Leaderboard

So today I received this beauty from my father as an early 30th birthday present. To say I am lucky to have him as my father is an understatement! Check this beauty out:

Having first seen one on the back of my mum and dad’s Gallagher and Lyle album when I was a kid and hankering after one ever since, I finally thought ‘bugger it’ and bought a Rickenbacker 4003 in Jetglo. I’m very pleased, so far. It’s a used model, which came up on Richtone’s website at a very good price. I shot straight up to Sheffield and nabbed it. They’d advertised it as a 1993 model but subsequent investigation of the serial number reveals it’s actually a 2005 model, but no matter. It’s in decent condition; it has mild wear and a few battle scars, but I’m quite happy about this as I intend to gig it hard and wouldn’t want to be too precious about it. It came wearing flatwounds which I changed to my favoured Super Slinky’s. The previous owner had the good sense to replace the pickup cover with one of those bezels with the thumb indent, which as a fingerstyle player suits me fine. I find myself using the back pickup only with the band, and with touch of overdrive I have the rock tone I’ve craved for years. Having played mainly Jazz basses for years the neck is the biggest difference to get used to; it’s pretty hefty, but I’m accustoming to it. Looking forward to giving it it’s gig debut tonight.

The above gentleman has already caused the board update below to be out of date! Lol! Bit of a back to the future (impact) for me with both Stomp and FI back on the board. Said farewell to two filter pedals (Fwonkbeta and MXR BEF) one mini multifx (MX-60B), two comps (Keeley Bassist and TC Spectracomp) - decent comp on both my Zoom B1X-4 and a multiband on the Stomp. New at the end of the board with XLR output is the Q\Strip which was recently traded in exchange for a Yammy BB 425. Space on the board for Gecko Mk III midi control, in due course, and Mooer Lofi incoming to provide a pretty decent bitcrush / sample rate reduction. Particularly chuffed at finally getting the HX Stomp and SA Hub (both via USB) and Panda FI (via Roland UM-One midi interface) all connected up to the PC to enable easy access to software editing. Should keep me out of mischief for the rest of the summer Zoom B1X-4, as a slimline easy gig-bag-fit all in one pedal board / tuner / headphone amp, continues to provide all I need (for now!) for rehearsals and gigs. ... oh yes and I almost forgot! My much loved Valeton OC-10, which does a better Boss OC-2 tone than anything else I've come across, has been rendered otiose and is now in the FS. That is entirely down to the amazing new patches that @Quatschmacher has recently been putting together for the FI:

Bands: 99% political 1% musical. It's the way it is, you just have to play the politics slowly but surely. I've been in two potentially pretty decent bands in which performance and progress were significantly hampered by the fact that a member in each owned the PA and the van respectively. In both cases, we were f*****d without them, they knew it, and there was little we could do about their attitude to rehearsals and gigs. Both were also completely unnecessary musically; one a twiddling lead guitarist who played solos so much of the time that after a while you simply didn't notice that he was there, one a rhythm guitarist who so swamped his sound in reverb that it was almost like the sound was coming from a pub down the road. Both of them outlived me in each band

Wow! Pressure is on for Father's Day now 😂 Beautiful bass you have there.

My latest incarnation 😊 probably MK20 😂 Starts with the EBS Multicomp set on multiband mode with a higher threshold on the treble freqs. Into a Boss Ls2 to split the signal, the main line has the following Malekko Scrutator (with Moog expression pedal, filter set to low pass) MXR Bass Envelope filter Cog Custom Grand Tarkin Fuzz Source Audio Gemini Chorus (with chorus/flanger/phaser/resonator/envelope phaser programmed in) Loop A Aguilar Octamizer (set for clean deep octave) Cog Custom T65 octave (set with no clean and a tight fuzzy octave, with a hint of dirty octave up, for synth. These can be used directly or mixed in parallel with fuzz/envelope. Loop B Dope Fx Boba Fuzz (Gated Wooley Mammoth clone, with added mid control and 3 way sub switch and internal impedance control, more like a Mastotron) Source Audio Manta filter (set with a reverse low pass setting and a multi peak setting similar to the bassballs. All of these are mixed to taste with the clean signal! via the Ls2 😁

I don’t get how sites like this don’t get shut down. The internet is littered with fake chinese shops now, it’s not just musical instruments, it’s clothes, tech, everything, and it all shows up on the first page of a google search. The whole of China should just be blocked from the internet until they sort out their laws, which are nonexistent when it comes to this stuff. An entire economy built on theft and the production of endless fake counterfeit plastic garbage.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate it!

