4000

[quote name='rOB' timestamp='1320762450' post='1430991'] Sorry to hear about that. Sounds like a great opportunity to start something all your own? [/quote] It would be, but I'm so far out of the loop the dreaded stagefright is back with a vengeance, I don't drive (no, I don't know how I managed to get away with that either!), my back is worse again.....yadda yadda yadda. Still, did bump into an old mate who's a drummer the other day so you never know. To be honest if the rest of my life picked up I could live with it, but my band was kind of the fingernails holding onto the edge of the building...

My band was unable to play all last year because our drummer was too busy with another band - we're all best mates so it wasn't a case of just replacing him and we coudln't get a permanent dep/deps. We finally agreed to go our own ways and then our guitarist decided we were going to have to play covers (why, I have no idea). After a half-hearted attempt to go along with this, we realised it wasn't going to work and he left too. The band is now defunct, after several years, which is difficult in some ways. But to be honest, the death of my band has been a minor issue compared to the torrent of crap that the past few years have been. So, 2011, good year? No. 2010? No. 2009? No. 2008? No. Get me back to'88 and you're talking...

[quote name='Yoda' timestamp='1320670983' post='1429663'] I'm not [i]really[/i] a massive fan of live albums, but you'd have to go a looooong way to beat "LIve And Dangerous" by Lizzy IMHO etc... 2nd would come "If You Want Blood" by ACDC Both tick all my boxes [/quote] Ah, great wisdom, as I would expect from Yoda! In addition to the above, my personal faves would arguably be Seconds Out by Genesis, Yessongs by Yes and Space Ritual by Hawkwind. Oh, and the Golden Years Live EP by Motorhead! Made In Japan and Made in Europe are up there too....Glenn Hughes's bass tone on MIE is just stunning. I love Matt Garrison's live cd/dvd too.

[quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1320692476' post='1430146'] Doddy leaves tomorrow for LA, where he will be playing on the cruise ship Golden Princess, travelling to Hawaii, for four months. [/quote] I'm obviously not right in the head. I turned a cruise job down once as for me it would have been kind of like having a permanent job in Hell. LA, great, Hawaii, great, but the job itself (assuming he's playing cabaret/covers - no difference to me - and not actually playing with Return to Forever or something)? No thanks. Good luck to him though!

[quote name='LiamPodmore' timestamp='1320746050' post='1430684'] This may have been done before, but if not, lets do it now then. Who, in your opinion, has the nicest signature bass? With pics of course. My personal favourite is the Dean Hillsboro Eric Bass Signature model, its cheap as hell too, Amazon were selling them at something like $380 a while ago, and they normally go for about £500ish here. Liam Eric Bass: [/quote] I don't generally like being negative about things but what were they thinking with that headstock????

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1320755667' post='1430840'] [size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial]I don't get the prices of signature basses! [/font][/color][/size][color=#222222][font=Arial][size=1][/size][/font][/color] [size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial] [/font][/color][/size][color=#222222][font=Arial][size=1][/size][/font][/color] [size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial]If I ever went for a bass that someone else was playing I'd save myself a fortune and just get one of what they were using in the first place. [/font][/color][/size][color=#222222][font=Arial][size=1][/size][/font][/color] [size=4][font=Arial] [/font][/size][font=Arial][size=2][/size][/font] [/quote] Except that an original Rickenbacker RM1999 (like Chris Squire's) would cost loads more than a Signature, as is often the case with old Rics, Fenders and Gibsons. Oh, and a proper Alembic Series 1 or 2 (what Stanley and MK would use) costs way more than a Signature too.

Rickenbacker 4001CS (Chris Squire), Alembic Stanley Clarke and Alembic Mark King. I also love the looks of the Fodera Matt Garrison, but have never played one so have no idea what one is like.

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1320659409' post='1429396'] Cool. that would look pretty close to the"real" SR Classic then, only with a slimmer neck. Perfect :-) [/quote] And about a grand cheaper....

For me, the reason would be stability, end of story.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1320514733' post='1427862'] Lovely colour, one of my favourites - it's just a shame that a large percentage of it is obscured by that horrible big white plastic scratchplate & chrome control plate. [/quote] I'm a Rickenbacker man so an abundance of chrome and white plastic never bothered me. Besides, you paint a '57 Chevy in that colour and the chrome just adds to it IMO.

Oh yes. That is the Ray I need. Great colour, no uncomfortable forearm contour, and a great price. When I get some cash together (not soon!), I may be having one of those, assuming the weight is right. Don't suppose they do them with maple necks do they?

[quote name='skelf' timestamp='1320333468' post='1425457'] Cheers Mr 4000. You going to make Bassday. [/quote] Looking unlikely due to other commitments, sadly. Even sadder is that said commitments aren't the KT Tunstall gig I was supposed to be at.

[quote name='skelf' timestamp='1320332904' post='1425444']Selling original designs is hard work. I have tried to design things that are of the beaten track. I have seen numerous posts on various forums say how ugly,stupid, don't see the point, any number of other disparaging remarks about my designs. Fortunately I have found enough people or they have found me to make a business out of this. But if I wanted to sell a lot of basses I would build copies because that is what the majority want to buy. I am working on a production Jazz type bass for that very reason. I tried producing an entry level hand made bass with better hardware pre-amp etc for less than a Fender but not Fender shaped. I have given up because I can't sell them.[/quote] Alan , FWIW, if the time comes (given my current financial state I can't help wondering if it ever will) it'll definitely be one of your designs I'll be buying, not your take on a Fender!

