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I just discovered this club and it prompted me to register with TB. I read the first 10 pages or so, then jumped to the end, so if I discuss stuff that has already been covered here, I apologize. I just don't have the time to read all 46 pages
I am very fond of all four of my Wishbasses. So much has been said in defense of Wish and his basses, much of it with great civility and eloquence by BassdudeSA, that I won't spend anytime there. But I have some opinions ya know.
Side dots. Yep, they can be right on or goofy. Personally I think he measures the octave and eyeballs the rest, but no matter. I have found FretFX to be an outstanding tool for playing the fretless. They are LED's that mark your frets. Even if the nails are in the perfect position, I still find them hard to read. When I installed my first LED's my intonation improved dramatically, immediately. The LED's also have a marker at the first fret, unbelievably helpful. FretFX has a website, so I won't go into detail here. If you scroll down the testimonials page you will find a picture of my Scroll Wishbass with the LED's all lit up. (FWIW I am a satisfied customer, not a paid endorser!)
Floating Corian bridge. I have read skepticism about the floating bridge. "how do set the intonation? how do you adjust the action?" I have found Corian to be an excellent material for the nut and the bridge. I have found that with a slight angle, shorter at the G, longer at the E, you can slide the nut back and forth till you find a reasonably good intonation. get out your tuner and experiment. Adjusting the action is a little more difficult. The first time I wanted to try lowering the action, I filed down the bridge a little, and tested it. Thought I could go lower so I repeated. Each time I lowered the action I liked it better, so I kept going. I know, in retrospect I don't seem too bright do I. After the fourth reduction, the action was too low, and I found unfiling the bridge to be unsuccessful
Emailed Wish and he sent me another bridge for free. This time, I filed it down in steps. One level for each string at the original height, next to that a step down for each string, and there was room for one more step down. This allows some variation for different strings, different moods, whatever. Just loosen the strings and slide the bridge to the side for whichever height I seek. Then I discovered wood epoxy. Cheap at my local hardware store. I have fashioned my own bridges to use as templates. Form the epoxy with your fingers, cure it on wax paper, with the paper forming your flat side, and it makes a pretty decent bridge. The good thing is you can inexpensively make a bunch, form or file to many different sizes, and when you find the perfect one, use it as a model, and file your corian bridge to match the Wood epoxy mock up. I have been playing one of my WB's with an epoxy bridge for months now, I forgot it was on there, it has no noticeable degradation of tone.
The finish. I have derived great pleasure from finishing all my Wishbasses. Wether you get it with a finish, or in white, (no finish) I would count on finishing your wishbass. This does not take great skill. It is much easier if you start with an unfinished bass, but I highly recommend that you finish your bass yourself. Take off the strings, remove the electronics, buy a mixed wood file set, and lots of sandpaper, from about 120 grit down to 1000 grit. Use the file for the roughest stuff. I had to take down about an 1/8 of an inch on some of my joins. Then sand it, and sand it, and sand it. I usually put only about 4-5 hours total of sanding time til I think it's good enuf. I finish the body down to about 600 grit, but the neck I like to take to 1000. Soft as a baby's butt. The best look I find, if you not a pro with a pressure spray, is to hand rub your finish. I've heard good things about TruOil. i have used a Tung oil/Polyeurothane blend, an old cotton sock, about 10-12 coats with a 0000 steel wool buff between coats. Looks lovey, and it's easy.
Electronics. Pickups are a very personal thing. I simply don't care for EMG selects in most applications I have heard them in. All my Wishbasses have EMG actives in them. The 35P, DC, TW, and CS. Regardless, there are MANY options out there that most of us will like better than the EMG selects. BassdudeSA seems to have found his answer with the quarter pounder. I would count on upgrading the pickups, unless you get one with the Kent Armstrong that Wish sometimes uses. That Pickup kicks out the jams.
IMHO, the secret to a successful Wishbass, is to make it your own. Wish provides you with an awesome infrastructure, his necks are astounding. Just know that you will most likely want to have your own hand in making it reach it's true potential, and suit your needs. So I suggest, before he retires, buy a Wishbass, give it some loving elbow grease and some extra cash for electronics, spend your time playing music and staying "stupidly happy" and DON'T waste any energy on the trash talking Wish haters.
But, I do have one last observation about the haters. Some seem to respond as if Wish is trying to rip them off, or scam them in some way. As if he promised them an Alembic and delivered far less. Wish lays it all right on the line on his website. READ IT haters! Almost every complaint they have, Wish addresses specifically in his mission statement. He recommends that you buy his basses in white, and finish yourself. He, stresses the rough nature of the finishes and advises they are not for everybody. He places tone and playability above fit and finish. And when he screws up, and he has with me on a few things, I have found that by approaching him with civility, and common courtesy, he has ALWAYS made things right. And then he thanks me for being nice about it. I can only guess that if I called him an F***ing A**hole who sold me a POS, that he might not be as helpful.
Anyway, I reiterate: It's not about Wish, and how good or bad his basses are, it's about musical expression, and whatever helps you there...............
