Disappointing new bass day...I would appreciate some opinions.

[LukeFRC]

30 minutes ago, snorkie635 said:

Sorry. Just been proved wrong. Hellzero thought the crack to be excellent, therefore, some must have made it through to his pipe.

don't grass him up

[Dood]

Am I right in thinking that this brand is part of a number of companies in the same locality and they have shipped work out from their own workshop to keep up with demand? Or am I imagining that happened at some point? So, I guess my question is; although responsibility and (consumer contract) is between buyer and seller, did someone else, a 3rd party “do the work”? Ya know, since it is unusual that examples like this come out of the brand’s workshop? I’ve no idea, just asking.

[wateroftyne]

45 minutes ago, Dood said:

Am I right in thinking that this brand is part of a number of companies in the same locality and they have shipped work out from their own workshop to keep up with demand? Or am I imagining that happened at some point? So, I guess my question is; although responsibility and (consumer contract) is between buyer and seller, did someone else, a 3rd party “do the work”? Ya know, since it is unusual that examples like this come out of the brand’s workshop? I’ve no idea, just asking.

It sounds like you could tell us if that’s the case.

[Minininjarob]

On 12/10/2025 at 14:05, N64Lover said:

I had a big birthday this year so as a nice treat I decided to order myself a custom bass. A lot of my favourite guitar players use Jazzmasters and being that there's no such thing as a Jazzmaster bass I designed one and got a fairly well known builder in Europe to make it for me, the name of which I will not share. There are a couple of big names that use these instruments.

 

It arrived last week and I was immediately disappointed in the condition that it was in. Scratches and blemishes all over, tool marks on the scratch-plate, dirty binding with black sticky residue on the fret ends. The worst part was that the electronics (Nordstrand preamp and pups) are basically unusable as they are, lose roller pots, loud hum, popping input jack. The finish is nitro, which I understand is very delicate...but this just seems careless and rushed.

 

I am sharing this because the builder has made excuses for these things in that it's kind of a prototype, he's not made a bass like this before. He makes Fender-esque basses but I don't think this is a radical departure from that, just the control layout is unusual. 

 

I would appreciate any opinions that you might have if this were to happen to you. I paid around £2300 which I understand is reasonable for a custom bass, but it's still a decent amount of cash.

Bit late to this, but to be honest the £180 Squire Sonic p bass I bought new recently was better quality than that. Very very poor. 
Name and shame if they don’t sort the issues out ASAP. 

[wateroftyne]

11 minutes ago, Minininjarob said:

Bit late to this, but to be honest the £180 Squire Sonic p bass I bought new recently was better quality than that. Very very poor. 
Name and shame if they don’t sort the issues out ASAP. 

TBH I would have waited for it all to be resolved (or not) before posting about it, as that’s the true test of a business’ mettle, but of course the OP can deal as they see fit.

[snorkie635]

7 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

don't grass him up

I only told Mary Jane - honest.

[prowla]

5 hours ago, Minininjarob said:

Bit late to this, but to be honest the £180 Squire Sonic p bass I bought new recently was better quality than that. Very very poor. 
Name and shame if they don’t sort the issues out ASAP. 

Was it a fake?

[Minininjarob]

7 minutes ago, prowla said:

Was it a fake?

What do you mean?

[prowla]

2 hours ago, Minininjarob said:

What do you mean?

 

They must've misspelt the name.

[Stub Mandrel]

Just now, prowla said:

 

They must've misspelt the name.

 

It was a Squirt.

[Minininjarob]

45 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

It was a Squirt.

Eh???

[ghostwheel]

8 hours ago, Minininjarob said:

Eh???

They probably mean it actually is Squier, not Squire.

[mcnach]

4 hours ago, ghostwheel said:

They probably mean it actually is Squier, not Squire.

 

Doubtful, it seems pretty far fetched.

 

🤭

[Stub Mandrel]

5 hours ago, mcnach said:

9 hours ago, ghostwheel said:

They probably mean it actually is Squier, not Squire.

