Wishbass Club

[jbybj]

I'm new to this interface. oops.

 

[abarson]

I used to trawl ebay just to look for those oddball early Wishbasses!

I found a nice Wishbass in the secondhand department of a local music store and was excited to finally get to try one out. I think it was a Peanut model. I really liked the size and shape of the neck, and it had a full, woody sound that I thought was really cool. What killed it for me was that it was one of those "butcherblock" bodies made out of various wood variety cutoffs. I think temperature change caused the blocks to start to come unglued, and I just didn't want to deal with that.

Anyway, the fretless bass I'm building has a fatter neck that is directly inspired by my acquaintance with the Wish.

I would point out that as Wishnevesky threatens to wind down his production, his basses have been looking more mainstream and stunning.

 

[49sfine]

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...............

jbybj; Well said sir! I heartily agree. I just don't get the naysayers since Wish is pretty up front about his work. Before I bought my first one I visited his website, HarmonyCentral and TB, and was able to get a pretty good picture of what to expect. Within a short period of time I purchased 4 Wishbasses - 3 from Wish and 1 from an owner. They are all different (maple Lobe, spalted Hyper, birch Banana and zebrawood Fantasy) in terms of feel and set-up, (but not that far apart) and certainly everything is tweakable. I think the whole reason to buy a Wishbass is because you can work on it - that's the aspect I like the most about them! That, and the woods, the funkiness and the odd designs. I want to expereiment with some Brazilian brown ebony bridge blanks I bought to create a couple of hard wood bridges, but the corian seems fine to me and can be modified at will. I also think the best way to go is with an unfinished unit, but all of them on Ebay have something on them, so you just strip it off and go from there. My Fanatasy is still on order and will come in white - yippee! I also have a very nice $900Aerodyne P-Bass which is all smooth and shiny and plays like butter so when I need my "factory fix", I play that. What's not to like?

 

[Thunderitter]

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.

.....................................

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...............

I second all of that and you've made a great job of the bass pictured in your post!

 

[49sfine]

I am in the process of 'finishing' my Wishbass - custom order 8 string (octaves) JB.

Just wondering if anyone has tried to reduce the depth of the neck of their wish? Sounds like a dangerous idea, and to be honest at present it isnt really a problem as i wear my 8 string wish slightly higher (same height as my 12 string). But I thought that later down the line I may regret not doing it, and I don't want to finish the bass then have to restart at a later date.

To see the thickness of the neck in comparison to my other basses check out the pix on page 39 of this thread.

Any thoughts?

caragel: I found your idea interesting. I have wondered though, about thinning the neck in width, but not depth. I like the roundness of the thing, but would really like it to be more narrow with the spacing between the strings closer together. (I guess my time with a Hofner Beatle bass has had some kind of lasting effect.) Has anyone done this? If, so, what tool(s) did you use to accompish the task successfully? - i would appreciate any input, thanx ...

 

[49sfine]

I recently bought a Wishbass control harness via eBay. Basically, it is a Wishbox for installation in the bass.

I think this was the first one that has been built for sale, but installation (a bit of soldering) was easy and I am really happy with the tone variation it gives me on my Wishbass! My Wishbass is now in the process of a refin so no sound clips right now.

I think the builder is a contributor to TB so if he reads this I would suggest you build some more as I am sure you will have a ready market! Good job!

I recently bought one of his controls myself. I have not installed it yet since all of my Wishes are going to be refinished. It's nice to get some feedback about them though! Now I am more excited about getting it installed; probably on my spalted maple Hyper. I should post pix, shouldn't I?)

 

[jbybj]

caragel: I found your idea interesting. I have wondered though, about thinning the neck in width, but not depth. I like the roundness of the thing, but would really like it to be more narrow with the spacing between the strings closer together. (I guess my time with a Hofner Beatle bass has had some kind of lasting effect.) Has anyone done this? If, so, what tool(s) did you use to accompish the task successfully? - i would appreciate any input, thanx ...

I have used a file to take down some high spots, but never any significant reduction in the overall size of the neck. A significant thinning of the neck would make me worry about stability. I think one of the reasons WB's don't need a truss rod is because the bulk of his necks supply strength and stability. Whatever you do, you want to do it gradually. It sounds like a lot of work, but a selection of files and rasps might be the way to go. Ask your local luthier.....

 

[49sfine]

I have used a file to take down some high spots, but never any significant reduction in the overall size of the neck. A significant thinning of the neck would make me worry about stability. I think one of the reasons WB's don't need a truss rod is because the bulk of his necks supply strength and stability. Whatever you do, you want to do it gradually. It sounds like a lot of work, but a selection of files and rasps might be the way to go. Ask your local luthier.....

