ossyrocks

I used my '73 P bass last night, which has black side dots. I've never had problems with that bass before, but last night under the lights at the venue, whenever I stepped up to my mic I couldn't see ANYTHING down the side of the board. My note choice was rather fruity as a result ! I may have to stick some white dots on that one now. Edit: Just ordered some of these, thanks for the heads up. I'll let you know how they compare with the more expensive imported Rosette dots. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285966903916 Rob

The venue manager loved it, and has promised us some more dates, so we will be back. I think we'll be doing a Friday or Saturday next time though, so there will be a cover charge I think. Rob

Ok, thanks for all the input chaps. Post match analysis 🤣 Lovely venue. I've been before before, but it must be at least 20 years ago, and it's the first time I've actually played it. Showtime is 8pm, but the engineer only gets started at 7pm, so it seemed very last minute, and sound/line check was completed 5 minutes before showtime. The engineer opted for my Orchid Classic DI which he phantom powered from the desk, he said it was better than theirs, so I got to use my old trusty GK 400RB. Everything was mic'ed or DI'd and stage was indeed was a comfortable but enjoyable level onstage. We're all gentlemen of a certain age (60's) and we're just not down with the IEMs I'm afraid, give me an amp and an old school wedge monitor anytime. FOH did do quite a bit of the lifting I think, the room is much longer than I remember. Surprisingly for a Thursday night in January every table except 5 at the back were reserved, so we had a really healthy crowd who were very generous in their appreciation. This is quite a new band (less than a year since we started) and we made countless mistakes and cock-ups, but it's experience and we'll fix them as we go on. Thanks chaps. Rob

1st version, still going strong! I think it's late 80's.

I'm going to bite the bullet and get my '73 Jazz refretted. This used to belong to Nick @Old Horse Murphy RIP, and after I bought we discussed how he'd also thought many times about having it refretted too. I have talked to Dave Shuker who could do it, given a window of opportunity, but he's about a 5 hour round trip away. So, I'm looking for recommendations in the North West for someone who you would trust to do a great refret on a '73 Jazz with binding etc. Fire away, Cheers, Rob

Ok, this is from the service manual. Not sure what this means.

I usually carry an Elf in the gig bag as backup. In case of the second scenario I could use that, it does actually sound great.

The opportunity is there the take the stems from the recording yes. We may or may not do that. We've been in the studio twice recently recording tracks properly, and they are forming the basis of our recorded output. Any video we get out of this will just serve as "live video" for promo purposes. We're taking away whatever video/mix they put out on the internet though I wish I could tell you more, but I don't have specific links. The best I can do is point you here: https://www.facebook.com/MattAndPhreds I believe the first set will be livestreamed from 8pm, after that I think it's just being recorded..

I have a gig tomorrow evening where everything is being mic'ed or DI'd. FOH engineer, monitors, and full camera setup with sound fed from the desk mix. I really want to use my vintage GK 400RB MKI on this gig, but the amp DI is untested and it's also on a 1/4" jack, and I'm not sure it's going to be ideal. I think 1988 was a little before amps really started to take DI Outs seriously. My options are: 1. Use the 400RB, but use my Orchid DI Box in front of it and run a signal to FOH from that and to my amp for onstage monitoring. 2. Run my Ashdown RM800 and send a DI to FOH from that. FOH, won't be the main reinforcement I don't think, the venue is not huge, so backline is mainly what the audience are going to get. The mics and DI's will be used for some reinforcement, but apart from vocals, are mainly for the cameras, filming and live stream which will be going out on the internet as we play. What difference will FOH see in each of the two scenarios above? Apologies for what may seem to be a basic question here, but it's something I'm really not familiar with. Thanks, Rob

These are the Rosette white dots on my '70 Precision. Rob

@briansbrew commented on how vibrant the red remains, and yes it is, much more so than my 70's sunbursts. Look at the pic with the guard off, showing the underside of the guard, and the body where the guard has been for more than 60 years. There is absolutely no difference in shade, fade, or colour between the area under the guard and the rest of the body. I have never seen this. Also, the same photo, notice how "orangepeely" the finish is, which I have also never seen on a 60's Fender. I'm not saying the finish isn't original, I'm just saying I would want multiple authentications on that from people who know more than I. Rob

