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So Iris is still doing well, had an offer to join a jazz band this week but turned it down as they gig every weekend and I just don’t feel like committing to that level of gigging. She got her blue badge the other day and picked her a funky ladybird cover - got to keep it stylish. 1st full review on Thursday afternoon!

Yeah, my eldest (Ella) used to act odd if I was away gigging for prolonged periods. When I separated from her Mum I got access at weekends so quit music altogether. Once I was more sorted, I got back playing. (she escaped pretty much unscathed - and is excelling at school these days)

Well I sanded the test piece from yesterday and there is a hint of greyness to the binding, easily sorted, I'll spray sanding sealer before grain filling fingers crossed that will keep me good. Even if not it was only a hint, it shouldn't be a problem. Beyond that I've been sanding and scraping, on my hands and knees looking for a nut off my mega expensive Freeway switch which I dropped and it rolled all the way to the back wall under my bench finding it's way past all the junk under there... HOW? I also routed the radius on the rear of the body but that is still unsanded I also drilled out for the jack sockets and rebated one of the jack plate in, I'll do the other in the morning. I'm aiming for getting a couple of coats of sanding sealer over the tops tomorrow if I can so I can get the grain filling started before the weekend

Ok, so, after having a bit of a lightbulb moment whilst typing in another thread, I realised yesterday I have the band's PA under my stairs, and an empty house for a few hours, soooo.... I pulled one of the RCF Art 732s out, plugged my B3 into it, stuck it on the floor in 'wedge position', annnnndddd...crikey blimey... 😯 First off, it sounded godawful: no punch, no heft*, it just didn't sound much like a bass amp at all. My first thought was 'Gawd, is this what I sound like FOH?', and it wasn't a reassuring thought. I stomped through my B3 preset sounds - I have nine which cover all the different genres/songs we have in the function band; I've mentioned (at length) previously the range of stuff we do, so I won't bore anyone, but as a three piece my tones do need to be ballpark at the least, so...nine it is. None of them really went anywhere, so I did a bit of digging into the presets: I'd created these tones using in-ears, which is a completely different scenario to FOH. While I was (I'll be honest, a bit listlessly) trying to rescue the tones, I noticed I hadn't used any cab sims on any presets. I switched them in, and boom, suddenly the RCF began to sound like a bass rig. Next salute was to roll off the low bass, and after an hour or so of twiddling (see 'nine presets', above), I've got a very very good 'bass rig' sound from the RCF, and hopefully as a bonus, I've tightened up and improved my FOH sound, too. I know this is all in splendid isolation in my kitchen without the rest of the band and at, erm, kitchen volumes, but I've a gig Satdy, so I'll report back on the in-ears/FOH results then. It's just a shame I can't try an RCF735/745 in a backline scenario at the moment, that'd be the clincher for me (the wedge thing is a bonus, too). My other Rawk band (no in-ears, just attenuators and backline**) is on a bit of a hiatus at the moment, and it'd be interesting to see if the 12" 732 would cope with two Marshall half-stacks and that gorilla from the Cadburys/In The Air Tonight advert on drums... So, the TLDR bit: yep, you can make a single RCF sound like a 'real' bass rig...and I'm very interested to investigate further. Depending how Satdy's gig goes, I might even persuade the band to do a Technical Rehearsal (normally a once-in-blue-moon event) at a big rehearsal room with the full PA and tweak from there. We'll see. I shall report back... * Noooo, don't click away, it's not one of THOSE posts... 😉 ** Someone's got to try and keep rock'n roll alive if everyone else around here is busy killing it... 😁

