TomRichards

Jens Ritter. There is no competition right now. Frikkin' playable art masterpieces.

https://www.facebook.com/relayerbass The Facebook link above is the currently active place for information and all photos. Unfortunately our website is under construction and we are having domain issues. Tom

Here is the latest Relayer Bass by Davis Custom Guitars, on its way to Nashville, TN. My signature bass and design. Enjoy the "Pink Panther."

I know Mike well, and know just about every player with one. Very, very, very good and solid basses that have that extra you would expect from a high end builder. Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick went to him especially for the great 4 strings he makes. You will never be disappointed with a Lull. Worth the price, and they are basses that will never leave your collection once you have it.

As a card carrying member of the Nashville Musicians Association and an old studio cat, of course anything Fender-like works. Mostly with P pickup. Flats arent as big or needed as in the old days. New country has a lot of 5 strings, especially live, but again, mostly Fender shaped objects. Any reasonable quality cheap P style will do. Squier would be the obvious choice. I would upgrade the puckup to a nice vintage style one though. The other option is a Danelectro longhorn strung with flats. Surprisingly good at vintage country tone and you can squeeze tic-tac out of it as well.

Hey guys and gals, I am going to maake Basschat my permanent bass forum home. The w***ers on Talkbass have banned me twice for zero good reasons, because I answered questions about my new signature bass in a thread posted by a different user. Hope I am still welcome here. Sincerely, Tom ex-pat in New Jersey

Cheers! Sorry its been a while. I am still working on pics and vids of the new bass. Hope to pop 'em here soon.

Hey guys and gals, I am looking to see which websites you use for chord charts and lyrics. I have 4 hours of stuff I gotta learn from the 1980s and need lyric sheets with chords. Which ones do you find best for you?

A few mor pix....

Hello everyone! I have been working on a signature bass for 11 months now. I have been looking for a long time for something that fits both my style and my sound and recording needs. I hooked up with Kerry Davis of Davis Guitars and Bill Compeau of Armstrong Gutiars and Ark Amps and we designed something just spectacular. So much so, that Davis Guitars has decided to launch it as a production bass and the flagship of their bass line! Here are some pics of the bass. For more info, you can contact me here, or look on the web for videos and sound samples that are coming soon! Cheers! Tom

Just dropping by to wish all the bassnatics and gear heads here on Basschat a very, very, very Happy Christmas! May Father Christmas bring you all the love and bass toys you asked for this year, and my you enjoy the eve and day with family, friends, fans and of course your basses. Cheers! Tom Richards

I am very close with everyone at Fodera. They are worth the money. You see them more and more now in better players hands. They are the Bugati of basses. But what you may not realize is that what you get is a piece of bass history. Vinny Fodera worked for Stu Spector with Ned Steinberger when they were all starting out. Vinny and Stu did all the early prized NS-2 basses. Then Vinny through Stu did ALL of the early Ken Smith production. After that they did their own. I know the person who owns Fodera #2 (which is bass #1) and I have played it. Still perfect 30 years later. So you are getting a hand carved, custom bass made of the finest wood selection on the east coast if not the whole US made by the two guys who have been part of what bass players would call the royalty of makers. Sort of like a Da Vinci if you will of basses. I have spent lots of time watching Vinny at work. Few luthiers spend as much time and care carving necks. Does a Ferrari do anything different then a Fiat when driving across London? No. Both are cars and will get you there on time. But it's the feel and detail of the Ferrari that sets itself apart from the rest. As an old guy I have some "players" like my vintage Danelectros that are fun to play, sound just fine and I don't worry about taking to the bad part of town. But the J. Backlund Design custom JBD-800B bass I own is just like butter and EVERY player I know who tries it refuses to put it down. ($4000 USD). The finer things are just that. Finer things. Does my $300 bottle of single malt get me better drunk then my $10 bottle of blended? Of course not. But it sure is smoother and makes me savor the experience. Same for a Fodera. If you buy one tell Joey, Vinny, Laura and Jason I sent you. Tom

Sweet! You rarely if never see these. Nice work. Would love to hear a sound recording of it.

Silvertone is making a version of the bass now too.

