chriswareham

[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1394005701' post='2386714'] Good stuff Chris, can it have a marketplace or will that run into problems? [/quote] My understanding is that it would be legal for sales by private sellers in the UK at least, but it's not something that I'm interested in hosting. As icastle points out, it would mean that the site couldn't be linked from Basschat which defeats part of the purpose of it since people often post on here with queries regarding Rickenfaker identification.

[quote name='tommorichards' timestamp='1393979513' post='2386666'] And a vid of sounds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu92Qp1oKUA" [/quote] I've added a page for your Gherson - many thanks for the pictures. I've added a credit with your name to the bottom of the page, and the "alt" attributes on the images mark the pictures as copyright to you. Do you know what the model number or name of the bass is?

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1393977729' post='2386645'] Hi Chris, just checked out the site and it's a good start. I'll get some pics & info together of my 3 (Kasuga bolt-neck, Matsumoku-made through-neck/dual truss, & unknown (possibly originally a Shaftesbury) through-neck. I've also got numerous 70s catalogues which feature pics & model numbers (including the Hondo) so if I can get my laptop to talk to my ancient scanner, I can get these to you as well. BTW the Hondo's Korean, not Japanese. Jon. [/quote] Oops - I'll correct the Hondo page straight away!

[quote name='tommorichards' timestamp='1393976501' post='2386633'] Ive advertised that you're after info over at the rickenfakers facebook page! [/quote] Cool! If memory serves I think you're the guy with a Gherson - would you be up for sending me some pics and technical details of it if you still have it? From what I've read the Ghersons were Italian made and one of the best.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1393975738' post='2386627'] Nice one! Thanks for doing this. I can send you the measurements for the Rockinbetter if you don't have those. [/quote] Yes please! That's the only one that's up there at the moment that I no longer own. Mine was the later model one which I found to be very well made, although the pickups weren't very aesthetically pleasing to look at. I considered putting pickups from [url="http://classicamplification.net/Pickups/Rick_pickup.htm"]Classic Amplification[/url] into it, but then sold it when I got the Hondo.

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1393973863' post='2386584'] Burn the Kay with fire! [/quote] I have soft spot for the Kay - crudest construction I've ever seen but it sounds fantastic! I own another one in blue, but it was just a parts donor since the scratch plate was so badly cut that it pressed up against the pickup surrounds and broke them. I harvested the bridge and ashtray cover from it since the previous owner of the "tobacco burst" one had stuck on a Fender Jazz bridge with string spacing that was too wide.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1393973555' post='2386579'] Nice one - images are missing for the Jolana by the way! [/quote] Yup, they should be up tomorrow. The only ones I have at the moment are from when I first acquired it, complete with truss rod cover that looked as though it had been fashioned from a plastic lid using a pair of scissors!

Hi folks, I've just put up the basics for site devoted to Rickenfakers: http://www.rickenfaker.info/ I'm hoping it can become a useful repository for descriptions, technical specs and pictures of bass guitars that are influenced by the design of the Rickenbacker 4000 series. So far I've added incomplete pages for the Rickenfakers I have owned, and I would love it if the owners of other models felt like submitting informations on those that they own or any further information on the models already up there. I'm particularly interested in scans of original promotional material such as magazine adverts or catalogues as I guess these are the "primary source material" for reliable information. Note to the moderators - I pledge not to my site for anything commercial (for example, trading Rickenfakers) and I wont be adding any advertising to it. However, if you feel this post is inappropriate for Basschat then please remove it. Cheers, Chris

I love the distorted bass sound on this track from a few years back: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZMUlZQoZw0[/media]

My Rickenfaker lust is now completely sated, as I've taken delivery of one that ticks all the boxes in terms of aesthetics. It's a black Greco with checked binding, but it doesn't have as nice a neck as my Jolana D Bass:

Burman amps are pretty legendary, and this one seems to be up for a Buy it Now at a fair price: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ultra-RARE-Vintage-BURMAN-Pro-4000-Tube-Bass-Amp-head-/121287599595 The seller looks like he's having a big clear out to pay for a divorce settlement (ouch). Amongst his other items is a wonderful Ovation Magnum bass that I'm hoping someone on here will buy to remove the temptation ...