 

Doubtful, it seems pretty far fetched.

 

🤭

 

It might even have been an attempt at humour. 🙄

[Pea Turgh]

This thread feels like it started drinking in the afternoon, and really needs to go home now.

[snorkie635]

27 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

This thread feels like it started drinking in the afternoon, and really needs to go home now.

Hear, hear. 

[prowla]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

It might even have been an attempt at humour. 🙄

 

🤔🤫🙄🤣

 

[Kev]

Any update on how things are going now its back in their hands?

[Beedster]

On 19/10/2025 at 18:26, Pea Turgh said:

This thread feels like it started drinking in the afternoon, and really needs to go home now.

 

A Leo morphing into a Felix 

[Russ]

On 16/10/2025 at 10:35, Chris2112 said:

I'm guessing Maruszczyk?

Nope, the hardware looks wrong to me. Besides, I've played quite a few Ooshyks and I've never seen any with these sorts of problems. Besides, N64Lover said he requested a Jazzmaster-style bass and they hadn't done one like that, and Maruszczyk do the Mopped, which is very much a Jazzmaster/Jaguar shape (albeit with the controls in a more conventional place). The colour looks a lot like their Green Valley metallic finish, though. 

 

(disclaimer - I own two Maruszczyks  )

[wateroftyne]

12 minutes ago, Russ said:

Nope, the hardware looks wrong to me. Besides, I've played quite a few Ooshyks and I've never seen any with these sorts of problems. Besides, N64Lover said he requested a Jazzmaster-style bass and they hadn't done one like that, and Maruszczyk do the Mopped, which is very much a Jazzmaster/Jaguar shape (albeit with the controls in a more conventional place). The colour looks a lot like their Green Valley metallic finish, though. 

 

(disclaimer - I own two Maruszczyks  )

Prepare to be disappointed in your assessment…

[Russ]

1 minute ago, wateroftyne said:

Prepare to be disappointed in your assessment…

I would be disappointed if that turns out to be the case, mostly because I've not encountered anything like that from them. But I've never found them difficult to deal with, other than the language barrier (mein Deutsch ist nicht ser gut) and I've not seen any of their stuff with these sorts of problems before. 

[wateroftyne]

26 minutes ago, Russ said:

I would be disappointed if that turns out to be the case, mostly because I've not encountered anything like that from them. But I've never found them difficult to deal with, other than the language barrier (mein Deutsch ist nicht ser gut) and I've not seen any of their stuff with these sorts of problems before. 

 

Yep, it's a shame. But - these things happen. The real test is how they're resolved, so we wait and wonder.

[12stringbassist]

I don't think it is acceptable for a guitar maker to excuse body damage, untidy work and bad electronics by saying that the instrument is 'a prototype'. That's garbage. You asked for a neat, clean and functional custom instrument and have paid through the nose for it.

Reading through the topic, I see he's going to do remedial work so you are satisfied with it.
That leaves you without the bass for a period, worried about how it will turn up next time and hopefully not out of pocket.
All for the stuff he should have got right as a matter of course.

 I really do hope you get your dream bass back and would love to see full photos (logo obscured if need be). I totally understand not naming the builder while you are dealing with getting the faults corrected.

Edited 12 hours ago by 12stringbassist

[neepheid]

3 hours ago, 12stringbassist said:

I don't think it is acceptable for a guitar maker to excuse body damage, untidy work and bad electronics by saying that the instrument is 'a prototype'. That's garbage.

 

I'd go one further and say I expect a prototype to be even better - I would expect individual attention paid to it, and if they're trying to get a new product line off the ground, they need to impress at trade shows and the likes.

 

I had the pleasure of owning an actual prototype bass (a Harley Benton HB-50) which had been hawked around Guitar Summit then sold as B-stock by Thomann.  It was superbly put together and It had better hardware than the production model which finally appeared, specifically the bridge.