Maruszcsyk Instruments are made in Poland, where there is a tradition of instrument-building tracing back to violinmakers centuries ago. Harnessing the precision and craftsmanship developed over generations, Maruszczyk builds fully-modern instruments with cutting edge features and components. Maruszczyk are designed to deliver strong results for modern-day musicians who need hard-working instruments.
The Maruszczyk Frog was designed to be a sleek, comfortable instrument that is easy to pick up and start creating immediately. This Frog Beta 4a was made in 2017, and it features a hard rock maple neck and a solid Ash body. The streamlined neck joint makes the bass feel like it's all one piece, and the Padauk fingerboard feels smooth and playability. The workmanship is impressive, and the woods look gorgeous how they are precisely carved into the unique Frog shape. The solid-wood construction provides resonance and sustain without sacrificing clarity and definition.
This 2017 Frog Beta 4a weighs in at 8 lbs 5.4 oz, which feels like a nice weight for a 34" long-scale bass. While some Maruszczyk basses are headless, this one has a traditional headstock with black tuning machines and a zero fret for smooth tuning and precise intonation. Under the hood, it's outfitted with Maruszczyk Bassculture pickups that have Padauk covers that match the fingerboard, and a Delano Sonar active electronics system gives you a lot of flexibility. It's a three band EQ with mini three-way toggle switches for each pickup. It's a flexible system with a lot of variability, but honestly the bass shines just the same in passive mode (the volume knob is a push pull that toggles active/passive).
This 2017 Frog Beta 4a shows some minor scuffs and signs of use. In particular, the Matte finish has been rubbed shiny in the higher contact spots, such as the back of the neck, the thumb area around the bass pickup, the lower bout where your arm rests across, and the treble side of the body from seated play. The Gotoh tuning machines have a Hipshot detuned, which allows you to access Drop D with a flick of a switch. But there is some rash around the headstock from that (see photos). There are some other bumps around the edges of the peghead, too. The action is in a nice playable spot all the way up to the 14th fret, but there's still enough room tol dig in and get aggressive. Plenty of room to bring that down, too, if that's preferred! It includes its original gig bag and paperwork.