Skybone

I used to say that the power would probably blow before the amp, and if it did, the PA would be useless. They still insisted on it though. Never had it with the guitar though.

There used to be a great Rush tribute band based in South Yorkshire, called "Bravado".

I remember having the same discussion with the house sound guys when they put a DI box in front of my bass. The stock answer back then was "in case the amp blows". It never did blow though.

Tried an Octave Mandolin a few years back, been fancying one for a while, but can never find an inexpensive one.

I've got both a Polytune and a Unitune. Bought the Poly years ago for a good price, but it's tendency to 'lose' the E string & drop into polytune mode became annoying. Picked up a Unitune last year, it's quick and accurate, and doesn't lose the E string.

Mr Wire is known for using Ric's as well, so I think it would more than likely be a mod to a standard J, so that he can get Ric-like sounds out of the J without changing basses. Just a theory though.

I must admit that I love their aesthetics. I never thought that my old 4003 gave that "classic" Ric sound (it was a pre-Vintage Circuit model), but it still sounded superb to my ears. More "plummy" than any Fender or Fender derived bass I've played over the years (though that may or may not have been down to slightly changing how I played). Would I have another? In a shot. But they're still overpriced outside the US, and the second hand market is buoyant, new instrument discounts are very rare (I did hear that Rossetti used to "police" the retailers, and threatened to remove the Ric franchise if the retailer was "caught" discounting a Ric instrument - whether that's Urban Myth or what I don't know, but there would appear to be very few Ric's on discount anywhere outside the US). Guess I'll just have to be happy with my Faker's for now.

Welcome! :)

Bumping the Fakers

And that includes older kids with mortgages & other responsibilities too. The discussion of Ric's AND RickenFakers is fine (see the "All New RickenFaker" thread ). Thing is, Ric's (and Fakers) are "Marmite" bass. Unfortunately, most seem to hate them.

Not quite, but close. Especially if you get a through neck Faker.

I had to sell my old 4003, as much as I didn't want to, at the time, I had no choice but to sell it. Do I regret it? Yes & no. Yes, because it was a great bass. No, because the money I sold it for got me out of a pickle, and I managed to get a new bass as well (the fact that it wasn't the right bass for me at the time, and was soon sold on, is neither here nor there). Which kind of brings us back to the "budget" Rickenbacker argument. As stated previously, companies such as Fender & Gibson have their own "budget" brands, like Squier & Epiphone. Add to that, upstart companies like PRS, EBMM, G&L, etc. all have "budget" lines, for the people who aspire to own & play their top line instruments, but can't afford to. These "budget" manufacturer's produce high quality instruments, in line with the parent companies Quality Control guidelines, and so can and do, produce excellent instruments that feed people's desires to own a quality product for less, but also help to feed their desire to own one of the "premier" products when they can afford to. Hence why I play Fakers. I can't afford a Ric, as much as I'd like to. Even importing one from the US is not an option, as although they're relatively cheap to buy over there, then you have to factor in shipping & then import tax. A Faker is as close to a Ric as I can afford just now, but also, I can have a few of them for far less than the price of a real one. My old Jetglo 4003 No.1 Faker (Rockinbetter) No.2 Faker (Bass Collection Californian with Retrovibe pickups) The point? I like really like Rickenbacker's.

Youth isn't "ex Killing Joke" anymore, he's been playing & recording with them since 1994's "Democracy" album.

Intrigued, and wondering whether these will be made to fit into a Ric or a Faker as well as the Fender pattern. I've always wondered why a pickup manufacturer can't make a single, split coil replacement pickup for a Ric (as in 2 coils, like that on a split coil P bass, but next to each other, not staggered like the P pickup)… Maybe that can be your next challenge for the Pickup chap.

What's the difference between Warwick Red's, Yellow's & Black's??? I've used Red's before, quite liked them, but not my favourites. Lasted well though. Much prefer the now defunct Fender 7350m's.

Wide open on my Fakers

They do look like a fine pair! Fabulous work.

https://www.guitarbuild.co.uk/ http://www.warmoth.com/ https://www.guitarandbassbuild.co.uk/

I assume that you're looking at the "Rocktile" Fakers? Don't know much about them, but I think someone on here has got one (or was it the FB RickenFakers group?). At £100, it'll be a cheap bass that might have a passing similarity to a RickenFaker. Without seeing/trying one, I can't really comment. You could always buy one from Aliexpress/DHGate, or join the RickenFakers Facebook group, and buy one from there.

It's been something of a struggle getting all of the band in the same place at the same time in recent months, what with work, family, etc., etc., but we've finally managed to pin everyone down and restart regular rehearsals (woohoo!). The rehearsal room also has a recording studio, so we booked a recording session & finally laid down the 4 original songs we've been working on to "tape". The engineer sent us copies of the raw mixes of the songs, and I have to say that they sound seriously good, and should sound excellent after mixing. We're in next week to get a better vocal take, some guitar overdubs, depending on the time another bass take on 1 song, then start mixing. When that's done, it's a case of touting it around to get some gigs. Feeling very enthused about the band just now, big grins all round! :)

Pick up a second hand Zoom B3, it's a good place to start, then just experiment. There are some alternatives, like the Boss GT6B, the Line6 PODxt & Bass PODxt (especially the Live version), there's the Vox Stomplabs, etc. These will help to get an idea of what effects will work for you, and then you can either take the plunge into either various single pedals, or more sophisticated multi FX units.

Stickers for your bass case (or bass, if you're that way inclined).