12stringbassist

Even 4003's new go for a stupid price now. I'm sure that 4000's go for decent money when they show up, but 4001's / 4003's aren't that rare. The odd one in a scarce finish may fetch more money.

I like playing in a covers band, because a) It's much easier to get regular work. b ) The crowd react better to songs they know. c) Some of the original stuff I've been given to play before has just been stark bilge. d) I'm not out to be discovered anymore and I've had my share of pushing water uphill. e) That final run of 4 solid gold sure fire crowd pleasers works far better for me than the bemused looks of punters. No disrespect to ANY originals band. Good luck to them all. They could be the somgs we're covering in years to come. Unless Simon Cowell has his way and all we ever hear is the recycled formula slush that he owns.

I think he's a truly remarkable player - I just loved his work with Paul Young at the time. I have to say though, that he is not really the man for the job with The Who. I love that band to bits and simply can't bear to watch them with Pino on bass. It's not his fault, but his style is not what The Who requires. As said above, he was drafted in when John passed away and who in their right mind would turn down that gig? John was pretty close to deaf later on in his life, lip reading and watching Pete's hands, to keep up on stage. That explains why he went for that mechanically processed distorted sound, which was a bit grim. To get an overdriven sound, he had to process it, as Daltrey was going ape about stage volumes (as was PT). To his failing ears (and I really don't mean that as an insult) it probably sounded decent, but on it's own, it was a horrible tone. Anyone who doesn't get Entwistle's unique playing style doesn't get what The Who were originally about. That's not meant as an insult to anyone either. Even with Zak doing 100% the business, it's not like The Who without John. They have the perfect right to change the band, but it saddens me. Who should they get in? God knows!

A one-off. We won't see his like again and we were lucky to have him. God bless, mate.

Someone asked earlier in the thread to see the Midnight Blue bleed problem. The first picture illustrates it best. White pick shows discolouration of binding.

My only complaint is about Ric's CEO's attitude to his customers and an old paint finish problem.

Black guitars and basses disappear when you wear black clothing, but I still have these... You just gotta make sure people can HEAR them!

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1363651766' post='2015454'] I wonder what he thinks of this? [/quote] Is that a Brickenbacker? Want!

I started by basically saying I have no warranty, but what do I do? Advice please. If he had come back to me and said "The binding will need replacing" or "Rubbing the affected binding gently with a cloth dipped in x will get some result" would have completely resolved the matter for me, but no, he wanted World War III. I'd still love to meet him at a trade fair and have that bass with me, hand it to him and say "Is this really good enough?" [i]Still no threat intended.[/i]

To be fair to Ric, John Hall has said that Ric did refinish a lot of MID basses from the year in question with the same fault. The warranty thing was my own bad luck - I thought it had been supplied new direct to a dealer in Glasgow. It was sold as new. [i]I could have gone back to him with it, [/i]but didn't want to part with the bass.

This pic shows the bleed on the lower neck binding. It's spread further now, but only a cosmetic detail in the end.

A reply to me from John Hall (posted elsewhere on March 6th 2006): " [size=2][url="http://www.rickresource.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=209286#p209286"][/url]by (johnhall) » Mon Mar 06, 2006 12:11 pm[/size] [size=2]I need to interject here even though I am no longer active in this forum. Ian, your exact quote was: "Sadly John Hall and his boys are across the pond from me, or they would be paid a short visit and I would certainly come away with a replacement in a different colour. " "I wish John Hall was standing here next to me and my bass, so I could make my feelings known in person to him. " I don't believe there was any mistaking your meaning. As far as your instrument is concerned, we've made it very clear to you privately that we would have been happy to take care of your instrument, as we are doing with other people if: 1. If it was new and legally imported into the U.K. (It isn't) 2. If it was new, the guitar was registered, and you were resident in North America (It isn't and you aren't) You bought this from an unauthorized U.K. dealer, who bought it on eBay from someone who in turn bought it in the U.S. from an online retailer. There is no way in the world we're going to process this as a warranty issue given the complete circumvention of both the U.S. and U.K. policies and law currently in effect. You may in fact get a chance to meet me personally in the near short term because I'm working on behalf of your government on a legal matter in the North and will likely fly directly into Manchester as I usually do. I'll keep you advised.[/size]"

My comments on the official RIC corporate forum got wiped. He fobs someone else off here [url="http://www.rickenbacker.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4627&start=10"]http://www.rickenbac...t=4627&start=10[/url] Ending it with 'Let's move on' is just a tad condescending.

He asked me for my postal address. Said he had' something to send to me'. He didn't. My full name was / is in my email sig - I went into email correspondence with him after he accused me of threatening him. [i](I'm the least threatening person I know. Say otherwise and you'll get that bass over your head )[/i]

Good luck with the shop. I find that the place I use most is nearby (the best being PMT in Salford). They have a very good range of the basses I want to try and are helpful in allowing me to try them out. The shop staff know me a little, so give me space to put a bass through its paces and don't stand over me watching. They have been known to cut deals and throw a couple of things in, straps, cables, strings to sweeten deals (on the more expensive stuff). I like to play a bass rather than buy online - though I have done that. You can't beat picking a bass up, going WOW and falling in love with it.

