Wishbass - what do people think?

[thelimey]

Fairly cheap, no truss rods, interesting body shape, excotic woods.
Thoughts/experiences with them?

 

[M.R. Ogle]

Check out the mega-thread on these:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/wishbass-club-part-12-insert-funny-comment-here-973832/

 

[Baird6869]

Nnnnnoooooooo!

 

[getBAK]

I think they are ugly and appear to be haphazardly made

 

[GG Allin]

I've only played one...and I could swear it was made of driftwood.

 

[Philonius]

I've only played one...and I could swear it was made of driftwood.

Well, it is a Wishbass.

 

[PazzoBasso]

I have a stude...

I loved the basic shape & took it on as a project... Though I haven't gotten around to "fixing" it yet...

My impressions...
The neck is like a log - huge & uneven.
It sounds very good (better than it should). Currently strung with rounds for a nice bite.
I'd call the workmanship "primitive", & that's being kind...
Because I'm drawn to the aesthetics & it does sound nice, I'm keeping it.
It needs much work & I hope I'm up to the challenge.

My wish (pun intended).... Is that some of the designs were licensed to competent luthiers.

They aren't for everyone, but if you understand what a Wishbass is & what it is not, they are great fun.

 

[AaronVonRock]

They look silly to me.

 

[Stone Soup]

I know someone who got one that was really poorly made.

 

[bassbenj]

I know someone who got one that was really poorly made.

Well duh! It's a Wishbass! It's not a bass guitar, it's a bass guitar PROJECT! Wish gets it started and you get to finish it. Usually they are "sort of" playable from Wish, but the real value is in having something SO unusual and yet so great sounding and cool! it sure ain't your MIA Fender!

But that is the appeal. If you don't want to join in the project fun, then you can hire someone to finish the Wishbass for you. Check out the megathread for amazing examples of such work. If the idea of a Ritter appeals to you but you don't have a Ritter budget then a Wish can be an answer. Especially if you love fooling with wood and luthiery.

And yes, many Wishbasses ARE nasty driftwood or things with huge ugly knots or whatever. That is the APPEAL of them. Nobody will have a Wishbass just like yours. But then how many people out there do you suppose are playing a MIA Fender that looks like yours? See what I mean?

The whole idea of a Wishbass is nothing like the usual situation. All the rules are different. The megathread will explain it all.

And did I mention? I own two that I haven't started on yet. They are playable but do need some work to be really decent.

 

[Rip Topaz]

I've owned three, one being a custom order. Loved them all. Lots of fun, and a great learning experience. Owning a Wishbass is a lot like owning a Harley. If you get one, you "wrench" on it.

I took what I learned from working on my Wishbasses (along with some other research) and now four years later, I've built 15 of my own basses (WITH truss rods, of course).

 

[Moe Monsarrat]

Mine sounds great. But then again, it didn't when I took it out of the box. I dropped an EMG soap bar pup in it. Now it sounds like a bulldozer and is fairly cool. Would I do it again?....no.

 

[Nev375]

You pay half price for a half-completed bass.

Good deal, if you have the woodworking skills to smooth out the curves and finish the job.

 

[Stone Soup]

If you don't want to join in the project fun, then you can hire someone to finish the Wishbass for you.

He was told it would take at least $700.00 to get the bass in playable condition. That's a bit more than a project. It's money down the toilet. If you can't get 1/10th of what you have into an instrument out of it on resale, you made a mistake. His "Wishbass" is wall art now, and its ugly as sin.

Spend your money how you like.

 

[Nev375]

He was told it would take at least $700.00 to get the bass in playable condition. That's a bit more than a project. It's money down the toilet. If you can't get 1/10th of what you have into an instrument out of it on resale, you made a mistake. His "Wishbass" is wall art now, and its ugly as sin.

Spend your money how you like.

I'm skeptical. Not saying you're lying, but I'm curious as to what degree was it "unplayable"

If you are going in expecting the same playability as a Carl Thompson, you definitely have the wrong idea, however if you are expecting it to compete with your average $400 4 string... then maybe.

I'm just saying, because I know some gear snobs that think my Squier fretless is "unplayable" and those guys are full of crap.

 

[Stone Soup]

I'm skeptical. Not saying you're lying, but I'm curious as to what degree was it "unplayable"

I have never tried to play it. It's a fretless bass. He tells me it plays poorly and has buzzes in strange ways. There are some serious build issues that need to be fixed. Something to do with how things are glued...

The problem instrument is his second Wishbass, so I'll take his word for it.

 

[Iridescentone]

If the idea of a Ritter appeals to you but you don't have a Ritter budget then a Wish can be an answer.

Well there's something you don't hear too often.

 

[Rip Topaz]

I call BS. Not on the story but on the cost. I've "finished" three Wishbasses, one being a very basic slab when it arrived (I ordered it that way). I've not spent more than $100 on any of them and they played fantastic when done.

This one arrived like this:

And became this, after a bit of work in my garage shop.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

I lived in Winston-Salem for a little while a few years ago. I ended up meeting Steve Wishnevsky in a totally non-music related situation. He was a different kind of cat, but I guess that's really not a big surprise considering his instruments.

 

[Thunderitter]

I've only played one...and I could swear it was made of driftwood.

Half of this one was driftwood!

Closeup:

He was told it would take at least $700.00 to get the bass in playable condition.

He was seriously getting taken advantage of too! I've refinished a lot of Wishbasses now, having bought my first one thinking it couldn't be as bad as everybody was saying - and sure enough it wasn't! I've never come across one that needed anywhere near that amount of work to get it 'playable'.

Almost all are playable out of the box.

Almost all can do with a little refinement!

If the idea of a Ritter appeals to you but you don't have a Ritter budget then a Wish can be an answer. Especially if you love fooling with wood and luthiery.

One of each!

If you want the true unadulterated truth, as opposed to the all the hearsay you should come and hang at the Wishbass thread. I have not met a bassist yet who has not had his/her opinion of a Wishbass changed after they've seen/played one of mine.

If anyone has any questions feel free to send me a pm. I've got a gallery of pics at my webpage in my signature as well as my build diaries for the refins I've done.

Here are a few more pics for you:

Spanish Cedar Lobe

Short scale,lined Wenge Hipper

Rosewood, Fantasy 5

Zebrano Lobe

Maple Claw

Maple Stude