NikNik

You actually believe in human spontaneous combustion? Tell me more.....

Ace! I truly loved that. 👍

Thanks for the input, fellas. I'm not a gigging lad any more but I think I'll give the Hipshot a go. Who knows, I might not like it....😧

You wrote so eloquently and in a manner that I could never possibly do when discussing JH. Well done.

No worries. Bass Direct has them so I might just bite the bullet there.

I've seen that before but I don't remember the end part with the keyboard washes, which is the best part for me. He's more controlled during that sequence, rather than the loose stuff at the beginning.

Yep, love Henrik and the DL.

Thanks. The aluminium one will be good enough for me, I guess.

I know that one of those beakers contained brandy.

Thanks, fella.

I have an aftermarket 4001-style that I've fitted to a bass I've had lying around and the saddles appear to be some kind of cak alloy. Thinking about the Hipshot rather than the official Santa Ana crowd's model. Plus and Negs for Hipshot, please.

Well, I bought two new ones; the rest were 2nd-hand. I, too, never had to deal with the firm but I did have to deal with Hall. I like them, too. When you get a good one. I'd like one of those Ruby Red 4003S but, in the words of a poster on a thread from long ago '..... I can definitely see the option of buying a 'pre-owned' Ric as opposed to putting more money in this shmuck's pocket.' Not that he needs the money, of course, but I appreciate the sentiment behind the action

He's seen less and less, now. But I must iterate that above is just one of my experiences with him; with others, they are legion. It was hoped that things would change when Ben, his son, took over but AFAIK JH is still there. And he's now got the treble bezel issue to deal with. He, of all people: what was he thinking when copying that? I sometimes think if he cared a bit more about his customers, instead of this 'my way or the highway' attitude, he'd have a lot more respect given to him. And a lot more customers, too.

That montage is hardly 'merciless slaying'. You say 'it sounds like Rickenbackers are pretty good instruments...'. I take it from that statement you haven't owned or played one? John Hall's doing a 'pretty good job of running his company'? That's debatable and belongs in a whole other thread. JH does get a hard time from Rick users and non-users alike. In my experience, it is wholly deserved. Let me offer you a few reasons why. Back in the early 2000's I bought an old, stripped '74 4001, my first since the two I'd had in the '80s. Both of those basses were 'dogs', as it is sometimes said, but with my interest in the model re-ignited I decided to give them another bash. The '74 had some issues (NOS hairpin rods needed) but I was happy with it. Then came a '73 in Fireglo with cheq. That was a really good bass. Then came a 4001LF and a 4003 BlueBoy. And with that latter purchase, things got interesting. I also got to encounter the real John Hall. I had been a member of the official Rick forum back then and noticed that a few guys who'd bought the BB were having colour issues, such as the blue fading to a mint green. Mine did this within a matter of months and whilst I quite liked it I was alarmed that a finish should be changing so soon in an instrument's life. Then, I began to see nicotine-like streaks/splotches appear in the finish, as did others. We questioned this on the forum and then JH waded in. As soon as there was any form of criticism - even warranted - of his company, his business practice, his instruments, he would go for you. And he went for me. I was hectored at length about how the finish could not have possibly changed in such a short time; that I must be leaving the bass in a smoke-filled environment; that I was exposing it to UV light; that chemicals in my skin were causing the changes. So, he went on the attack right away. Throughout the years I have witnessed him come out on the attack time and time again: it is your fault, not mine! Now, doesn't that make him sound like a little bully? And when you get personally attacked by JH via e-mail you know that you are dealing with an unreasonable man. He would wade into conversations with such burgeoning rudeness that I often wondered if the man had a mental health condition for he seemed unable to address anyone who had a grievance, or difference of opinion, civilly. You really had to sit back and think 'Is this guy the head of RIC? Wow!!' You could search RIC Forum (and the cabal of acolytes, RRF) over the past 15-20 years for the stuff he's waded in on. And I'm not even going to start on the pursuing of 'fakers made 40+ years ago. There's a wealth of information out there about the man; it's up to you if you want to look for it and learn a little bit what he's like.

On the old 4001s you had to physically move the neck then tighten the rods.

Anyway, back to John Hall. One thing that I have to admire about him is his ability to stay away from the internet these days, ever since he spat the dummy on RRF over the badly-made 4003S models his company was making at the time. And he's never been seen since. Well, maybe on the Facebook group but I wouldn't know. And he's still coming up in searches as CEO. Poor Ben, the Prince Charles of RIC, destined never to accede to the throne until the king has shuffled off this mortal coil. Knowing Wee John, he'll be using the family billions to find a way to live on after his body's given up the ghost.

Well done. Well done!! 👍

Fair enough. I apologise for being flippant.

I get that you are both, maybe, defenders of the RIC faith but there is no 'slaying' taking place. There's just a discussion of JH taking place. I have no respect for the man whatsoever yet some of you appear to be taking umbrage over it.

Really? He's coming to see you, in Ireland, to personally inspect your 4003? Mind - blown. Methinks you are being facetious. JH does not do 'cordial'. Unless it's Roses.

What are these counterfeits you speak of?

What RIC tried to do with the horseshoe was to use US Trademark law to register the design of a lapsed patent, then served Jason Lollar with a lawsuit. They didn't do their homework correctly and when the likes of Rick Turner (and ex-RIC employees) were on-call as witnesses for Lollar, they plopped it and settled at the pre-hearing. I have no reason to believe that Sunsetjunk's posting on RRF is a work of pretence and, as has been hinted at, I don't think he wants to get tied up in a legal battle with RIC. I can only imagine his disappointed at what could be called a 'Richard move' by RIC.

My experience exactly.