Out of those I'd go for the Shafty - these are excellent basses & the only obvious deviation from the original appearance is the tuners, which are generic closed-back Gotohs, used on millions of 70s MIJ basses. Re Ibanez - these were Fujigen builds (very good quality) but typically not very accurate. Fujigen Fakers pre-date the availability of accurate pickups, so for some reason Gibson-style units were used, including a massive single-coil in a mudbucker case on the through-necks. The design did change around 1976 to use accurate Maxon-made Rick type pickups & hardware but most don't have these. You'll also pay a premium for the Ibanez brand, same thing with Greco (most of which were also Fujigen) but less obtainable due to being a Japan home market brand & never officially sold in the UK. Shaftesburys typically sell for a good bit less than many other neck-throughs and are much more common - the same bass also turns up branded as CMI, Cimar, Arbiter & several other names, and are very solidly built. The Matsumoku through-necks are beautiful, incredibly accurate and unfortunately the ones most prone to neck-lift issues, because of the unusually thin body, pickup route position & dual truss rod routing. I own one which has this problem & wouldn't recommend a purchase unless you can get a good hands-on look at it first. Unfortunately I didn't have that opportunity - mine came from California via the RickResource forum, after its owner discovered it had been masquerading (quite convincingly) as a 1974 4001 for several decades... There are stunning MIJ Fakers from various other brands/factories - Kasuga, Yamaki, Fernandes etc but all ridiculously rare and pretty unlikely to come up for sale under current circumstances.

Haven't given much attention to Hofner in the past but I think this is great, they've released a bass which is 100% recyclable and has no plastic parts. Looks pretty nice to me, and it sounds good too.

For me it’s: That tone, which cuts through the mix like a buzzsaw Great build quality Optimum string spacing and playability (personal preference of course) I love Fender too. But with the StingRay, Leo and company got it spot on.

I`ve just got one, am not sure on it yet, but as am off to a festival now will have to have a good play when I get back. I`m pretty much there with the sound I want from it, and certainly for overseas gigs it will make travelling with gear easier so I`m reckoning it may just work. But the real try out is rehearsal next Tue, that`s what will make my mind up.

I think that the selling point is that a Stingray has a pretty unique tone, which works well in most genres. Coupled with this is that Musicman have always had a consistent build quality, something you can't really say about Fender over the years.

Been tempted by a double 'bucker P myself, although more along the lines demonstrated by this fine looking Lull:

Thought I'd have a go at this tune. Really cool groove on this track

"A massive thanks to everyone who voted for my tune!... I couldn't have done it if it wasn't for my mum, the cat, my agent, my PA, the office cleaner, my neighbour's gerbil etc etc …" It was extremely close this time! It's great to listen to all the different interpretations... I love a bit of diversity me. 🤩

If I can add a comment or two to this thread... Sound/Tone. So many players who own these copies are under this misapprehension that what's coming out of the speakers is a close proximity to how the original sounds. It isn't. I'm not being elitist here or anything, but just because you have something that looks similar, does not mean that it will sound like the original. Look, I know tone is subjective, one man's poison etc. but so many bass players (and I've played with a lot of other bands) seem to be under this allusion that just because they have an Epiphone Thunderbird or a Chickenbacker (shudder) that it's identical to the real thing, then you pull out your Gibson or Rickenbacker then plug in and they're literally jizzing themselves over what's coming out of my rig. They are effectively more in love with the shape than how it sounds. Sure, I'll let guys have a noodle on my stuff, but I've actually had bassists come up to and ask if they can use my basses for their slot (politely as possible, 'No, GFY.'). Irrespective of what love they may have for their copies, when they come up against the real thing, it's a lightbulb moment. You can see it in their face. It's hilarious.

Both? I think belt and braces might be appropriate if only to make it possible to change an individual string without displacing the others. Clamps that cover two or more strings at a time would be the secondary grip with individual internal wrenching machine screws holding each string tail. Whether you choose clamps, set screws or both; I recommend Torx screw heads for accuracy and durability. Allen headed screws are often used but they haven't a great reputation where they get used over and over. It's the keys that usually cause problems. Unless you can guarantee that a well made and snug fitting key is used exclusively, you will eventually cam out with one causing damage to the screw head. If it's severe enough the damage will make it necessary to drill out the screw. Torx keys drive from the flank and they're usually made to tighter tolerances than Allen keys. You can get flank drive Allen keys but can you guarantee that they are the only keys that will be used? The illustration below shows the difference between point and flank drive for bolt heads. It is the same principle when applied to internal wrenching screw heads.

OK, this has been playing on my mind for the longest time, in the end I thought I needed to get one. I figured the 25 wasn't much use because of the size but I couldn't justify the 49 (not even thought of the 61). In the end I thought I would get a 25 as it was reasonably affordable second hand, if I didn't like it I could flog it again, if I did like it I could flog it and put it towards the 49. My 25 came yesterday and it is so different to the demo units I had tried. There is no drag and it is the most expressive keyboard experience I have ever had access too. The thing is wonderful, if I had had this when i was 14 I woudl never have given up the keyboard and taken up the guitar. So I will keep it for a while and if I am still regulalarly playing it in a few months, I will get a 49.

