status of these items? Your guess is as good as mine.

I'm sure Wish will send you them if you ask nicely! Seriously, you'll be needing to take these off anyway if you're going to finish the bass so in my book certainly no big deal. You might find they are on the bass when you take it out of the box.

In summary, if the bass is in the mail as you've previously said you need to wait and see what comes!

Oh and one more thing: wait and see what's in the box!

 

[Thunderitter]

One more thing:

Wish's terms are very clear: to get him to make you a bass it's $250 deposit non-refundable. That's the starting point and from there you go.

The fact he's giving you a whole bass and not asking for any more is pretty reasonable in my book, particularly as it's got $500+ of your gear in it. Many business folks wouldn't come to that decision immediately, rather they'd hold you ransom for some or all of the balance. I suppose that's one more example of Wish's bad business practices!

 

[LexTron6K]

"How do you know he hasn't finished the electronics? "

He told me.

"I thought you said he had sent the bass already? If this is just a typo, deep breath, and wait for the bass to arrive!"

That's a typo. My bad.

Let me restate my stand again: this is not about the bass, it's about the guy, and how he has chosen to carry out his business with this order.

Imagine that you order a burger for a $1.00. When you ask whether or not they remembered the extra pickles, they throw their unfinished burger at you and give you $4.50 back out of your $5.00.

You've yet to open the burger to find out how far they got before they decided that they had had enough, but you know that it's not going to be what you asked for.

This is my situation. It may be the best burger I've ever had. It may be two buns with only ketchup and mustard, no beef and no pickles at all. Either way, it's not what we both agreed upon prior to the exchange of money. And the guy that did not finish his job did so at the expense of his customer.