4000

I don’t think it’s ever ever been confirmed 100%, although I have read that it was supposedly a 4000. In that era they were both neck-throughs; I had a ‘72 4000 (Through-neck, pre skunk-stripe) that I was going to turn into a Lemmy bass but I let it go before I got round to it.

I think if anything I’m heading towards the opposite. The tone is 99.9% of it, for me.

This is his original Ric.

That’s actually a Bartolini in the neck. It originally had a copy of a T Bird pickup in it (I suspect built by Peter Cook). His original Ric - which isn’t that bass - had a proper T Bird pickup in it. He said the copies weren’t as good.

Always remember the first time I saw this on the telly (OGWT?). Thought it was amazing. Well, thanks to your recommendation a while back, I’m still mainly listening to Pooka and Natasha Lea Jones. Can’t get enough of either:

I’m not sure about later Warwicks, but I know Martin Petersen has said a problem with the earlier basses is the truss rod is too near to the back of the neck. If that’s the case I’d be wary about slimming it down,

Thing is, I’m not a fan of tapered necks (e.g. Jazz). They don’t feel right to me. Not just on basses; my mate has a couple of Faith acoustics with quite tapered necks and I don’t like those either. I think the only tapered neck I have really liked is the Peavey B Quad 4 (I suspect that may be something to do with it being stiffer, so feeling different). My preference is narrow all the way along, e.g. Rickenbacker, most Alembics.

The rods aren’t so rigid that you can’t move the neck. Even modern Status full graphite necks have a truss rod. The idea is mainly to make the neck stiffer, as opposed to completely rigid, and to help with movement, twist etc. Doesn’t always work though. My first Sei, a 6, had twin graphite rods and the neck moved so much I eventually sold it.

At the end of the day the only important thing is that you find an instrument you get on with. What that instrument is matters not one jot.

Some people prefer asymmetrical necks.

All interesting stuff guys. We were anything but recording-gear heads at the time, and like most things in life, kind of took it for granted that nothing would change so drastically that it would become an issue. Oh how wrong we were. 😂 I half expect finding the Betamax players may be a bigger problem than the state of the tape.

Could well have been, I honestly can’t remember. I think these were from ‘88 and ‘89/‘90. Thanks for the advice; I don’t think anything was written on them but I’ll have to dig them out.

Cheers, much appreciated!

They were the studio’s preferred method of keeping final studio mixes for customers. The problem is I’ve been unable to find anyone with suitable machines. The studio still has theirs but they no longer work, or so they told me.

I also have a tape somewhere that could do with copying. Possibly more problematic, I also have a couple (?) of Betamax tapes that some old studio sessions (late ‘80s) were mixed down onto, that being the preferred method of the (local) studio at the time. I have no idea whether they’re playable or suitable for copying to digital, but would love to find out. Anyone know anywhere that might be able to copy these? Or are they likely to be dead in the water?

This never gets old. Love it.

I don’t think that’s the one I played, although my memory (other than that I really didn’t like it) is hazy. I’m pretty sure the one I played was a 4. Maybe it wasn’t his, just someone said it was.

Very nice bass.

Really? Do you have this in writing? 😂

The one I hated was being sold in the Gallery by Paul Turner IIRC. Think it was a 4 though, but could be wrong, can’t really remember.

Why are you surprised? As in my previous post, it’s completely a matter of taste. You might hate the basses that others like. The thing that never ceases to surprise me is when people expect other people to like the same things they do.

I wouldn’t say it’s anything to do with being hard to please. I just didn’t like them/it. Somebody else might have picked one up and thought it was spectacular. Unfortunately, whilst you can clearly define whether or not something is well-made, everything else is simply a matter of taste.

I’ve played 2 or 3, I think. Haven’t liked any of them, but one of them was - for me - one of the worst basses I’ve ever played and I’ve played a LOT of basses. There was nothing about it I liked; it reminded me of a spectacularly bad late 70s Jazz. But of course YMMV. If I’m honest, there are very basses I get on with these days, but that was some time ago.