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Ulas Engin

By Ulas Engin,
in Bass Guitars

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  • 2 weeks later...
Ian McFly Community Regular

Ian McFly

Posted
Posted (edited)

17-AF9385-27-FC-48-CB-9-B61-F59-E9392319
 

After a slight delay (thanks FedEx), it has finally arrived today. Coincidentally we’re resuming band practices (safely) tonight, yay!

After a few hours of playing it, here are my thoughts:

 

-great finish, no issues whatsoever. 
-plays great, good balance, not too heavy but not feather light either. 
-sounds alright through my small amp at home, real drive test will be during practice 

I haven’t played a 5er in like 8 years so it feels kinda weird, but I’m already getting used to it. 
 

The only « bad » thing about it is the tuners: they feel cheap when being turned. I might replace them with Hipshots at some point. Everything else is fine. 
I didn’t like the stock strings so I put a set of my favourite strings: Dunlop Super Bright nickels.

Excited for tonight’s practice!

 

PS: it looks less grey in real life, the Charcoal Frost finish has that blue-ish hue to it that looks fantastic in the flesh. 

Edited by Ian McFly
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NickD Mentor

NickD

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, Ian McFly said:

17-AF9385-27-FC-48-CB-9-B61-F59-E9392319

The only « bad » thing about it is the tuners: they feel cheap when being turned. I might replace them with Hipshots at some point. Everything else is fine. 

Oddly enough, I  felt that way when I first received my Jake 5+.... Kinda gritty action, compared to the ultralites on my Elwood L5. Four years later though, and they're still on, because they never let me down, I tune, and they keep it there.

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Ian McFly Community Regular

Ian McFly

Posted
Posted

Yeah, that’s the word: gritty. But they seem to be doing the job. 
 

First practice tonight and it didn’t disappoint. Sat in the mix perfectly. 
One thing I noticed though, and it was the same on my Warmoth Jazz 5 I had back in 2012. The E string is not as « punchy » as the one on my 4 string basses. It is not dull or anything, it sounds good within the mix, it’s clear and precise, but I feel like that on my 4 stringers, it’s got more punch. Hard to describe, but I’ve read it’s quite common in 5 strings, due to construction and wood density. 
 

Thoughts?

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6feet7 Experienced

6feet7

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Ian McFly said:

Yeah, that’s the word: gritty. But they seem to be doing the job. 
 

First practice tonight and it didn’t disappoint. Sat in the mix perfectly. 
One thing I noticed though, and it was the same on my Warmoth Jazz 5 I had back in 2012. The E string is not as « punchy » as the one on my 4 string basses. It is not dull or anything, it sounds good within the mix, it’s clear and precise, but I feel like that on my 4 stringers, it’s got more punch. Hard to describe, but I’ve read it’s quite common in 5 strings, due to construction and wood density. 
 

Thoughts?

I've got two 5 string Jakes. One is extremely punchy, the other one is good but misses the punch. I've changed string types etc etc and it doesn't change. I think it's luck of the draw or something.

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NickD Mentor

NickD

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, Ian McFly said:

Yeah, that’s the word: gritty. But they seem to be doing the job. 
 

First practice tonight and it didn’t disappoint. Sat in the mix perfectly. 
One thing I noticed though, and it was the same on my Warmoth Jazz 5 I had back in 2012. The E string is not as « punchy » as the one on my 4 string basses. It is not dull or anything, it sounds good within the mix, it’s clear and precise, but I feel like that on my 4 stringers, it’s got more punch. Hard to describe, but I’ve read it’s quite common in 5 strings, due to construction and wood density. 
 

Thoughts?

I would have said that both my Jake and my Elwood L have pretty much the same response from string to string. When the Jake first showed up I was astonished at how aggressive it was in terms of tone, bearing in mind it's passive too. In terms of punch it blows the Elwood L (active, with Haussels) out of the water. The Elwood is much more refined though, both in sound and playability.

