Leaderboard

Well, it's my first New NBD for a while and I have sold a lot of gear recently.... I've had one of these before and as much as I loved it, I couldn't gel with it for some reason. Still, I had a Ric-shaped itch that I knew I'd have to scratch again one day. I knew the 4003 wasn't right for me as I struggle with the top bezel edge digging in to my forearm. The 4003S is a totally different beast though and actually sits very comfortably for me. I heard recently that Rickenbacker was not going to make any more instruments in Midnight Blue, which to me was a real shame as it's a colour I love. Anyway, after a few fruitless Google searches I managed to find one: brand new at a ridiculously low price. Given the likelihood of finding another one any time soon, I decided I'd take a chance and order it online. Past experience has told me that online ordering is a bit like a reverse version of Russian Roulette, in that five chambers are loaded with not particularly well set up or well cared for instruments and I generally always try before I buy, especially with Rics and their, ummm, folibles. In this instance though I was lucky: perfect condition and finish (no QC issues here), low action, no tail lift, quiet electrics etc. As always, the treble pickup was a lot louder than the neck one so after a bit of adjustment I got that lovely warm "fizzy" Ric sound that I love and that nothing else comes close to replicating. I put on a set of TI Flats and it's a beaut. Haters gonna hate and all that, but to me this is the best Ric I've played and hopefully we'll have a good few years together. Maybe I should call her Taylor...

I'm normally okay with that. My problem EVERY freakin' time is the guitar stand coming with me when I lift my bass to start a set....

My fave spoonerism? "You're a fart smella" - a compliment apparently.

To keep the brass sealed I'll use a spray lacquer, this is the final result. These are a great functional bridge IMO, and I'm more than happy to keep this on the bass as I'm also replacing the nut with a chunkier brass version.

Then, after levelling off the base, going slightly larger and rout the inset edge for the flush fit cover..

My rig from last night. ACG Finn with LaBella flats (what a revelation they are!) Ashdown Little Bastard 30W valve head Barefaced One10 and Super Compact. Astonishingly loud and full, a big fat creamy bass tone all night long.

I'd just let it go mate. You seem to have built up a resentment over nothing there, and its poisoning you. Why don't you share their social media advertising, saying that you played at the festival last year and you wish them luck for this year. You get promo, the festival gets promo, the charity gets more money and you get a nice warm feeling that you've done some good in the world. Everyone's a winner baby!!

I would recommend the original classic ska ... if you can get the feel for this kind of stuff then the other stuff will come easy

;Pressure Drop' would be a great start - just learn one or two numbers properly and get the feel of how it's done .......... musically it's simple enough but different. If you can get hold of a copy, Club Ska 67 is a good value album to practice with - Whine and Grine Club Ska 67 is the same + one track extra - Amazon have one for £3.25 😎

My birthplace, the Whitstable and Tankerton Maternity Hospital.

That effing strap twist alway gets me. I swear there's a strap consipracy going on, and the strap knows it winds me up. It's not like it's just one strap, either. I have around 4 and the cunning bustards all do it. Like bungee cords that always manage to hit you in the bluddy face, the strap twists out of sheer bluddy mindedness. Accidently kicking the muthas down the stairs doesnt help at all. They're so light they just shake it off. I may take my Black & Decker heat gun to the next one and see how it likes that bad boy

It is actually a trick caused by perspective. The neck has a really nasty twist in it and is approx 6" wide! 😀

Ah, yes! I saw this over on the Dingwall megathread. A lovely beast - congrats. I really must do a NBD thread for my newly acquired Super P...

If you’re going to play a ska set , this is a must ,it’s not too difficult and a great rhythm 🙂

I have a spare old one, if you want one to match the tarnished look of the other 3! PM me your address if you want it.

Some favourites

Very nice Nick, nicest colour on a Rick by far.....I am a bit biased though.

This is my Aria after the body refinish:

Very pretty colour!

Also on this topic of Relic, remember buying a brand new shiny bass is a hard thing, the first “ding” in that new pristine instrument is always gutting. - Which is another good reason to buy a pre relic’d bass. A. Because relic’s look badass B. To the crowd you’ve played that bass more than eaten hot dinners C. Because even if you ding it or dent it, it will all blend in, you will be no sadder than when you bought it, because the dents won’t look out of place unlike on a non Relic version.

