Jean-Luc Pickguard

I'm probably very replacable as a bass player, but the other band members might wonder why there are no rehearsal/gig recordings, no printed setlists, and why the website has not been updated.

That's what my missus used to say, but these days I find it easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. It is a beautiful bass. I did have an initial weird issue with the mono socket (and I did wonder whether this was why it ended up in CC), but once I had used logic and perseverance to troubleshoot and fix it, it has been perfect. I finessed the setup today when I was shielding and swapping the pickguard.

It did come from the Exeter branch. Another branch had an HX Stomp XL listed for £399 yesterday, but while I was thinking about whether to go for it, someone else bought it.

I'm looking forward to him discovering the term 'C✪ck Rock' and making a video about it.

I had a bit of time today so I have done the copper tape shielding, and as I would have to strip all the components off the pickguard for this I took the opportunity to try the black rickysounds pickguard. I started by putting copper foil on the back of the pickguard, but not quite up to the edges to ensure the copper doesn't show when it is fitted. Shielding the cavities was a bit of a fiddly job but I managed to get everything back together and working. I think the black pickguard looks rather good on the jetglo finish. I had a smidge too much relief on the neck, so it needed a truss rod tweak which gave me the opportunity to try my repro black truss rod cover for even more of a blackout/ninja/stealth/batmobile look, however I think I prefer the contrast of the original one so that went back on. I somehow managed to drop and lose one of the original TRC screws whilst doing this, but all was not lost as I had some spares that are close enough in size. More important than the aesthetics, the shielding has made the bass a lot quieter in the hum department, in fact I can't hear any hum at all now. Whenever I do a shielding job I always wonder why manufacturers don't do this to provide a better product.

Heath Wave — Martha and the Vandellas

Those tuners look a little wonky. Did 'he' work for Gibson in 1974?

Howe Long — Ace

Your Racist Friend — They Might Be Giants

I use the Boss app whenever I don't have one of my TC clip-ons within reach, or a TU-3 at my feet.

Laurel and Hardy — The Equals

Duke of Earl Grey — Gene Chandler

Abracadabra — Steve Miller Band

This should be an interesting watch — if the UK release isn't delayed. https://www.guitarworld.com/music-industry/normans-rare-guitars-documentary-release-date

My presents gratefully received from myself included a copy of "The Bastard Instrument — A Cultural History Of The Electric Bass," A 2024 Jetglow Rickenbacker 4003, and various bits & bobs to go with it including a gigbag, padded leather strap and various cables etc to facilitate Rick-o-sound.

Pils — New York Dolls

Drink Drink Drink (The Drinking Song) — Mario Lanza

184cm without the extension out (I assume that means the endpin) — That's six feet! Utterly bonkers I'd be surprised if this isn't a one-off prototype. The proportions would probably make it uncomfortable to play as the left hand will need to not only hold it up, but also prevent it spinning about the endpin. I think it would work better on a stand like the Dean Pace or NS-Design CR, but it would still be fugly.

If I needed something smaller than my current board to lug around on public transport, I would probably: Make up a second smaller board using mini pedals similar in functionality to the essential ones from the larger board, or Emulate the larger board as much as possible either using my (mostly retired) Zoom B3 or (if I have the budget) an HX Stomp

I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Three — Nina Simone

I received my OBNE split meld and a stereo guitar cable from Thomann today and have I just tried Rick-o-sound on my 4003 with the neck pickup going into my Roland Microcube bass RX set as an SVT and the bridge pickup (with the tone knob pulled out to roll off some of the low end) going into my Fender mustang GTX100 set with a gnarly Billy Gibbons tone (The first setting I tried). It was probably the best distortion tone I've managed to get on bass ever, and I've tried a lot of different pedals over the years. I tried something similar during the week using a stereo 1/4" jack to 2 × mono 1/4" jack cable recording the 4003 onto two separate tracks in Logic using both inputs of my focusrite scarlett 2i2. Once the bass was recorded, I applied amp/cab/fx emulations to the tracks, keeping the track mono for the neck pickup but using stereo fx for the bridge pickup. My first attempt sounded like this (my instrumental cover of 'The beat goes on'): The Beat Goes On.mp3

Same Old Bullsh1t — Puss n Boots

What did it say?

My new (secondhand) 2024 4003 sounds amazing, but the single coil hum is noticable on recordings, so I intend to shield it with copper tape soon. I'll probably switch to the black pickguard at the same time, but I'm also likely to switch back to the original white one at some point. I'm wondering about how opaque the acrylic pickguard is. I saw a youtube video where someone used copper tape on the back of their white ric pickguard and in the 'after' shots, it might have been a trick of the light but the pickguard appeared to have a slight copper tinge - ie the copper tape was showing through. Am I mistaken or is this something I will need to workaround to prevent the copper showing through? I doubt this should be a problem with the black guard as it is probably more opaque than the white one — if indded the white one does have any level of transparency.

I’ve only just acquired this within the last week so I’m a newcomer to the Ric tribe, but I’m already thinking about whether I should acquire another in a different colour. It’s a 2024 4003 secondhand but very near mint condition — I particularly wanted the current version for the bridge and single truss rod to make setting it up easier. I have swapped out the original jazz bass style knobs with vintage style ric knobs ones with the text on them to remind me of each one’s function. I have also fitted a Rickysounds thumb rest and a set of light EB cobalt flats which seem to suit this bass just as well as they do my Gibson non-reverse thunderbird. I also have a Rickysounds black pickguard and a reproduction black truss rod cover, so I might change it up to see how it looks with a more stealth look when I get around to applying copper tape to shield the cavities.