eude Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 13 hours ago, Muzz said: Is he aware this is being documented on a busy bass forum, and therefore not doing his business any good? He might respond differently if he knows this is the case... I think the damage will be done for some now. We're not at barge pole yet, but it could get close sadly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 22 hours ago, mrtcat said: That's really kind gents, thank you. If you did get a chance to send me some pics that would be great. I'm going to stand polite but firm because I've not only paid for the bass but also an extra £26 to send the neck back, after they forgot to install the luminlays, and then a further £68 to send the bass back to the workshop in Poland. That's pretty poor... Here's some Luminlay dots fitted on one of my basses: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtcat Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Awesome thanks mcnach. Adrian has looked at the luminlays again today and agreed they aren't right. He has now resolved the issue for me for which I'm very grateful. Thanks again all. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CameronJ Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 That’s good news. Refund? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Glad he’s done the right thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtcat Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 1 hour ago, CameronJ said: That’s good news. Refund? Yes on this occasion a refund. Still leaves me needing a 5 string but I'll take time to consider options before jumping in lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Glad that it has been sorted out, even if it had been fixed the trust and shineyness has already gone. Took me a bit of a while after the strap button screw sheared off on mine before I was happy again (which I now am) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrumpymike Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 3 hours ago, Woodinblack said: Glad that it has been sorted out, even if it had been fixed the trust and shineyness has already gone. Took me a bit of a while after the strap button screw sheared off on mine before I was happy again (which I now am) I remember you posting about this - and I've since discovered the probable reason. When I changed my Elwood over to strap-locks, the screw that fixed the original bottom button was in extremely tight and I had to be careful not to round the head off. Once I carefully got it moving it was obvious that it had been driven in at an angle nearer 45 degrees than 90 degrees to the body surface. On close inspection of the extracted screw, I saw the shank was actually bent at the point where the button meets the body. This is the best way I know to weaken/break a screw. In practice, failure often happens later either due to repeated loading from the strap - as in Woody's case I think - or when you try to take the screw out as I did (i was the lucky one!). I had already noticed that most of the scratch-plate screws hadn't gone in straight either as the heads weren't sitting flat. You'd be shocked if you found that on a £150 Ibanez (which you wouldn't - I've owned a couple). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreadBin Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 These are not the kind of problems one should expect on an instrument at this price point, quite frankly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CameronJ Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 5 hours ago, mrtcat said: Yes on this occasion a refund. Still leaves me needing a 5 string but I'll take time to consider options before jumping in lol. Well that’s good. Still, an eyebrow-raising ordeal that one wouldn’t expect to have to go through. Some of the issues people have raised here are pretty worrying at any price point - which is a shame as I’ve seen some truly stunning basses come out of Maruszczyk HQ. When the spec and price point are high then the quality control and customer service has got to match. No excuses. Sandberg are a good example of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 3 hours ago, scrumpymike said: In practice, failure often happens later either due to repeated loading from the strap - as in Woody's case I think - or when you try to take the screw out as I did (i was the lucky one!). I had already noticed that most of the scratch-plate screws hadn't gone in straight either as the heads weren't sitting flat. You'd be shocked if you found that on a £150 Ibanez (which you wouldn't - I've owned a couple). No, it was when I tried to take it out, it just bent and broke. I was trying to put a strap lock on it. After replacing that one I replaced the other important screws with good quality ones. Cost over a £1. And yes, I was a bit surprised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaggyMan Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 Erm, somewhat bemused by (and new to...) the thread. Seems to be a 'bits I don't like about.." thread rather than a owners thread. I have an Elwood 5 stringer I bought off of this very site and its a quality item. Or am I missing the point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 Your missing the point I would say. This is a thread for owners and people wanting to get / order basses, but part of the thing of being an owner is also pointing out if something is wrong. I have an elwood as well, and it is a quality item, except the screws, which aren't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 41 minutes ago, BaggyMan said: Erm, somewhat bemused by (and new to...) the thread. Seems to be a 'bits I don't like about.." thread rather than a owners thread. I have an Elwood 5 stringer I bought off of this very site and its a quality item. Or am I missing the point? I'm a Maruszczyk fanboi, and I'd say you're missing the point. Airbrushing doesn't help anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 1 hour ago, BaggyMan said: Erm, somewhat bemused by (and new to...) the thread. Seems to be a 'bits I don't like about.." thread rather than a owners thread. I have an Elwood 5 stringer I bought off of this very site and its a quality item. Or am I missing the point? Fortunately this thread is not like the EB MusicMan forum. Here we can both like Maruszczyk instruments and still feel free to point out the weak parts, if/when found. I own two (got a third but I sold it) and I really like them. I would still look at Maruszczyk first if I wanted a bass that's not a straight production model, cheese-screws notwithstanding 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubinga5 Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 (edited) Does anyone think he/his company might have over stretched themselves sales wise and in doing so compromised quality. Im not saying this is the case, Just a thought. Ive owned an Elwood 5 and it was superb. But,.. I went for a meal in Stratford 2 weeks