Delberthot

I had them on a bass when I was about 16 or 17 so that would have been around 1991ish. The black coating came off very quickly so they ended up looking patchy and grey. I also remember them being rough as toast Being still at school and only making paperboy wages I had to keep them on for ages until I could afford another set

We had a Lethal Weapon "getting too old for this Sh!t" moment last weekend. I've been full tilt at work for the past 5 months and we'd been playing for the past 7 weekends, the most recent couple in Aberdeen. Half day at work on the Friday, straight up to Aberdeen, stay over on the Friday night, doss about on Saturday, play Saturday night and drive home after the gig, get in at 4.30am and back to work on the Monday then repeat. Thankfully no physical ailments but last night was the end of work and gigging for the year (at least until hogmanay) so I had a well earned long lie until 11am this morning. But I'd do it all again in a heartbeat because I enjoy it so much

Amazon have been doing the RB45s for £11.26 for the past week or so. you need to spend £20 to qualify for free shipping but simply buy 2 sets. Me? I'm still preferring my D'addarios and Fender Flats

I was at 3 fakers, 3 4003s and a 4000 until I decided to have one last go. Buying it new was a way of forcing me to make it work as I would lose out if I tried to sell it immediately. At first I was disappointed and thought that I had made a mistake but a few gigs later and a couple of mods and I absolutely love it. Granted you shouldn't really have to mod a bass that retails for over £2000 but it worked.

I bought one of the bridges a few years back for £65 and sold it on with my last Rick - They're £150+ now 😳 I also have one of the tube ampology bezels but will be removing it in the next couple of days if you're still looking for one After a couple of months of ownership I realised that I don't need the neck pickup so have the pickup selector set to bridge only. I also changed the tuners for a set of ultralites which was terrifying as I had to increase the holes slightly. I have Fender flats on mine and love it. I also use a Behringer BDI21 with my one. £17 on amazon At first when I got it I thought I had made a terrible and costly mistake but after the few gigs getting used to the shape, adjusting the strap etc I've found myself using it more than my Musicman. I really love playing it and the sound. I was never going for the Geddy Lee / Chris Squire chainsaw/grindy/overdriven sound. I just wanted a Rick and it does sound really good

I use D'addario EXL165 strings on my Musicman but have recently changed the strings on my Rickenbacker to Fender 9050L flatwounds as they probably are Chromes in a different package or at least very similar. They are 45, 60, 80, 100 but feel very similar to the EXLs. I also don't understand the "thump" aspect of flats that is always mentioned. I suppose if you turn the treble down you could go for something that sounded "thumpy" if that's what you're going for but my sound is anything but thumpy. I've got a very punchy, bright and trebley sound just by using the controls on my BDI21. For me it's the feel of the strings and the fact that I don't get half way through a gig and wish I'd changed my strings the night before as they are completely dead

A couple of years ago my brother and I drove 6 hours down to Birmingham to see ZZ Top. They were one of the bucket list bands that we both wanted to see. We went, we listened and we loved the show. The next again year they were playing in Glasgow at the Academy. This time we were in our usual position of the balcony booths which look down onto the stage. We were close enough to realise that there was another guitar track in a lot of their songs. That disappointed me. Yes ZZ Top are a 3-piece band but I would rather at the end of the night they brought on a guy that had been playing in the wings or at least introduced them during the night rather than having something prerecorded

Now there's an idea (the varnish, not JH) My first thought was candle wax but that would rub off and destroy the strings. I think I will try this tonight

I'm finding that the screws that adjust the bridge pickup up and down are really rough on the fingers when I brush over them. I've had a look online but can't find a solution. I need to either change the screws once I find out the size or put something that is neat looking over them. Has anyone ever come across this and managed to find a solution or is it another Rickenbacker "quirk"?

