Wishbass Club

[Gubna]

Ambrosia Maple veneer to cover the aluminium?

 

[anonymous38457747]

Dude I argued with him for like 20 minutes solid on the phone...I told him to use a different wood as a backer instead of the aluminum if he would rather...his mind was made up...but like I said he will replace them if I am unhappy. They should be here Monday. Let me mount them, snap some pics and post here and let you know how it works before you order.

 

[BillyB_from_LZ]

...He argued that pure wood plates would not be stable or solid enough and would crack. ...

My Hoyt/Warmoth J5 has rear mounted controls and some sort of thin hardwood for a cover. I guess the body came with a plastic cover, but Karl hates 'em. I've never had a problem.

It just sounds like Wish wants to do it his way and if it ain't his idea it's not going to work.

 

[anonymous38457747]

In reality I guess I could get some maple or walnut and cut a friggn circle and plane it and all. I just figured wish would have it done faster. I don't know. Maybe I will stop calling him when I need things and just order his basses off ebay and get the upgrade parts elsewhere if I don't make them myself.

 

[Basswad]

"...but you really can't ask for much more in a fretless than you get in a Wish as far as I'm concerned, at least for the price."
Yes. Awesome. Keep saying things, you, I like it.

Tone: I can't imagine any of his solid wood basses sounded bad in any regard, even accounting for different tastes and opinions. There are only some subtle things like p/up height, wiring, glue (IMO) that he seems to be unwavering about. Could he be more "user-friendly?" sure, but if you want a quality fretless, take all of our findings into accout and spend 300 bones. I did, and I do believe I'll do it again, but with a few of my personal preferences considered through experience.

 

[Basswad]

Wow it does look better w/out lines!




See, I learned something. Yay

And my human greases have darkened it too.

 

[PeteH]

Well, I got Mr. Growly back from the shop. They said they had to plane it twice, but the end result is fabulous. I've got just the right amount of growl all up and down the fingerboard. The hump is gone, and actually, the board is a lot silkier after the planing/sanding process.

It's definitely in better shape and more playable than before. $45 well spent.

Happy again.....

 

[BillyB_from_LZ]

Excellent!

You do realize that we'll need some sound clips though...don't you?

 

[BillyB_from_LZ]

The "Stellar" could put someone's eye out...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bass-Fretless-F...oryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The Curly Maple is very pretty though.

 

[Gubna]

Dude I argued with him for like 20 minutes solid on the phone...I told him to use a different wood as a backer instead of the aluminum if he would rather...his mind was made up...but like I said he will replace them if I am unhappy. They should be here Monday. Let me mount them, snap some pics and post here and let you know how it works before you order.

Actually, I already sent him the money on Monday. I just emailed him again... we'll see what he says.

 

[Gubna]

The "Stellar" could put someone's eye out...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bass-Fretless-F...oryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Yeah, I can't wait to see it impaling people in Frank Miller's
"300"!

I do think he could've made the headstock more 'spear-like'.

 

[Silversorcerer]

Great thread about a truly interesting maker. His work is improving from what I have seen, if gradually. The fretless ones look pretty cool, indeed. If you can free yourself of the frets, you can free yourself of their represetation. You can figure out where the position markers need to be by finding the harmonics. I have always thought his designs were some of the free-est artistically. Perhaps he should license the styles to another builder? Naaaahh. It would be sacrilege

I know it was probably annoying to deal with the fellow to get him to change some minor details, but consider that aluminum cover plate: Cheesey perhaps, but it does give the pots a ground point. So there is some of his theory of simple utility in the aluminum grounding plate, which is a cover plate also. It's kind of like the plate on a Jazz functionally, but cheaper than chrome. So it is kind of a kinky sort of trademark. You see that little aluminum thing on the front and you know it is a Wishnevsky. With that gone, it might be anyone's "cheap" or worse yet expensive "knock-off". And certainly it will come to that;- expensive knock-offs of Wishnevsky designs.

