The Official MARUSZCZYK CLUB!

[simisker]

Love that

 

It's odd, but having now spent the last 2-3 years looking at Maruszczyks [including having one made], I think they are at their most handsome in "plain old" Ash with a trans finish.

 

I don't know whether it's because they have access to particularly nicely grained Ash, or that it's bookmatched or what... but I prefer the look of them over their more exotic-faced burls etc. Particularly when it comes to their F-style models.

[Obrienp]

On 28/02/2023 at 07:15, simisker said:

Love that

 

It's odd, but having now spent the last 2-3 years looking at Maruszczyks [including having one made], I think they are at their most handsome in "plain old" Ash with a trans finish.

 

I don't know whether it's because they have access to particularly nicely grained Ash, or that it's bookmatched or what... but I prefer the look of them over their more exotic-faced burls etc. Particularly when it comes to their F-style models.

I hope so; I just bought an Elwood 4a off eBay that is in trans white. Complete rush of blood to the head but I had been looking for a nice medium scale and the one on eBay seemed reasonably priced. Might not arrive until the 14th though. The free postage is obviously by camel train!

 

BTW I get the Jake and Elwood thing but shouldn’t it be Donald and Duck? After all Jake and Elwood didn’t play bass 😀.

[simisker]

14 minutes ago, Obrienp said:

BTW I get the Jake and Elwood thing but shouldn’t it be Donald and Duck? After all Jake and Elwood didn’t play bass 😀.

Oh man, don't get me started on Maru/Mensinger naming

[leschirons]

23 hours ago, Obrienp said:

I hope so; I just bought an Elwood 4a off eBay that is in trans white. Complete rush of blood to the head but I had been looking for a nice medium scale and the one on eBay seemed reasonably priced. Might not arrive until the 14th though. The free postage is obviously by camel train!

 

BTW I get the Jake and Elwood thing but shouldn’t it be Donald and Duck? After all Jake and Elwood didn’t play bass 😀.

Ah, so you've joined the club Pat. You won't be disappointed. I'll expect to hear it at the next Blues meet.

[Obrienp]

23 minutes ago, leschirons said:

Ah, so you've joined the club Pat. You won't be disappointed. I'll expect to hear it at the next Blues meet.

Yes Keith. Rush of blood to the head! The Squier Jaguar H was the proof of concept for medium scale, so that will have to go. I am still working out what else I’m going to sell to cover the Maru 😏. I will definitely bring it along to the next NBS jam. See you there.

[Obrienp]

So my NBD was yesterday, when the Elwood 4a medium scale i bought off eBay arrived, just in time for a band practice. I am very pleased with it. It is in as new condition, having been completed on 31 August last year and it doesn’t look as though it has had a lot of use. I love the translucent matte finish. The grain shows through nicely. Build quality is excellent and all the screw heads are intact.

 

This one has a 38mm nut, 12” radius and a slim neck all the way up, which suits me perfectly. It looks as though the C neck profile gets a bit flatter towards the top of the neck, which means that it only gets a few mm deeper. It has the standard Maruszczyk jazz pickups and a two band preamp. The build sheet doesn’t say the manufacturer of the preamp. It is fitted with 45-105 flats, which look as though they might be D’Addario but the build sheet gives a Maru reference no, so maybe they just have the same ball ends and blue silk windings. I am not sure whether they are ideal for me. I think I am going to try some D’Addario round wound nickels for a bit more growl. I’m a bit nervous about that because the standard Maru bridge looks a bit complicated to adjust and there is not much scope for fore and aft movement in the base plate.

 

It weighs in at around 3.9 kilos (approx 8lbs 9oz), which is a bit more than I was hoping for, without being grossly heavy. There is a little neck dive on a strap but quite a lot when seated with it on your knee. At some stage I might consider lightweight tuners but I don’t want to have unsightly screw holes at the back of the immaculate headstock. 
 

Here is the obligatory pic. The lighting is a bit warm, which is making it look more cream than it is. The bass alongside is short scale.

 

 

[Obrienp]

OK folks, I now have my lovely Elwood 4a medium scale but the honeymoon is wearing off a bit. I want to lower the action a bit and adjust the intonation slightly. That standard bridge is a bit naff isn’t it? 
 

Rather than repeat myself, here is the post in the Maru bridge topic: 

Can anybody help with either the method to do the bridge adjustments, or even better a drop in replacement bridge recommendation?

Edited March 12, 2023 by Obrienp

[EmmettC]

My Maruszczyk has a bent bit of tin style bridge, which is what I wanted. I have a McIntyre bass with a Hipshot A style bridge, and that's excellent. My Sandberg has their own version of the Hipshot A, and it's very nice too.

If you want a chunky, high mass bridge I'd go with Hipshot or badass/omega. If you want something a bit more traditional just get a decent bbot like Fender or Wilkinson.

