My new Maruszczyk---"nitro gloss"?

[lou24d53]

There's something a bit Gerald Ratner about all of this.

For this discussion to now extend to 6 pages, on the biggest Bass Guitar forum in Europe, with the discussion seemingly now attracting more and more comments from other similar posters who have suffered poor quality / poor attitude / poor service, without any (or inadequate) attempt at response or closure from the builder, just seems utterly bizarre to me.

Strikes me that there's a train of thought that the builder doesn't care if the order book is busy and full for the foreseeable, but he might have a lot more time on his hands to brush up on his service technique if potential customers research this thread first.

Btw, I haven't ever owned, nor played, a Maruszcyck, but they definitely had my interest, I read most of the threads about them on here and have contemplated buying one in the past. I think I'd stick to the 2nd hand market though now, given some of the comments and the prices involved.

[Drax]

9 hours ago, dodge_bass said:

I was. Bought a five string from them. The low B string was basically unplayable but his response was 'unlucky it's a custom order'. Shocking. Never gone anywhere near them since. 

Ah man, that’s not good. Out of interest - how was the B unplayable, and what would the fix have been - had they taken the bass back? 

[NancyJohnson]

33 minutes ago, lou24d53 said:

There's something a bit Gerald Ratner about all of this.

Haha.  Couldn't have put it better, myself.

Lest we forget, Maruszczyk was pretty much an unknown brand when, many moons back, a new member called Ulas Engin posted up a blatantly obvious piece of backdoor advertising under the guise of it being an official Maruszczyk thread (I believe he also posted the same thing to Talkbass, almost word for word); the poster then disappeared three weeks later, never to be seen again, but the seed was sown and with his job done, the Basschat love affair took root and the flower blossomed.  ("Conjecture!" I hear you shout!)

Perhaps the guy who fronts the company is just feeling the strain in these uncertain times or maybe he was just having a bad day, but I read this thread and do have an inner chuckle at the albeit small backlash that's happening.  I'm sure many people love their Jakes and Elwoods, fair play to them, but at the end of the day, the core basses he's making/getting made for him are simply just Fender copies at near Fender prices, so why not just buy a Fender?  There's enough stores out there stocking them, you'll eventually find one that suits and you can easily customise it further down the road. 

Customer service is core to any business and sure, if you're going to enquire/complain about key points after something is delivered then you (as the manufacturer) need to resolve things in a civil manner, otherwise those tiny seeds of disdain will have a habit of growing (which has been the case here).  When I bought my first Lull I had an irritating crackle off one of the pickups and Mike and Paul bent over backwards to resolve things, eventually sending out a pair of new pickups and a loom.  That's service.  Service isn't the manufacturer replying that you're only picking up on the bad sh*t.

[dodge_bass]

20 minutes ago, Drax said:

Ah man, that’s not good. Out of interest - how was the B unplayable, and what would the fix have been - had they taken the bass back? 

Really ‘dead’ with no resonance and lower in volume as I recall. Not sure what the fix would have been as I’m not a luthier but I know that almost as soon as I started playing it I was like ‘nope, this is NOT an instrument that’s can be used professionally’. Shame as it looked great and seemed well built. I guess that’s the danger of custom built stuff BUT it should actually do they job it’s supposed to! 

Edited July 21, 2020 by dodge_bass

[Beedster]

32 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

Haha.  Couldn't have put it better, myself.

Lest we forget, Maruszczyk was pretty much an unknown brand when, many moons back, a new member called Ulas Engin posted up a blatantly obvious piece of backdoor advertising under the guise of it being an official Maruszczyk thread (I believe he also posted the same thing to Talkbass, almost word for word); the poster then disappeared three weeks later, never to be seen again, but the seed was sown and with his job done, the Basschat love affair took root and the flower blossomed.  ("Conjecture!" I hear you shout!)

