markdavid

Marketing or not i think it is an awesome looking bass and makes a nice change from the usual sunburst , always good to have options 

Yep, that is one gorgeous looking bass, I have this on my wish list to buy once finances are better (which will be a good couple of years from now) there are some really nice pics of this bass on Hofners website

Edit - the op has already linked to the Hofner website, my bad

On 23/07/2018 at 21:42, T-Bay said:

I like the really rough and dirty southern blues the best. Not sure if there is a modern equivalent.

I like that type of blues too, not to hijack the thread but if anyone can recommend any artists that fit this , thanks

15 minutes ago, prowla said:

It is very easy to tell a faker from a genuine Ric (I have 4 real ones and 3 fakers currently and 3 others previously) - way easier than other brands.

However, some fakers also infringe Rickenbacker IP and the company is committed to protecting its brand by legal means.

Depends how well you know the brand, i doubt i would be able to tell the difference and to me a lot of the fakers look identical but to others more familiar with the brand maybe not 

8 hours ago, bazzbass said:

that is not normal, I should know, I've used XL Nickels since 1979. I get a good 3- 6 weeks before they lose their zing, then they are good for a couple of months more.

Ok thanks, I think I got unlucky and got a dodgy set, the G was bad out of the box on this set also

Do prosteels last longer than the xk nickels? My xl nickels have gone dead on me after just under a couple of weeks playing time, i wanted to try prosteels but if they die just as quickly i will try something else , not too knock Daddario nickels they sounded great before they went  but i can't be changing strings twice a month.

Hmm some food for thought

Could also be Rotosound, the Rotobass strings have colored ball ends

On 17/07/2018 at 18:16, Cato said:

I suspect it's all down to individual experience  (if that's the right word).

At one end of the spectrum you have people like guitarist Eric Johnson who can apparently hear minute differences in equipment and set up, to the extent that, according to some rig run downs, when recording he uses nickel plated jack plug guitar leads for ryhthym and gold plated for solo work.

I'm guessing he could probably hear significant differences between bridge types.

At the other end of the spectrum you have people like me. I have changed a couple of bridges out because I like rock solid units with no lateral movement in the saddles and no sharp edges.

There may possibly have been a change in the feel of the bass but I've never noticed a change in the tonal character of the instrument . 

 

I think its the placebo effect at work regarding the jack plugs, I would be amazed if their was even the tiniest difference in tone using nickel plated vs gold plated leads

For anyone considering these they are worth the purchase, tension is on the lower side being 95-40 gauge, tonally they compare favourably to anything around the £20 mark, you can get better strings than these but not for this price.

On 24/06/2018 at 18:19, Delberthot said:

The NYXLs are slightly lower tension than the normal nickels.

 

My usual XL165 strings are - 42.52, 48.35, 45.34, 38.08 (G,D,A,E)

The equivalent NYXLs are   - 40.28, 47.06, 44.58, 36.96 

 

At this time of year I am not surprised at the rate that your strings are dying - we've played some really hot gigs and almost had a set go on me after 1 pretty short gig but putting it into perspective, I bought 8 sets in December 2016 and I am on set number 7 now. That is using the same bass for rehearsals and wedding/function gigs.

Yep not surprised either, I played at a jam night the other night for a few songs and the heat was just ridiculous, the sweat was just dripping off my hands, a couple of gigs/rehearsals/events like that and I would expect my strings to die pretty quickly

Not trying to hijack this thread but the op is looking for pretty much the exact same as I am looking for.  I love the midrange punch of nickels but would love to find something with that characteristic but with more growl

15 minutes ago, Grangur said:

Me too.  I buy basses to do up, and I bought a couple of sets for putting on any bass with no strings that I want to move on.   I sold a bass with these and the new owner was over the moon. He plays punk and he reckoned they sound every bit as good as his Rotosounds.

In a practical sense: their length is designed for a 4-in-line headstock. They're shorter than many other strings, and they're pretty light-weight. But what do you expect for £4.99?