70s Rics & fakers: I've never seen 70s faker which is better made than a real Ric; that's based on my having owned 6 fakers and seen several more over the years. Primitive truss-rods: One of my Rics had a neck repair, because a previous owner adjusted it incorrectly, but that is their fault for doing it wrong; why should things be done the Fender way? There is an advantage in the old truss-rod system, namely that they can be easily replaced. I like the old truss-rod system. Exploding machines: I've got a 72 Ric with Grovers which seems OK (but I've got a spare set just in case!); Ric resolved the issue by replacing the machines they use and the current ones are fine. Tail-lift: Tail-lift, that's a fair criticism; the stock tailpiece is an achilles heel. But the part can be replaced like-for-like with a current one or 3rd party. many people will replace a bridge on a Strat without complaining that a 30 year-old part hasn't lasted a lifetime. It is possible to fit a fix (as I know you know!). Neck-lift: I don't know how many instruments neck-lift has affected over the years, but is often caused by not following the recommendations on string gauge/tension. Rickenbacker shifted the neck pickup to help mitigate against the risk. It is, however (and admittedly), an inevitable consequence of the whole premise of the instrument: placing a pickup there and having the body thin means that the wood at that point will be thin. But on the flipside, nobody complains that their acoustic guitar is fragile because the body's wood is thin and they have to treat it carefully, so why should a bass be any different? I've got a 70s Japanese faker with neck-lift. I suppose the basis of the issue is inherent in a thru-neck design; with a Fender, you just put in a shim or adjust the micro-tilt and job's a good 'un! Finish: I've got one 60s and two 70s Rics and the finish is fine; matured to a nice vintage feel and certainly no better or worse than any other vintage guitar. In contrast, my experience of faker finishes is that they are more brittle than real Rics and they are more prone to chipping. It's funny that owners of other brands try and emulate the "road-worn" look of their heroes' guitars and refinishing a vintage instrument is frowned upon. MIJ quality materials: I've had a couple of fakers whose binding has detached. Their tailpieces tend to be made of thinner metal than the stock Ric ones and so are equally (or more) prone to tail-lift. The materials may not be so well matched and may flex differently with age, for example forming a channel along the skunk stripe. Chickenbackers: Yep - the current ones are pale imitations, but there are folks who use the "better than a real one" line when talking about them and I don't know who they are trying to kid. Overall, Rics are undoubtably quirky instruments which are made by a company who sticks to its own path and has not become part of the homogenised Fender-a-like blandness of many others; I kindof like that. I also think that the vintage fakers are fun instruments, but the "better than a real one" really doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

Because Jazz basses always 'look' like they're going to be better than a humble old Precision, but they never are 😗😁

Just catching up on this thread so sorry for the late reply. In the 70s, Rickenbacker - like all of the "big brands" - didn't take the issue of (mostly) Japanese copies seriously. This is how Fender lost what slim claim to trade dress ownership they had - and what led to the establishment of Fender Japan - and it's why Gibson finally clutched the last straw of threatening late legal action against Ibanez' brand owners. Rickenbacker was - and still is - a much more niche brand, and a far more minor player, and I think never construed Fakers as a threat back in the day. What's interesting, and relevant, is that the modern Rickenbacker International Corporation (RIC) was set up in the mid 80s by John Hall, when he took over the business - if I remember, prior to that Rickenbacker was two separate companies, one handling manufacture & the other distribution (I think that was a common US business model in the early 20th century) which were wound up when Hall took over. So, RIC is a fairly young company & didn't actually exist at the time of the original 70s Fakers - you'll find this interesting: Registered RIC Trademarks So - RIC didn't legally own the registered trademark to any of their designs & trade dress before 1999. Anyone who wanted to take on JH over the sale of a verifiable 1970s Faker - and had the will & cash to go the distance - would very probably be able to hand him his well-padded ar$e. As would Hoshino Gakki, owner of the Ibanez brand, or Kanda Shokai, owner of the Greco brand, as both could demonstrate that they were selling instruments with these designs - and bearing their own brand names - back in 1972, long before RIC existed. The same would be true of John Birch guitars, who sold a Rick-based design continuously from the early 70s up until about 2000 or so. The reality is that despite the stature of the name, RIC is actually a small, family-owned business (owned outright by JH and his Mrs) and don't really have the financial heft to do much more than send C&D letters, and let their CEO prowl around the Internet personally barking at people who infringe his IP. Can't help wondering how the US' current economic situation, alongside the reputation for shoddy quality and abysmal customer service RIC is getting, will play out for them. Not a fan of the man, or "real" Ricks, tbh, but would be a shame to see them go. Any reason why you wouldn't want a 70s MIJ copy? Some of these are near-indistinguishable from the real thing and certainly better-made than 70s-era Rickenbackers. Apropos of nothing I suspect RIC is well aware that licensed Chinese/Korean Ricks would kill off their US business - the rabid RIC fanbase would consider it a massive un-American sellout/betrayal, and everyone else would choose the cheaper & inevitably better made Licensed Faker over a real one! Talk about rocks & hard places...

