drTStingray

Congratulations - these are fabulous basses. I use mine most of the time and the aqua sparkle has some great effects dependent on lighting 👍

Hang on a minute - lest anyone forget Fender invented the wheel along with the inaccessible truss rod and other engineering marvels - however if their instruments required wheels they would be true to vintage as everyone knows solid tyres are best - none if this new dangled pneumatic rubbish 😏 To me the look of the Rickenbacker bass has something of the Art Deco and gothic going on all at once - it's extremely cool in my view.

The Allegro was introduced in 1973 (or maybe 74) and stayed in production until replaced by the Maestro in about 1983. They were pretty popular but the square steering wheel (I think it was called quartic) was deeply unpopular and was dropped for a standard one after a couple of years. Believe it or not the Allegro 1750 SS was the epitome of a boy racer's dream in 1974 - I know - I went and looked at one - but they were eclipsed by the Golf GTI a couple of years later. Vanden Plas made luxury versions of BMC cars as well as limos and then BL ones - the Allegro was possibly the worst looking of all - it's predecessor - the Vanden Plas 1300 was much nicer!! They had full leather and in some cases an upgraded engine (including one with a Rolls Royce 4 litre). The grille looks abominable on the Allegro - all the other badge engineered saloons like MG disappeared in 1973/4 - presumably BL had a financial stake in VDP and its workshops. There is a parallel here between the hatred for JH and the chairman of BL, Lord Stokes - he scrapped the Mini Cooper, fitted hideous bumpers to the MGB for the US market among lots of other hated decisions - the Graham Taylor (in England manager guise) of car company chairmen.

Why is he pretending to be Eddie Jordan??? 🤗

Isn't that a bus? 🤔😀

It was a metaphorical reference - those spouting vitriol and smoking at the same time are likely to explode. Ive heard of self combustion also!! I must say that these reposts against Mr Hall do remind me somewhat of the 'Benzedrine puff adder' once used as a description of Basil Fawlty..... they just seem to be insults to me. In the early days of Internet forums and before, presumably lawyers or even doctors advised against company officials saying daft things, the likes of John Hall (if indeed it was him behind the user name) were occasionally embroiled in heated exchanges with people on forums. Sometimes these were hilarious not only for the responses from company names but the level of ire in the posts - to the extent I did wonder if rival company employees weren't behind some of it. I've seen individuals banned for very good reason and then pop up again on, say Talkbass to bemoan it!! Not that I'm saying anyone in this thread is in those categories. However the internet has moved on as has liability for stuff posted there and some of the stuff referred to in this thread, entertaining though it is for some (perhaps not John Hall) is possibly from relatively ancient history. Also bullying on the Internet is probably illegal these days 🤔 Just pointing this out...... My own view is we should just get on and enjoy the wonderful instruments and ignore the individuals - a bit like we do with Fender, who still seem capable of making guitars where the truss rods snap within a short time and then take a while to fix it satisfactorily. However they've also generally upped their game - though not to the extent of some of the smaller approaching boutique level people like EBMM, PRS etc etc - maybe Rickenbacker.

Blimey - looks a tight fit with the case - Fender 'precision engineering' I guess 😏😀👍

There's a lot of theories here - is it remotely possible he runs it at all and in the way he does because he's passionate about Rickenbacker?

Indeed - for spontaneous combustion - however we're talking vitriol fuelled combustion - where a naked flame or heat sources is almost certain to cause catastrophic explosion 😀

I do hope the handful of vitriol spurting contributors to this thread aren't smokers - there surely is an immediate and severe self-combustion threat...😧😧😂😂😂

An excellent post - the only point I would take issue with is comparing Fender to VW/Audi - that would require Fender to base its product on modern design and engineering, and have a highly developed customer focus (and be profitable), and (in the case of Audi and to a lesser extent VW) be an upmarket product. It's of course none of those things!! Maybe Vauxhall/GM is a better analogy.

Sorry - Ric go after copies as well as counterfeit - different things (slightly in some cases)!! Btw you will need paranormal assistance to get Ernie on the phone!!

Counterfeiting is a major thorn in the side of particularly manufacturers of high end goods of all types. From trainers to perfume to high end watches - often with meticulously copied packaging. It's often sold through criminal outlets. I'm not sure how big the counterfeiting of instruments is but they generally seem unlikely to fool a knowledgable buyer (yet) and I have read about manufacturers going after retailers selling this rubbish - having goods confiscated. Which is what the (reviled by some) Rickenbacker do amongst other firms. Curiously Fender don't seem to bother generally - which gives the impression they don't feel obliged to look after customers of their instruments - funny old world, no one seems to complain about that approach!!