I think for the price as long as they don't have huge tension (which seems very unlikely in a 95-40 gauge) and they dont break they should be worth the money

Also the blue silk looks really nice 

Anyone tried these ? https://www.gear4music.com/Books-DVD-and-Sheet-Music/Bass-Guitar-String-Set-4-by-Gear4music/2UM I figured for a fiver they have to be worth trying

Have ordered a set of these as money is tight and I cant be forking out the kind of money most flats go for now (£47.99 for a set of Chromes, that's crazy) and they do an 95-40 gauge, just wondering if anyone here has tried these and if so what are they like tone and tension wise ? thanks

15 hours ago, spectoremg said:

When are they gonna start selling pre-dinged instruments to the gullible?

It wouldn't surprise me if companies were using instruments returned as damaged in transit by suppliers for relics

On 09/06/2018 at 23:51, T-Bay said:

Another Gibson fan here, still can’t understand how a once innovative company are at where they are now, whereas  Fender ‘two designs in any colour you want’ are doing well. They diversified in weird ways that were poor business decisions I suppose. My thunderbird will be prised from my cold dead hands.

I remember walking into a music store with my son once and this shop had the usual Fenders,Squiers, a number of Ibanez basses, all in all pretty well stocked with most brands, he asked why they had no Gibson or Epiphone, they said that Gibson would not supply them unless they brought an unreasonably large amount of instruments from them , not sure how true this is but if this is true then this may explain why Fender are much more common in music stores which may also explain why Gibson are less common instruments

Thanks, they dont seem to have the .070 gauge in stock, I might just buy the extra long scale .072 and trim off the extra

Edit: at 10 euros for shipping maybe not, thanks anyhow

Anyone know where to buy a single .070 gauge TI jazz flat? Mine snapped at the tuner end  thanks

On 5/22/2018 at 02:19, bigsmokebass said:

Been mentioned and I’m not a hater.... but the Rickenbacker Basses are punching above their weight for ‘nothing special’ for £2000+, when you can consider what else is out there for less or equal price... some nice boutique builds out there.

Taylor GS Mini..... 

I think this is true of most brand name basses (as in not custom built) over the 1k mark , Fender, Hofner, Gibson etc , they are all overpriced imo but it comes down to whether you are willing to pay the money or not and whether they are worth it to you

But yes Rickenbackers are particularly overpriced, I will probably never own one as having 2 truss rods to adjust just seems like way too much hassle, I hate having to adjust 1 let alone 2

Btw I have owned Fender basses and own Hofner basses at the moment fwiw

Ever find your cheapest bass has the best tone?

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this.  Was playing at a live event the other night and decided to take my nice but relatively inexpensive Vintage brand Violin bass as it is lighter than any of my other basses (even my other semi hollow basses), in terms of the bass itself it is a nice bass but its price point shows, the nut I have replaced as it looked like it was cut by a chimp, the fret work is a little patchy and there is some over-spray on parts of the neck.  I always thought the tone of this was good when playing at home but I always thought this was just because the deep tone countered the middy tone of my Amplug.

Anyway, brought this bass out and plugged it in, the tone blew me away, it was deep, punchy and with some definite growl and a big pair of balls, I even found myself playing a little harder to emphasise this, funny that a cheaper instrument could sound so good 

My Hofner has an insane amount of low end

On 5/10/2018 at 18:07, Bluewine said:

Me, I've never had rock star looks. I look like an insurance clauns adjuster.

I have seen some guys that were fantastic rock musicians but didn't have the look and it held them back 

Blue

Nice Hofner there

Went to one last night and it was "Interesting", ended up playing bass with a punk guy on guitar and vocals, first couple songs we played some blues numbers, went fine all good, then he decided to play some punk songs,  i've never felt so out of my depth! usually if I haven't heard a song before I can figure it out really quickly but there just seems to be no structure to punk music just a bunch of chords thrown together randomly, lessons learnt  a) Punk is not my thing b) I will mention next time that I really don't want to play punk music

*Apologies to anyone who loves punk music, no offence intended ,is just not my thing at all

I'm not ashamed to say I make a fair few, unless each member of the band plays every song exactly the same down to the last detail each time there will always be some minor mistakes