I wasn't thinking about a significant reduction, just maybe an 1/8" on either side of the neck. I can't imagine that would compromise the neck structurally, do you think? I have luthier files but was wondering if there was a power toll I could use to get the initial cutting done and then move to the hand files.
By the way I just filed and sanded down my Wishbass box and put tung oil on it - gosh it looks good! It's my first time to use the stuff - very easy to apply. It's up top 3 coats now. Zebrawood here I come ...

 

[Thunderitter]

I found I got my Wishbass neck nicely shaped by hand with 60 grit sandpaper initially before moving up 150 and to 220 grit! I will add that the neck on a Wishbass is really well made, granted the profile may not be to everyone's liking

 

[jbybj]

I wasn't thinking about a significant reduction, just maybe an 1/8" on either side of the neck. I can't imagine that would compromise the neck structurally, do you think? I have luthier files but was wondering if there was a power toll I could use to get the initial cutting done and then move to the hand files.
By the way I just filed and sanded down my Wishbass box and put tung oil on it - gosh it looks good! It's my first time to use the stuff - very easy to apply. It's up top 3 coats now. Zebrawood here I come ...

First of all, I told a half truth. In my first post I said I loved all four of my Wishbasses. The truth is the fourth one was in transit, but I knew I would love it. I'm the guy who bought #88 off ebay a few days ago and it arrived today. As I suspected, very cool wood, nice Peanut? body shape, and will need some care. The neck, holy cow, it is easily twice as thick as any other WB I have held, (5 others all told). What I plan on doing to this neck seems beyond the scope of sandpaper or files. I knew there was a tool, I had seen before, a hand held plane, but with handles on the side. I just didn't know what it was called or where to get one. God bless the internet. They are called spokeshaves, and they are designed for making table legs, spokes, and other such carveable round devices. You can set them to shave wafer thin layers off your bass neck, and quite precisely shape the contour. I'm going shopping tomorrow.

 

[jbybj]

I wasn't thinking about a significant reduction, just maybe an 1/8" on either side of the neck. I can't imagine that would compromise the neck structurally, do you think?

No, that doesn't seem like a problem. I was thinking if you wanted to make the neck say, more fenderish in profile, that might be dangerous.


I have luthier files but was wondering if there was a power toll I could use to get the initial cutting done and then move to the hand files.
By the way I just filed and sanded down my Wishbass box and put tung oil on it - gosh it looks good! It's my first time to use the stuff - very easy to apply. It's up top 3 coats now. Zebrawood here I come ...

If you like it after three coats, wait til you put 10-12 on a nicely sanded bass. Pictures do not do it justice. Have fun......

 

[49sfine]

First of all, I told a half truth. In my first post I said I loved all four of my Wishbasses. The truth is the fourth one was in transit, but I knew I would love it. I'm the guy who bought #88 off ebay a few days ago and it arrived today. As I suspected, very cool wood, nice Peanut? body shape, and will need some care. The neck, holy cow, it is easily twice as thick as any other WB I have held, (5 others all told). What I plan on doing to this neck seems beyond the scope of sandpaper or files. I knew there was a tool, I had seen before, a hand held plane, but with handles on the side. I just didn't know what it was called or where to get one. God bless the internet. They are called spokeshaves, and they are designed for making table legs, spokes, and other such carveable round devices. You can set them to shave wafer thin layers off your bass neck, and quite precisely shape the contour. I'm going shopping tomorrow.

Gee, you're the guy that got that one! I was going to go for it and a friend showed up and I lost track of time and bam! Darn. I was wondering how it compared to his newer ones. Glad you like it. I am almost done refinishing my red birch Banana bass - since Wish has sprayed it with lacquer, I decided to shoot it in lacquer as well, only in a satin finish, not gloss. I feared de-laming the birch sections using too much stripper, so I decided not to get it all off, just most of it. After hours of filing, shaping, and sanding I shot the sanding sealer last night. I am currently building up successive coats of the lacquer, 400grit sanding in between. It is looking awesome and feels silky smooth. When you use the satin finish, it is almost impossible to screw up the sheen. Gloss is not so forgiving. I also got my spalted maple Hyper disassembled, stripped and sanded down last night. After 3 hours with my shaping files, it is really starting to pop! It really looks good. I plan to do the 6 -10 coats of Tung oil on this one I do believe. This Hyper was purchased from a guy off Ebay about 2 months ago. It didn't look like much in his 2 photos, but I took a chance and am glad I did. I plan to make a Brazilian brown ebony bridge for it. Okay, guess that's it. Enjoy #88!!

 

[ganga]

You should buy Wishbasses as an investment. Some day they'll be worth a crapload of bucks I'm sure.

