I've often thought these instruments were designed to be maintained by the user, so as not to lose time via UPS returning them to a small company who could not maintain a large 'third-person' repair network as would a Fender or Peavey.
By design, the laminates, in a majority of the population of built instruments, are just more stable. This was backed up by superior wood choice and aging before construction.
Especially important regarding the neck/fingerboard system: Very rare to need a new nut with the brass composition, and the adjustability negates much need for filling/deepening the piece, save for drastic changes in string guages. Even at that, you only need a blank for the top part of the assembly. And that and the occasional refret could be done locally if trusted to a competent tech.
The electronics in most cases are very long-lived due to the almost NASA-spec componentry that Ron spec'd for his circuits. This is a good thing, as you're NOT going to find Honeywell Clarostats at Radio Shack or Guitar Center. But with over 20 wipers inside, not often you're gonna need one. My 92 hasn't even the slightest hint of corrosion noise, and turns as if the shaft is spinning in 90 weight gear grease. As with the other components, there are NO solder joints to degrade or break. The gold-plated plug-ins are virtual lifetime connectors.
The Series electronics are more complex, but built to last as well, and have proven to be upgradeable over time as technology and component quality have improved. The pickups don't even have foam beneath them to turn into mouse feed over time. And with the plug-ins, a lot of problems are reduced to unplugging the old, inserting the new.
With the adjustable nut, the dual truss rods, and the bridge pre-cast to match the curve of the fingerboard, action adjustment is simply easier on these than any other instrument I can think of. Turned it into a log while you were experimenting? Return some screws to their starting points and it's right back where you started. No neck shims, no conventional nut to file/break/replace, no pulling the pickguard to get at the truss rod . . . it just seems that these instruments were almost meant to never come home after they were sold.
I've always wondered it this was just the by=product of the feature set, or if this was a conscious decision to tweak the feature set to this level of adjustability . . . it's just a stunning display of practical genius either way.
I remember a post where the respondent said, 'it takes a LOT of homework to reverse-engineer Ron Wickersham', and I'd have to agree completely.
I was taken in by this soon after I bought the BigRedBass, and all of this just kept tapping me on the shoulder and intruding into what I thought was a pretty fair layman's knowledge of guitar building.
I had previously been at the mercy of guitar techs to adjust my action. They NEVER got it right, and I went to some VERY good ones. But they could not wrap their mind around my idea of a BASS with action comparable to a first rate electric guitar: Very low, rattle-free, effortless to play. It dawned on me that anything I could do to THIS bass, I could easily undo UNTIL I GOT IT RIGHT. And if I proceeded prudently, I would NOT hurt this instrument. nor require somebody else (again) to replace a nut, etc.
I felt like I'd discovered something sublime.
Bought a great book, read it over and over and over in the adjustments section, dove in and did it till I FINALLY 'got it', and now my bass is EXACTLY how I want after playing for over 20 years. And I can KEEP it that way. This is a wonderful gift. To lift a line from the commercial, 'PRICELESS!'.
For those of you that are at a point where setup and maintenance is an important part of you personal paradigm, I cannot agree with TerryC more.
That's why the BigRedBass truly changed my life.
My musical life easily boils down to BEFORE I got it and AFTER I got it. The sound and craft spoke to me; learning to adjust it myself bonded it to me in a way that I can't easily explain.
I'm just so fortunate to have it.
J o e y