Thanks for the response, and very interesting - not a good experience with him then or that finish, which sounds like it had issues from the start. I'm guessing this was in the earlier days of the Ric forum? I suspect that most manufacturers prefer to deal with instrument issues direct with the customer through whatever customer services operation they have rather than in public on their own Internet forum, for obvious reasons. That said if you get nowhere with that, I guess raising it on their forum raises the matter and you can talk to people with the same problem - or better still on somewhere like this site or one of the other bass guitar forums. If you're buying a car you can usually identify potential issues other owners have had by trawling the Internet, and forums like this one but dedicated to the type of car you're buying - but the thing is they are never forums run by the manufacturer. I think therein lies the issue with raising instrument issues on a manufacturer forum as a general principle, quite apart from the potential legal issues created by the manufacturer's response (which is why they often don't reply on a public forum these days - directing people to an appropriate channel of communication). It has to be a direct one to one conversation. I think in the early days of forums and wider use of the Internet, there did tend to be occassional vitriolic exchanges - probably a case of company individuals learning how to deal with the new media, or even recognise that it requires specialist communication skills. Im guessing these points just show him to be passionate about his company, regardless whether the responses in certain instances are appropriate.

No slaying of CEOs? You sure? 🤔 Interesting to read some of the other posts as well - it sounds like Rickenbackers are pretty good instruments - they're certainly popular as you see them in use quite often. John Hall seems to be doing a pretty good job of running his company. I suppose with the most famous bass guitarist ever having used one for a significant and productive period you've got all the exposure you need (I didn't mean Lemmy or Chris Squire!!)

Yeah me too - and I'm not a defender either - never owned one or played one - always liked their sound (in some people's hands) and their quirky Art Deco looks. I do, like others who've posted, admire firms which try and protect their products and also as a result their existing and potential customers - and I can understand how that can annoy people who want to buy copies and counterfeits of the real thing. Presumably the main point is these would be cheaper - I guess you just have to save up and buy the real thing if you want one - and plan to sell it later.

So nice to hear a positive view on this subject - judging by the number of people I see playing Rics, I can only think most of them don't bother to join bass forums as you don't hear much from them here. Whilst Mr Hall's treatment of the powers that be at Basschat was certainly nasty, as stated above, the guy is simply protecting his brand from counterfeiters - even Talkbass has banned threads in praise of counterfeits. The merciless slaying of this CEO on here does smack a bit of artists (painters) attacking windmills in the olden days..... or even school kids bemoaning a particular headteacher 😀

Sterling Ball's a good bass player (and guitar player). Not essential for a CEO of a musician instrument maker to do this but is probably helpful. Ive heard it said that somewhere in the senior leadership of the organisation of the amorphous mass known as FMIC there are people who play the instruments or even sing.

Couldn't have said it better myself. This is absolutely correct.

He's looking a little statesman-like and potentially litigious in this view. Does John Hall play bongos on famous cartoons as well (I had heard the bass on the Charlie Brown cartoons was a Rickenbacker - not sure if he played it though) 😐

Max Roach and Charlie Mingus Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman (love the way they look cool and also slightly disdainful of the whole thing and possibly their flouncing band mates in some of the televised performances of singles)

I can think of quite a few but this one is fabulous:- Phil Gould Mark King Boon Gould Classic Level 42 line up and my favourite Level 42 drummer (though the current one is great as was Gary Husband).

This is basically it (production year/period) but there are also 5 string and Sterling variants. This web site page gives the headstock information with some photos to illustrate (the Subs are at the bottom of the page). They were introduced in 2003 and ceased production in 2006 - the Stingray version was either passive or active but from observation the passive ones seem far fewer in number. The production years for the different logo differ slightly from what you've said (I have a Sub 5 from late 2003 with the early logo, which continued into 2004). http://www.musicmanbass.global/headstock-logos-part-2/

I had exactly the same problem - in fact watched the most recent and then realised it was the wrong one - it was the third one back today - will be the fourth back tomorrow as there's been another installment today!! I think it was episode 15 - you can tell because the first people in are the Hot Chocolate bassist's wife and son. Very interesting case it arrives in as well - looks like a 70s bespoke or home made design.

Strangely, I had thought they were something produced when I pressed the button and turned the knob on my Ashdown amplifier stating sub harmonic generator. I subsequently found this is effectively similar to an octaver producing one octave below the plucked note........ I think - as well as the plucked one - or is it an additional low harmonic? Doesn't sound like it to me. As for wood resonance, if the materials had no impact at all on the string resonance (and thus the vibrations which the pick up takes) then all Bass guitars would generally be literally planks with pick ups attached (or made of hardboard like Danelectros). I have similar makes and designs of bass, some with differing body woods, or neck woods and there is quite an effect between say poplar and ash, alder and mahogany. It possibly doesn't make that much difference if you're looking for thump rather than more defined notes - the different body wood tends to accentuate, for instance, highs, low mids or bass. The effect is probably more subtle to the casual observer - to the player it can be quite significant, for instance in impeding or assisting playing certain phrases and nuances of style. The ability to accomplish those or not would be audible to someone listening.