Pleased to say Iris came home after 6 weeks in hospital and 5 operations (the first of which at 2 days old was a gruelling 9 1/2 hours). She’s doing great and it’s lovely to have her home.

Bugger, wrong thread!

As this thread seems to have been dormant for a little while, I thought I'd post a pic of my current clutch of Laklands... L to R: ‘02 Trans White 55-94, ebony board, Nordstrand/Aguilar pickups, Pope Flexcore preamp; ‘98 Amber 55-94 DLX, birdseye maple board, Aguilar pickups, Pope Flexcore preamp; ‘15 Tobacco Burst 55-Dual J, rosewood board, Hanson vintage pickups, John East Uni-Pre preamp; ‘07 Black Sparkle Korean DJ5, maple board, Delano pickups, John East DJ Retro preamp.

That’s it - spot on. Addictive it is indeed - you’ve done a good job there!

I've done a bit of yellowing on it now, it was great fun once I got going, in fact quite difficult to hold back and not go over the top with it! Rick and Bridgehouse were dead right, this is addictive! I fitted parts onto the body to provide natural masking, leaving the un-aged sonic blue underneath, and didn't screw the scratchplate down tightly so that I wasn't left with a hard line, as it would be (and in fact is) warped with age and so there would be a softer line between the yellowing and the clean colour. I hope this looks more realistic. I know it's only really visible when the scratchplate is removed, but I might as well do it if I can. I did a bit with the bridge cover on and then removed it and did a bit more, to try to make it look like the cover has been on and off 'over the years' I will tweak it a bit to rub back a little bit of the yellowing on areas that, from what I've seen in the dozens of photo's I have looked at, seem not to yellow. I can only imagine that this is down to some sort of continual wear pattern from contact against your body whilst playing. I mean on areas such as the forearm contour, the belly contour and the lower curve where it rests on your leg when you are seated, but again, I need to remind myself……..less is more! sorry if the photos don't show the colours or detail up very well, but the natural light was fading and i had to take them indoors. I'll take more photos when the clear coat goes on.

I've done a fair share of research on these brands you're looking at. Currently I own a Vanderkley 112EXT and a Bergantino HD112. They are great cabs but yes, they are coloured, if your ideal cab just puts out what goes in then you'll probably have better luck with the Barefaced 12s. And yes the Vanderkley is bright (although you can compensate for that to a degree with EQ). I get what you're saying about the BF looks but up close I didn't find them so bad. And you can order them with a coloured baffle at a small extra fee. The red baffle, a la Vanderkley, is pretty good looking IMO.

Changes. One new pedal, retired two others, reinstated an old one and moved a few around. Also replaced most of the EBS patch cables with the newer version EBS patch cable. Had some problems with bad contact at several positions in the chain a few months ago. Hopefully the new version will behave better, they have gold plated plugs so should be more reliable than the older nickel plated plugs.

Unique Selling Point. I tried a Stingray HH out a few years ago, and it wasn’t half as versatile as I was expecting for a double humbucker bass. Still sounded good though obviously. If i was going to buy one, it would just be a classic natural/maple single humbucker one Si

Yup, they are so versatile, that for me, they were too versatile... So many great sounds that I couldn’t stop fiddling, so I went back to a single H just to keep focus on playing and not twiddling! That said, I wouldn’t bet against owning one again in the future, probably a 2018 Special

Agreed, in actual fact I really wouldn’t want a matching power cab, the offerings from QSC and RCF will likely not be beaten for bass applications. They’re also multi function too; monitor and PA solutions too...