I can certainly respect that he is prone to stick to the habits that he knows are successful, even if improvements could be made, he probably sees those as experimental. Just ask one of the better known boutique makers to "experiment" for you. Mostly, you get a flat out, "No". After they've been at it for a while, they know a good bit of what isn't a good idea. Exotic and expensive woods that are hard to find and highly variable in quality is a good way to get into trouble.

Anyway, great thread fellows. Keep us posted on the Wishbasses. Never know when I might want a good back-up for the fretless Ritter. (I'm serious). I don't think I can go back to factory basses. And Wishbasses are the reason. There's a custom maker for every price point. I'm not encouraged by the reports of low output though. Do you think it is just the pick-up placement, the pick-ups, or those corian bridges and nuts? It just doesn't hold that the basses should be quieter than others. Someone experiment with a set of EMG's or Barts and let us know if you can get some volume out of a Wish.

 

[bryanjnkns]

I'm not encouraged by the reports of low output though. Do you think it is just the pick-up placement, the pick-ups, or those corian bridges and nuts? It just doesn't hold that the basses should be quieter than others. Someone experiment with a set of EMG's or Barts and let us know if you can get some volume out of a Wish.

I think its a combination of both pickup placement and the the corian. More often than not the pickup on a wish is really close to the bidge and like on a jazz bass doesnt provide a lot of low end(just more mids) IMO. And on my wish the corian bridge and nut were not shaped just right, i don't think the bridge had the proper contact with the body, nor did the nut to the fingerboard. Im not really sure if any of that mattered, but it bugged the hell out of me!

So, my solution....add a brass hipshot A style bridge, graphtech nut and a compact john east pre. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[PeteH]

If Wish is so wedded to using aluminum plates, perhaps for grounding as mentioned above, one wonders why the man won't get some nice anodized aluminum in a cool dark red or black, rather than the 'brushed' finish. I can't believe it would add that much to the price.

On the other hand, I don't know how he's cutting the current plates, so there may be a good bit of flexing, scratching, or other damage in the process which might then call for wirebrushing to hide the scrapes.

 

[Silversorcerer]

Any time in any kind of standardized manufacturing process, throwing a wrench in the works is uncertain. You are asking for surprises, delays, unproven methodology, etc. It seems like a simple issue. But what if he's using a simple stamping out type tool and some stock sheet metal he got salvage. New materials induce new material costs and all the handling that goes with it. With economy one of the major goals, I'd settle for the funny aluminum doo-hickey if he'd put a hardwood bridge on it and a hardwood or brass nut. I wonder if he has considered piezo-type of pickups under the bridge? Or concealing the pickups under the finger board.

 

[blackcrayon]

Anyone see these basses on wish's blog? That's the most fretted basses i've seen of his in one place (2 out of 3 )

Link Removed

 

[FoT bassman]

Well here are my questions to you guys. If I were to look into buying one of these basses, would there be any chance in me seeing how it sounds and feels before I get stuck with it? And how much will I end up spending in adjustments and such after I get it?

 

[BillyB_from_LZ]

Wish has a return policy and IIRC, you forfeit 50%. I'm not sure about his eBay basses.

You could just flip it rather than returning it as you'd lose less.

Probably the only way to try one is to find someone locally that is willing to let you check out their Wish.

 

[FoT bassman]

I know I'm full of questions but I've got more. If I were to get one, what kind of wood is best? And how hard is it to get this guy to do a custom shape?

 

[bryanjnkns]

what kind of wood is best? And how hard is it to get this guy to do a custom shape?

That depends on what tone you're after and even then..that is somewhat subjective. His basses are neck through so the body wings won't affect the tone nearly as much as a bolt on or set neck would(its just for looks). IMO the best wood for one of wishes basses would be a dense straight grained hardwood, and that is what he gives you. Mine is a laminate of maple/purpleheart/cherry/purpleheart/maple. I would like to try one with a neck made from mahogany and northern ash(baseball bat).

It would be fairly easy to get him to do a custom shape. As far as i know he does them often. Some of his shapes on his website are some that he kept from his customers. Im sure it wouldn't hurt to ask him directly either.