prowla

You can sometimes test it by bending a string so that it moves away from over the poles.

I agree and hope my comment wasn't taken as endorsing the "get a grip" sideswipe.

In fairness, the thread title is: "Disappointing new bass day...I would appreciate some opinions.". So, opinions you got! 🙂

I have Rics and Warwicks and would say that they are markedly different.

Ironically, they did produce a bass which fixed everything everybody complained about on the 4001/4003. It was the 4004. People kept on buying the 4003. They discontinued the 4004.

Driven to the margin of error...

Yep - you've go to put the hours in! I think BBC's "The Repair Shop" do a lot of that sort of thing.

Some of the work they do on the TV antiques restoration shows can leave the repairs invisible.

Yep - radio first. All the diodes down my left side are aching.

I have to say I think Rush are in it for the money. I was looking at buying their Steven Wilson HD remixes, but (apart from one album) they’re only available in £300 box sets. As for Ticketmaster, they’re just a bunch of shysters.

Ah well - sorry to hear about the disappointment (it is pretty shabby), but not sharing the name neither (a) helps the community nor (b) puts pressure on them to sort it out.

I had one of those on a bass and the threads gave up. The adjusters are stock bolts with a knurled knob fitted on the end (which the hex nut grub screw holds in place), but the bolts are way too hard for the soft metal claws. I bought a replacement unit, but it had faults too. I was able to cobble together one unit from the two. However, the end of the assembly has a step which grinds and snags against the adjuster knobs. I tried adding the washer/bearing spacers but then the claws were too short for the string ball ends to reach. So overall the Overlord unit is the worst piece of guitar kit I have ever bought.

Hehe - I might bring my Chapman Stick!

Looks like someone had a Tele and saw a pic of a Ric somebody'd drawn with a crayon. The headstock is probably the ugliest piece of guitar work I've ever seen.

That's better... Now we can see that the pickups are tonally in different positions. But to me the bridge looks stupid there. The illusion of the neck hanger makes the lower edge of the headstock look interesting though.

I think they're the same overall length; however: The short-scale has a smaller gap between frets and so more fit onto the fretboard. The bridge is moved up the body. The pickups look to be in the Fender Jazz positions. I think the apparent differences in the pictures must be photographic anomailes; I don't think (even) RIC would make a short scale bass with a longer neck! I hadn't noticed that they've angled the tuners (like Warwicks). But anyway, as a Ric fan, it's a hard no from me.

I absolutely agree with you (and your input is appreciated!).

Thanks very much, @Mike Brooks - I think it'd be great if you would come and share some of your experiences, knowledge, and anecdotes. We're now moving into the month leading up to the event and expect to cover off preparations over the next week or so. As per @NancyJohnson's update, we've got two rooms at the venue which facilitates having talks/presentations, which have always been enjoyable and enlightening in previous years.

So, this popped up on a YT page; I get it!

(I knew really!) 🙂 That was one of those albums I heard on the OGWT and went out and bought the next day.

He didn't say it wasn't a live one! 🙂

I think normal Ric machine heads are made by Schaller.

I have a Chinese headless doubleneck; both of its bridges were made of swiss cheese and failed. It's now got a Steinberger bass bridge and a guitar one made by a bloke in Ireland. It came with fake "EMG" pickups, which were also rubbish; the bass now has Retrovibe Ric-style ones (they were a straight swap, even the screw holes!) and I've some Seymour Duncan humbuckers waiting to make their way into the guitar half. The bass side plays and sounds really good, but guitar neck still needs some setup.

What's the worst thing about headless basses?

I just listened to Grace Under Pressure; it’s a great album.