prowla

That's one to take away...

I use aluminium food trays - they’re easy to cut to strips and double over to get the required thickness.

There's the s/n. The upper body edge. And again... It seems to give the impression of being a bit more substantial than a 4003, partly due to the quality and smoothness of that finish. Due to the "zero-mod" holes (you can just see one above the treble pickup), I've been thinking about having it refinished; I might do something subtle, like have a two tone metallic which goes from that blue to black.

Oh - that is it! 12 51021 11/10 for spotting that!!! I bought it just over a year ago (Oct 2018).

IMHO, the snake-oil deserves calling out.

It an easy word to chuck about. Hater, fanboy, bully.

Taking the p155 out of overpriced bodged toot is not bullying.

There’s a Tech21 pedal out now.

I do too.

Nice work!

Mine's got the couple of battle scars from the (not-so-)zero-mod.

Nope, that’s not mine. The seller did have another one going not long after mine. Out Wiltshire way, I recall.

I got it on ebay. It had a zero-mod fitted, if you recall from a couple of years back.

Did I mention I've got 7 Rics? Only 1 MM, though (a SUB)...

I think it was flipperant, as opposed to actually wishing him harm!

Music Man - an ugly, big heavy awkward lump, with a neck like a tree-trunk, a gonky looking round pickguard, and one tuner on the wrong side, just to make it difficult for you - pah!

Yep - RIC took all of the comments onboard and released the 4004, which addressed them. Guess what? Everybody still went and bought the 4003! The reason RIC still make the 4003 is because that's what people want to buy. Me, I like the way they play, the dual truss rods (which work as described), the bridge/tailpiece (I've tried the others and put back the stock one), the incremental design tweaks, the quality of the finish (I picked up a Ric pickguard on the weekend and could tell immediately it was an original). It's a 60 year-old design which is still the best on the market.

It's properly played in, with the obligatory headstock repair.

I’ve just been to the London guitar show at Kempton Park. I accidentally bought a Gibson Les Paul.

I think he's a few giraffes short of a full herd!

A lot of folks seem to be trying to shift Squier to a more upmarket price range...

Greco are the brand which gave rise to the "better than the original" mantra. I wouldn't pay that much for one, but I think some folks probably would.

First rule (which I never follow!) is: use the right sized screwdriver & spanner for the job! It is really difficult to mess up a bolt-on neck, TBH. There are also the general rules of how to do a setup (truss rod, neck angle, string height, intonation) - there are videos on youtube.

He's got to cover his overheads, mate...

There is a guitar maker who sometimes burns Ric copies...