badinage

On 15/05/2024 at 03:59, Doctor J said:

Had a 92 4003, loved the sound. I recorded both a mid and late 70's 4001 in the studio years ago, thought they sounded dreadful. 4003 all the way (if they ever got a forearm contour).

A Rickenbacker bass from any era makes me think "Iconic look, Inconsistent everything else".  That said, we may have trend here.  I'm no Ric expert but I've played more than a few, and my favorite, by far, is this 1992 4003 that belongs to a keyboard player I've been with on and off for thirty years.  This bass was in my possession for a decade but he won't sell it.  Maybe 1992 was a good year at Ric.  Maybe.

+1 for V3 Fender Rumbles being marvels of light weight and bang for the buck.  I own six combo amps and indeed one of them is a V3 Rumble 100, and I consider it to be adequate for an electric band with a drummer, so long as it's not loud-ish rock or higher energy blues.  Rumbles do have a "baked-in" tone-profile to them (kinda old-school), but if you like it, V3 Rumbles are hard to find much fault with.

Three of my combos are Markbass, and while I think my 102P is impressive, it's size, shape and weight do make it a little cumbersome.  My 121P has the dreaded cold on-delay which seems fairly common and means it's in it's death-throes.  Being that  Markbass is a real PITA to get repaired (at least in the States), I'm personally done purchasing Markbass.

Hello all. and also @doc40hz

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but this seems to be a rare mention of an ESP LTD AP-5 on Basschat.

Did anyone ever decide whether the B and E intonation problem on this ESP LTD AP-5 was common to the model, or just isolated to this one example?

I'm thinking about buying a pre-owned one, but it would be an online purchase from 1100km distant, and since the seller is mainly a music instruction institute, I'm not sure I'd trust their assessment of the instrument's intonation, despite whatever willingness or good intentions they may have.  They do have a 7-day return policy, but shipping costs would be my responsibility.

Also, does anyone know if the "Pelham Blue" that was used on ESP LTD AP basses was a "matte" or gloss finish (or somewhere in-between)?    That color is discontinued on the current line of these basses.  Old specs just say "color: Pellham Blue, finish: Metallic". so...  I'm asking here. 🙂

Thanks for any input!

I recently bought a used Tribute JB-2 for US$315 and have been very pleased with it even though I'm typically not a J-neck person.  P-shaped body but slightly smaller, two volumes, one tone, and it sure sounds pretty old school to me.