Delberthot

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?

I'm thinking that this is what I am looking for but I can't get my head around if it is or not. I am finding that some of my effects sound ropey on their own so want to mix the effected sound with the dry sound from the bass in order to retain the basic tone of my bass in with the effect. I think that I should plug my bass into the main input and run a loop into A which will have my effects in it then out of the main output into the amp. I can't see a setting that mixes the main input with loop A but if I plug my bass into A and have the effects running through B then I can mix A & B together and adjust the levels for each - does that sound right? Or do I plug my bass into return A, effects into loop B and output using the main output? My brain hurts

I love music as a whole but actually find most bass players boring to listen to on their own, regardless of how widdly they get. I don't like solo instruments at all really, I much prefer a whole band playing I actually get more enjoyment listening to drummers which is odd in itself but not so odd in the fact that my drummer prefers to listen to bass players than drummers

Winking?

Most bass string gauges are pretty unbalanced anyway - especially 40-100 sets with heavier A & D strings and a fairly limp E. I have mine pretty close with D'addario EXL165 strings but I substitute the 105 for a 110 E string. It also comes in handy when I drop it to B The perfect solution is something like 45, 62, 80, 110. Certainly with D'addario

Anything that you put on your fingers to make them slippery is going to shorten the life of your strings. I'm a bit OCD about having clean hands when I am playing plus I point a fan at my fingers so they don't sweat in the first place and keep a clean microfibre towel nearby to give my hands a periodic wipe inbetween tunes

Off the top of my head - Billy Idol, Sting, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton & Peter Gabriel. I love their music from the bands they were famous for but associate them more with their solo work

Although technically not a combo, my Barefaced One10 & GK MB500 are small & great for rock (in fact any style really). I have the amp attached with ultra high bond tape to the cab so that they come out of the cajon bag as 1. Bonus is a top hat fitting so I can put it on a standard speaker stand to have it at ear level. I think with the amp, cab and the wireless unit stuck on top it comes in at less than 10kg

I've decided to go for it and order a set of the licenced ones. Worst case scenario is that I will need to wrap a drill bit in sandpaper to make the tuner holes slightly larger for which I will be taking my time to do.

Occasionally I have to learn songs that I don't like for wedding gigs so I always have something ready at the end that I enjoy playing. At the moment it is this version of What Is Hip - I find it easier to play than the original despite being a lot faster

Hipshot have just got back to me to say 13.8mm for the US ones.

I am looking at a set of ultralites for my RIckenbacker. Everything fits the bill with the HB6 tuners except the mounting hole of 14mm. The diameter of the hole on the Rick is only 13mm. The same 1/2" version recommend a 17.5mm hole but the tuner is only 16mm at the widest point of the nut part that screws in from the front. Does anyone have a 3/8" licenced HB6 that they could measure for me as I'm hoping that they will fit my existing 13mm tuner hole. The reason for licenced is that I have read that they are ever so slightly smaller than the US versions

The more you do it the easier it is to adjust. I have 2 4 string basses but my Sterling has a detuner so I can drop the E down to D or B if I want. At the moment the Rickenbacker doesn't and I tend to use an octave pedal and play higher up the neck. It is just a matter of getting used to changing positions to suit the bass you have in your hands. I went from a 4 to a 5 to a 6 then back to a 5 I think. I've hovered between 4s and 5s over the past few years but have now decided to stick to 4 strings

To add another option - if you get the chance, try a Sterling - not the Asian made ones but the US Sterling. I've had quite a few Stingrays over the years and just couldn't get the Stingray sound that I had in my head. Turns out it was a Sterling that gave me the sound that I had been looking for. Plus it has a smaller body, narrow jazz-like neck. That is a funk machine

I think that if we mean songs that we hate listening to rather than crap then Uptown Funk and Beyonce's Crazy in Love and would the on my list. In fact there's nothing on my band's set list that I listen to outside the band but I enjoy playing the vast majority of it

I'm also in this camp. When I was playing my Rick last weekend I looked down and the neck looks twice as deep as the Sterling. It didn't really feel any different but as above it was the perceived tension that I did notice. Personally the more basses I've played over the years the less I notice what size the neck is

These are the same strings that I use on my Sterling but the slightly shorter scale means that each string is 2lbs of tension lighter. I also play pretty close to the bridge on the Sterling so that will also make the strings feel less compliant than playing towards the neck. I always wind the string so that when the string leaves the nut it is wound to the lowest point of the tuner so the break angle is as high as it can be as far as that is concerned. Raising the string height at the bridge will increase the break angle at the other end which should also help. I don't really want to change gauges as I like my current brand and I wouldn't be able to determine if the replacement strings felt the same as D'addario are one of the few companies that publish string tensions for different gauges. I haven't looked but I don't think that a 47, 67, 87, 108 is available I think that if I lift the strings then that should balance everything out so that the perceived tension is closer to what I am used to.

It was an odd gig last night - we were booked to play 10-12 but 2 x 45 minute sets. It ran over as these things do so we didn't start until 11.20 and played on until 12.20 when the DJ took over. It'll take some adjustment to how I wear the bass and where I position my right hand but I did enjoy playing it. At gig levels of adrenaline I am going to need to raise the action as well but that's good in that I found the strings ever so slightly floppy compared to the Sterling, presumably due to the slightly shorter scale. Raising the action will increase the compliance(?) I think making the strings feel slightly higher tension.

Exactly - we don't know what combo and what gig.