Paul S

He certainly did play the cricket bat in the videos. Yes, this was one of the re-scheduled shows after being cancelled first time around. Actually to say I wished I hadn't seen it was harsh as, at times, it was brilliant. Kurt's voice was probably the worst aspect - never strong it hasn't improved with age. But some surprise highs. 'Woman In Chains' was very good, the girl singing did a decent job and it isn't her fault she isn't Oleta Adams. But she actually sang 'Badman's Song better than Oleta, IMO - suited her voice.

I saw them around the same time and they were *unbelievable* live. Truly awesome. Roland's voice was immense and Curt's wasn't that thin. Saw them the year before last and wished I hadn't. 🙁

Fab. Probably in my top 10 all time fave albums. Set up to record - thanks for the heads up!

A slight aside but at the Grammy Awards last year when Black Sabbath were award Lifetime Achievement awards, Rival Sons did a pretty damned good mash up of War Pigs and Paranoid.

Took off the pickup cover just now and couldn't find any date clues on the pickup or in the cavity. But I have to say I'm bonding with this pretty quickly - what a lovely thing. Sounds amazing and, for the way I play, much easier without the pickup cover. When I hand it over to my guy I'll get him to make a bezel out of an old scratchplate I have kicking around to fill in the gaps

Thanks for the info, John. I'll have a look under the pups when I get a chance. It needs a proper clean and set up - there is a slight bow in the neck that needs sorting plus intonation, all of which I will leave in the hands of the guy who sorts my basses out for a proper job. New set of TI flats and we'll be in business I assume the bridge pickup cover comes off easily enough as it isn't there in most pics. Not ever having played a Ric (had a Jolana once but that didn't sound like one) I have to say that I find the tone really very exciting. Especially when both pups are engaged and very especially playing around the 7th fret. Like nothing I have owned or played before. Bloody heavy, though! - this is a 10lb-er. 😲

That is exactly the way I look on it, except written far more eloquently

Yes. Buy shorter allen key height adjustment screws so that they disappear inside the saddles rather than poke out the top.

I bought this on eBay - to my astonishment the seller accepted an offer from me that was below my ceiling price for a Faker - and it arrived just this afternoon. To my untrained eye it looks and sounds very much like a Rickenbacker. Certainly heavy enough! That, if anything, will be the deal breaker for me but I am going to give it a go because I think we are going to get on famously. So - no brand name on the truss rod cover or identifying marks that I can see externally. What is this likely to be - one of Cushin Gakki ones? Whatever it is I am going to call it my Sprackenbacker that being close enough to my name to make me smile every time I say it.

Well done that man! The zip on mine is about to go

Something that utilises its weight would make sense. A garden parasol base, perhaps, or for the local police to bosh down doors when carrying out dawn raids.

My blues rock trio are playing at the Bull in Colchester this Friday - first time there. Why not treat 'The Wife' to a romantic night of wailing guitar solos?!

I still think a toilet seat would be nice.

I find myself in something of a dichotomy over this. I guess I am in a fortunate position in that I don't have to worry about what I spend on gear - generally speaking, if I want something I will buy it. But I am also a dyed in the wool tightwad and do sometimes reflect upon the cost of stuff. I'll spend good money on something if I think it is worth it but not for the sake of it. I wanted a decent lightweight 5 string Precision bass and found that my best realistic chance of one was to get a Maruszczyk Jake 5 made to my specs which, at £1500, is the most I have paid for a bass. I believe that is fantastic value as it is a corker. But I also have a MM Sterling 5 that sits in the case as backup, modded so that it sounds just like the Jake. It occured to me that this was a lot of bass hanging around doing nothing so after tussling with my inner tightwad over this for a few years I have now bought a cheaper 5 string that can sit in its case as my 'get out of jail free' bass and am currently getting the Sterling 5 put back to stock to sell it. That should release a few hundred pounds back into my account. No doubt to fuel more spuriously necessary purchases.

Any issues at all with the bridge and headstock clamp?

Russ bought my old Hondo II body - popped round and did a cheeky PayPal in my hallway. He didn't need help carrying it to the car, either. Perfect!

Well, I managed to get one on eBay for slightly below my ceiling price, much to my surprise. Unbranded but it sounds 'right' - 70s, MIJ, pics look like 'all the others'. Could be a complete lemon, of course Should be arriving this week so I'll find out soon enough.

Happy memories of bouncing up and down to Zoom Club back in the day, saw them a number of times early-mid 70s. To exit on your own terms is great, I think.

I'm talking cheap, really. Call it a mkI prototype perhaps, to see if I can make a headless bodiless short scale bass easily. If I can and it works ok it might be worth investing more in a mkII with quality hardware. Either way it should be quite fun

Me too.

Is that this one?

This is the crux of it for me, too. I love being part of a group of people who get together and make music. I like learning stuff at home, I like it when you get to rehearsal and after a couple of run throughs it all fits into place. To then take that out and gig it is brilliant. To then further get a crowd reaction is the icing on the cake, but all the other stages I find fulfilling, too.

😁 I was hoping for a more positive response, frankly 😁

I've just acquired a Hondo Alien and have to say I very much like the idea of a short scale headless and bodiless bass. Initially I am not so keen on the tone and neck of the Alien but the whole headless, bodiless bass in short scale has got me wondering. So, daft idea #377 would be to get something like a cheapo second hand Squier Bronco, Harley Benton PB Shorty or even smaller - a Tanglewood Elfin EB-18 - take a saw to it to remove the headstock and bits of the body I no longer wanted and then fit a headless bridge system to it. That way I'd keep my beloved P bass tone but in a tiny package. I mean, what could possibly go wrong? 🤪 There are plenty of kits that come from China on eBay that aren't expensive Like this one but are they just complete rubbish? Anyone used one they can recommend? Muchas gracias

I had a similar mysterious buzz appear for no particular reason after a neck change of all things. When all was reassembled there was a buzz like you describe. Some online reading pointed to a shielding issue so I shielded the pickup cavity and the control cavity with copper tape. I believe the crucial thing here is to then solder a ground wire connecting the two cavities. Now there is no buzz.