Simon C

If that was Saturday, my daughter was in there (I was a few doors up the road in a Turkish restaurant) . She said it was rammed. She enjoyed the gig.

I really enjoyed the gig I depped for. I learned the songs I didn’t already know (I had to learn about 12 of 15 or 16). 4 or 5 were originals - it was fun doing them. One of them was entered as a candidate for the UK entry to Eurovision ( it didn’t get selected). I did an Instagram diary on the prep with the intent of putting it on YouTube as a guide to prepping to dep (still an intent😜). I had a practice with the guitar player. The gig went well. The key things for me were prep, get a run through with at least one of the band members, then enjoy it. I think it improved me as a musician.

Yes I thought so too. Despite having bought it with a good chunk of my work bonus (of which I gave my missus half) I fully expect to have to justify the purchase once she is up from her sick bed. I've been paving the way by telling the kids that I'd get more than I paid for it if I decided to sell, and by the time I pop my cloggs they'll be able to buy a house each with the proceeds. Hopefully they'll get the message to Mrs. C before I do - it will reduce the information requirement significantly and generally be better received coming from them 🙂.

I bought it from Guitar Guitar in Epsom. It is a 2022 model. If my understanding of the serial numbers is correct then it was built in the 22nd week (a bit coincidental maybe that it's the 22nd week of 2022), but I guess that doesn't necessarily mean it arrived in the UK in 2022. It was pre-owned - the guys in the shop said the previous owner said it was sat in the case which is why he got rid of it. I didn't see any other Rics in there.

Thank you. Sartorial elegance has never been my strong point, so it’s good to know I’ve managed a wardrobe match.

I paid about £300 for it 20 years ago. It plays and sounds great. I’ve never felt the need to look for anything else.

Yes odd that It just fits the space on the wall. There are no more hangers to provide support. So it’s stop buying, or one in one out. Or decide to become a collector (I could fit 7 more hangers in the music room and study). I think I’ll struggle to get that past the missus though - so a simple player I shall stay.

Here you go Dave (and thanks for asking😉) https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/144848-rickenbacker-4003/?do=findComment&comment=5109214

I've had a request for pics of my very recently acquired 4003. I didn't buy anything in 2023 (I completed the abstinence thread), the shop was shut on New Year's Day and it wasn't listed on the web site. So after trying it on New Year's Eve the 2nd Jan was my first purchasing opportunity - duly taken with a deposit down about 20 minutes after the shop opened, balance paid, bass collected and back home by 1:30pm. I went to the shop to try out a pre-owned Fender American Pro Jazz, but saw the Ric so tried it too. I've already got a white jazz (as you can see, albeit fretless) and the Ric interested me way more than the American Pro. It ticks a lot (my wife hopes all) of my remaining gas boxes: A natural finish A maple fretboard that isn't roasted (I have a short scale Ibanez that is beautifully roasted - not shown in the pics as it is headless) Fret markers that aren't dots (though I do have very pretty ones on my acoustic 6 string pictured next to the Ric) An iconic bass that wasn't designed by Leo Fender (there aren't many of them) A sound I don't really get with my other basses, particularly with a pick Although I didn't buy it for the Ric-o-sound, I'm starting to see possibilities which is making me think about affects again (which I didn't beyond those I already had at the start of my abstinence year). (Excuse the slippers - they aren't doing much for my street cred).

I bought a pre-owned 4003 yesterday. I tried it on New Year's Eve (I went in the shop to try a Fender Jazz, and saw the Rick hanging close to it) then got the deposit down as soon as the shop opened on the 2nd. Then down at lunch time to pay the balance and bring it home. It hadn't made it to the web site, not even the 24h preview bit that you need to logon to see. One of the guys in the shop said they'd only had it in a few days and another that he didn't think it would be around for long. So either they do move quickly, or they parted this fool with his cash too easily 🙂

When summer is approaching in the Northern hemisphere, you could try moving to the southern hemisphere. I hear the extreme south of South America is quite chilly at that time of year - I think they even speak some Welsh down there so you'll feel quite at home 😁.

I would have said "yes". But as you are "Hiding in Perthshire" it might be difficult to find you to hand the prize over.

