LukeFRC

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1397405906' post='2423590'] It's fine, we have a special bond Find anything I wish I hadn't sold? [/quote] not so many photos found - though I think I remember the BBingray from a build thread a while back.

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1397226918' post='2422011'] [url="http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/Stoker1/media/photo_zps4f59081d.jpg.html"][/url] [/quote]wooo pretty bass, I'm going looking through your old posts to see if you've a photo of more of your stuff!

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1397346177' post='2423132'] Yes we do. We have members who can identify a Rickenbacker copy, blindfolded and with one arm tied behind their back. J. [/quote] we missed you when you weren't around. When you we'rent around we probably had the one arm tied behind the back but would possibly have had to leave out the blindfold.

if you're going to live in poverty and have your wife leave you over the destitution your bass buying habits have got you into can I respectfully suggest you do it with a bass a fair bit more exciting than a mexican mm Fender?

my favourite bass I would like to own but prob never will as can't justify it in the slightest but think looks amazing... NS Radius

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1397338773' post='2423059'] I don't train in the area of law thats involved (although the basics are available and understandable to most). It's much more complex due to this being the internet, the liability of the owners of the website for the actions of its members, and the fact it invokes an international flavour. I can understand why the owners didn't want to carry on with the threats. As much as we are a fairly litigious bunch in the UK, I don't think we tend to dive in and sue at the first sign of a legal dispute like some other countries. Ric will sell Ric's no matter what. I still want one. I'm quite interested to find out what happened with the many high end Fender copies and the cases that stemmed from that. Obviously, they didn't win, but it does seem crazy if you think about it; Leo Fender invented the Fender P and J, yet other companies can do what they want with it (to an extent) and Fender just have to try and compete. Saying all that, if I was a regular Ric seller, I would be annoyed I'd paid the subscription on BC. [/quote] From what I understand.... So Rickenbacker have from the start protected their copyright and US trademarks on their designs and shapes. Their upholding of this trademark in the US is dependent on them able to prove that they have taken action to stop copies. Hense they have a legal necessity to pester Basschat - even though under EU law basschat is doing nothing wrong, under US trademark law Rickenbacker have to be seen to crack down on copies. Right. So Fender didn't and hadn't. So when they went to try and trademark their instruments, and because they hadn't taken action to actively stop the copies he big japanese guitar makers were successfully able to argue that the design were, and had become generic. Except the headstock which was successfully argued as a trademark which is why you stop seeing fender copies with the fender headstock shape post the early 80's.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1397335699' post='2423028'] What I'm telling you is when you ask "what would you have done then ? " is that it's a moot point, because I am not Ped or Kiwi, and I have very different motivations and ambitions. How I behave is not a prescription for others any more than how others behave is a prescription for me . If you are trying to get me to say they have done the only thing they could under the circumstances then that depends on your assessment of what those collective circumstances actually are and what their real priorities are. You and I can only guess at that, but if they are like most people, it's fair to assume they want the maximum possible personal benefit for the least possible effort and financial investment . That's certainly what I want from my own businesses , and I wouldn't expect whoever owns Basschat to be any different. [/quote] or lowest risk. Allow Rickenbacker adverts and there's a chance a few fakes will be advertised, and theres a chance that Joe Hall brings a lawsuit that is unaffordable to defend against... but it's not even just the risk of a lawsuit against Basschat per say, but the threat of legal action against whoever hosts basschat - and I bet given some kind of well worded solicitors paper a web host would rather turn off a site like this than take the risk... and then where would we all be? Finnbass possibly? I don't understand the problem to be honest - Basschat have done what they seem fit to protect themselves, and Rickenbacker owners still have ebay/preloved/gumtree/facebook/TB etc to sell stuff if they want too. Even folk with Rickenfakers can find places to sell fairly easily

Buy it using what?

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1397321769' post='2422826'] I'd still like one but not having them on here means I can't try a decent used one. I don't really want to go to ebay. [/quote] surely theres someone up in the north east with one you could invite yourself around to play with?