Okay, so here goes. As of February 2014, I am no longer affiliated with Brubaker Musical Instruments or Fuchs Audio Technology. After getting approached at NAMM by many of the new and innovative companies, I have decided to go off on my own. I am now F CLEF LLC. I do music industry consulting and contract work. Currently I am working with Armstrong Instruments/Kerry Davis Guitars on launching some really cool and innovative designs. The Relayer bass, which is my photo, is the first, and will be available for direct sale in June 2014. I continue to be an endorsed artist with Petillo Masterpiece Guitars, Vivid Amps, Hartke Amps and Cabs and Bitchstraps. I have recently reformed my band, the Baby Seal Club, and we are in the studio working on our first release since 1992. I have already had several guest appearances on it from my punk and new wave friends from the '80s. Tom

Having this bass design built and becoming a reality. Crossing my fingers, maybe two months from now...

I'm throwing this out there because here in the USA there seems to be a trend to go to cheaper amps now, even if they are inferior in sound or design. So, my friends on the other side of the pond, at what price do you start to say "No Thanks." There is such a range in amp pricing right now, its hard to understand. tom

Hartke HyDrive112. Switchabel 4 or 8 ohm impedance. Best of both worlds, paper and aluminum cone. Super light, but super heavy duty. I have two and use them as my gig needs. Good idea to go with the two 1x12s. for the working bassist, a perfect set up.

What do you guys think of my original thought, a pearl white to black burst?

Thinking matching headstock, leaving the neck a satin for playability.

[quote name='police squad' timestamp='1392391837' post='2368130'] it needs to be some corvette colour [/quote] Hmmmmm....google searching corvettes now...

This J. Backlund Design JBD-800B bass, made in the USA, is available. I am thinking of pulling the trigger, but not sure what color to have it finished. My first thought was a white to black burst. Hey Basschatters, suggest colors for me please! tom

This J. Backlund Design JBD-800B bass, made in the USA, is available. I am thinking of pulling the trigger, but not sure what color to have it finished. My first thought was a white to black burst. Hey Basschatters, suggest colors for me please! tom

Hey Luke, I'm not arguing with you. I'm just not sure companies like Glock were aiming to do that. It was just the way it came out. While the insides are different, the results are basically the same. However, its encouraging that now we have new options to discuss and debate over. It has been a long time since the bass world had as many choices that are powerful and quality and don't always break the budget! Still, nothing beats valves for warmth. For me, I just will never lug the Ampeg SVT refridgerator around ever again.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1392162161' post='2365619'] isn't that just a power amp with a few extra knobs then? I think you've hit something in that last para - "everyone pretty equal" - it's all the same few class D modules with 101 different manufacturers putting them in their own boxes with their own power amps - looking at photos of the newer tecamp stuff it's gone back a few steps compared to the earlier powersoft pumas in terms of what's under the hood... not saying they don't sound nice but.... [/quote] Yes, in a way, the Vivid amp is now hybrid. It has a "flat" mode, meaning it bypasses the entire EQ section and is therefore technically, I guess, a power amp, but it added the EQ portion to make it more traditional. Class D is a Class D is a Class D, so yes, pretty much equal. However, I did notice that everyone seemed to try and put their "color" on it. The Aggie sounds very Aguilar, and the Peavey sounds, well, Peavey. You can tell a difference. Vivid is the only one who is trying to make it full range-pure, if you will. Again, not everyones cup of tea, but it is different. I was curious about power choices for most of the Class D stuff I saw. Seems 500 is now, "standard" and companies moving toward the 1000W range. Yes, in many cases, more is better, however my personal choice and opinion, as expressed here a lot, is that anything more then 500-700W is not needed by any bass player. No one I know plays in a way or in a band that needs that much to get their sound. If you need 1000W for the average club, you got problems. And once you go into the house sound, you only need enough to be a good stage monitor and color the first few feet of people. Everything is coming down to weight vs power and how hot it runs. Hands down, the Fuchs has an aesthetic beauty live that the Class D's just can't reproduce, however for the same power I'm carrying 5-7 times the weight (3.5 or 5lbs for the Vivid vice 25lbs for the Fuchs or Hartke for that fact.) Like I said, its like comparing a CD to a vinyl record. One is super clean and pleasing to the ear, the other has some noise but is much more alive.