I use the site a lot as there’s quite a bit of reggae on there, and I’ve also found myself playing tunes that i wouldn’t normally play because the music is there, I can read music but I’m a bit slow so for speed purposes I use the tab that Chris puts underneath. Fabulous job Chris thank you 👍

Once I learn to read music - I'm going to donate a few quid for the upkeep - as I haven't yet.

Amazing website! Thank you so much!

"tank fly boss walk jam nitty gritty you're listening to the boy from the big bad city, this is jam hot, this is jam hot" Dub Be Good to Me, Beats International.

If Higgie's dad worked out from first principles that a 5 sting Sadowsky NYC was the thing to get, then he needs immediate promotion to National Oracle 😂

I like the subtleness in Pea by the Red Hot Chili Peppers: "F**k you a**hole, you homophobic redneck d*ck" The phrasing is superb.

Man - I've gotta get me one of them dads! (Do you know any other dads like yours, going cheap?) 😂 Enjoy the bass - it's even got the right number of strings! 😀

We played Speakeasy in the Left Bank complex in Hereford on Thursday night... It's a smallish underground venue - the gig night is run by 2 very nice people who helped us bring the gear up 10 steps then down another at least 15 steps (flood defence!). Which was good - having been told it was basically a concrete box and didn't need much volume to get it pumping I felt that the full 1500w rig was needed. Though carrying 90+ pounds of bass horn in was fun! There were 2 bands on before us - local punks Dead Beats and Fika from Cardiff who were far more eclectic,almost jazzy. Both were excellent and meant we would have to work hard to keep up the standard. However, having so much power meant I could turn up the octave down pedal; coupled with Future Impact pedal on Hammond organ setting and Fwonk Beta in full Bootsy mode plus the drummer's Tama StarClassic we made a wall of rhythm for the guitarist to smear feedback on and the singer to spray paint with anti-hunting and other lefty slogans. Surprisingly it went down very well, about 1/2 the reasonable-sized crowd turned into a moshpit from the 2nd song - they were tempted in the 1st song but I put a stop to that with a bass solo (might as well start with one!) . Not only that but we were paid, and i was back home with a large glass of Woodford Reserve by 2340!

Sorry, Stew, I should have been clearer. It's bitumen damping material used for sound deadening. Dynamat is a well-known brand. I happened to have some bitumen roof flashing in my garage and used that. It's not a critical component but the more fastidious amongst us will want to damp the thin plastic of the handle. By the way, the cab I now have is as dead as a doornail when you knuckle-rap it - a noticeable improvement on the previous one. The only difference between the two is that the braces are now inset into the panels whereas previously they just used butt joints. I've tuned the port and finished the crossover. I won't bore anyone with more frequency response curves - but draw a line with a ruler and that's what we've got. Off axis response is also exemplary.

Keith's black Tele seemed ideal for the job....

Most certainly! You are the grand master of seller’s remorse dodging for which I respect and salute you 😁

Due to a neck injury I have been struggling for a while with the length weight and turning for a a full scale 5 string I bought a 32 inch GRECO PJ bass of here and there was a real improvement in my comfort and playing. So after a bit of research i bought this off ebay I cannot put it down. Its passive with 2 x vols and a tone

A guy contacted me regarding an item I withdrew from online adverts . He told me he still might be interested but wasn’t sure ...I kid you not.

I've just found out George Hawins Jr died. He was a fantastic bass player. Started in California and was with Kenny Loggins in the early days. He'd moved to Nashville when I first heard him, playing with Delbert McClinton on the Live album. I got goose-bumps again. . just listen to this shuffle!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDLGIPw3chE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8SSdyflGN4

Sorry to hear of your troubles Mart. Hope you get sorted quickly, effectively and painlessly 👍

Trust me - you won't...

