Simon C

I’m usually learning some new stuff, either for Jam Night or for the online lessons I take - they also run a monthly competition. Our guitarist isn’t available for this month’s Jam Night so I decided we’d do ones we already knew that are easy for a dep guitarist to pick up. So it’s just the on line lessons this month. “Minnie the Moocher” by Cab Calloway is the one I’m learning - the version from “The Blues Brothers”. It’s a cool slow blues. I even watched the film for the 1st time 😎.

Thanks for sharing the videos. I enjoyed that - my type of music and you played well.

"I don't like Mondays" by the "Boomtown Rats": “The silicon chips in cider head” rather than the actual lyric “…….inside her head” I've no idea what a cider head is. Maybe it's something a scarecrow on a scrumpy farm has. Worzel Gummidge had different types of head, maybe he had a Cider Head

Based on the ones I know, that looks like a fun set list. We do "I only wanna be with you" - banging tune.

Agree. It is sensible advice.

Yes it is one of the single truss rod ones. The business card check has it falling through the E string and not through the A,D and G strings. I loosened the truss road a quarter turn (mainly as I was getting concerned about how difficult it was when I put a quarter turn of tightening in the neck) then it falls through the E and A strings, D just about holds it, G easily holds it. I didn't leave the neck to settle after making this loosening adjustment. I bought it 2nd hand so I suspect it will be the 2 year shop warranty rather than the Ric one that applies. The action check was interesting. I can't see well enough to read my gauge properly, but I think the photos tell the story of fret 1 on the string unfretted being much higher than over fret 2 with fret 1 fretted. Thanks for the advice. I'll give the tech at the shop I bought it from a ring. There's no substitute for him seeing it and coming up with sensible plan of action. Once the bridge was bottomed out and it was still a little painful to play low on the E string, I'd a fair idea that was where it was going but thought I'd make use of the collective knowledge here 1st. Update: the Tech isn't available until 22nd April - so I'll take it to him then. I'll assume the outcome is of interest to those on this thread and update when I know more.

The G&L looks great (well the Jackson does too, but I'm a G&L fanboy). FWIW if the main thing stopping you is learning the songs, I think you'll find 2 months is actually quite a long time (depending on how many songs you need to learn and how much other stuff you have on). 18 months or so ago I depped for a gig (not a pro one) with about 3 weeks notice. The set list was 15 or 16 songs. I'd played several of them on keys (IIRC), but I don't remember having played any of them on bass. 5 or 6 were originals that I'd never heard before. I knew them all by the gig - but did have to cram. I probably made up my own lines rather than trying to be true to originals other than for ones with instantly recognisable bass lines (e.g. Come Together). I did a video diary on Instagram of how I prepped for the gig. I have been meaning to put it together as a complete YouTube post as there isn't much resource available on how to prep at short notice for depping. If you want to see the diary message me and I'll try to make it available (un-edited at this point). I'm not trying to persuade you to do it, just sharing my (singular) experience in case you do decide to do it. Edit: having looked at the extremely popular post I did, (a grand total of zero replies- I'm guessing I didn't "win the day" with it 😊) I may have had less than 3 weeks (3 weeks is my recollection though) https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/471508-tips-for-deps-aka-subs-in-american/#comment-4851807

Here are a couple of photos of the bridge/saddles. I don't see a grub screw to adjust. Am I missing something, or maybe it's something different about the new bridge design?

Thanks. Maybe re the truss rod. I adjusted it a week or so ago (tightened it) as the action felt high to the point that it was somewhat painful to play. I think it was probably due to the seasons changing (all my basses had the same issue). It's better now, but there may be further to go. It did feel very tight to adjust though, so I'm a little concerned about going much further without a guitar tech seeing it. Alternatively if I can find a max torque setting from Rickenbacker I could see if my torque wrench will fit in there.

Hi everyone. This is a question before my Ric 4003 goes to the guitar tech. Since I bought the bass in early January, I’ve been slowly adjusting the set up. I’d like the action a little lower than it is. It is ok over most of the neck (I’d like it a little lower), but it’s too high on the E string on the 1st 5 frets. The bridge saddle on the E string is bottomed out. There is room to drop the other strings further, but if I did drop the action further on those strings the E string would feel oddly high. So with my limited set-up knowledge it would seem that if I want a lower action, I need to drop the E string at the nut. The nut seems to be highest at the E string and lowest at the G string, with a more pronounced gradient than on my other 3 (non Ric) basses. The E string may also have a shallow cut nut slot. Pics attached, which hopefully illustrate what I’m describing. Is what I describe above relatively common? What’s the recommended way to go? I guess either remove the nut, file it at the bottom and reset (this sounds like a way to introduce problems that aren’t currently there), or file the nut slot lower? Or is there something else to consider? Any other comments? Thanks in advance for the thoughts.

Cool. When I saw that Vinorange had commented wondered if we had a Sommelier in the group - the pictures put me right😀.

Tell the courier that you haven’t ordered anything and ask them to return to sender. That way you won’t be in trouble with your missus, your bank balance will get a boost and you get to stay in the gear abstinence thread. Happy Days.

Well it could be the venue. I’d like to think it is “Precious Harley Benton” though.😀

If you look at the original post from a few years back, one of the reasons was to enjoy the kit you already have. So you are in with the original spirit. Good job Having completed last year’s abstinence thread successfully, I think I may be appreciating the new kit I’ve bought this year a little more than I would have done prior to the year of abstinence. Unintended positive consequences and all that. Stick with it 😀.

For a while I was treating the service I play at as an unpaid gig. The reason was that a section of the congregation had dulled the service down to the point that there was no joy in the service and no excitement. We became so scarce on musician resources that if I and 2 or 3 others had bailed at that point we wouldn’t have had a band. I felt the right thing to do was to stay and work with the leadership to 1st stabilise the service, then get the joy back in it. For a year or so I was in the unpaid gig mindset - it’s not a good place to be, but that’s where I was. The alternative was leaving, which I didn’t want to do as I’m a “stay and make thing better” type rather than a “I’m leaving because you’ve made it dull” type. We’ve now got the service back to a point where the congregation are engaging with worship, and musicians and decent soundtechs are coming back. I’m actually excited about playing next Sunday. So yup, I agree with what the 2 of you have written, and I’m glad I’m not in the unpaid gig mindset anymore. But sometimes there might be a reason why people are (hopefully temporarily) in that place. (Hopefully this makes some sort of sense).