Clarky

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' post='1376006' date='Sep 16 2011, 10:13 PM']Nooooooo... Don't blame him, i wouldn't either. It always surprises me how few there are around to be honest, when they were new they were a pretty cheap bass for a top brand, they should've sold in their bucketloads, they had short and long scale versions, different finishes, one and two pickup options, one of those quirky things i guess, i suppose the Rick faithful brigade, just didnt think it was a real Rick? Dunno, never played one though either, so perhaps theyre not great, i just want one to hang on the wall next to my pollocked 4005! Thanks for chasing though, appreciate that![/quote] Its actually a pretty decent bass with a great, VERY Precision-like sound. The 3001 had the extra scale length and slightly more complex controls, so with hindsight I should have gone for that. However, I was on a big Mani phase at the time (had just re-discovered The Second Coming) and wanted the exact same bass .... not realising at the time that he is way shorter than me and with smaller hands, so the short-scale 3000 suited him a hell of a lot more than it suited me

Unfortunately I cannot make the Bash - so I have handed over my raffle donations (Sansamp BDDI, as-new tort Precision s/p; plus a slightly battered black P s/p, ideal for project) to Happy Jack, who was last seen logging on to eBay

[quote name='silddx' post='1375702' date='Sep 16 2011, 04:38 PM']I have yet to see a 70s three bolt Fender for sale that didn't have a wonky neck pocket and the strings well out of alignment due to the neck being out of wack. Have a look at any that come up for sale and you'll almost certainly find the G almost falling off the neck edge and the E half an inch in from the edge. That would piss me off so much I could never buy one. You can of course yank the neck back into place like the Fender reps used to do [/quote] not like you to tar all with the same brush Nigel. I can only speak with reference to Precisions (which always had the four bolts as far a I am aware) but I have played some nice mid/late 70s ones and some horrible heavy badly-put-together ones too.

[quote name='Clarky' post='1375146' date='Sep 16 2011, 08:39 AM']I have fired off a message to the Japanese owner to see if he would consider selling - will letcha know if he gets back to me[/quote] Well, the Japanese owner actually replied to my message. Unfortunately though he is not selling

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1375507' date='Sep 16 2011, 01:43 PM']How can anyone resist the line [i]Wuwwy wuwwy, super scuwwy, Call the twoops out in a huwwy.[/i] ???[/quote] I think you just answered your own question

I don't think the OP was really addressing whether a 'vintage' instrument is better or worse - there have been countless threads about this and analogies between basses and other collectable items (eg, many - including me - would love an old '50s/60s sports car but it would undoubtedly be vastly inferior performance-, comfort- and economy-wise to a modern sports car costing a great deal less)

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' post='1375046' date='Sep 15 2011, 11:38 PM']Shame, been looking for one of these for a while. Most I've seen have black guards, and black TRC's, which just won't do at all! Rick[/quote] I have fired off a message to the Japanese owner to see if he would consider selling - will letcha know if he gets back to me

[quote name='Mykesbass' date='Sep 16 2011, 08:29 AM' post='1375139'] any period of manufacture which is generally accepted as being good could be vintage wheras 70's Fenders never should be described as such [quote] Oi! There are some wonderful '70s Fenders - early '70s Precisions are as good as any '60s Precisions IMHO (having owned both) and although their QC became more variable post mid-70s there were still some cracking basses in the latter half of the '70s

For no logical reason whatsoever, I have always thought of 1980 as the cutoff. hence '70s Fenders, Stingrays, Ricks etc are vintage in my view. But like said earlier, it's all in the eye of the beholder

I took delivery of this lovely bass yesterday. Put on some some retro standard gauge La Bella flats on it and - wow, what a beautiful sound. Absolutely essence of P bass! Love it. Thanks again Rick

To me they seem fairly narrow gauge (per my TI flat analogy) but then I used to use Silver Slaps which are seriously chunky. Maybe Mr Bassman or Gareth Hughes could specifically answer here? A quick email to Kolstein would probably get you your answer within 24 hours

[quote name='Rick's Fine '52' post='1374140' date='Sep 15 2011, 10:34 AM']Can you get it back please, I want it!! [/quote] This is the guy I sold it to (eBayer kapb77) if you want to give him a shout! [url="http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/kapb77"]http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/kapb77[/url] Actually I just checked his feedback thread and he has since sold the bass on to someone in Japan - and at a profit [url="http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/itmn4126"]http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/itmn4126[/url]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1374086' date='Sep 15 2011, 09:43 AM']Hey Clarky how is the tension compared to Silver Slaps? Also have you slapped them? Do they sound mellow enough for that sort of thing?[/quote] I can't A/B but I would say they are fractionally higher tension than SS's but not a great deal in it. I don't (can't!) slap so can't answer your second question at all, I'm afraid. To me they feel like the DB equivalent of TI Flats, if that gives you a slight sense (as in mellow, slim, easy under the fingers). Maybe Gareth can pitch in here?

[quote name='Gareth Hughes' post='1373826' date='Sep 14 2011, 09:58 PM']Kolstein Heritage are a great low tension string. Heck, a great string all round. Great feel and tone, IMO. And wonderfully magnetic. And a major +1 for their customer service. Barrie Kolstein rocks.[/quote] +1 I have Heritage strings on my Kolstein DB. I previously preferred Silver Slaps but these are very, very nice strings and mag-friendly

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='1373514' date='Sep 14 2011, 06:33 PM']Oh and well remembered about the pickguard cut-away Clarky. [/quote] Anorak, moi?

As I know there are a few Stone Roses fans (eg, Rick's Fine '52) here is my old Rick 3000 which I owned about 5 years ago (long since eBayed). It was a fairly battered mapleglo colour and had butchered controls/scratchplate when I got it. I then had it custom painted by Martin Sims to a Fireglo finish for a Mani vibe and sourced original controls and scratchplate from the US. Huge, very Precision-like sound but sadly I couldn't get on with the short scale neck. Still, looked great IMHO [attachment=89477:clarky_basss_015.jpg][attachment=89478:clarky_basss_010.jpg]

Bought a Fender '53 relic P bass off Rick. Lovely bass, very comprehensively packed (took me about half an hour to cut through the dense undergrowth!) and Rick was kind enough enough to throw in a spare replacement bridge for me. Totally excellent transaction and a welcome addition to the ranks of BassChat

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1373401' date='Sep 14 2011, 04:46 PM']Hmmm... It looks really like a modded MIA that Warwickhunt used to own (and Bottomendian before that, I think)... I really like the newer P's and J's. They look solid.[/quote] IIRC Warwickhunt's had a bit of the pickguard filed/cut away (near the '70s placed J p/u), presumably so that fingers or thumb didn't get wedged between p/u and pickguard. This doesn't appear to be the same, but it could just be the way the pictures have come out

This looks like 2008-11 'latest model' MIA Standard Precision which has been modded to take a J pickup. However, its done really nicely and the price isn't too bad given the new price of an American Standard P

TIM!