One word: Catholicism. Left = the Devil = evil. I still have at least one friend who averts her eyes when she sees me doing something with the 'wrong' hand, and who is happy that her left-handed older brother was forced by family and school to learn to write right-handed. Even if she's never been able to read his handwriting as a result. Thank God for computers, huh? We went to high school together; similar backgrounds, main difference between us being, she and her family are religious, I and mine are not. We're all well over 50. I do hope things have changed now.

I’m on the mobile just now , I daren’t try edit the poll on it as I’ll bollox it all up , I’ll try in the morning on a real machine

Sounds good to me. Maybe Cato needs to wear a support with all the bollox he's coming out with., None intended Cato.

Lush. I think that blue colour goes nice with the reddish Ric' fretboard, which has shown well in the photographs. 😎 So are you saying it's comfortable because of the slightly rounded edges on the "S" body, vs the sharp edges of a bound body? It is very lovely... give me a shout if you decide to sell it. Local collection not a problem! 😜

They did disappear for a while, then came back. I stopped taking them seriously when I saw an interview with the owner, whose name escapes me, where said that he got the inspiration for his speakers in a vision from God. I might have thought better of it had he said it came in a vision while doing peyote and listening to Clapton.

Hi! New member from Stockholm Sweden.

If you want to sound authentic it never hurts to spend a lot of time listening to authentic recordings, whatever the genre in question - the main question I would be asking in this instance is what sort of sound is he trying to create, or this or something in between from Brit two tone era Different folks have somewhat different terms of reference depending usually on how old they are...

I used to find that with records. The time spent searching in record shops ( no interweb back then) and tracking down pieces of obscura was equally as pleasurable as finally placing the needle on the vinyl in question, sometimes more so

Absolutely this. I know it sounds clichéd but it really is about the feel. You can play all the right notes in the right order at the right time, but unless you're really feeling it it doesn't sound authentic.

Nah, not happening

Well after a couple of years looking I have finally settled on a new bass. I went to Bass Direct and spent time on three basses: Roscoe Century Standard Plus, Sandberg VS5 Masterpiece and a Dingwall AB1 5/3 with Super Fatty pickups. I came away with this: Let's face it, everyone has to own a bright purple bass at some time! Very happy here for now.

That's ridiculous for pub style gigs. You guys must have deafened your audience.

It’s an interesting idea, and you’d think somebody would have thought of it by now but a quick firkle around t’interweb didn’t bring up much apart from lefty computer keyboards. I do have a nagging suspicion that it may not be quite as simple as that though. Hopefully a keyboarder will turn up soon to explain it all... On a side note (sorry about that ), it can make a difference which way round instruments are designed. This article walks you through some of the potential issues. That said, to quote @BassTractor, it’s complicated. Trying very hard not to appear patronising, I rather suspect it’s one of those issues you have to be at least partially left handed to understand, and even then it isn’t a given. Some will just get on with it the way we lefties often have to (), some will make the extra effort because they want to, but occasionally you’ll find somebody who just can’t adjust and can’t afford to have one specially made like our pianist friend. No reason anybody needs to lose sleep over any of this of course, but just so the information is out there.

I'm not here to help, I'm here to enable and encourage.

Pick one song ( how about Pressure Drop, Toots and the Maytals) and play it over and over , harmonically it's simple , just major triads but the magic is in the articulation , really try to mimic the note length and rythmic placement feeling how the bass relates to the drums and guitar Tone down volume up

I work offshore and on the current installation I was walking past the Rec room the other day when I heard someone noodling on a bass. I investigated and found one of the supervisors playing a cheap Yamaha bass through a Fender Rumble. He explained that the welfare dept. Had paid for some cheap gear to muck about on. He said he was actually a guitarist but was trying out the bass as it had just arrived. I said I play the bass and he said, great, we can have a jam some evening. I went along a few nights later when I spotted him in there. He offered me the bass and plugged me into the amp. Everything left me! I was all fingers and thumbs. Everything I tried ended up being a mess. I couldn’t understand it. I’d played all of this stuff until I knew it back to front. I can only think that playing an instrument that I’m not used to and also being aware that people are going to be judging you must affect my nerves. Im fine playing rehearsed songs in a bar with the band. For some reason music shops and any other situations where you feel pressurised into delivering a solo performance and I just turn into a vacuum. Things I could play at home with flair, turn into a mess of fluffed notes and forgotten passages. It annoys me so much because you can feel them thinking, he talked a good gig but really he’s crap.

