Soloshchenko

Kent Armstrong toaster and early 4001 scratchplate on the way now! Not bad for a touch over £70. Cheers for the input guys. I was finally swayed by this review with clips as well: [url="http://finnbass.com/showthread.php?t=3728"]Review[/url]

[quote name='Johnston' post='1171115' date='Mar 21 2011, 07:10 PM'][url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/progressive-1/srb1_for_ricken/"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/bass...rb1_for_ricken/[/url] ~Neither are a direct fit though.[/quote] I'm beginning to think nothing is mate. Tis a weird shape for sure! I missed out on the ebay pair of these the other day by £2

Was thinking of a toaster, I suppose Allparts scratchplates are pretty cheap eh? Cheers for the advice guys. I was thinking of a cheaper no name toaster but I think I'll plump for the Kent Armstrong, the bass feels well made and is nice to play so may as well not cut corners. It'll look the bollocks as well. Incidently, what do toasters actually sound like on ricks? The idea of a guitar pickup in a bass always seemed totally daft to me.

off the top of your head, can anyone think of any weird shaped replacement pickups that might fit this bass in the neck position? It has the odd measurements of 83mm x 27mm. Any suggestions welcome. Cheers.

Just picked this fella up today. Since I sold my CMI Rickenfaker about a year ago I kind of regretted it and have been lurking around here looking for a fairly cheap Rickenfaker to replace it. When this one came upon ebay (Jon identified it as a Gherson Italian copy as opposed to a Jap one in about 60 seconds I think ) and the seller lived 30 mins away I knew I had to have it. I was especially chuffed it was natural rather than sunburst and had a twin truss rod thru neck which I haven't seen much of in the murky underground world of fakers. Then it got pulled from ebay (which seems to be happening more and more these days) and I was gutted as it seemed to tick all the boxes. Then when the owner, Meatbingo, posted on the Rickenfaker thread I quickly PMed him and now here she sits in my conservatory! Meatbingo is a great bloke to deal with and the bass is exactly as he specified on his original ebay ad. Like my old CMI the condition is really excellent given the bass' age. Having put some strings on and messed about with it the neck is really straight and playability is good. The tone is lovely from the neck PU if a touch on the quiet side. Opened her up and took a few picks as well. Weirdly, those are bits of wood inside the pickup! So, planned mods should be straightforward: [b]Bridge Pickup:[/b] may use a nice old Jazz one I've got knocking about. [b]Neck Pickup[/b]: I'm in 2 minds whether to change this (I don't really like the look) or maybe even send to Wizard for them to mess about with. PM me if you are interested in buying this one. [b]Hipshot bridge[/b]: Not sure if this will fit. I know they fit Jap fakers but this bridge looks different to my eyes. [b]Bridge pickup surround.[/b]: I'm really taken by the pickguardian ones but realise I won't be able to use them with a Jazz PU. If that's the way I go it will have to be a finger slicing old school metal one. [b]TRC[/b]: Anyone got any white ones knocking about, PM me and I'll take em off your hands! Looking inside I don't think the electronics need much more than a few re solders. The orginal wiring is all very neatly done. Cheers for looking, any comments welcome.

I just picked up this Gherson which was recently pulled from ebay. Needs a bit of work but in lovely nick. Twin truss rod thru neck as well.

Could be horrible under there but you don't like it now, you'll probabaly just end up doing it anyway... My advice is strip it but be prepared to go solid colour. Having taken the finish off numerous budget basses I've never come across one I'd be happy staining. See my Columbus bass project thread here (soon to restart work on it soon!) [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=104190&hl=columbus"]Columbus project[/url]

[quote name='Clarky' post='1161930' date='Mar 14 2011, 03:56 PM']Here's the Rotosound slapper extraordinaire, featured in an earlier BC thread [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=15986&hl=Clutterbuck"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...;hl=Clutterbuck[/url] The guy obviously has amazing technical ability but ....[/quote] How can anyone, even a drummer, possibly listen to that with any sense of enjoyment? Appallingly bad taste. If I built basses I think he'd be the last bloke I would have demoing my gear. He makes everything actually SOUND crap.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1160956' date='Mar 13 2011, 08:19 PM']Early Flea stuff was manic, which influenced a lot of slap players. But listen to his slap part on Aeroplane - sublime and totally integral to the song.[/quote] For me, Flea's non slap playing far outshines any of his manic slap stuff. I loved a lot of the intelligent rock playing on Californication.