For me it would need to be: 1 - Audi A8L and a driver 2 - Big house with a big games room containing pool tables, dart boards etc 3 - Sting's single coil Precision - not one like his, actually his one 4 - Personal hill walking professional trainer etc

I did both gigs this weekend with a new set of Fender 9050L strings on my Rickenbacker. I wanted to try them to see if they were actually Chromes with different coloured silks. I am really impressed with them. They are pretty bright and the tension is about where I want it to be. Amazon are doing them for £22.94 so not the cheapest but not anywhere near the most expensive. I'll see how I get on over the coming months as they settle in. I didn't find them grippy at all under normal circumstances, only when it began heating up in the venue and my fingers were sweating slightly

I think the issue was that Flea was endorsing the pink stack knob but playing a Modulus live so the natural thing to do was for Fender to make him something the same shape as the bass with his name on it but more suited for live work. I believe that the reason Flea never used the stack knob live was because it didn't cut through enough

worst case scenario if it's completely unplayable is remove the strings and frets and you have yourself a £349 ironing board

Depending on whether or not it's an agency gig it's sometimes in the contract but the first thing we try to do before we've even brought anything inside is to chat to the bride & groom to let them know that they can relax knowing that the evening's entertainment is sorted etc. This not only puts their minds at ease but also gives them the opportunity to invite us to beast into the buffet later on I think last year was to be the year of the hog roast. This year has been the year of cheese. Luckily I love cheese and there have been many wedding cakes made out of various cheeses Unfortunately the traditional fruit wedding cake seems to have vanished which is a shame I considered myself to be quite a connoisseur of them Coffee varies from tasty to pretty ropey We've never had any issues with joining in the buffet queue with the other guests as we always like to have a laugh with them in the queue so they're happy for us to be firing into the potted hough and vol au vents or whatever that night's culinary treats are

I would still talk it through as a first option. If that doesn't get anywhere then you can decide whether or not to leave. Alternatively you could try to drive your guitarist mad by replacing the strings in his packet of spares with cooked spaghetti or adjusting his guitar tuner up or down from concert pitch

I have to agree with this. We all know how soul destroying it can be to find a new band that everyone gets along and play the music we enjoy playing. And at the end of the day why would you have to be the one that had to leave? it's not you that is dictating what everyone should be playing. I nearly left my current band a couple of years ago when the drummer decided to have a mid-life crisis and fall out with everyone. We had been friends for 20 years and I know that I will never speak to him again after the way he behaved but I spoke with the other guys in the band and they all agreed that he had become more of a knob than he always had been but had tolerated him for. When we eventually got our replacement we realised that he wasn't that good after all and we went back to having a good time playing again

Now you come to mention it, it's been a while - are they blue?

3 gigs in I'm convinced that these are either EXL165s or are that close as to not be able to tell the difference. The reason that I think this is that I only use the A, D & G from this set with a 110 E D'addario EXL and they all feel and sound consistent and each string as smooth as each other. I've just put a set of the Fender flats on my Rickenbacker and they feel similar to Chromes but have green silks as opposed to none on the Chromes. I'm going to try it out on Saturday night's gig

Interparcel cover up to £2000 but it's 4% of the value so £2000 = £96.60. Might be worth investing in some courier company bomb proof packaging, although you'd still be boned if it went missing

Didn't John Deacon use the same Precision for a good number of years, albeit with different finishes?

I actually think that this has been the problem that I have had with effects pedals - I love the sounds that they give but would prefer to still have my core bass sound being heard at the same time. It's only taken me 31 years to work this out

It does sound like a good piece of equipment but my pedals at the moment are Behringer BDI21, Octave & Phaser that cost me £17 each brand new and a Line 6 space echo that I had. The BDI is on all the time with the Rickenbacker but the others are only used occasionally so 235 Euros might be a bit overkill for my requirements.

Thanks Just need to find one now

Fantastic. That is exactly what I need to know. The internet is a bit vague when it comes to telling you what it can do. I assume that if I set the pedal like this then I can adjust the clean and affected levels using the two level controls?