Perhaps the guy who fronts the company is just feeling the strain in these uncertain times or maybe he was just having a bad day, but I read this thread and do have an inner chuckle at the albeit small backlash that's happening.  I'm sure many people love their Jakes and Elwoods, fair play to them, but at the end of the day, the core basses he's making/getting made for him are simply just Fender copies at near Fender prices, so why not just buy a Fender?  There's enough stores out there stocking them, you'll eventually find one that suits and you can easily customise it further down the road. 

Customer service is core to any business and sure, if you're going to enquire/complain about key points after something is delivered then you (as the manufacturer) need to resolve things in a civil manner, otherwise those tiny seeds of disdain will have a habit of growing (which has been the case here).  When I bought my first Lull I had an irritating crackle off one of the pickups and Mike and Paul bent over backwards to resolve things, eventually sending out a pair of new pickups and a loom.  That's service.  Service isn't the manufacturer replying that you're only picking up on the bad sh*t.

Yep, that Ulas Engin thread was comedy gold. I've said in in another thread here, beware of social influencers and niche or new products.

No disrespect to WoT, I'm sure he was genuinely pleased/impressed with his instruments, but there's of course always the possibility that the builder, knowing that WoT's a key influencer here, took special care with his orders, care that he clearly hasn't always taken with others (in a previous life I was a pro sportsman. I was given a lot of gear and technical support for free. I reciprocated by giving the people/companies in question very good PR among my friends. All too often my friends' experience of the same people/companies was nothing like the quality I received).  

 

Edited July 21, 2020 by Beedster

[Woodinblack]

2 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

Lest we forget, Maruszczyk was pretty much an unknown brand when, many moons back, a new member called Ulas Engin posted up a blatantly obvious piece of backdoor advertising under the guise of it being an official Maruszczyk thread (I believe he also posted the same thing to Talkbass, almost word for word); the poster then disappeared three weeks later, never to be seen again, but the seed was sown and with his job done, the Basschat love affair took root and the flower blossomed.  ("Conjecture!" I hear you shout!)

I wouldn't say conjecture. that is true, but that didn't make a love affair, that was just an unknown member posting stuff. I double that any of that would have got anywhere if that had been it, we have had unknown members posting stuff that never got anywhere. I certainly didn't take any notice of that until wateroftyne got one and posted about his. And then there were several hundred pages of other people with theirs.

2 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

 I'm sure many people love their Jakes and Elwoods, fair play to them, but at the end of the day, the core basses he's making/getting made for him are simply just Fender copies at near Fender prices, so why not just buy a Fender?  There's enough stores out there stocking them, you'll eventually find one that suits and you can easily customise it further down the road. 

I love my elwood, but no, fender don't make anything like it, so buying a fender wouldn't be an option. I see some people buy something that appears to be almost like the fender specs and I wonder why people bother with that - I mean if it is just a colour, buy a fender and get it coloured, it will still be worth more second hand but if it is fundamenally different from anything fender do, you don't have a choice. Mine for instance has a 16.5mm string spacing, 20mm thick neck which has the tuners arranged in a proper order and is chambered. Agreed the finish I could do afterwards and the humbuckers and ultralight tuners could be an upgrade, but the core couldn't come from fender (or actually, anyone when I looked at that price).

And also some of their models aren't even slightly fender like.

2 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

Customer service is core to any business and sure, if you're going to enquire/complain about key points after something is delivered then you (as the manufacturer) need to resolve things in a civil manner, otherwise those tiny seeds of disdain will have a habit of growing (which has been the case here).

Agreed. As mentioned, I love mine and I certainly don't regret getting it but there is a cloud over it due to a problem I had that I had to sort out myself. Luckily I have some friends a lot better at woodwork than I, and one day I will pick up a string retainer so I don't have to faff so much when changing strings!

[rasher80]

21 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

 I'm sure many people love their Jakes and Elwoods, fair play to them, but at the end of the day, the core basses he's making/getting made for him are simply just Fender copies at near Fender prices, so why not just buy a Fender?

