Skinnyman

Weirdly there does seem to be a hint of the Alfa MiTo in that shape. You could never drive one though - you'd never see past the lady footballist on the bonnet. The wipers must comb her hair when it rains and the screen wash must be like a bidet. Not the most practical of accessories.....

What?!!! Nine pages of it and we still don't know if he's gone?

Indeed. I'd sleep with him if he was carrying cash....

Don't you just hate it when that happens?

I hate it when people summarise my ramblings into one pithy sentence. But basically, yes - well put 😀

I’m not sure about the drooping sock headstock on the Maverick either. Actually, I am sure - I think it’s horrible....

Agreed. The Zoom recorders are excellent for this and give surprisingly good results. They also highlight situations where the whole band - or even just one offender - are/is too loud.

I spent a lot of time yesterday sitting in waiting rooms for one appointment after another. As I had time to kill, I spent a lot of time on the RIC, RRF and TB forums, searching for posts made by Mr Hall. I did this to supplement the opinion of the man that I've formed from this and other threads on here. Now, I've had no direct dealings with John Hall and certainly not the direct and aggressive interactions that Nik and others have had. I also recognise that some contentious material may have been deleted from forums so i am not looking at the total picture. And i haven't read every single post the man has ever written - there are thousands of them. But I've read enough to build a picture and the impression that I get is of a man who has inherited a small (about 200 employees) family business and who is passionate about preserving the legacy that was handed to him. I suspect he's not the easiest person to work for. I am sure that the factory production process could be more efficient. And, for sure, the products he makes have "character" (to put it kindly). But the reality is that over the years of his tenure he has maintained a profitable, debt-free company which makes a niche product for which people are prepared to a) wait and b) pay a premium. To do this, he's flown in the face of the generally accepted "best practice" of the last thirty years. He has resisted the temptation to devalue his brand by moving some of his production to the Far East. He has made small, incremental changes to his product range rather than continually chase new markets and growth at all costs. He came through the worst recession of recent times with a profitable company and a larger workforce than he had when it started. He protects his brand passionately and in doing so has avoided the fate of Fender and Gibson who saw their products' value being undermined by hundreds of clones of varying quality. I've never met the man so i don't know if I'd like him or not as an individual. I suspect not. I think there are certainly character flaws and the apparent copying of the treble bezel appears to be a huge error of judgement at best, if not completely and idiotically hypocritical. As an analogy, if Fender are the guitar equivalent of VW/Audi and Gibson are like Fiat/Chrysler then Rickenbacker remind me a lot of Chapman-era Lotus. A small company led by a flawed but dedicated individual producing a flawed but charismatic product that has a small but passionate customer base. In a world of global mega-corporations all in thrall to their investors and the demand for continuous, unsustainable growth, there is room for companies like Rickenbacker - even if their CEO is a bit of an a*se at times. (All of the above is personal opinion based on the reading i did yesterday. Others will have more knowledge than I do and yet others have had direct (and sometimes contentious) interaction with Mr Hall and i don't wish to contradict or undermine them in any way. These are just my opinions, nothing more)

Suspect Mrs Teebs was happy to make it as she was getting him out of the house for the day....

Ditto Pat Metheny.

Well put. I have no problem with companies defending their IP even if their approach is (they would say necessarily) aggressive. But if the RRF post above is genuinely from the bezel designer as it appears (hey, it's the internet - trust nothing) then Ric would appear to be guilty of massive hypocrisy. I did have GAS for a 4003s but that's fading quickly.....

Sorry guys, I'm not going to make it. I don't know what the hell it was in the middle of the road that I went over but it's done two tyres. I've just been recovered back to Lincoln ATS and I'm waiting for them to bring a couple of tyres up from Newark. It's been a fun morning so far - I hope you all have a better one!

Aaaaaaaargh!

Hi Danny, welcome. Check out the Midlands Bass Bash thread in the Events section of the site - happening tomorrow and not too far from you if you fancy it....

Hmmm. I love the circuit but i destroyed a car there once so it has mixed memories for me... Avon Rise/Quarry is one of the hardest combinations on any track in the UK I'll stick to Cadwell Park 😀

This. A trick that I heard years ago is to occupy your mind with something and stop it spiralling out of control, thinking about all the random stuff you mentioned. The recommendation was to listen to a podcast but turn the volume down so that you have to strain a little to hear it - then listen to it. Radio 4 podcasts are my insomnia cure of choice with Melvin Bragg's In Our Time at the top of the list. Because you have to work to listen, your brain can't get distracted and you can relax and then.....zzzzz. I've yet to hear an episode of In Our Time all the way through 😀 Actually, that's not true - this isn't infallible but it works for me more times than not. If I don't have my MP3 player, i try and do the same trick of keeping the brain busy by mentally driving round laps of Cadwell Park. I'm getting quite quick now.... Different tactics work for different people so i hope you find something that works for you

Understood. Most people usually do

If I have room I'll bring the Dingwall and the Ricky. It does sound well through the One10

Got the day ticket from Mrs Skinny so I’ll see you all there. I’m trying to decide whether to bring anything to The Bash other than myself..... I could bring the Dingwall Super P that I currently have up for sale? Or a Rickenbacker to annoy Teebs. Or the little Gretsch which will fit in the car easier. A Barefaced One10 if anyone is interested in just how much noise something so small can make (those with a child under five will already know the volume that tiny things can make but for the rest of us...) And a Genzler Magellan 800 just to make sure I can keep up with the neighbours.... Oh, and a PAT tested extension lead (good call, Andy) .

Genius idea but given my ability to tangle cables without even trying, I suspect they'd discover my emaciated body tangled up in that thing...

I once auditioned for a band where the guitarist insisted that every note played, sung or struck had to be identical to the original. He used a Kemper and spent ages moaning that patches claiming to be the "Hendrix" sound or "Gilmour from The Wall era" weren't right and he needed to model his own. I didn't get the gig (largely because i wasn't good enough in those days) but i came away feeling i'd dodged a massive bullet. I then spent years learning bass lines by rote - years that improved my finger strength and dexterity but taught me nothing about how to structure a bass line as all I ever did was regurgitate the parts without analysing them. Lessons with a brilliant teacher helped me get past this and taught me to develop the right part for the particular combination of band and song. His example was Living On A Prayer. You have to play That Riff. It's expected and an integral part of the song. But no-one really cares what you play in the chorus so long as it drives the song along. I've played in a 3 piece band where there's a lot of "space" and the bass has to cover some of the melodies or fills that were played by keys or strings on the original. I've also played in a five piece where the guitarist and keyboard player are filling the musical canvas and i have to rein it back to simple, supportive bass lines. So, unless you're in a tribute band, covers can be as close or as far from the original as you like provided they're played well. The acid test is whether the audience enjoy listening to them. Other opinions are available and equally valid

Haha! Call me Doc, Marty, call me Doc 😀

And howdy-do-dee to you, young Sir. Ah sho' am glad to make yo' acquaintance. P'haps you'd like to join me at the tables for a friendly game and share a mint julep to ward off the heat of the evenin'? This ole thing? Why it's mah granpappy's ole jazz bass geetar. Looks mahty fine with the white pickguard, don' it?