Beedster

The two at the front are saddle height, the third behind them on one side only is string alignment. C

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1395769670' post='2406072'] a Chinglish translation! [/quote] Surely a translation makes something easier to understand?

[quote name='Rabbie' timestamp='1395787852' post='2406442'] For what it's worth: I have played ply Strunals as borrowed basses on tour. Nothing wrong with them at all and you can have a very happy career playing one as ultimately it is your fingers that make the sound. However, there is no comparison to my Duke. Bearing in mind that my Duke was one of the very first Thomas had sold, and it has had time to settle to me and viceversa. The differences are enormous. Strunals, like Shens and other well made plys are produced like their solid and carved wood basses, only with cheap plywood as opposed to wood. The result is a constant awareness you are playing a student instrument. The Duke is the rolls Royce of plywoods in 2014. It is made specifically to highlight the characteristics of a plywood for roots music (yes including trad jazz, swing, bop). It is a professional instrument and unless you want to join a philharmonic, you will not fancy anything else if that's the kind of sound you love. Everyone who loves basses or works with basses, players, luthiers, sound engineers, have told me they have never heard a better sounding, louder and darker bass. My gigging bass is now a Chadwick Folding bass, which is excellent, but acoustically it bears no comparison to how good my Duke is. Recently I got rid of a lovely carved Wilfer bass, which was beautiful bowed, but for pizz and slap was not as good as the Duke for my purposes. It had a carved bass sound, fine for most, but if you want to swing and thump, you just cannot beat the direct oomph of a great ply. Taking a Fiat 500 to the best mechanic in the world, will not make it compete with a Porsche...So, Duke all the way for me. I think I'm actually gonna ask Thomas for commission! Most importantly of all, very very sorry indeed to hear about your loss mate. [/quote] Great post

I lost my father recently and, perhaps in a similar mindset to the OP, bought my Martin DB. It was the right decision, and because of that, playing it has an extra level of personal meaning and emotional salience. Don't let pragmatics guide you here, it's not about the qualities of the instrument per se, but about the association and meaning. Sorry for your loss C

Given your list above it's a Shergold. IMO the Japs of the time are good but a bit generic for a YOB instrument.

Be patient, one will come up on eBay, check out recently sold FL necks here http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=fretless+neck&LH_PrefLoc=3&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1395775198' post='2406179'] I didn't understand a word of that... [/quote] Sorry, but which bit of Fender Custom Shop Jazz Bass 70s Guitar As the beginning of an electric base Although it is the born precision base, The design and specification which were completed are the present. It can be said that all the electric bases were affected. One of arrival of goods is one were manufactured at the first half of the 70s this time, The CBS head logo of the feature of the specification of the 70s, a natural ash body, Neck Shape of the thin figure of the nut width of B Shape, etc. It is characteristic specification. There is a statement of neck. It is easy to grasp a slender neck, and it is easy to flip it and it has become, Even if again had from JazzBass, sense of incongruity is seldom felt. It is easy to be an omission which consists of a 1P maple neck with a thin figure. In a large-boned base sound. ... are you not getting?

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1395659372' post='2404698'] I've ordered one today - so we'll see how we get on..... [/quote] Ha ha, good man! Seriously though, I do hope they have improved the design over the one's I have. Also, if it comes with round-top screw head, change them for flat top or you'll never get the E and G saddles to settle!

Yep, you're right, with a plate that made it look 'Ric-esque' from a distance! Might give that a go myself C

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1395604837' post='2404290'] It's a toughie as the aluminium one is £110! My plan was to fund the purchase - and the setup I'm sure it'll need - with the sale of my old one! I've read elsewhere about wobbly saddles, and was hoping it was a rarity. Trouble is last two posts on here have reported glitches - when all I want is a quality working replacement.....not having to plug the gaps with bags or anything else!! [/quote] £110! Waste of money, the original Ric bridges have worked for Macca, Squire, Geddy and co, and IIRC Lemmy uses a Badass?

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1395608030' post='2404346'] I reckon that the reason that neither Xilddx or myself have noticed saddle movement or rattle problems with the Hipshot is that both of us are using them on non Rickenbacker basses. These issues will be worse with the saddles set low due to the lesser back-angle. My bass has the strings further off the body than a Ric, so the saddles are set quite high on mine. [/quote] Agreed, plus the head of the screws get in the way of the saddles on E and G when you have the action set low, and IME on a real Ric (not a Faker), you have to have them set low, and of course, on a Ric you can't shim the neck to alleviate this. I think Hipshot really got it wrong with with this bridge.

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1395603105' post='2404250'] Forgot to ask Beedster - were these recent bridges? Only as I've heard of an upgrade on these in the last couple of years? [/quote] Hey mate, possibly not, although I can't see any obvious changes in those currently for sale. You won't know until you try though, so perhaps give it a go anyway?