Fender have never made what I have:

Left handed P Bass

Chambered body 

32" scale 

Blocked and bound Jazz width neck

A colour other than sunburst

 

Put all those things together, it just doesn't exist left handed. You're lucky you could get 2 of those options on any left handed Fender made anywhere in the world including Japan. I've looked!

Edited July 21, 2020 by rasher80

[NancyJohnson]

21 minutes ago, rasher80 said:

Fender have never made what I have:

Left handed

Chambered body 

32" scale 

Blocked and bound Jazz width neck

A colour other than sunburst

Without actually seeing what you have, it's difficult to know whether this is true or not, but at least you didn't go FACT at the end of it!  

In no way jumping to the defence of Fender they do produce all the compents you've mentioned, but perhaps not currently all in the same bass.  On a point by point response, they've certainly made 32" scale basses.  They certainly made blocked and bound Jazz width necks, simply because they're Fender and that's what they do.  They have also produced a myriad of non-sunburst finishes.  They've produced chambered guitars, but unsure about basses, although I have seen Jazz basses with cavities and a maple cap, so it's feasible.  Oh, they make lefties too.

My point is here, it's like saying Ford have never made a car like my Renault and then going four wheels, leather seats, steering wheel, engine.

(and you edited your post after I made this reply...that last disclaimer and that it was a P-bass wasn't there.)

Edited July 21, 2020 by NancyJohnson

[4000]

20 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

In no way jumping to the defence of Fender they do produce all the compents you've mentioned, but perhaps not currently all in the same bass.

But if they don’t do all those things in the same bass, then he couldn’t have bought one from Fender could he.😉😂

[LukeFRC]

they were a big chunk cheaper when WoT bought his first one at the start too. I don't think he spent £2k like the OP

[Woodinblack]

5 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

they were a big chunk cheaper when WoT bought his first one at the start too. I don't think he spent £2k like the OP

Agreed, not only has the price gone up, dont forget it is in euros, so in 2016 a bass that translates to £2k now would have cost less than £1600

[Radchenko]

Hello, yesterday started a conversation with Adrian. Not particularly friendly because I'm really tired about this situation.

His offer was:"I offer you 100,-€ and you delete the crap you wrote on the internet.". (Not acepted, ask him for 200€ and said him and not writing crap, lot of excustomers talking about his bad experiencies).

I think I don't write crap. If you read my initial comment is not looking to make this tread so big and nasty.

I don't want to waste more time, I want to enjoy the bass, I hope my luthier fix the things I don't like It at the end of the summer and the Bass will be great.

This neck is difficult to see in other brands, but this 7 months were a bad experience. Adrian was not happy if I wanted a brown Clay dots (loosing time), was not happy if I put as a example the color of one Fender bass (buy a Fender), well you are the first one who is copying Fender. Not happy if I asked him for a picture of the bass during process (we don't have time), but hey, we have time to record a video of your bass without my permission and maybe cause damages...etc etc.

Well, I appreciate your help, opinions and time 🙂 Thank you very much.

Edited July 21, 2020 by Radchenko
The offer

[rasher80]

Wow.

That is appalling.

[akabane]

6 minutes ago, Radchenko said:

This neck is difficult to see in other brands, but this 7 months were a bad experience. Adrian was not happy if I wanted a brown Clay dots (loosing time), was not happy if I put as a example the color of one Fender bass (buy a Fender), well you are the first one who is copying Fender. Not happy if I asked him for a picture of the bass during process (we don't have time), but hey, we have time to record a video of your bass without my permission and maybe cause damages...etc etc.

I'm really sorry to hear about all that. However, all those parts here is what really make my shoulders fall with defeat.

Really incredibly bad customer relationship throughout the whole process - even now, after all this time, he's dismissive and thinking he's in the right. Someone really needs a metaphorical slap in the face here.

Starting to think there were no pictures 'during process' because the process is done in a factory before rebranding the bass and selling it out, so he might rarely have access to 'in progress' photos himself.

