Musky

It's a T serial number isn't it? 2008-09 models always begin T + 0 + another five digits and have MADE IN JAPAN (all caps).

[quote name='risingson' timestamp='1328403235' post='1526622'] As for Ashdown's reliability, well having not owned Ashdown before I couldn't comment too much but I know several people who have had malfunctioning Ashdown rigs (one of them even went up in flames). I don't know what Ashdown have done to amend their quality control issues, hopefully something drastic. [/quote] I think the Ashdown reliability concerns stem from the Superfly, which had issues with overheating, and a batch of faulty transformers they received around 2006 sometime. They were the ones which were going up in flames. TBH Ashdown seem to be as good as any others in respect of reliability nowadays. I'm not (nor ever have been) an Ashdown owner, so I've no particular axe to grind.

[quote name='rog19702001' timestamp='1328384689' post='1526347'] well i think i have eliminated all the variables.. different leads, different basses and the problem still lies... i have done some research and there can be an issue with overloading the valve. i`m going to talk to the place i purchased the lh500 and get them to look at that rather than the cab.. it may be that rather than the cab.. [/quote] Surely if it was a problem with the amp both speakers would be making the sound you describe? Hard to know what's going on from your description, but I'd start by checking over the faulty cab for loose battens, foreign objects stuck to the magnets, cables touching the cone, loose dust caps, etc. Do a search for buzzing speakers on these forums - there have been quite a few threads about odd noises that cabs can make.

[quote name='chrisdaman' timestamp='1328369909' post='1526123'] i cant afford to have the cash and buy 2nd hand, so it'll be a credit card purchase (you only live once to be honest ) what other options are there? [/quote] Bank loan?

And the lefty is back as well. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ibanez-Left-handed-Bass-R-er-copy-pre-lawsuit-/320842375067 I don't think he realises that John Hall will have him on his favourite sellers list by now.

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/270-rickenfakers/page__view__findpost__p__1524328 Send a message to the seller asking for his phone number before the auction is pulled.

[quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1328057549' post='1521313'] I reckon you mean 1/2 inch spacing? I've seen Rick thru-necks shifting but was unaware that the pup spacing had anything to do with it. [/quote] Yeah, that'd be the one! AFAIK the reason why the neck pickup was moved back in the first place was to strengthen that part of the neck, to prevent the neck bow forwards. Over the years they made other changes to the neck and truss rod aimed at keeping the neck true, culminating with the 4003. I've got a 68(ish) 4001S that's been strung with rotosounds for the last 28 years and it's never needed so much as a tweek, so obviously it's not something that affects all older Ricks.

Fuji Gen Gakki made these for Ibanez (and sold the identical instruments to other brands), and they have a good reputation as a manufacturer. There were several different versions of their Rick copies made over the years, and they came in both bolt on and through neck varieties. The 2388B/DX was the last version they produced and the closest to a real Rick in looks. A few things to beware of though: There's a vast number of Rickenfakers out there claiming to be Ibanez when A) they bear no resemblance to a Fuji Gen model, or B ) they don't bear an Ibanez logo which means it could have originally been sold under any number of different brand names. This may not be entirely unrelated to the fact that Ibanez copies tend to command a premium, despite the fact that the Fuji Gens sold under other brand names were in every other way identical. Through neck Rick copies may suffer from incurably high actions (or at least the actions need fairly drastic work to cure). Basses with the 1/4 inch gap between neck pickup and neck can suffer in exactly the same way as the originals could - the neck can delaminate. If you've got the chance go and play it. If you like it, buy it. If not, walk away.

Good to see that you've got it up and running, even if you couldn't fix the old speaker yourself. Good to know that Wembley Loudspeakers can realign magnets nowadays as well!

[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1327961659' post='1519695'] Weird BIN: £153? [/quote] I've seen this sort of pricing before. It's supposed to be some kind of psychological incentive to encourage people to buy, and always ends up with odd prices. I've no idea how it's supposed to work or how they arrive at the figures though.

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1327947795' post='1519289'] Good looking K bass, on the surface - bargain? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-guitar-Kay-Guitars-model-K-20B-any-time-mid-60s-through-70s-/190634577920?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2c62b4d000#ht_772wt_934"]http://www.ebay.co.u...00#ht_772wt_934[/url] [/quote] Love the following description from the auction... [quote][font="Arial"][size="4"]from the golden years of Japanese manufacture from their factory in Taiwan.[/size][/font][/quote] This one probably deserves to be in the Rickenfaker thread.