There's some serious signs of aging to the body and it looks like it's been refinished in a horrible bronze colour.

eBay has pretty much killed the Cash Converters bargain. The only exception I've had recently was a Logan String Melody II, an almost forty year old string synthesiser, that must have been obscure enough that they didn't know what it was. The guy in the shop thought it was some sort of electronic organ, and I got it for £75. Stick it through a phaser pedal and it sounds awesome. And on the subject of the HM2 pedal, a 12 string electric guitar sounds great through one of those. A more typical distortion pedal just turns a 12 string into a wall of toneless noise, but the HM2 kind of makes it "sizzle".

Simon Gallup's one of my main influences, along with Peter Hook, Stuart Morrow and JJ Burnel. I even played in a Cure tribute band a couple of years ago, and if anyone's interested the bass tabs I did can be found here: http://www.chriswareham.demon.co.uk/curetabs/index.html Favourite album is Faith, closely followed by Disintegration.

Whenever I've stored amp and cabs at rehearsal studios I have always removed the fuse from the amp. Even when we had a dedicated cage to ourselves I suspected someone else had access, since things would move about. In that instance I replaced the studio's padlock with my own.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1392932833' post='2374521'] I found the same with the Kubicki Ex Factor. And that was definitely not a vintage bass. [/quote] Not sure whether the Jolana qualifies as a vintage bass, since it's probably late 1980's. Plenty of dents and chips on it, so using earhook's car analogy it's a bit of an old banger that's surprisingly good to drive.

Brilliant song, and amazing bass line. I think it's played by former Cure bassist Michael Dempsey: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZSMDaewz2A"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZSMDaewz2A[/url] Nice semi-acoustic bass as well.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1392886143' post='2373737'] The fingerboard radius seemed more extreme than on later basses... I've often wondered what 'plays like butter' means and now I know. [/quote] Had this experience with my Jolana D Bass. It has quite a curve to the cross section of the fretboard when compared to my Stingray, and it seems to make it much easier to play.

More weirdness from behind the Iron Curtain. An odd looking violin bass: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VERY-RARE-VINTAGE-SOVIET-Bass-KRUNK-75-Yerevan-factory-/281185167559 Love the descriptions on some of these auctions, presumably run through something like Google translate.

Was there any inappropriate fingering going on?

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1392635109' post='2370788'] The Russian bass is a fantastic looking thing. If it was a sensible price (under £100 delivered) I'd consider buying it to use as a template to have a decent one made (with 5-strings!) [/quote] If you do a "worldwide" search then these weird Soviet things come up quite often and usually for very low prices. I've bought various music related bits and pieces from Russia (as well as Ukraine), and never had any problems - posting *to* Russia is more risky, as the customs officials that have a reputation for stealing stuff on its way into the country.

I had a Brandoni assembled Vox Phantom guitar, and it was a great instrument. I don't recall it suffering from neck dive, although I do tend to wear a strap even when playing seated, and the "wedge" on the bottom of the body rested between my thighs so it's not an awkward shape either. Perhaps the earlier models were made from different materials to the Eko made ones, which could account for the differing opinions of the Phantom with respect to neck dive.

Nope, not a frothing at the mouth Daily Mail rant about imaginary hordes of immigrants, but a link to a nice looking Eastern European P-Bass: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/80s-unique-Vintage-RARE-ORFEUS-ORPHEUS-PB-Soviet-USSR-Electric-Bass-Guitar-/171226580659"]http://www.ebay.co.u...r-/171226580659[/url] I love the look of the wood, but it seems very overpriced for a Communist era bass. Same seller also has this USSR made bass, which I wouldn't touch with a barge pole, but it certainly qualifies as weird: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-RAREST-Tonika-ural-First-Soviet-USSR-Russian-Electric-Bass-Axe-Guitar-/181307699334

On a Rickenfaker related note, my Jolana D-Bass got its first live outing last Sunday. I foolishly decided to change the strings on my Stingray earlier in the day, but thanks to a sharp edge that's developed on one of the tuners the top string snapped as I tried to bring it into tune. I retuned the Jolana to drop Bb and was relieved to find that it wasn't just playable, but actually felt even more comfortable than the Stingray! We videoed the gig, but sadly the best shot I can provide of the bass is this one: The Jolana did me proud though, really punchy sounding.

[quote name='Musky' timestamp='1392164663' post='2365639'] If that is a date in the dark stamp, it would translate into a Western calendar as 12th November 1979. [/quote] I'm intrigued by the year - I hadn't realised that the system of numbering years relative to the era had been retained after the Second World War.