Classic ska/reggae is all about the bass. Your gear should be ideal for the job; roll off the old tone pot a bit and get a big phat warm tone. Having said that, there really aren't any hard and fast rules. Just do what works best for your mate's songs. I tend to keep a bit of snap in my tone for some songs as I like the way it cuts through (Nite Klub, for example).

Sold another bass this week, so far my balance for 2019 is sold 3 basses and one cab. Bought nothing.

Nice! Got myself one of these in white over Xmas. (Because what better time of the year to buy yourself a new bass) Gotta say I barely touch the pre-amp, sounds really great just passive

Chris is excellent. I still haven't forgiven him for moving away from Peckham.

https://www.mcintyreguitars.com/

Preface: I’ve always wanted a mustang bass in a pale blue / green. When they announced that they would be producing it in Sonic Blue my heart lept and with memories of the Sonic Blue Jagstang in mind, I went as quick as my hatchback could take me to the music shop to try it out. The spotty Saturday child proudly handed me the bass, proclaiming “Sonic Blue” in his squeaky voice. “Sorry Son, this might be your first day, but this is Olympic White”. He then handed me the Olympic White one, or was that the blue? They looked the same, far too pale. My tail drooped and I left the shop. My Dream Bass: 2018 arrives and I notice Fender release an overpriced Seafoam Green Mustang. It’s not the green / blue I wanted, so I start getting quotes to buy a new one and have it refinished in the colour I had in mind. While surfing the web for colour codes I spot it…my dream colour. And hang on….it’s on a mustang bass, and it’s for sale from an actual shop! Seconds later, it’s added to the cart and I hit check out. So end of story? No. The retailer says that they aren’t willing to ship the item outside of the U.S as they “won’t be to promise their usual high level of customer service”. I mail them, offering them whatever costs they need to send it, with the promise I won’t cause a fuss. They still refuse. Even more angering is the fact that this is an exclusive deal with Fender – They are the only shop in the world allowed to sell this bass and they wont ship it to me. I’m not willing to fly to Indiana. So the story ends. Against All Odds: A glass of wine or seven later (that’s only one in dog glasses) I have an idea and fire up Google maps. I find where Sweetwater are based and start looking for pawn shops / secondhand music shops in the area on the slim chance someone has part exchanged one. Highly unlikely as they have only been out a few months - Then the unthinkable happens…I spot one. I mail them asking about it, they respond within minutes explaining that it had a ding in the back, and the shop selling them could no way put that on the shop floor as an exclusive, so let him have it. He attached a photo of the tiny ding. For the princely sum of £120 he would courier it 3,875 miles to my front door. Done and Done. Customs: Five days later I get a phone call “Hello Mr Smith, it’s Customs and Excise here”. They had my guitar at the airport, it’s now only 30 miles away from me. They’re concerned that the fretboard is Rosewood (its not), and that it will need certification. They ask me to put it in writing that it is not rosewood, and that if I lie it’s a criminal offence etc. As she hangs up I swear her mutter something about Leroy getting a new twink for his cell. Hours later the same number pops up on my phone, the lady is a bit more chirpy and thanks me for my confirmation. “And it’s just the extra tax to pay before we can release it”. What? Why did no one mention the 20% import tax! I finish reading out my credit card number through gritted teeth. “Thank you Mr Smith, now I just need to take our admin fee for that transaction”. Arrival: The next day I hear the postman whistling as he walks down the path, I run to the door, tail wagging. Instead of something the size of a bass he hands me a box about the size of a pizza box. Minutes later I get a call from the customs lady, “We’ve tested your neck, and it’s not rosewood, we can now release it”. Oh FFS! “We just need to take the import fee for this oh and our admin fee”. For the next 24 hours I made suggestions about what she should do with the neck, that I won’t repeat here. Then I hear the whistling from the path… Like some sort of weird sommelier the postman is holding the neck like a posh bottle of wine, or the world cup. I bolt everything together, string it (hybrids) strap lock it (new Schaller S types) and it plays like a dream. Would I do it again? Not sure. But I now have my dream bass.