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1397320513' post='2422811'] To me this clouds the issue. I think the only thing we need to be concerned about is.... Is there a problem with the act of advertising for sale a genuine Rickenbacker product? I don't think there is. I was a reasonably quiet observer when the ban was originally discussed and I am aware of the issues with fakers, but that's not relevant to the question. If, for example, someone wanted to sell a nice low number Chris Squire with original case, candy and certificate ;-) I think they should be allowed to do it. I miss checking into the porn section to see geo's latest "best Rick ever" only to see it in the for sale section the week after. I don't even think geo's been around here that much since Rick's were banned. [/quote] But equally is there a problem at all with the act of advertising for sale a secondhand japanese/italian/british rickenfaker from the 70's or 80's? Under both European and British law there is no problem with that at all.

a 70's-80's Jap copy is as much a valid instrument, and possibly as good, as one with the correct name on it. If the corp. are going to threaten legal action if these good and nice basses get advertised why should anyone else jump through hoops just so the corp's basses can be advertised? There are plenty of other places where real ones can be sold.

[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1397292480' post='2422484'] They're bass guitars, there's not much that can be said here about playing them that hasn't already been said here a thousand times. This forum is far more about buying and selling (an ranting in OT) than about musicianship, always has been. Nothing wrong with that, if it didn't have FS and OT it would probably have less than 1000 members, about 100 of them regular posters [/quote] I was about to say the same thing. I joined to sell a pedal I didn't use and stuck around as it seemed polite. If I want to focus on playing or musicianship I tend to turn the computer off and just go practice... [quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1397311566' post='2422711'] You are indeed a wise man. This is site as much ( if not more) for bass guitar owners as it is for bass guitar players. Collecting basses is a hobby in its' own right, and a perfectly legitimate one that I personally have no problem with whatsoever. However, I cannot help but note that when I have been selling basses in the past, they have usually been relatively expensive high quality basses and I have fielded fairly involved technical questions from many of the prospective buyers about various elements of construction ect. When these individuals subsequently came to my house to pick the bass up and try it out, almost to a man [u],NONE[/u] of them could play for toffee. With only one exception I can think of , with the best will in the world, they were all utterly useless players, and many of them were adding my bass to a sizable collection of similarly high-end instruments. They spend their time agonizing about technicalities and academic issues to do with construction because it is somewhere to direct their energies elsewhere than confronting their shortcomings as a player. [/quote] I hate to think how I come across as a player! The few folk I've met off here have been pretty awesome players. One guy even got me to half my asking price without asking for a bass he wanted as he was so good and I would never make that bass sing like he did! I'm not great, I'm not awful either. I duuno if my basses count as high end either.

is that the open back one? I think not...

[quote name='bassman344' timestamp='1397166819' post='2421514'] That's the thing though, always thinking you are buying better gear to find out too late that what you had was actually spot on and the new kit is the emperors new clothes. Then you try to change back and only then do you regret it and this is my point, if I stop it and stick to what I know will I be happier? Probably, and why I'm having a bass built to my own spec. Maybe I'm just an old git . . . . . . Or my eyes are bigger than my pockets are lined with cash and I'm weary with spending all I earn looking for the perfect bass. [/quote] I lived with a fella who had a mexican precision. I've played a fair few of precisons over the years and it was one of the best basses I've played. Not depended on cost. The bitsa jazz I'm selling this weekend likewise is an awesome sounding and playing bass - cost has nothing to do with it. A sadowsky jazz would be higher build quality, it would sound different (not better) and for me - might not be better. What should I do to it to make it sound as good as that Sadowsky Tal whatsherface plays? Practice (and jam with Jeff Beck) There's no such thing as a perfect bass. Pick something and play it till it is "your" bass. BigRedX may come in with the point that different projects may need different looks visually for instruments which I would concede.

Apart from the Puma 1000 trade which in hindsight would have been worth keeping

I don't sell stuff I'll regret selling.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1397161123' post='2421409'] Really? IME setup is all about fine tuning. It can't do anything about things that make an instrument fundamentally difficult to play like the wrong neck profile, string spacing, an uncomfortable body shape. [/quote] hmmm good point. Apart from body shape I think you can get used to other things/improve technique.

Tone. Playabilty can be found in a setup.

[quote name='Handwired' timestamp='1394551933' post='2392577'] Yuk, a Tribute (sorry, Snob factor kicking in). [/quote] having looked into it G&L are one of the few makes where the difference between the USA made stuff and else where seem to be negligible. Mind you the early L1000 mmmmm. Leo fender designed the P bass. Made it better in 1955, improved it again in 1957.... the next improvement was called a Stingray, the pinnacle was called the L1000 ....

Well basses with natural wood tops have been in fashion for at least the last 10 years. Painted finishes can be found in pretty much any colour if you look hard enough. I guess from the things the OP has said he/she likes so far that translucent tints on fancy wood might float your boat?