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1320136432' post='1422629'] Has anybody ever had a payout on a insured bass getting damaged/lost/stolen/delivered to wrong place/just plain disappeared? [/quote] Yes. Had an early Ric 4001V63 sent from the States several years back and it never arrived. Took me a year to get the money back though and by then the exchange rate had changed so much I lost nearly £200. Luckily when I got the cash a nice '73 4000 had just appeared in a local shop at exactly that amount.

I actually think I preferred the sound of the passive OLP I had to that of the Stingrays I've used for some reason; pure Bernard Edwards. The neck was fab too (although it needed a fretstone), but some of the hardware was a bit suspect.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1320081626' post='1422076']That U2 bassline. You know, the one that goes "dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum..." it's brilliant! [/quote] I'm probably in the absolute minority here but I happen to think WOWY actually is a fabulous bassline. Why? Because it sets the mood perfectly and supports the song perfectly. If you played anything busier or conversely with more space the song would fall apart (no comments from those who reckon that would be a good thing, or that it already has, please!).

And ironically, given some of Geddy's comments, I think he prefers Chris's tone too!

[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1320002072' post='1421163'] Geddy's Ric sound was much better than this and Chris Squire's sound! It's all about a well driven amp and some fingerstyle with a firm touch![/quote] Whilst I like Geddy's Ric sound, give me Squire's sound anytime. Far more depth, far richer.

[quote name='Who's Who' timestamp='1319935403' post='1420393'] The blue colour's name you mention was called exactly that, Blueburst. It was the Colour of the year for 2005, however Rickenbacker had previously done a couple of guitars for Mary Chapin Carpenter in that finish. When Rickenbacker do a 'Colour of the year', they only finish the orders taken that year, and then delete the Colour, so they do remain fairly rare. Rickenbacker have currently suspended 'Colour of the year' and are only concentrating on their four standard Colours to speed up production. In answer to the topic's question, I'd go Fireglo all day long. It's a truly gorgeous finish, plus you get to see the grain of the wood (stunning on Rickenbackers), as well as the Mahogany wings on the headstock. You miss both of these with the solid colours. I own a Blueburst 4003, and she's a real stunner. I do however still lust over a Fireglo model, and a while back I was thinking of selling her to buy a Fireglo model. Here's a link to some photo's of my Blueburst 4003 in case anyone's interested: [url="http://s850.photobucket.com/albums/ab65/Minty731/Rickenbacker%204003/?albumview=slideshow"]http://s850.photobuc...mview=slideshow[/url] [/quote] FWIW the headstock wings are walnut.

She's awesome.

[quote name='wombatboter' timestamp='1319650262' post='1416909']I bought a Fodera Monarch once and I loved playing it at home, fast neck, really low action...just great. Finally I took it along to a gig and it just drowned in the mix, I couldn't hear a thing, something in the midtones which were lacking.. I kept going back to the amplifier and turned the controls but it didn't really change a thing.. I had the impression after two gigs that it just didn't work in a mainstream band, I have to admit it was the standard Monarch version (costed me around 3000 euros second-hand), not the expensive model although I had a picture of Wooten playing my bass in the UK. I sold it after a while and I found more "usuable" sounds in cheaper basses...[/quote] This has been my experience with many of the boutiques I've owned. I guess a lot depends on the setting you're playing in; most of mine involve distorted guitars and they just seem to get lost.

[quote name='thegallery' timestamp='1319620599' post='1416379']shhh i won't tell martin [/quote] If I could use my emoticons at work (I can't for some reason) there'd be a big LOL after this one. Haven't seen Chris since his old Gallery days; we used to have a good natter on occasion.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1319567042' post='1415942'] IMO once you get past the sub £200 Fender copy market, basses are not substitutes for each other. There is no "best" just ones that suit [i][b]YOU[/b][/i] better.[/quote] +1. FWIW I've played a few and haven't been blown away. I've vastly preferred most of the Seis and Alembics I've played. IMO my custom-built Alembic Triple O was leagues above any Fodera I've tried, although YMMV. I also A-B'd my Sei Melt singelcut with a Fodera Yin Yang prior to buying and preferred the Sei, although the YY was the nicest Fodera I've played. At the last Bass Day Molan kindly let me play on a buckeye Fodera, but I preferred his Zon which was a fun bass. I also preferred some of the ACGs and the Everson I played. And I quite honestly vastly prefer my 2 old Rics, although to be honest I've never played any bass I like as much as my main '72. Horses for courses. I'd love to try a Matt Garrison though, I think they look spectacular.

[quote name='Earbrass' timestamp='1319448699' post='1414063'] +1[/quote] Another + 1 here. Does everything I think a bass should do.

I believe it's a '72 or '73-ish P, FWIW. Also FWIW I had an early 70's P where the neck looked more or less the same. Wear and tear. I love when the old 70s necks go like that. Fenders don't look right without lots of wear IMO.