I did promise to share if I purchased "in the next few days". So here goes. As an added bonus, you could even play a game of "Spot the difference."

Ooh - I didn’t buy any keyboard or recording stuff either. So I graduated in the tier 2 abstinence too. Double dose of smug 😜.

I successfully completed the 2023 thread, but have every intention of falling off the wagon this year. Perhaps as early as tomorrow. So I’m out. Having got through 2023, I would like to pass on my top tip though before I forget it. Hopefully you’ll all appreciate the advice and it will help you in 2024: don’t buy anything that isn’t allowed 😁. Good luck all.

I made it through the year. I have enjoyed playing my existing kit. I don’t need anything else, but I do have a work bonus from July / August leading to pent up demand. It could be very soon - a picture will be supplied in the next few days if it is.

Yes, lessons are in the allowable spend. Good luck with them.

Happy New Year to everyone. Assuming no one will be offended that I’ve misread the thread name (for today only) as “How was your gig last year?” here’s our offering from the December Jam Night. No one else did a Christmas set (or song even, other than the host band). I think we made the right shout as it livened up from our set onwards. Our normal guitarist was absent so one of the other guitarists joined us for our set. He’d never played with the singer Vicky before, and he hadn’t seen the set list or chords until an hour or so before we went on, so it was a proper jam. There are a few sound problems with Vicky’s voice early on, but it does improve.

I take 2 - usually a fretted and a fretless. If I don’t need the fretless then I take my fretted short-scale as a spare to the main fretted one. A couple of times people have asked me what the difference (other than the colour) is. I have both basses plugged in to a switch on my pedal board. I also change the compressor settings, but that is quick. So a bass change is quick and non faffy. I do need to balance the volume of the basses in sound check as the fretted bass has higher output than the fretless - other than carrying more kit that’s about the closest I get to a faff. For Jam Night I only take the shortscale, but as there are 4 or 5 other bass players there I assume we’d just offer each other use of our basses in the event of one breaking mid gig. So yeah, I’m a have a spare man.

I think I've navigated Christmas successfully. The only music thing I was given was a book with Green Day bass scores. I'll claim immunity under the “Educational purchases, ie tutorial books, lessons, anything that furthers your playing is permitted” allowance on the basis that I've only ever played “ Basket Case” and "American idiot“, that I played both from chord sheets (and didn’t play as per the score, so it has already educated me) and that I didn’t tune down for “ Basket Case". Here's a picture of "Basket Case“ score ( just to show it does exist and in case anyone wants to take it to a judicial review 😁). I'm confident about the next week😜

That’s some going Gary. 5 basses in a year. That’s more than I’ve bought in my life (3 I think). If I add in keyboards, pianos, guitars, drum kits (multiple cymbals counting as 1 kit) and a cahon I think my life time instrument purchases just about manage to double your 2023 acquisitions (and 5 of them were for my kids). I think I’ll store your 2023 story up to relate to my missus when a new bass adorns the remaining hanger over the piano. Top job.

Things to do 1) Drop it in to conversation with anyone who might otherwise demand a full public enquiry when kit unexpectedly appears next year 2) Ask the 2023 gear abstinence thread if you can either join retrospectively or be made an honorary member for the rest of the year - I think you might boost the number who are still “in” by 50% 3 ) When you’ve done both of the above, do a bit of accounting and carry forward the budget to next year

Best: a set of strings. Worst: the same set of strings I’m still in the gear abstinence thread. Unlike some of the naughty people above who joined and are now owning up to a music store and a half of gear purchases (we know who you are )😜 They (I.e the strings not the naughty people, who I’m sure a fine upstanding people in real life) were much closer to “worst” than ”best”. They pretty much made my fretless unplayable. They will get a reprieve on my short scale at some point. Only 2.5 weeks to go.

Only one month to go ( how exciting 😁), albeit a difficult one if your family buy you music gear (mine do). I managed to get through the SE Bass Bash in November unscathed. The raffle was an obvious banana skin that I planned for in advance - hand a strip’s worth of money over but politely refuse said strip (I bet you didn’t know that went on at bass bashes matron) - a shame as there were some good prizes.

I grew up not far from Penistone. I drive through it most times I go to see my parents. I’d never noticed the school kid giggle potential until 5 minutes ago. 😂