I currently have them on one bass. I first used them on an AVRI Precision because the dots were so indistinct. I now have them on a ‘70 Precision as the small white dots don’t stand out like the black dots of later years. I use these https://www.rosetteguitarproducts.com/new-page-2 and they made a huge difference on dark stages. Rob

Hmm, I bought a '73 Fender Bassman 50 for what I thought was a cheap price, with the full knowledge that it had been badly modded and worked on over the years. I took it to Martin Garton (Gartone Amps), who is one of the best in the business, and makes superb amplifiers. I asked him to service it, "un-mod it" and then rework it to be more suitable for bass. After much investigation and head scratching, Martin told me that it would be better to blast off and nuke it from space, just to be sure. So I said yes. He gutted the amp entirely and rebuilt it from scratch, with new everything except cab, chassis and a couple of transformers (one was replaced). In the end, the rebuild cost more than I paid for the amp! But it is very nice. Rob

I've had reasonable results with this stuff. I built a partscaster Tele a while back with a paleish rosewood board, it darkened up nicely and looked quite rich in the end. I've also used it on Les Pauls to give that deep rich Brazilian look. I tend to warm up the surface of the wax with a hairdryer and then rub it in generously like shoe polish. Leave for a few minutes and then buff it out. Two or three repeats should make a noticeable difference. https://www.montysguitars.com/products/montys-montypresso-relic-wax Rob

Holy thread resurrection Batman! Just want to say that Ian @ikay generously fixed me up with some longer bridge intonation screws this week that I wanted to try in a '73 Jazz. He posted them to me free of charge and they worked a treat. They look very very close to the originals too in terms of the shape and diameter of the pan head etc. So then looking at another '73 Jazz I have, I thought that might benefit too from longer screws. In the end I've bought a stash of them too, all 1 3/4". The original '70-'73 longer screws were 1 7/8", so they're not quite there, but they are good for those early 70's basses (mostly jazzes) which could use a longer screw on a couple of the other strings. Ian and I have discussed why this occurred, and it seems that in changing the position of the bridge pickup on jazzes in the early 70's, they also moved the bridge back a tad, which accounts for why both my '73's are intonated with the saddles right at the limit at the front of the bridge. I also think string choice is playing a part for me here too. I don't recall having to adjust the saddles so far forward until I started using LaBella flats. Anyway, I now have a stash of these 1 3/4" screws too, which fit perfectly and look the business, so if anyone is in need of any, you can also now get in touch with me and I too am able to send you what you need. Cheers, Rob

Late 80’s/early 90’s Made in Japan Fenders can be lovely. I had one for a while, it was super. The nut width was the same as my 70’s P’s, 41mm.

I think if GK reissued the 800RB or even the 400RB they would sell like hot cakes.

Blimey!

I rang Richtone today about the 700RB. It's up at £499 on their site. The chap was quite open about how they price things. Basically they mark up everything they buy in (or part ex in) at the same rate. What they pay should be two thirds of the selling price. So at £499 retail, it means they bought it in for about £330. He said there was no room for movement on the £499 price because of what they paid. Rob

Interestingly, and somewhat of a puzzle, Richtone also have a 700RB-II in stock and advertised. Whilst the 400RB-IV was keenly priced at £199, their 700RB-II is priced at £549, which I think is rather eye watering. Rob

I've been using one of these until recently for my 400RB-I https://www.thomann.co.uk/flyht_pro_rack_2u_eco_ii_compact_23 I wouldn't say it's the most robust rack case in the world but it was fine in the boot of my car. I've upgraded to SKB Rotos now, just because a couple came up cheap and I have more gigs now where the band travel together in a van. If you need rack ears, GK sold me a couple of pairs and shipped from the US direct at not unreasonable cost. Rob

....still wish I'd bought it...... Glad you've got it though. Does it have any rack ears? Rob

Thank f**k for that! You have saved me from myself. (I do have 3 RBs already, but I'm hopeless!) Let us know what it's like. I couldn't see any rack ears on it, but the pics weren't great. Jason at GK sent me some when I asked though.