Best thing is, if a crook comes to your house and robs you - you will still have your Wishbass!

 

[jbybj]

Gee, you're the guy that got that one! I was going to go for it and a friend showed up and I lost track of time and bam! Darn. I was wondering how it compared to his newer ones. Glad you like it. #88!!

Actually, I don't really like it as it was when it arrived, but I love what it will be in about a month. I found my spokeshave and the neck is now about 20% thinner, fretboard to back. I also spent some time today leveling the fretboard, which had some pretty rambunctious humps. Back in the day Wish used to brush on the laquer. I really don't like the look of the finish, but that too will change soon. the body wood is one piece on either side of the neck, not a sandwich, and it is really striking.

I really like working on Wishbasses, they are a diamond in the rough. This bass is a perfect example of how if someone bought it, expecting to pick it up and love it playing it, they would be sorely dissapointed. But the same person would be blown away playing it after I'm done with it!

 

[jbybj]

You should buy Wishbasses as an investment. Some day they'll be worth a crapload of bucks I'm sure.

Best thing is, if a crook comes to your house and robs you - you will still have your Wishbass!

The value of instruments to me is not measured in dollars. If it were then I would sell my 69 Jazz bass that I bought for $220

 

[49sfine]

Actually, I don't really like it as it was when it arrived, but I love what it will be in about a month. I found my spokeshave and the neck is now about 20% thinner, fretboard to back. I also spent some time today leveling the fretboard, which had some pretty rambunctious humps. Back in the day Wish used to brush on the laquer. I really don't like the look of the finish, but that too will change soon. the body wood is one piece on either side of the neck, not a sandwich, and it is really striking.

I really like working on Wishbasses, they are a diamond in the rough. This bass is a perfect example of how if someone bought it, expecting to pick it up and love it playing it, they would be sorely dissapointed. But the same person would be blown away playing it after I'm done with it!

Where did you pick up the spokestave? Sounds like it is exactly what I need. Is it easy to use? What does controling it feel like? - hate to carve down too much!

Oh, I just orderd another Dragon rasp from StewMac they're awesome, but pricey ... Also, I cut into 2 pieces a steel 3' level that has a very precise shape and edges to it for using as a fingerboard leveler. Seems to be working fine! One piece is longer than the other and both can be used on the guitars, but the one is for fingerboards. I used 80, 120, 220 grits so far #864 and the banana. It was laying around so there you go! Later on ....

 

[BillyB_from_LZ]

...

Best thing is, if a crook comes to your house and robs you - you will still have your Wishbass!

Ouch, that's brutal!!!

 

[jbybj]

Where did you pick up the spokestave? Sounds like it is exactly what I need. Is it easy to use? What does controling it feel like? - hate to carve down too much!

It's a spokeshave, and it wasn't carried in the big chains. I found one at my local True Value store, but I wanted more selection and ended up at a nearby store that emphasizes hand woodworking tools. Costs $27.
I set it to a very thin slice, so it's not possible to take too big a chunk, and it worked really well. I had good control and could remove a nice even layer across the neck. This neck has two big pieces on the outside, and five narrow stringers in the middle. The grain on the outside pieces allowed for a nice peel of wood, like an apple peel. But the stringers with their alternating grain, would make the tool chatter as it cut, leaving little divits in the wood. So after I had reduced the neck to where I wanted, I finished with files, then coarse sandpaper to remove the divits. All told I spent about an hour on the neck, and I'm 90% done. Tomorrow, my first experience with stripper, for lacquer I mean.........

 

[jbybj]

took pictures to see if Wish knows what the wood is.

 

[49sfine]

took pictures to see if Wish knows what the wood is.

Great, thanks for the description. Sounds like what I want. The divits and chatter marks are not a problem since filing takes those out. Good luck with the lacquer though, Wish uses Rustoleum spray lacquer and that stuff is a sticky mess. It doesn't seem to want to really come off easily and it gums up your steel wool like mad. I just try to get most of it off and then file and sand the rest of the way. By doing more filing and sanding, you find more inconsistencies in the wood and end up leveling off the whole thing in a very nice way. Plus, you want to make sure you get it all off or the Tung oil (or similiar) might not apply evenly. My biggest issue right now on my spalted Hyper is the fact that spalted wood can vary in hardness (a lot) withing a small area. I have an area at the bottom of the the top horn that is actually dry rotted and I just had to gouge it out; it was so soft/unstable. Now I have backfill those spots (dime size) with something that won't look totally cheesed. Unfortunately, this is a highly visible area. I need something hard, but not too fake-looking. (I kinda' think this is why the previous owner let this one go.) It's going to come out just fine, but not sure what I will do right there. Anyway ... enjoyed your pictures too ...