Installing pickups on a bass like a pro

[ilan]

By Steve Wishnevsky

[Basvarken]

String alignment is incredible too.
And what a design masterpiece altogether!

[Dave W]

 

Time to post my photo of the pre-CBS Wishbass again.

[Chris P.]

I see a face in that bass and it says: please kill me.

[Chris P.]

BTW: no lecture of me this time, about you guys being negative

[Alanko]

No idea why Talkbass carries a candle for this guy.

But... but... once you level the fingerboard, install some proper pickups and electronics, replace the hardware, tidy up all the routing and give it a proper finish they are half decent basses!

The Wish guy got very lucky. I never got the feeling it was a joke at his expense. People definitely wanted the exclusivity factor of a hand-built bass for the price of a used Mexican Fender. The guy did some astonishingly crude work but, at the heard of it, there seems to have been some passable woodworking taking place.



Just, wow.

[westen44]

I see a face in that bass and it says: please kill me.

LMAO!!

[Rob]

I see a face in that bass and it says: please kill me.

[Dave W]

I see a face in that bass and it says: please kill me.

I'm not sure about that. The knot seems to be winking at us.

No idea why Talkbass carries a candle for this guy.

TB is big enough that some people are bound to like them, and there are probably rules there against making fun of others' basses.

[westen44]

Yes, I think there are rules like that, but in this case making an exception would be understandable. 

[ajkula66]

Wasn't the gentleman in question involved in several Ovation designs a few decades ago? I'm pretty stunned at the stuff that I'm seeing in this thread since I have next to no knowledge of his current work...

[Dave W]

Wasn't the gentleman in question involved in several Ovation designs a few decades ago? I'm pretty stunned at the stuff that I'm seeing in this thread since I have next to no knowledge of his current work...

I had never heard of him having any association with Ovation but he claims to have studied guitar physics for two  years with their chief engineer (Jim Rickard) and a jazz guitar maker, about 40 years ago. Could be true. Please excuse me if I doubt it. I've seen too many claims that can't be substantiated and turned out not to be true.

[Basvarken]

studied guitar physics

Wahahhaaaaaaa!!!

[Highlander]

Could that be "stidied guitar psychics..." ?

[ajkula66]

I had never heard of him having any association with Ovation but he claims to have studied guitar physics for two  years with their chief engineer (Jim Rickard) and a jazz guitar maker, about 40 years ago. Could be true. Please excuse me if I doubt it. I've seen too many claims that can't be substantiated and turned out not to be true.

Oh I understand the skepticism...and then some...

Mr. Wishnevsky claims something along those lines in his online biography/resume/call it what you will

In 1978, Mr. Wishnevsky accepted a position with Ovation Instruments in New Hartford, Connecticut, where he was able to study under James Rickard again and to exchange ideas with other master luthiers such as Seth Hedu, of Watertown, Connecticut, and Richard Starky, now of Martin guitars.

source: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/wishnevsky

He got trashed pretty badly in a thread on TB some 15 years ago

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/wishnevsky.55621/page-17

What I find beyond ironic is that one of the cats who were trashing him at the time was Darrin Huff...