Happy Jack

No.

On the other hand, there's always an antidote:

My first DB was a cheapo 3/4 from China which cost me £300 pre-owned. I played it for about three months, realised that I was hooked, and bought a very decent (roughly a grand) Zeller 3/4 from @Clarky The Chinese cheapo was, of course, nowhere near as nice as the Zeller, but it was perfectly playable and a cheap'n'easy introduction to DB. I can't remember how much I sold it for, but it's hard to imagine I took much of a hit. This was all 15 years ago and prices will have moved on, but I suspect the DB rental route will always work out way pricier than simply buying a cheap bass.

All those still posting about how stupid AI can be, you'd best hang on to your hats ...

So this just popped up on my Facebook. Thomann I know very well, I've kept their business afloat for years now. Unfortunately, Factory Outlet Shop I also know very well. Hmmmmm. Log in to my Thomann account. Am I bombarded with -80% stuff? Am I hell ... Don't know what's going here, but I'd recommend treading carefully.

Luckily enough I had more sense. Phew. Bullet dodged.

Seeking feedback regarding feedback is pleasantly circular ...

I guess it's what you're used to. The drummer in my 3-piece covers band likes to have it, but I insist he brings the gear himself and he sets it up. Similarly, the lead singer in my 5-piece soul band sometimes wants it (depends on the venue). Apart from that, never. It's not that I don't have decent floor monitors available (2 x QSC CP8, 1 x QSC CP10) but life's too short unless they're really necessary.

And yet ... and yet ... The inherent Devil's Advocate built into me is asking, "Do you really need monitoring?". Life is SO much simpler without, and for pubs'n'clubs I've never really seen the point.

... Sgt Basschat on this day in May. I remember it like it was 18 years ago.

Gig Ink came through with my new trc in ridiculously quick time - it's a perfect replacement for what would originally have been there and it looks great. So that's now two loud'n'proud Fakers refusing to pretend. The only other mods needed were to add straplocks to both basses, in the process moving the strap buttons to a more sensible location. And a gentle tweak to the bass-side bridge saddle was enough to get rid of the farting on the bridge pickup, too. Finished off with matching straps ...

This true.

Inevitably, there's more going on than the two 1970s Rickenfakers featured here. That would be too simple. Watch this space ...

Lovely basses, but stupidly heavy ...

Damn! Rumbled!

No, I plan on taking a full-length mirror on stage with me and then standing just off-stage. 😎

Shaftsbury 4003 TRC Master.pdf This just in from the very efficient https://www.originalscratchplates.com/product/ric-trc-bass/

Two years later ... This popped up halfway down another rabbit hole I was pursuing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gustafson_(musician) I had never heard that JG had played on most of Roxy Music's biggest hits (which I danced to in the discos at the time), so I came back to this topic from 2023. Three pages of posts before a single, glancing mention of JG playing on one song. Now I really am confused. Did JG play on the albums (and singles) listed in Wikipedia, or was that all John Wetton and others?

I've alway been fond of this photo - an antidote to the received wisom: Mind you, Paul could have sent the entire Internet into meltdown if he'd played that Jazz using a capo ...

This bass also came strung with rounds, but I didn't like them - especially with the bridge pickup. There are a couple of setup issues that need to be addressed, one of which is the bridge pickup height, particularly under the E string. There's also a fair amount of tail-lift in the bridge and I may consider putting on a Hipshot replacement unit. So I shoved a set of La Bella flats on there and the difference was instant - a vast improvement, and the greatest amount of mwah I've ever heard on a fretted bass. I played it at rehearsal with the Beatles band last night for well over three hours and heard nothing but compliments. I'm a very happy bunny.

So Pete is in Hobgoblin Music in Cambridge and has stumbled across an all-original Maya which - from a distance - is the spitting image of Macca's later bass. You couldn't make it up. And the shop want silly money for it. As in seriously silly money in the right way ... it's like stumbing back into the 1990s. What did I say? I said BUY! BUY!! BUY!!! Bridge pickup cover is still in place and doesn't bother me at all. I can play the bass perfectly happily with that in place. Someone has clearly tried to differentiate between the V/T for neck and bridge. Somewhere along the line, they've mixed up the knobs so that neck volume and tone are the wrong way round. There are no grub screws and the knobs don't just pull off so I'm not sure how to swop them around. Original trc is utterly horrible ... but it's authentic. This is a very nice piece of wood. No boxwood or ply was used here. And the tuners are quality items.

I was, and remain, happy with the price I paid for this bass. On playing it I found it perfectly set up and totally playable from the first note. It's strung with rounds, which aren't my favourite but match the rounds on my Rickenbacker 4003/s5 so hardly a problem. It doesn't sound "like a Rickenbacker" but if you analyse what that phrase means, it tends towards the very distinctive 'clank' associated with players like Chris Squire and - of course - that's not at all what McCartney has ever sounded like. The bass just sounds great. It's a really nice, highly playable, very comfortable bass which weighs a little more than 8lbs. At which point I received a WhatsApp from @pete.young Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. Oh dearie dearie me.

In truth, it didn't start with a Spanish name. I recently joined a band that does an awful lot of Beatles stuff. It's a weird thing, but I grew up listening almost exclusively to The Beatles (essentially until I was about 15, which was 1971), they are and will always be my favourite band and the most important band in my musical life, yet I've played a ridiculously small number of their songs in all the years I've been gigging. So this band could be very important to me. I already have a 1964 Hofner 500/1 Violin bass (yes yes, I know it should be a 1963, but have you seen the prices?) so what I needed was a Rick. Do I go for an early version of Macca's bass (1965 Fireglo) or a later version (natural refin)? That's what sparked the 'Wanted' post for a decent Rickenfaker, and that produced a very nice bass from @Thor which - from a distance - is the spitting image of Macca's early bass. The hand-drawn trc in sharpie is a thing of wonder, the rather more professional fake jobbie has to go and will be replaced by a Shaftesbury trc. Bridge pickup cover has been replaced by the perspex bevel preferred by most Rick players. Reasonable amount of wear to the body, and it's the real thing rather than a pathetic 'relic' job. Tuners are much cleaner than you'd expect - usually these are covered with rust spots. Only major flaw is the nasty crack where the wing is glued to the neck-through. It's been stable the whole time that @Thor has owned it, and it doesn't worry me. Even if it gets worse it's an easy fix for any competent luthier.