tvickey

A7B35AB5-D5FF-4642-9BB8-373843478545.he I don't know what's going on with the photos...

NBD! Just arrived yesterday... there appears to have been a large wave of new Rickenbackers in Matte Black finish that hit the UK recently... This is the first Ric that I've ever owned. A few observations: The fretboard is Caribbean Rosewood, and seems to have a light matte finish(?). The knobs are more 'vintage' style, at least on this 2023 one. The new-style bridge looks great to me, and really fit for purpose. The stock strap-locks are apparently made by Schaller for Ric, so my locking straps snapped right in! It's not very heavy, and to me the neck seems quite thin and slim. The store that I bought it from didn't bother with any kind of setup at all... there is no intonation set, and there is quite a lot of fret buzz at the moment (I'll fix that myself...). The case contained very minimal stuff... a single dual-purpose certificate / warranty paper, together with a plastic bag containing a polishing cloth and some keys (assorted hex + case). No manual! Stickers were removed on the first day. 2BA68974-2101-49B5-B9D2-4B75797BC66D.heic A7B35AB5-D5FF-4642-9BB8-373843478545.heic 25D8F5CE-8623-4944-9A8D-C64B47C838FA.heic 5720CF65-8D1B-447F-920E-EF43D894222F.heic FEAADC73-0D29-4427-B1E6-09BB6AC98887.heic 12E73001-E99E-4C3D-B97F-593F0C7253EA.heic 09D8A5C6-C39E-4E93-A99D-841DF4F45D77.heic 3B6918C4-943B-47CC-AB79-6BD45B7BD41A.heic DA961C3F-2C66-4B6B-A506-2AAA1B481A8D.heic B8748E01-C9AF-4395-B266-944EAFF4DF84.heic

My band 'Shreds.' play Gnarfest in Nottingham tomorrow! In case anyone is interested, here are the set times and a link for tickets! https://www.gigantic.com/gnarfest-23-tickets/nottingham-billy-bootlegger-s/2023-09-23-01-30

This just arrived form Pau, France 🇫🇷 today. 2016 NT5 complete with fretboard protector. 😂 I'm charging it up now... then will give it a go and afterwards change the strings. Previous owner says it has a 135 low-B... that seems like a piece of rope to me!

That's really beautiful. Impressive patterns on the bubinga! With the ovangkol neck wood and the plastic preamp cover, it makes me think the year might be ~2007-ish?

Yes, at a quick glance the fretboard protector makes it look fretless! When I showed for a band audition a few years back, I started unpacking stuff and one of the band members said, "Ohh... you play fretless!" [Me: "Ummm... sorry, no."]

That was very nice of them. Andertons and Bass Direct are both outstanding.

They come by default with Masterbuilt basses. For GPS basses, the first one that I purchased from a particular dealer happened to come with one (thereby raising my expectations!). I ordered a second GPS bass from Warwick via that same dealer, and when it arrived without the fretboard protector I became a bit grumpy(!). The dealer then threw one in for 'free' post-delivery, but did explain to me that they only come by default with the Masterbuilt series. A few used Warwicks (GPS, ChromeTone,...) that I've purchased over the years did not have the protectors, so I ordered some directly from Warwick here: https://shop.warwick.de/en/parts-for-instruments/warwick-spare-parts/tools-care/21203/rockcare-fret-protectors-warwick I think Thomann also sells them...

No, this will be my third Masterbuilt... I still have the NT4 that I got from you. I posted a photo on this thread some months back... it's a studio queen now, and I changed it from BEAD to EADG. So, this NT5 will give me a low-B on a Thumb once again... and I probably won't gig it either due to the weight but let's see.

I'd been looking for the right Thumb NT5 for a while now, and then I found this... 2016 Masterbuilt with bubinga, wenge and ebony. It's supposed to arrive on Wednesday coming from Pau, France.

Ummmm.... no.

Just came across this news article this morning. Apparently a Gibson Garage is coming to London! https://www.guitarworld.com/news/gibson-garage-london

Our show at Mama Liz's in Stamford went really well (nice venue and really great organizers). Someone in the crowd even posted a video of us on YouTube:

I risk losing my Warwick sponsorship, but oh well... just don't tell Hans-Peter that I touched a Fender.

'The Bubinga Bit*h' on the left, 'Stealth' on the right.

My band 'Shreds.' had our show at The Fulford Arms on Sunday of last week (sorry, I've been busy and didn't manage to post this until now!). My family also came to York and listened to the show, but before the soundcheck we went around the city and made a short family trip out of it. The venue in York was really great, one of the best we've played so far. Ample parking right out back, great 'backstage' rooms upstairs for the bands complete with a stocked fridge and we were told to help ourselves. The sound guy was super easygoing and helpful. We record all of our shows live and sometimes this can cause complications (some sound guys consider this a very unwelcome intrusion/disruption and huff and puff about it). I bring some mics, my laptop running Reaper, and a 4U rack with 24 digital preamp channels and a transformer-isolated XLR splitter. We record guitar and bass using DI only, and then I re-amp and mix everything when I get back home. The Fulford Arms sound guy helped patch things into my splitter and didn't complain about it. This was only our 6th show,. but probably the best performance yet. The last few shows we've been saying the same thing... "best show yet!". As a band, we learn so much by listening to our show recordings... I give the drummer isolated tracks and he studies them. Sometimes ad-lib comments or lyrics by our vocalist sound great, and we can deliberately insert them into the next show. As a bassist, I hear every mistake and try to fix it the next time around.

We're playing at The Fulford Arms in York on Sunday. Come check us out! We're 'Shreds.' York - May 28th - The Fulford Arms: https://www.facebook.com/events/490763603183758