I used to have it online on my old band website for band bookings and in my email signature. Possibly he has even paid to get into the BT online directory to pester people with copies!

[quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1363422377' post='2012464'] [b]..... and the venom of JH for daring to question the quality of the BlueBoy finish. [/b][/quote] That's exactly what he went after me for. I had bought a brand new Ric (out of territory for warranty, which I admitted when I asked the question - I just said how do I get the blue out that has bled into the binding on the neck and upper body? I didn't need Ric to help me in any way at all, except in advising how to solve the problem). I went on the official Ric forum asking for that advice. He ignored my plea for advice and just tore me a new arsehole for buying a 'grey import'. As far as I knew when I bought it, it was a new, unplayed Ric with papers etc. He wasn't interested in the fact that the new bass had a finish issue, he just wanted my blood for it being out of territory. When I said I would like to see him at a Trade show to personally hand him the bass and explain why the finish flaw was acceptable on a bass of that price, [i]he actually said I was threatening him and started hounding me for my address[/i] (presumably so he never comes to a Trade show within 100 miles of me). I think he actually rang my house at one point. For a man in the position he is in, he needs to treat his customers a lot better. Of course I was banned from their corporate forum. I do have to say that the RRF, however, has always been a really good place in my experience. You ask a question there and get an answer from people who know what they are talking about.

I can't claim any moral high ground at all, as I have the Retrovibe and a John Birch. I have had personal email rows with John Hall, because I criticised a Ric finish issue that I once asked for basic help and advice on. His attitude to me absolutely stank. That said, while I think the man can be ignorant and petty (I agree someone selling their own bass SHOULD be left alone), Ric should be able to stop further copies being made.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1363304286' post='2011482'] Nope, all the better and worse versions exist just the same but Rick haven't made any money from the copies where fender/squier Gibson/epiphone have. [/quote] Ric just want to make their own product without other people ripping their design off. Which is fair enough. They don't want or need to start off a 'budget range'. The only people who ever talk about the idea of a Ric 'budget range' are the people who think Rickenbackers are too expensive [i](I think they are a bit too expensive these days too)[/i] and therefore complain because they now have trouble finding copies on EBay, as the ads get pulled. These are of course the ones that people are selling on because they have realised they bear such a slight resemblance sound-wise to a real Ric.

People know I do it, but I don't make a fuss about it anymore. Why? Early January, a couple of years ago, I had the misfortune to be off sick for a couple of days, midweek. The band had nothing booked on the weekend either side, so it didn't affect the band at all and I wasn't going to work while off sick - a sacking offence. Some ugly fat ball of lard took it upon herself to go round the floor I worked on, waving a band giglist, saying how could I do all these gigs if I was off sick? Pure spiteful bile. Someone could actually have taken her seriously. I've learned to keep it quiet, because there's always some jealous and talentless f---er who is more than willing to spoil it for you and is cheesed off when they know you always do a tax return so there's no point in bubbling you.

Ric have done the thing Fender and Gibson couldn't do, which is protect their ideas. Hence all the arguably sh*t / better copies out there, cluttering the world up, because some companies don't have the wits to come up with their own design... Fender and Gibson didn't see it coming. Rickenbacker did. However, Ric copyright certain bits of their design, as they are perfectly entitled to do and yet people are up in arms about John Hall setting his team looking for copies on sale? If you want an instrument that looks like a Ric... buy a Ric (says he with a Retrovibe 5er and a John Birch, which I just couldn't turn down at the price), but 4 Rics.

There are two answers. Both are right. 1) It's your bass, so do what you want to it. 2) Why pass a decent enough bass off as something it's not? Either decal doesn't make it any better (or worse) a bass. All it does is alter something about the player. If you want a Fender, buy a Fender. If you pass it on, of course, I'm sure you would remove the fake decal.

The music industry is in the sorry state that it's in for two reasons. 1) Simon Cowell has too big a hand in selling us identikit / CouldBeAnybody rubbish. 2) The record companies thought that the CD was the best way to extort bigger money out of us all. Unfortunately, with it being a digital medium, it only took hours to work out how to rip and share exact copies of it. From that point on - one copy went a very long way. The companies only have themselves to blame. They should have made it uncopyable. This is what is making record shops die out (as well as online retail like amazon). I generally like to see what I'm buying first, but rarely get the chance these days. I order new things in advance.

Good bass players add to songs by playing what the song needs and not imposing their own style at its expense, don't stick out like sore thumbs and play in the right register on the bass as the song requires. They turn up on time and are reliable and consistent and don't have ego or alcohol problems. They are the ones who get the work that's out there.

There's also a John Birch that should get played more instead of me taking the same old favourites out.