prowla

Well, I'm not going to make it today, as my son is home from uni and I was working all week. I'll have a think about tomorrow, but I've got a load of stuff to do too, so will see if I've got time (travel is 2+ hours each way to go 40 miles and the event closes at 4).

It's been up for years.

Hmmm, I recall one of these being up fairly recently and someone saying the bridge might be worth having. I'm thinking not at that price, though. For me the whole thing is daft - the purpose of a headless is to save space, so just plonking a set of tuners at the other end of the instruments doesn't really cut it.

I'm thinking there's a reason for them being rare... (...ie. they didn't sell many!)

FYI, a U is a unit of height in an 19" rack and is standard across computing, network, AV, and musical kit.

Looks like a Chowny/Retrovibe - a fairly budget Ric "Geddy tribute" (as David Konig called it).

I still call the Post Office the GPO and my gas supplier The Gas Board!

I guess there are different types of folks. If I see an item with ono, make an offer, etc. Then it says to me the seller is prepared to accept less than the asking price; if they are just trying to manipulate me then I get offended.

Hmm - I think if there's a best offer and it's refused then they're saying "no".

I sent them a message saying that they had the offer option there, so I made an offer... They got back to me and said it was so they can do a discount on a multi-buy. I guess that's simpler than just putting up multi-buy prices, like some other sellers do. (And the one I bid on was their last anyway.)

Ah well, I bought one from another seller at the original’s BIN price.

I think people would tend to be disinclined to describe Al C as normal...

The price was BIN.

Ah - that could be annoying...

There's a rack unit on ebay, priced at £42.99, with a "Make Offer" button. So I clicked the button and offered £40. The seller declined the offer. Huh - why put an "Offer" option there if you're not going to budge on price?

Seems perfectly reasonable to me.... ...(implied "not").

Also in their musical instruments section is this lovely piece of kit... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heart-Pearl-Pendant-With-Fine-Chain-9-Carat-Yellow-Gold-2-2-Grams-16/143372691543?hash=item2161ada857:g:13IAAOSwjxddJfFy

You can bid with confidence on this item knowing that it is as described and the photos are of the actual item.

As for the Kay, it is the bottom of the pike as far as Ric copies go. Hierarchy: Real Ric. Custom-made (by a genuine luthier). John Birch. Japanese vintage thru-neck 33.5" scale (Greco, Shaftesbury). Japanese vintage bolt-on neck 34" scale (various Matsumoku). Eko vintage (some brands had Italian-made models). Hondo II (plywood body). Rockinbetter (the template of the Chickenbackers). The current Chickenbackers (AliExpress, etc.). A couple of copies which tried to get around trademark by using a different headstock. Kay. I would have one for the curiosity value.

My first Ric was an S model, so no issues there. My others have binding and it's just a matter of getting used to it. It's the same with any guitar with binding, including acoustics. I was chatting with someone who had cut their fingers on the treble pickup surround. Two of mine have 3rd-party blanking plates fitted.

Fenders are so easy to fake, from the Limelights, through the Chinese counterfeits, to bedroom bodgers with a Squier and a transfer decal.

My blue '78. Incidentally, the Ric bass is the finest design ever, IMHO; up there with the classics like the Coke bottle, the Barcelona chair, the Spitfire, the red phone box, the London tube map, the red bus, the BIC biro.

Last time he walked past my Rics, he didn't stop! (But I'll take a couple to this year's Bass Bash too, just in case...)

I have a Roland PK-5A and a Keith McMillen 12-step; the PK-5A is a simple workhorse and the 12-step needs programming, but can trigger multiple events per keypress. They run to a Minitaur (which is a bit of a one-trick pony) and a Roland JV-1010, which has loads of built-in sounds and can take a plugin card (eg. Vintage Synth or Orchestral). Either of those pedal units plus a JV-1010 is well within budget.