Every development of this makes me more sad.

[NancyJohnson]

8 minutes ago, Radchenko said:

Hello, yesterday started a conversation with Adrian. Not particularly friendly because I'm really tired about this situation.

His offer was:"I offer you 100,-€ and you delete the crap you wrote on the internet.". (Not acepted, ask him for 200€ and said him and not writing crap, lot of excustomers talking about his bad experiencies).

I think I don't write crap. If you read my initial comment is not looking to make this tread so big and nasty.

I don't want to waste more time, I want to enjoy the bass, I hope my luthier fix the things I don't like It at the end of the summer and the Bass will be great.

This neck is difficult to see in other brands, but this 7 months were a bad experience. Adrian was not happy if I wanted a brown Clay dots (loosing time), was not happy if I put as a example the color of one Fender bass (buy a Fender), well you are the first one who is copying Fender. Not happy if I asked him for a picture of the bass during process (we don't have time), but hey, we have time to record a video of your bass without my permission and maybe cause damages...etc etc.

Well, I appreciate your help, opinions and time 🙂 Thank you very much.

Blimus.  This is going well.

[Woodinblack]

16 minutes ago, Radchenko said:

Hello, yesterday started a conversation with Adrian. Not particularly friendly because I'm really tired about this situation.

His offer was:"I offer you 100,-€ and you delete the crap you wrote on the internet.".

I wouldn't be able to write what I would respond to that because it wouldn't get through the basschat swear filter.

Suffice to say, I wouldn't be getting my 100€!

[burno70]

Well done to the OP for not accepting the builder's bribe to withdraw his comments. They do make some lovely instruments but man, some serious customer service issues going on. You just couldn't recommend these to another bass player anymore could you?

[jrixn1]

Thanks for making this thread sharing your experience and I hope you manage to resolve this one way or another.  I had a Maruszczyk Jake (bought used) and it was really lovely instrument; but after reading Adrian's replies here, there's now absolutely no way I would ever order a new Maruszczyk bass.

[acidbass]

€100?  I would rather he added it on if anything.  An insult.  You'd never get this kind of carry on from Jon Shuker or any respected bass builder worth his salt.  If people skills are below par but the product is amazing, that can be forgiven.  If people skills are amazing and the product is below par, again this can be solved.  This is a very disappointing display from the builder.

[wateroftyne]

OP - once you'd placed your order, did you have much communication with Adrian? To change the spec, etc.?

[Radchenko]

22 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

OP - once you'd placed your order, did you have much communication with Adrian? To change the spec, etc.?

No,

At the beggining he asked me about the Clay dots to decide the size. I asked him if he can do It a little bit Brown (like Fender), but he didn't want to do It, so white Clay dots. (I add his final answer).

Two months waiting for the Nordstrand pickups.

I ordered an extra black pickguard.

I asked him for pictures almost at the end.

Thank you.

[Woodinblack]

5 minutes ago, Radchenko said:

No,

At the beggining he asked me about the Clay dots to decide the size. I asked him if he can do It a little bit Brown (like Fender), but he didn't want to do It, so white Clay dots. (I add his final answer).

To be fair, clay dots will go a bit brown over time, so white is good!

[Radchenko]

30 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

To be fair, clay dots will go a bit brown over time, so white is good!

Yes, I accepted but his answer...

Thank you.

[OliverBlackman]

2 hours ago, Radchenko said:

No,

At the beggining he asked me about the Clay dots to decide the size. I asked him if he can do It a little bit Brown (like Fender), but he didn't want to do It, so white Clay dots. (I add his final answer).

Two months waiting for the Nordstrand pickups.

I ordered an extra black pickguard.

I asked him for pictures almost at the end.

Thank you.

Please just return it and contact overwater basses. You won’t have any issues there.

[4000]

14 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said:

Please just return it and contact overwater basses. You won’t have any issues there.

Just out of interest, what happens if he doesn’t want to give him a refund?