I don't get or like slap much either and I think the idea of bass as a lead soloing instrument is slightly daft. Nor do I see why slap is considered to be the holy grail of technique. I learnt a load of slap stuff in my first years of playing bass and think the actual mechanics of it don't take much to master. I'malways more blown away technique wise by a really good fingerstyle player like Nate Jones (who does slap occasionally) as I think developing a good fingerstyle technique is more of a challenge than spending ages making your bass go twang!

[quote name='karlfer' post='1156168' date='Mar 10 2011, 07:15 AM']TRC, anybody selling should really be prepared to provide photo's, enough for you to cross Jon's palm . Quality ones with issue's? That's why I chose a bolt neck. On the vintage copies (and vintage Rick's), fretboards, bridges, necks can be a problem if abused. A bolt neck is easier to work on. IMO. Karl.[/quote] In mine too. Helps yours is a twin truss rod as well. Karl, just looking at the ebay ad mate, I found it a bit confusing you haven't named a frieght price? Am I just being stupid or is it not said how much is going to be paid for delivery? That may put people if so. Just a thought.

[quote name='karlfer' post='1154860' date='Mar 9 2011, 07:17 AM']Read 80 pages of this thread . Karl.[/quote] I think you're right there. It kind of helped me know decent fakers from dodgy ones although I still have no clue as to what is what when TRCs have been removed. Also, hellothere, you'll never know a good one before you play it. Even decent quality fakers can come with issues!

[quote name='MythSte' post='1154039' date='Mar 8 2011, 04:45 PM']Wow, Those holes actually made me squirm more than TV operations etc [/quote] I let out a physical moan when I saw them! A shame really. Makes me want to never mod anything I own ever again!

[quote name='The Twickerman' post='1150631' date='Mar 5 2011, 03:19 PM']OMFG, that is hideous!!!![/quote] +1 Totally bloody awful.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1970s-57-Replica-Columbus-Crest-Bass-Guitar-case-/190508005871?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2c5b2979ef"]Nice looking Columbus[/url] Currently at £50. How much is the case worth? I think you get a lot for very little cash with Columbus stuff, I love mine.

I think if you are looking for cheap, it's a good route to go. 70s Jap Rick copies go for quite a lot of money these days whereas these guys are cheap. Quite a few BCs have one, including hookybass and I've only heard good comments about them. Very Pbass sounding though I've heard (not a bad thing in my opinion). I may well get one myself in the next few months.

Regardless of whether it is 100% genuine or not, whoever gets it MUST re finish it again, that colour is absolutely minging.

[quote name='thegreenman555' post='1143514' date='Feb 27 2011, 04:49 PM']That looks like the twin brother of the one I just got, complete w chequer binding & down to the exact same wording on the twin 'output' plugs. So I guess that means mine could, in theory, be a Kasuga. I know you guys wanted some pics with of the routing & electrics, but I've been having way too much fun with it 'as is' to restring it yet! Be patient!![/quote] I remember that one. Stunning. Put it down and do a photoshoot!

[url="http://cgi.ebay.com/1977-Vintage-Hondo-II-Japanese-bass-lawsuit-model-LOOK-/140516623000?pt=Guitar&hash=item20b7718298"]Natural coloured Hondo[/url] Never seen a natural orrible Hondo before. Makes me wonder if he's got this right.