Fantastic idea! cheers jposega.

Mine is identifiable and I'm sat in my office with my Winchester .357 close to hand... (It has been customised a bit, but I'm on the lookout for a gap-tooth bridge to revert it to stock.)

For me, the MusicMan USP is simply that’s it’s a MusicMan! It’s got quality, style, history and THAT sound. There are plenty of great basses out there inspired by MusicMan and they are of top quality, but they dont’t have the USP I particularly want. YMMV.

Because of her various conditions she’s entitled to a disabled persons parking permit as we attend so many appointments and because of her Shunt, she requires quick access to treatment in cases of emergency. If she’s in the car or we’re running errands for her, we can use a disabled parking space. this is just a holder, but didn’t want the standard dull blue one...

Yep. Lots of other brands too (really all from the same couple of factories) and variations (bolt-on/thru neck, 1/2 truss rods, treble pickup, generic/replica machines, single/dual jacks, pickup location, etc.). The 70s ones will take standard Ric parts as-is; I'm fiddling around with a Hondo II (MIK) and putting Ric bits on it pending getting a real Ric carcass.

Yep, live and studio, quite separate things. I still like my audio as accurate as possible however... Don't see much point in compromising if you can afford it and the kit is available that'll do the job. I ran the BF BT for 3 years in a number of not always perfect environments, and all I got was praise for how good the bass sounded from the FoH guys, it's absolutely not all about the 30Hz, it's about the way the cab articulates the sound you put through it. For me I've yet to come across a cab that does that as well as the BF. As always, your mileage may vary...

Ta. Shortlisted.

Do you mean the profit from physical sales? Or revenue from royalties? Either way ours all goes into the pot with gig money. We can afford studio time, loads of merch in stock, a few charity gigs, and we still get to take a small bit of money after every gig - the boss manages it all

Yeah there's always the McDonalds at Red Hill Circle, Leicester, which is open till stupid o'clock. But that hardly classes as a bona fide late night food establishment. Well ok then, yes it does...

I've had both Agas and conventional ovens and preferred my old gas oven

Well, I've had the bass for a few days now and I thought it would be nice to post some feedback. The top line is that the 'vision' I had for a custom built bass has been brought to wonderful life by Andy. The main design brief was for a Jazz-influenced 'working' 4 string that looked good but didn't scream 'look at me'. For me, a triple tick has been achieved. The light weight of the bass, at 6.5 pounds, was almost disconcerting when I first picked it up. But after playing it for a few days I ask myself 'why are most basses so heavy?'. I set Andy the challenge of block markers on a maple fret board. They look and feel beautiful. So far, I've only used the bass for personal playing and one band rehearsal. Through a Phil Jones Bass Cub the Norstrand NJ4 pickups I went for sound sweet although there's still some experimentation to be done on bass and amp settings. The whole attention to detail and quality of build is fantastic. Andy is a great craftsman to work with. He doesn't impose his views but will advise where things can be done better. Bottom line; a very happy customer.

I think it may have been a celestion in that cab, i may stand corrected though......email celestion and they may be able to suggest a suitable replacement

I have that on nearly every build!! 🤬

Id be up for it. BC pie after too.

I've been working on another video from the same gig as Breaking Glass. This is actually the third one, but I haven't quite finished tinkering with the second one yet. This one was far more challenging than either of the other two in that there were issues with one of the audio files and there were no close-up video shots available, so it was a question of making the best of what we had. That said, I think Natalie absolutely knocks this one out of the park. It's great to finally be able to get something decent together to showcase her role in the band. EDIT: There were a couple of things I wasn't happy with in the previous version, so I fixed them 😀

If we're assuming a forty-odd year future, that's a couple of generations. There are no more roller-rinks (well, very few...) which were once all the rage. Similarly, few pubs now have piano ('joanna'...) sing-song evenings; used to be nightly. There may well be rock/pop/live music gigs to be had in forty years time, but it's not something I'd be betting on (although it's true that I don't bet, either..!). Doubtful..? Certainly not a certainty, I'd say (for better or worse; all may be 'virtual' in future years, or radio-active ashes..! ).