Skybone

Dare to be different, especially on forums.

Although I did take the cover off the bridge pickup on my old 4003, I kept it on for my No.1 Faker. I find resting my thumb on the neck pickup works best for me. The 'zero mod' rest is too far away from the strings for my liking, where the top of the pickup is just right. Obviously, it has to be close to the strings, but I'm fine with that. As for playing one, you have to 'unlearn' how you play for other bass types, and re-adjust your technique for the Ric. It is worth spending the time & effort. It's kind of like getting on a Harley after riding sporty motorcycles. The technique is the same, you just have to adjust it to suit each.

Another Mono GS1

Always thought he was one of the better rappers, rather than talk about girls, guns & gangs, it was empowerment & education.

Prince ordered & owned a Gus guitar. He was so impressed with it, he ordered a matching bass. Unfortunately, he never got to try it, as it was only finished just before he died.

I vote for "Play", I'm with Lozz & Monkey Steve. The fact that it's very local helps you. Big up the fanzine that are helping you out, blank the promoter (unless he's carrying a wad of cash - ), sell band stuff, stick around, hand out flyers, milk the promotion aspect.

Ordered a pair the other week, fitted the bridge pickup, but the neck one is too long to fit in my scratchplate. Need to either order a new one, or attempt to make one. The bridge pickup sounds great, quite 'zingy'. Looks cool too.

Must admit to being a 'physical format' fan. Though I do download, and have a usb stick in the car, physical format still wins. Still have loads of vinyl, but only recently bought another record player, still have tons of cd's too. I often find that buying the cd with digital download is generally cheaper than just buying the digital download only. Buying physical format direct from bands is supporting them too. It is possibly an age thing, I do recall spending far too much time in record shops, and because of that experience, still like to have a physical copy of the music. IMO, digital downloads have made music into a commodity, rather than something 'special'. Tapes are also making a comeback, but to a much lesser degree than vinyl.

Bought a set of the new Retrovibe pickups, the bridge pickup went in fine (loving the matching surround & cover too), but the neck pickup is too big for the scratchplate. Looks like I'll need to order a new one with a larger pickup hole for it. Anyway, restrung the bass to try out the new pickup, and it sounds superb. Not sure whether it's more a "new strings" vibe, or just sounds more "lively" all round.

Fumed oak? How do they get the oak to be annoyed? I assume that it's their take on "baked maple"?

After reading that, 2 albums on a "cult" German Indie metal label, a 2 week UK tour and various other gigs up & down the country in the early/mid 90's seems a bit lacklustre. Not long after, the label folded, the guitarist had the opportunity to join a band with one of his best mates who's main guitarist had just left their band, record an album, go on tour etc., etc. Our 2 albums sold around 3,000 copies (the second album managed to get a second pressing).

I'd vote for something MIJ, be it Matsumoku or FujiGen. Had a few really nice MIJ guitars from that era, no basses though unfortunately.

A real shame, Electro used to be an ace shop, friendly staff, and a gold mine of gorgeous gear. Went regularly when I lived over there, spent a good few quid there over the years too. Only got to go there infrequently when we were down there visiting over the last few years, they still had some decent kit in. Sad day.

Tort? White Pearlescent? Black Pearlescent? Mirror?

Not forgetting that "Bon" Scott was Scottish as well, and that "Bon" is a nickname he acquired when the family moved to Australia, it's short for "Bonnie Scotland". His real name was Ronald.

When I first started, all the books were espousing fingerstyle and never really talked about using a pick. Tried using my fingers, but became frustrated with it, then learned how to use a pick. Using a pick also helped when I started joining bands, because the finger playing speed just wasn't there. A pick seemed natural & easy, so I kept on playing. Many moons later, after spending some time away from the bass as my main instrument (only really using it for recording songs etc.), I started to play bass a bit more, and decided to re-learn fingerstyle, more because most of my bass playing "heroes" used their fingers instead of picks. It started off slowly, but after watching videos of these players on how they played, I tried a few different things, and it all started to gel quite nicely, this was about 10 years ago, haven't looked back since & glad I spent the time to work on it. The speed is up, the fingertips are tough, can't imagine going back to using a pick.

Gibson Victory Artist? Nice, very nice indeed.

Had this more with guitars than basses TBH, though there have been a couple of basses that I have deeply regretted selling. First was my old Aria Pro II SB Special II (snappy name), my first "proper" bass. Managed to buy another on eBay years later, but that wasn't as good as the first one. Westone Thunder 1A. Weighed a ton, but also sounded amazing. Jetglo Rickenbacker 4003. Great sounding bass, been after one for 20-odd years when I got it, lived up to all expectations & more. Kept on to it for as long as I could before having to sell it. Replacing it was very difficult. Guitars: Tokai Love Rock LS70F, superb guitar, great sound with stock pickups, superb with aftermarket BKP Emerald's. Gutted when I had to sell it. Ibanez Artist 2619, built in 1979, looked ace, sounded ace, gorgeous to play. Ibanez Iceman IC200, built in 1978, another superb Ibanez.

Highly recommend Shirty Something. Great service, great prices, and it's run by a bass player as well.

In that case, a Rickenbacker would be a Harley Davidson.

Just changed the strings on my No.1 Faker after 3 months, the D string had gone a bit lacklustre. The other 3 strings were fine, the D just wasn't cutting through the mix in rehearsals. Still using Fender 7350m stainless.