ago. Was awful. Wifes food was cold, food was bad. Next night it might have been wonderful food. Wont ever go back, why would I bother and risk having a crap meal again when there're a hundred more restaurants that will take my money. Reputations can be destroyed with one bad experience. This meal was only £50. Adrians basses are over £1000. This is why builders like Roger Sadowsky are on the top of there game all the time.. He probably understands the power of TalkBass etc also. Edited July 30, 2018 by bubinga5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtcat Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 1 hour ago, bubinga5 said: Does anyone think he/his company might have over stretched themselves sales wise and in doing so compromised quality. Im not saying this is the case, Just a thought. Ive owned an Elwood 5 and it was superb. But,.. I went for a meal in Stratford 2 weeks ago. Was awful. Wifes food was cold, food was bad. Next night it might have been wonderful food. Wont ever go back, why would I bother and risk having a crap meal again when there're a hundred more restaurants that will take my money. Reputations can be destroyed with one bad experience. This meal was only £50. Adrians basses are over £1000. This is why builders like Roger Sadowsky are on the top of there game all the time.. He probably understands the power of TalkBass etc also. I think yes to a point the business has become a bit stretched but Adrian still seems fully committed to putting his money where his mouth is and getting involved. I think that with my issue he actually learnt something about his own business. They have opened a new production facility which isn't close to where Adrian is based and I think maybe he's realised he needs to keep a closer eye on what leaves the factory. I will continue to watch with interest and, if it looks like he is back on top of things, I'll definitely consider buying another Maruszyczyk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaggyMan Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 (edited) Ahhh geddit now. TBH I bought the elwood 'almost' on a whim, primarily becuase its chambered and hence light. 38 years of playing have limited my neck and back to basses less than 10lb if poss. Tonally excellent and nothing has fallen off. The whole expanding through success model is a tricky one, Sire for example are in the same boat (other guitar makes available..) With substandard tuners creeping in after the first flush of success. Who knew that the bean counters dont actually know how to build guitars. Edited July 30, 2018 by BaggyMan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreadBin Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 7 hours ago, BaggyMan said: Who knew that the bean counters dont actually know how to build guitars. Who knew that bean counters don't know how to make anything at all?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrumpymike Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 17 hours ago, BaggyMan said: Erm, somewhat bemused by (and new to...) the thread. Seems to be a 'bits I don't like about.." thread rather than a owners thread. I have an Elwood 5 stringer I bought off of this very site and its a quality item. Or am I missing the point? I understand where you're coming from with this comment. When I had problems with my Elwood last year, Adrian sorted them and I decided to post nothing at the time out of loyalty to the M brand and because nobody gets it right every time. In view of the recent experiences of others, I decided to share mine because: a) it's obvious that there is a significant quality issue, b) I am still a big fan of Adrian M, c) constructive criticism is IMHO what he needs and (last but not least) d) I know that Pierreganseman will feed this stuff back to Mr M. I think Public Peace has now reached the point where he has to put in place proper quality-control and customer-complaint systems run by people with the necessary specialist skills. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaggyMan Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 interesting, I had an issue with the Elwood (turned out to be a broken jack socket). Whilst in the hunt for the issue (dead pre amp switching and distortion) I asked what the model of the Delano pre-amp. They offered to replace it f.o.c if it was needed. In the end it turned out to be a broken jack socket...something I have had go on other makes (including high end basses) so I can't take a pop at them for that. I thought offering to replace the pre-amp was a good gesture in keeping with the price tag of the bass... Hope they get their act back together because skimming the above posts they look like they need to get a grip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 1 hour ago, scrumpymike said: I think Public Peace has now reached the point where he has to put in place proper quality-control and customer-complaint systems run by people with the necessary specialist skills. I agree - more so they need a customer facing representative that is better at communication than Adrian is. He has a good guitar building business and a fantastic bass player, but his communication skills can be a little abrupt for most. It is much easier to lose trade than to gain it. Half of the battle dealing with customers is letting them know you are listening to them, and maybe sometimes that is where he falls short, you often have to message a few times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Yes, I had a bit of this - I was looking (at the time) for a new build, and contacted Adrian a couple of times, but got no reply, so I went elsewhere. It's a shame, because the Maruszczyk basses I've played have been very nice, but it's not untypical for a small business that becomes very very popular very very quickly...I hope they get on top of it all, because they're a terrific builder... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El_JimBob Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamg67 Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 On 30/07/2018 at 17:22, BaggyMan said: Erm, somewhat bemused by (and new to...) the thread. Seems to be a 'bits I don't like about.." thread rather than a owners thread. I have an Elwood 5 stringer I bought off of this very site and its a quality item. Or am I missing the point? I think it goes both ways, I'm sure that Maruszczyk have had plenty of orders based on the positive feedback here. I specced and bought a Jake 5A+ based mostly on this thread, and it's a great bass , "best 5er I've ever played" according to my bass teacher, and I now also have a lovely Elwood I picked up on BC - they will soon be my only two basses. They have built their reputation on building quality stuff, so I think it's fair if people share on here if that quality is not what you would expect - and you would expect it to be 100%. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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