Happy Jack

1974 Ibanez Rickenfaker through a beat-up 80's Peavey combo. And FX. Lots of FX.

I loved my 610 and I wish (1) that I still had it, and (2) that I played the sort of gigs where I needed it. Sadly, without (2) it was always inevitable that (1) would happen. Thing is, the cab is so capable and so loud that it's overkill for the sort of pub/club gigs that I play. I downsized to a 410 but that was OTT as well, and then my bands went the PA support route so I no longer own anything biller than an ElBee 1210. The Barefaced 610 is very portable and easy to move around, and it's about as plug'n'play as they come. The use of the guitar-type speaker for the top-right 10" driver really works well for on-stage monitoring too.

Do people still do this? Announce that this will be their "FINAL TOUR"? Surely this must now be the most discredited marketing ploy in music for grown-ups?

Exactly this. If you're meeting three or four musos for the first time, and under less-than-ideal circumstances, then it could easily be a train wreck. But you could walk away from the wreckage with at least one new contact you'd be happy to play with again in the future. Good luck.

I think it's quite unfair, the way you're all jumping to conclusions like this. Just because there was a single matte-black 4003s5 for sale in the UK for less than £2k before someone pointed it out to me, and now it's gone, there's no reason, absolutely no reason at all, to assume blithely that I bought it. No reason. Ahem. No reason at all.

That was a struggle! If you hadn't specifically told me that it was there, I'd never have found it. Whoever designed that website should be strung up by the microchips. The shape of the pickups has nothing to do with the old shark-tooth inlays, apparently. It's to do with improving the response on the lower strings, or so I was told when I asked them about it. Thanks for the heads-up, Woody. I may now need to have a chat with young Silvie ...

Looking good, and I'm not gigging that night ...

PillaGlo?

Where & when can we see/hear this beast in action?

You'll never get it done in 10 minutes. Takes longer than that to find all the edge pieces ...

Is the BRG like the BFG, only rougher?

Yup, the second guy was awesome ... amazing masterclass in standing very still while staring at a tablet on a music stand and playing lots of (rather pointless) notes very quickly. Unfortunately, when I woke up he'd finished.

No, I wouldn't need to buy an afro wig.

Mind you, I just LOVE it when shops put up silly signs saying "Ask us for our best price" or similar. The wind-up opportunities are just irresistible.

On principle, I refuse to shop anywhere that won't put a price on every (and I mean every) item for sale. It's an inexcusable practice which achieves nothing except to drive away customers. Luckily enough, the vast majority of shops DO put the price on display so it's not as if I've denied myself much.

The price has dropped from the silly numbers that were floating about when I wrote that review. They peaked at about £3400 in late 2018, spent most of last year at around £2600, and are now available (in the UK and Germany) for less than £2200. Google is your friend. FWIW, if the price (new) drops below £2000 it is entirely possible that I'll buy one. I was, and remain, very impressed by that bass.

So far this year I have bought new DB strings cable management tools a clip-on tablet/smartphone holder presents for my bandmates Does this mean that I am finally a mature musician? I'd still love a Rickenbacker 4003s5 mind ...

Nope. You run the usual vox/instrument inputs to the desk, and then take an XLR for L/R Main Output, one to each sub-woofer. They do the crossover bit internally and divert what needs to be diverted to their respective tops.

In a desperate attempt to actually answer the OP's question, we moved from a pair of RCFs to a MarkAudio column-based system about 18 months ago. This was then a 4-piece covers band doing 50s-80s music, and we were really keen to start routing the entire band through the PA to keep on-stage volumes acceptable. At the time, the range of column systems out there was really pretty limited. We felt that the MarkAudio came closest to what we wanted. Judging by what we saw at NAMM last week the market has since expanded dramatically and the choice is way wider. Will these systems do what a pair of Mackies or RCFs will do? Yup, absolutely, plus they bring other advantages. 1. On narrow stages or platforms a pair of RCFs at head height will block out a surprising amount of the view of the band. Column systems make the stage area feel wide open and spacious. 2. Mackies and RCFs have the amp inside the cab (well ... duh!) which means that at each gig a pair of 50lb units has to be lifted to head height and placed on a pole. Column-based systems have almost all the weight concentrated in the sub-woofer sitting on the floor. Not only is this good for your back, but it means that the entire unit is far more stable and punter-proof. 3. At many pub gigs the splayed tripod feet of the PA poles are a significant trip hazard, especially as the punters get drunker. A bloody great 2x10 sub-woofer is much less likely to trip up a dancer. On t'other hand, it's really very difficult to put your pint of lager on a PA tripod ... 4. If called upon to play a much larger gig than usual, or maybe an outdoor gig, and assuming that you kept your old pole-mounted PA, it's very easy to combine the two different types of system since they occupy very different spaces physically.

Reckon there may be a smiley missing from this post ...

I get about a bit ...

I've never bought a new Fender online ... so I'm Alright Jack.

http://w.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Home.html

https://www.musicradar.com/news/fender-fined-pound45-million-for-preventing-guitar-price-discounts-online

I'm going to go with 'that's a typo' ...