Paul S

Sadly, these days anything heavier than 8.5lbs is too heavy. I aim for 8lbs. According to my luggage scales the Renegade currently weighs in at just under 7lbs, so plenty of wiggle room for the extra pickups/electrics/knobs et al. Question - how does the neck pickup fit?

Rickenbacker basses were an itch I increasingly wanted to scratch but an expensive commodity to just take a punt on. However a couple of years ago I chanced upon an early 70s MIJ Faker that was 'really' good and made me realise that I do, in fact, like them quite a lot. Trouble was, the Faker weighed just south of 11lbs - far to much for me to ever stand a chance of wearing for a whole gig so with heavy heart I moved it on to Nik @silverfoxnik who is now enjoying it's clankiness. So I tried a Ric-style bass and liked it. But even the lightest of proper Rics are still just too heavy for me. And, tbh, a bit on the dear side of what I want to pay. I did some research and it seems the Retrovibe Renegade bass is extremely lightweight and a decent enough modding platform to create a half-decent Faker. So I put out a plea on the Wanted ads to see if anyone had a spare. And Davie @kodiakblair came to the rescue! Plus he beat his parts draw and what fell out was a brace of decent Ric style pickups - a Retrovibe toaster and a Guyker RKH-IV N - and a chrome bezel for the bridge pickup. All of which are now residing here. The bass is currently sporting a single Musicman type pickup in the bridge position. There is routing in the body under the pickguard for the neck pickup and, unbelievably, the bezel for the bridge pickup is a straight drop in where the MM pup is. Need to decide which pickup is going where - looks at the moment like the toaster wil be at the neck as it has a threaded hole suitable for height adjustment but both will need some fettling. Think I'll opt for 4 Ric style control knobs plus the toggle switch and blank the existing pickguard holes. If it looks too much like a bodge I may splash out on a new one, but let's see how it turns out first. The bridge is great, I actually prefer it to the enormous clunky Ric one so it won't ever be a completely accurate copy. it has a maple neck with dot markers. Another decision is whether to cover these with the Ricky triangles - if so I will need to make my own out of vinyl so that they are big enough to cover the existing dots. I may get a sheet and see - possibly black, just to keep the striking colour scheme going, possibly some sort of mother of toilet seat if I can find such a thing. If not, no matter, a lot of Rics just had dots. I'll do some of it myself, hand over to my tech mate for the electrics and fettling that requires steadier hands than mine It's been a little while since I undertook a bit of a mod and I am really looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

I always fancied one but never got to try. There is a short scale one as well although I never got to the bottom of whether that was a P, a J/J one or both.

Yet another fabulous transaction with Davie. I put out a call for a Retrivibe Renegade in the hope of cobbling together a lightweight Faker. Not only did he answer my plea but also raided his spare parts draw and has pretty much set me up for the modding. And all at a price that was mind bogglingly cheap. Super friendly, helpful guy. So I would say if you are contemplating a deal with Davie BITE HIS ARM OFF. An absolute pleasure to do business with, one of Basschat's finest.

I had a succession of Barefaced cabs. Started with the first Compact shortly after they were first released then added a Midget. That was an amazing rig. Powerful, full range. Then swapped these for a Supercompact for a 'one cab solution'. Liked it so much I bought another one - yes, two one cab solutions just, you know, because. Then I got a One10 for small gigs/home practise. I liked the extra colour the cab gave so got a Two10. Amps were varied, depending upon circumstances. As a rule I gigged an old Trace Elliot 250 SMX, had a Mesa Boogie Prodigy Four:88 valve for a while but actually preferred the Trace Elliot. But also, variably, Orange Terror 500, Quilter Bass Block 800, TC Electronic RH750, Genz Benz Streamliner, Tecamp Puma. Plus a host of others. I came to the conclusion that the more coloured the amp the better it paired with the more hifi cabs. So my pick, for gigging, was the Supercompact (or both) with the Trace Elliot. Or, conversely, the more hifi Tecamp Puma with the slightly coloured sound from the One10 or Two10. Then I went down the FRFR route and left all that worry behind - which has proved to be an immensely liberating experience. It was fun, though, trying all those different combinations.

Sloppy technique from this old boy, too, fretting with his thumb. I can't see him ever making it, either.

Gosh. I had one of those, it was totally awesome. But not £1500 awesome.

FWIW I think black single ply would be totally spot on. I had a near cousin of one of these for a while, the G3. Lovely thing. That was of no relevence whatsoever but I thought I'd say it anyway

Two of my fave tracks. This one is a remix of Crash Course in Brain Surgery (which is just the greatest track title) with a different guitar to Tony Bourge. Not sure who, tbh, as there seemed a lot of changing around in later years. Love the simplicity of this riff. And good old Zoom Club.

RIP. Saw them a few times back in the day. The floor of the Kursaal in Southend was bouncing up and down to Zoom Club.

Fixed for you

I hadn't signed up so can't be out. Can I? Against the odds of anyone having one to move on, Davie @kodiakblair answered my wanted post for a Retrovibe Renegade, and so my lightweight Faker itch is going to get scratched very soon Should be a nice little project.

Ditto. I have them on all my basses, love the feel and tone. Well, all bar an EB-3 shortscale as the mudbucker I feel needs a little extra help up the top end.

My Squier JV Precision. Yum.

[pedant alert]. The joke might 'imply' all the Irish are a bit dim. You might infer it when you heard it. [/pedant alert]

You could always go the middle route and look at 80s MIJ Precisions. I've not handled a bad one.

No it isn't.

Fixed that for you Michaels. I suppose it is better than disagreeing with yourself.

I'll say 'I might have bought a new bass' and Mrs S will say 'That's nice' or 'Good' and carry on doing whatever she was doing. If I say 'I'll sell one of the others' she usually says 'Don't - you know you regret selling them'. I am a lucky chap. I won't say 'she's a keeper' because a/ we've already been together for 37 years and b/ the way threads seem to be going recently someone will no doubt feel offended by such misogyny

I think it is something do do those black SUVs the FBI use.

If you have hit 60 with just a few minor niggles to your back and shoulders then good luck to you. Not being able to lift 20kg cabs has in many cases absolutely nothing to do with 'hitting the gym'. Certainy in my case. For most of my adult life I used to go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week. In my late 40s I used to bench press 100 kg for reps and 200kgs squats for reps which didn't qualify me as superman but meant I was fairly strong. I am now 64, have been nursing a prolapsed disc for some years and, on some mornings, struggle to put my socks on. Rather than lift weights I do core exercise and yoga stretches every day. I also walk. I can and do lift the 22kg pa bins without a problem. Getting them into just the right position in the car is sometimes a struggle. As is getting them up and down stairs. Because, for me, a slight twist in the wrong direction whilst carrying them means I am on the bench for a fortnight. But like so many on here you seem keen to be scornful over things that are different to your own experience. Please consider that there other situations and viewpoints.

I started wearing hearing aids when I was just 50 and have had tinnitus for longer. I'm now 64. There aren't many positives to this but one of them is my most recent hearing aids are volume controllable via an app on my phone so I still get a nice balanced ambient sound but at the volume I choose.

I doubt it. I've also had wondeful customer service from them a few times. Most recently I bought a Supertone 2 point bridge (not 3 point) from Bass Direct and the anchor bolts supplied were the wrong type (they come in both metric and imperial, my bass had the opposite of what comes in the box) - a bit of back and forth with Oscar saw the right type posted over from the USA free of charge.

Did I mention the coil tap?....