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1395600226' post='2404199'] The only issue I have had with my Hipshot bridges is that the grub screws are quite loose and can move. I get a tiny bit of carrier bag or cling film and wrap it around the grub. Works a treat. [/quote] Didn't have you down as a Ric man Nige?

I have two, they are not a huge improvement to be honest, and are far from a design classic, in fact they're a bit of a 2nd year Engineering undergraduate project. You will need to fill the gaps between saddles or they buzz and move, the springs rattle if you have to use the full extension of the adjustment screw, the plate is quite thick and can leave action a little high, and the lateral adjustment is very crude. Compared to Badass II it's a world away. And they are stupidly expensive! I wouldn't pay more than £40 used so at least you can sell it on if needs be. And yes the brass version will weigh more than your rig!

[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1395569838' post='2403697'] Other factors you need to take into account in using an EUB as practice for your DB are scale length, string height, bridge height, respective and relative height of individual strings (especially for arco), stop (D or E flat, can make a huge difference if like me you use your thumb as a guide for position shifts). In short, lots of things, and the more I list them the more the SLB becomes the obvious choice again! [/quote] And that's for starters, I'm sure others will add to this list C

[quote name='govons' timestamp='1395562957' post='2403614'] Thank you all you guys for your replies and nice information that I can grab. Actually my question is not how much can be close to a real db but how playing on eub can be helpful for studing when I switch to DB. I can really touch result? From which point of view? Intonation? Training of left hand might? Alter Ego that I found used has a good price, yammy €400 more.... [/quote] That's what Keith said I think? In relation to the above, your EUB must feel as close as possible to your DB, simple as that. Most EUBs feel nothing like a DB, which is why the Yamaha SLB-100 is so good, it feels like a DB. If you question was "what EUB sounds most like a DB", I would never suggest the Yamaha, at least not without some modifications. Personally I really regret selling my Yamaha, I love my Bespoke because it sounds amazing and almost feels like a DB, but it's nowhere as near as the SLB in this respect. Other factors you need to take into account in using an EUB as practice for your DB are scale length, string height, bridge height, respective and relative height of individual strings (especially for arco), stop (D or E flat, can make a huge difference if like me you use your thumb as a guide for position shifts). In short, lots of things, and the more I list them the more the SLB becomes the obvious choice again! Good luck

American Girl, I Won't Back Down and, of course, Free Fallin

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1395502930' post='2403142'] A +1 from me as well on this. I've had some good ones I regret selling, but I've also owned a few stinkers which I don't! It's funny over on Rickresource when every year you read posts along the lines of 'this year is the best stuff they've ever made...etc..' when there's been very few changes in years! How can they possibly get to the point of putting out a substandard instrument, given the idea that it's a hands-on factory? Always amazes me, and it's sad when players who obviously love the bass, are put off by shoddy QC. As I was told (but never learned) some time back - if you get a good one, keep it. Luckily now, I have and will. [size=4] [/size] [/quote] I guess they don't know the crap ones are crap until they've built them, and by then they have to sell them (well, they don't have to, I know at least one luthier who doesn't release an instrument for sale unless he's personally happy with it, as a consequence a few of his friends have instrument FOC that he wasn't happy with). Yes, hold on to the good'uns!

[quote name='Bassnut62' timestamp='1395150482' post='2399194'] Playing with a good all-valve amp and big cab sound feels v physical to me and I think I would really miss that. [/quote] As the owner of two decent valve rigs and of what I consider to be the opposite, a PJB Dalek rig, I think you've summed it up there. I sincerely wish the tube rigs were discernably different, but I think it comes down to knowing what's behind you on stage as much as it comes down to how it sounds. Yes, a big tube rig makes me play differently and there's a real joy in doing so that I don't get with SS rigs, but the difference is in a number of contextual factors more than it is in the sound (even down to the investment in transporting the bloody thing to gigs). This assumes the two rigs are of a similar quality and that you're not trying to get a driven/distorted tone, in which case valve heads win every time. Give me a tube rig any day though!

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1395303977' post='2400792'] I managed to keep a straight face until I reached the shot of the back of the headstock ... [/quote] Yes, the paint-job is so bad that it distracts entirely from the somewhat postmodern approach to tuner selection. And he thinks it looks good? There really are some deluded f**kwits on eBay these days aren't there. I'm starting to see relic basses as equivalent to Rorshach Tests "OK, so you think it looks good do you. NURSE, BRING THE MEDS... AND QUICKLY"

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1395437702' post='2402595'] Well, it's on it's way back to GAK, so as soon as they ping the money back, I'm off again... It's been an exciting week, at least... [/quote] I know the perfect bass for you mate All joking aside, it's not just about ergonomics with Rics, the QC and variability is shocking in an instrument in this price range, way more so than with Fender, EBMM etc. I love my 4001 but I would never again buy a Ric without playing it for a good few hours. They're lovely when they get it right, shocking when they don't.