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rasher80 Rising Star

rasher80

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, NickD said:

When the Jake first showed up I was astonished at how aggressive it was in terms of tone, bearing in mind it's passive too. In terms of punch it blows the Elwood L (active, with Haussels) out of the water. 

What pickups do you have in your Jake?

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rasher80 Rising Star

rasher80

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Posted

I have the same configuration in my Jake 4 but they are the stock Maruszczyk set.

I need to tinker with the P pickup I think as it's a bit quieter when compared to the bridge stacked J which is really forward.

Was just curious to know whether you had the same pickups as me 👍

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Ian McFly Community Regular

Ian McFly

Posted
Posted

Don’t get me wrong; the bass got punch. More than enough in band practice yesterday. It just feels that the E string is more « even » with the other strings than it is on my 4 string Jazz. It’s probably a good thing actually. On that one, I feel like the E string overpowers the other ones, whereas on my Elwood, it feels more even across the strings. 
 

Just because it’s surprised me, I brought it up. But in a band setting, it actually was enjoyable to have an even response from the strings, and not have a crazy loud E string. 

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NickD Mentor

NickD

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, Ian McFly said:

Don’t get me wrong; the bass got punch. More than enough in band practice yesterday. It just feels that the E string is more « even » with the other strings than it is on my 4 string Jazz. It’s probably a good thing actually. On that one, I feel like the E string overpowers the other ones, whereas on my Elwood, it feels more even across the strings. 
 

Just because it’s surprised me, I brought it up. But in a band setting, it actually was enjoyable to have an even response from the strings, and not have a crazy loud E string. 

I could be wrong here.... way wrong, but I've always associated evenness with flatter fretboards, with the strings arching less, no one string is particularly closer to the pickup poles than the others.

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  • 3 weeks later...
S.F.Sorrow Rookie

S.F.Sorrow

Posted
Posted

Lots of amazing looking basses in this thread but also a worrying amount of complaints about  various problems. I almost ordered one a while back but this thread actually put me of Maruszczyk. I see far too many reports about poor quality screws/hardware and problems with necks/truss rod. I expect better in this price range to be honest. Even with the extra shipping costs Warmoth seems like far better value for customizable basses. Or am I missing something here? Of course you will have to assemble Warmoths yourself but it's not THAT hard if you know how to use a screw driver and a soldering iron (and ideally do some light fret levelling).

One question though:

Why isn't it possible to order Maruszczyk ash bodies with opaque finishes? I know ash needs more finish to fill up the pores than some other woods but if Harley Benton can do it for 150 Euros I don't see the problem? Or is there another reason?

 

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wateroftyne Grand Master

wateroftyne

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, S.F.Sorrow said:

Why isn't it possible to order Maruszczyk ash bodies with opaque finishes? I know ash needs more finish to fill up the pores than some other woods but if Harley Benton can do it for 150 Euros I don't see the problem? Or is there another reason?

 

I'm sure they'd oblige if you ask them.

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mcnach Grand Master

mcnach

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, S.F.Sorrow said:

Why isn't it possible to order Maruszczyk ash bodies with opaque finishes? I know ash needs more finish to fill up the pores than some other woods but if Harley Benton can do it for 150 Euros I don't see the problem? Or is there another reason?

 

 

where did you get that idea from? I've had two opaque finish (purple and red) ash body Jakes, they most certainly do them.

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Drax Proficient

Drax

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

where did you get that idea from? I've had two opaque finish (purple and red) ash body Jakes, they most certainly do them.

It's the configurator, doesn't allow it. Assumed was a bug but it's been like that for a while.. 

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Woodinblack Grand Master

Woodinblack

Posted
Posted
25 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

where did you get that idea from? I've had two opaque finish (purple and red) ash body Jakes, they most certainly do them.

None of the configurators let you select an opaque finish if you select ash (unlike alder), and there are no listed instruments on their site with opaque coloured ash, so it seems a reasonable idea.

I am sure they can do it if you ask

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