AFAIK the Ashdown runs at 8 ohms with the internal speaker, so adding an 8 ohm extension speak will drop the impedance to 4 ohms giving you the full output of 180W. If you've seen 300W quoted anywhere they're talking about peak wattage, which doesn't mean much outside of a marketing department. Whether it's worth it or not depends on how much extra volume you need (or would like ). Personally I think I'd upgrade the combo, which would give you much more flexibility if you start playing bigger venues/venues without PA support.

He must have changed his mind on the price. [quote][b]The seller has revised the following item information:[/b] 19:47:15 GMT Buy it now price Description Postage Terms[/quote]

[quote name='obbm' timestamp='1327766700' post='1516512'] From what I can remember from the block diagram the switch is near the front end of the power amp in a limiter stage so it could possibly be that the amp is actually designed to give full output into 8-ohms and they limit down for 4-ohms. I'll see if I can find my diagram. [/quote] So they're limiting the current [i]into[/i] the power stage? Interesting approach.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1327762918' post='1516419'] In a situation like that, I think I`d make sure that, even with no power, we at least played another 4 or 5 songs, with just the drums and the rest of the band singing (hollering). Kindof a "you booked us, you want us off stage, have the b*lls to try and do it physically" thing. [/quote] Did that once, not far from the OP's home town funnily enough. It became apparent that though the promoter didn't have the b*lls,.the management seemed to be seriously considering it! Oh to be young and stupid again... [size=1]I do ok on the stupidity levels, it's just the young bit I struggle with![/size]

[quote name='JPJ' timestamp='1327753118' post='1516213'] Agreed! And at the price point of the Terror Bass it's obviously not an expensive thing to do! The cynic in me thinks its perhaps that other manufacturers are more interested in selling you multiple cabinets to get full power output from their amps? [/quote] How do Orange achieve this? The price and weight probaly rules out a transformer so maybe an inductive load (I'm guessing that a purely resistive load would generate too much heat)? Any other ways of doing it?

I was just about to post that they'd bid up another Gt 6b to a silly price. My guess is that the person responsible has got one to sell as well. Tw@t.

[quote name='JakeBrownBass' timestamp='1327664498' post='1514931'] Struggling to see why you need to be able to play and instrument let alone to a grade 8 standard for a Engineering course. Some of the best engineers i've worked with don't play a note, they're passionate about sound & how to make it sound great, not how to play the stuff. [/quote] Because it's not just a strictly sound engineering course. No doubt they've got their own ideas about the importance of combining these skills, but it seems to be working for them. It's been the daddy of engineering courses at least since the seventies when I first heard about it.

I've played two Cort Squiers (both teles, not basses) and they were chalk and cheese. The first one was very nice and encouraged me to go looking for one of my own. It wasn't the same at all and I passed up on buying it. If that's any indication then yes, they do vary enormously. Also look out for plywood bodies. Nothing wrong with plywood per se, but they do tend to weigh a bit more and may affect the resale value.

Yeah, they're Russian made (zoom in on the photo). Interestingly the New Sensor site lists them as $30 each and only available to the US - this guy's selling them for $39 for two including shipping. I'm really not sure what to make of that.

Definitely not an early eighties Fender - the routs are completely different. No idea what it actually is though.

[quote name='mart' timestamp='1327333018' post='1509457'] Ahem. I agree with your comment, but when it appears next to your current profile pic, well, I find it pretty ironic. [/quote] Good point!

Invariably tab isn't good for learning something note perfect. I've yet to come across one that doesn't have errors in it, even when the person tabbing it out insists it's 100% correct, been playing it 5 nights a week for 10 years, etc. Assuming you're using a PC, try Best Practice software. If you're on a Mac the Amazing Slow Downer is better but not freeware unfortunately. They'll both slow down the song and allow you to loop sections, which makes working out a song a much easier.

Met up with Andy today to pick up his Compact. I can only echo what everyone else here has said - Andy's a great chap and he looks after his gear.

[quote name='simwells' timestamp='1327136605' post='1506754'] [url="http://www.regretsy.com/2012/01/03/from-the-mailbag-27/"]http://www.regretsy....the-mailbag-27/[/url] [/quote] Whoa - that's seriously f*cked up! It would be galling enough just to lose $2500 like that, but to destroy such an old instrument is beyond the pale!