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El_JimBob

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  1. I built this board a while back - sound-wise, it's that classic Muff-style sound with tons of tweakability. Can sound monstrous on bass...
  2. Anyway, I think I've derailed this thread more than I ever deserved to, so for the sake of keeping a personal issue out of a public forum (and not getting either side too worked up), I'll give Adrian the benefit of the doubt and we'll keep this matter private until it's resolved. Besides, seeing how content all his other customers are gives me hope it'll all turn out ok in the end...
  3. It was after a few months that the movement became obvious. I'm very particular about a nice straight neck as I don't play particularly hard, so I can feel when there's more relief than there needs to be. No, foolishly, I didn't. I decided to give all concerned the benefit of the doubt given how happy everyone else was with their instruments, so it's my bad for not raising the issue before it was too late...
  4. No, I've always slackened the strings first before any adjustment, plus I'm keen on balanced tension strings just to keep everything nice and even...
  5. I took delivery of it just about a year ago now. Several weeks earlier than expected, actually. All seemed fine initially.
  6. Yes. The right way is the wrong way, right? At least, it works in the opposite direction to any bass I've used before... (fortunately I'd read about that in advance, otherwise I'd have found out the hard way)
  7. Unfortunately, I was having to do that constantly, sometimes several times a week - the neck was just constantly moving - some days as flat as a pancake, others it was noticeably bowed again. Something just didn't seem right. Of course, I should have done something about it right there and then, but I figured not having owned a brand new hand-built bass before that we still might be in the 'settling in' period people talk of, however long it lasts... So, eventually the inevitable happens and the truss seizes up. At his point, the neck seems to be forcing itself into a back bow, so I give a set of slightly heavier strings a go and that seems to do the trick - at least making it playable again. I contacted Adrian at this point, waiting nearly a week for him to respond. When he does, he simply says to take it to a luthier, maybe they can fix it. We exchanged a few more emails, but to be honest I just found the whole process exhausting - he's clearly far better at discussing specs and taking orders than any kind of follow-up service. Foolishly, although for the sake of my health, I let the matter go again... Now there's a full-blown twist in the neck (see attached pictures - I think it's pretty obvious, Adrian's not convinced) so it has to go back to him, and that's where we are today. He's sending it back to the Mensinger workshop for them to take a look, but he has cautioned me there will be a cost. I'm not after any kind of witch hunt here - clearly the majority of owners are extremely happy with the instruments Adrian has had built for them (although the number of owners who had their luminlays forgotten is slightly alarming - that happened to me too) and I can't dispute the quality of work done on the body of my own instrument, but the neck is an absolute lemon. Perhaps his aggravation comes from the fact that he's simply not used to hearing criticism, who knows. But he has rubbed me up the wrong way, and accusing me of blackmail when I was simply pleading for him to consider the fact that the bass neck itself might be at fault was the final straw. I won't ever be giving him any more of my hard earned money after this is resolved. (Plus he really should have someone else answering and replying to emails, promptly and courteously... After all, he boasts of employing over 20 people - perhaps someone else in the team would be suitable for this role - especially as he seems to be spending more and more time gallivanting around the globe with his buddy Wojtek... That's just my opinion, though)
  8. Just had a reply back from him - he won't accept responsibility for any of the neck problems I've had with my bass, not even the high fret that it initially shipped with (my fault for choosing stainless steel frets apparently). The short of it is I've asked him (pleaded, even) to do the right thing by his customer - he's now gone and accused me of threats and trying to blackmail him... (okay, so perhaps again he's been lost in translation, but these are pretty serious words to come from a business owner towards a customer) Honestly, this is not how I saw this conversation panning out - anyone got any advice? Edit - full disclosure - this is what I sent him... "When you initially shipped the bass to me, I mentioned there was a high fret, and you were prepared to admit then that problems could occur, so why not now? When I was experiencing further problems with the neck, you did indeed just tell me to take it to a luthier, that there was nothing you could do for me which led me to believe that you are not interested in your customer once you have their money. I was despondent... So I'm giving you the opportunity to do the right thing by the customer and fix this for me. Because I still believe in yours and Mensinger's reputation for excellence, despite my experience. I'm not asking for a refund (although perhaps I should be) - just for you to make things right. So Adrian, can you make it right for me?"
  9. Glad to see you got things resolved to your liking... Adrian's currently taking the 'customer is always wrong' approach with my issue, which is disappointing, but I'm going to persevere and see what happens...
  10. Comms doesn't seem to be his strong point - he's (presumably) had my faulty bass since Monday afternoon and despite me emailing him several times to confirm he received it, I've had no reply...
  11. I thought Public Peace/Mensinger just invested in a load of cnc kit a while back (there were videos up somewhere)? No excuse for poorly fitting neck pockets now, surely
  12. Oh, for sure, we discussed that - it just wasn't the right moment for it is all...
  13. Having a little buyers' remorse at the moment... Whilst I've found Adrian very approachable whilst speccing my instrument, he's been somewhat colder and distant when trying deal with issues my Jazzus has had since I received it. Emailed him a few months ago when I was having problems with the neck, and was pretty much told it must be my fault, as the bass was fine when he received it... Having decided to put up with the issues for the time being, it's now experiencing quite a severe twist by the headstock end and I've dropped him another email saying I'm pretty upset now. His response? 'why upset? There are much bigger problems in life than this'... I've pulled him up on this and he's claimed he was just trying to cheer me up. Weeeeell, that's not really helping... Anyway, he's offered to look at the neck if I ship it to him, so we'll see what happens...
  14. Perhaps for elegance and aesthetics' sake, something like [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuhlWTD1htQ"]THIS[/url] from Haeussel...
  15. I wouldn't personally use linseed oil as its job is to seal and preserve wood - unless of course that's what you're looking to do - lemon oil (or similar) will do a better job of conditioning, although you will need to re-apply as required...
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