A know a couple of these guys, but most I've not heard about. https://www.knowyourbassplayer.com

Amon Tobin

This song brings me so much joy, just left school and started my first job, happy carefree times.

I'll have a bit of NMA. (I love the YouTube thumbnail for this 😁) Stuart Morrow is so underrated!

Unless you’ve been following the build thread you won’t know who Conway Instruments are. So check out this for the history: All you get here is porn (and specs): 5 string fretless, 30” scale with through body stringing Black limba core, English ash top and limba back Limba, maple and cooba set neck, pau ferro board Nordstrand MM5.4 pickup with coil tap and series/parallel switch There's more to it than that but it’s the basics. I’ll let the pictures do the talking. She’s stunning to look at, lovely to play and sounds huuuuge.

Hi everybody, bought recently a Sadowsky NYC from Luka and must say, that everything went well. I was a little frightened to send such a lot of money by bank wire transfer to Croatia, but without reason. Communication, shipping costs for fast shipping via GLS, quality of the bass ... All I can tell, is just the best. I´m very happy with the bass and everything is, as it should be. Thank you again, Luka. I´m now the happy owner of this fantastic and gorgeous bass! Milan

Why not simply cancel or not arrange any gigs until you're ready? If things are going slower that you're happy with, is it because you're being too pushy or one person are lagging? What do the others think? (Edited due to miscounting the number of guitarists). Also, you say everyone has gigging experience - how much experience does the guitarist/keyboard player have? Does he know that failing to rehearse/know the music is going to catch him out at the gig or does he have a cunning plan you don't know about?

You're probably being right, and the further along you get, the more everybody will notice. Or, the guy may pick up the slack at some point. 👍 How about some clavinet for the other 85%?

No, but I also had an EB which I had to sell and wish I hadn’t. They are great basses.

Probably could trim the silk away I guess? I was just a bit disappointed 🙁 I've used Rotosound Swing Bass and Roto Bass strings on and off for years and not had problem with sets on a 4 string. I've been enjoying gigging this NGC Nanyo SB325 for the last 14 months (Thanks GreenKing) and thought oops! definitely time for a string change. I've popped a spare Warwick Red Nickel on for now.

Just to tidy the thread up, all my v3 sound clips are available to listen to here. If you let it load through the google drive app you can then swipe right to move to the next clip and all patch numbers are given. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1u2-dJaWdaAbPDnDdWkipu-P7IH_GHLQ2 Current numbered list looks like this:

Well after over thirty years of should I buy or should I not I finally took the plunge and purchased a New Rickenbacker 4003. The Bass itself has a beautiful finish which was my main worry and plays great with no set up needed which I am obviously happy about. I intend to remove the talent inhibiting bridge pickup cover and install one of the Tube Ampology Cove Bezels to fill in the gaps caused by the removal of the cover. The Bridge as we all know is not the best design so I will probably change it for a Hipshot, but for the moment I am going to leave the original on and see how it goes. There was only one thing that was off with this Bass which seems to be quite common with the Bridge pickup being on a slight angle but that is easily fixed as I believe it is only glued onto the plate. Same as every other 4003 the neck pickup was around 20% lower than the bridge pickup which I rectified by raising the neck pickup to maximum and lowering the bridge pickup to suit. I changed the stock Nickel Roundwounds with Thomastik Infeld Flatwounds and the Bass sounds really good........Well it sounds like a Ric if that floats your boat. Happy Days!

Nice bass! Does your Dad fancy adopting me in time for my next birthday? Just askin' 👍😂

Two gigs of three done. Couldn't imagine a greater contrast. Last night a big venue virtually empty but those there polite and friendly. Thursday a packed pub seething with drunkeness and violence. Tonight a football club. Who knows what that will be like. It's a fun little run because it's not only three different towns but three different bands too. Took my Harley Benton with me to the barracks town where the worst of the fighting took place and while it was a good choice for its robustness its a little heavy for close quarters hand to hand combat. Tonight I'll go with something lighter so if I need to I can get a faster swing.

Fixed! So that means I'm still in the game, right? 😁

At least they’re up front about it.

Short scale?

Well you had just given her your passport!! 🙂

Swop the necks 👍🏻