[Obrienp]

I have found a drop in replacement for the standard Maruszczyk bridge. It’s a Gotoh 510BO. See: 

 

[Woodinblack]

Doesn't that depend on your standard - by default you can specify 17-20mm bridge spacing. They all look the same but maybe not

 

[Obrienp]

35 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Doesn't that depend on your standard - by default you can specify 17-20mm bridge spacing. They all look the same but maybe not

 

True. The standard Maruszczyk bridge with 19mm spacing to be precise. 

[Woodinblack]

Mines the standard Maruszczyk with 17mm.

 

Not that it matters - it might not be the best bridge in the world but it works fine and when it is set up you don't have to touch it for a long time.

[Obrienp]

Well the Gotoh would be a drop in replacement but obviously it would change your string spacing. I don’t think they do them with narrower spacing.

 

Seriously though, I am all for bridges with locking saddles and intonation but I prefer something like the Babicz system for that. I find the standard Maruszczyk bridge requires a bit more skill and patience to set up than I posses. The more conventional screw based adjustment of Fender style bridges and the majority of high mass bridges, is more user friendly for the average owner IMO.
 

However, I am sure a lot of owners manage perfectly with the Maru standard bridge. I just wanted to let folks, who want to change it, know that the Gotoh is a drop in replacement (for 19mm string spacing).
 

 

[Woodinblack]

Yeh, i had a babicz before on a Gibson eb5, but seemed a bit over faffy, and obviously they only do the wide spacing so no good for me. Most of my bridges are just the originals, they aren't anything I change much, because you don't have to fiddle with them that often and once they are set up it is pretty hard for it to not work - the ibanez all have the monorails, the spectors have quite a chunky bridge (can't say I am overkeen but does the job), 

 

I suppose if I was to pick something, it would probably be something like the Schaller 3ds - good string spacing, good adjustment and looks good too.

 

Still, at least they are not gibson bridges!

 

[warwickhunt]

7 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

I suppose if I was to pick something, it would probably be something like the Schaller 3ds - good string spacing, good adjustment and looks good too.

 

 

I had a Schaller 3D to hand when I was 'adjusting' my Jake and they are a lot lower profile... otherwise it'd be on my bass by now.

 

[wateroftyne]

I specced both of mine with Hipshot B’s. Lovely bridges.

[warwickhunt]

12 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

I specced both of mine with Hipshot B’s. Lovely bridges.

 

Really nice bridges those Hipshot B's.  I actually don't have an issue with the 'quality' of bridge that is fitted as standard, not bothered that you have to slacken strings and slide to placement but it is a bit odd that the up/down travel is bottomed out and it seems some bridges are either positioned incorrectly (mine was defo 8mm out when comparing 2 identical bridges on Jake basses) or that you can't get enough lateral movement to intonate.

[Woodinblack]

3 hours ago, warwickhunt said:

I had a Schaller 3D to hand when I was 'adjusting' my Jake and they are a lot lower profile... otherwise it'd be on my bass by now.

 

They come with a 3mm baseplate to move them up don't they?

[warwickhunt]

49 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

They come with a 3mm baseplate to move them up don't they?

 

I've had them on Warwick basses, so yes.  However, I didn't have one to hand. 

 

[ead]

I've spent a bit of time on the configurator and decided to save a couple of designs for a potential purchase.  I set up the account as requested (took ages to get the email link) and then tried to save the two options.

 

I have no idea whether it worked and I can't actually see where they maybe saved in the first place.  Not very inspiring and does rather put me off ordering anything to be honest.  The website not too great either in terms of navigating and then logging out of and closing the many tabs that seem to open each session.

 

Is this just me being a muppet?

[Woodinblack]

I spent a bit of time on the configurator yesterday, just in case I found a chicken, but didn't have any tabs and never had problems saving, but then I don't have an account either (even though I have a Maruszczyk!). What do the tabs open for on your browser?

 

 

[ead]

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

I spent a bit of time on the configurator yesterday, just in case I found a chicken, but didn't have any tabs and never had problems saving, but then I don't have an account either (even though I have a Maruszczyk!). What do the tabs open for on your browser?

 

 

 

Any time that I opened a link it just opened a new tab.

[wateroftyne]

Here's my Custom Jake with passive Maruszczyk P & bridge humbucker pups.

 

 

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, ead said:

Any time that I opened a link it just opened a new tab.

 

Thats odd and not very helpful. Here it just follows the link.

[Woodinblack]

I was going to gig mine tonight (gigged it a few weeks back). Thought 'Better check the battery, when did I last change it, can't remember'. Opened the battery cavity and the battery was clearly not english or a brand I used. Which means it is the original battery! I got the bass on page 58 of this thread, November 2016 - so it is 6 ½ years old! It was down to 8v but hadn't noticed any issue (it does have a bypass too). Though what the hell, may as well treat it to a new one!