Low End Bee

No problems at all. Very in your face tone this thing's got. Not as comfortable to play as the Precision but sounded spot on in the mix. The band photographer was away so no pics yet.

Mine sounded marvellous on Friday night. I get more pleased with it every gig. I just went through just the one TC RS210 cab and DI through the PA via the attenuator thingy. Stage volume set to just over 2, gain on 5. Plenty loud enough.

Hi Clarky. You and HJ could remake the "Only When I Laugh" sitcom.... Not a great turn out. But enough to put on a show for. A hard one to get people motivated for just after Xmas. Plus we were promoted by the by the venue as 'Modern Northern Soul'? I get a nosebleed when I go further North than Watford and there's very little in our set that could be played happily at the Wigan Casino. Most odd. We played very well and debuted 2 new songs that we're very pleased with. No fluffs by any of us all gig. A first The Retrovibe Rickenfaker sounded really good. Huge sound through the Orange Terror. I did miss the forearm chamfer of the Precision by the end of the gig though. Be sure to make the Brentford gig on 29th January. That'll be a good one. Ad

Good luck tonight Nige. Can't make it as I'm gigging too.

An electric shock booby trapped force field for when the guitarist/bassist of the other band on the bill decide to rest their full pint on it.

I learnt them by chance playing in an odd punk band that had no guitarist. I had to keep the noise going somehow.

[quote name='chris_b' post='1079696' date='Jan 6 2011, 11:59 AM']This is a slippery slope! Pretty soon you'll find yourself playing world music on a fretless 5 string!![/quote] Next gig will be dubstep on a keytar....

I got myself a new Retrovibe Rick/Music Man mash up for a very reasonable £249 a couple of months ago. I'm so taken with it I'm going to give it a gig outing at the Half Moon in Putney tomorrow with the Jetsonics. I've now realised that I haven't used anything but a precision since I was 15 in 1979 and was toting a Shergold Marathon which I then traded against a 69 P. I did have had an 18 year gap in playing. But it's still a long time to be using just the one style of weapon. This is doing no good to my pre gig superstition. But I've made the decision now.

Psychobilly support from the [b]Surfin Wombatz[/b]

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='1072117' date='Dec 29 2010, 08:31 PM']It's all about the big Dunlop triangles. Tortex: [/quote] I use these too. I've tried most styles of plectra(sp?) but these are by far the best for me and I've not dropped one at a gig yet. I never, ever play finger style out of sheer bloody mindedness.

Bass Operator Class 3.

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' post='1044268' date='Dec 1 2010, 08:20 PM']Well,I've been a lazy sod when the band was goin'. I've been a bit apprehensive as well with the bits I have. I have Logic(a keyboard friend of mine recommended it to me big time). I also have pod farm and Ableton live/riffworks. which came with my Line 6 UX1 I still have Gearbox which came with my Toneport GX. And Garageband on my Mac. The reason (which looks good) I am apprehensive about Logic is the graph type stuff. When I used to use cassette recorders peak meters were easy to understand. It seems like you get an awful lot for your dosh.But with so much stuff, it makes stuff more complicated than need be imho. I was wondering if it's worth going on a one day course for Logic.I have books ,but keep putting them off. Now that I am bandless, I need to do something with this stuff. Nice thread by the way [/quote] I use Garageband all the time as it's so easy. I'd love to learn how to use Logic too as it seems to do so much more. It's a bit overwhelming though and I need a physical, real person to teach me.

[url="http://www.theothernewssource.com/index.php/odds-and-ends/how-i-got-an-uncooperative-ebay-buyer-to-pay-for-her-purchase-was-it-unethical-53027/"]Ebay is not a 'car dealership'[/url]

Mmm Purple. We had 3 full Marshall guitar stacks against one wall in the shop I worked in late 70s in Purple, Red and Orange!

£600! Bloody Hell indeed. [url="http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/85240763/Redferns"]Garth and his 40/40[/url] Spotted a pic of Garth from the Buzzcocks plunking away at one. There is a legend that he spent all his advance on a Gibson Thunderbird which he then drunkenly dropped down stairs just after being sacked from the band.

Happy Jack made me walk 37 miles to get back from football the night before a gig. I suffered with two blisters during the set.

Dark Matter.

[i]1. How hard do you dig in with the pick? [/i] Varies by song. A bit more than if I played fingerstyle I suppose? [i]2. What are your favourite pick guages and materials?[/i] Dunlop Tortex 1mm big triangles. You get three equal 'points' so they last longer. I find the lighter guages feel too floppy. [i]3. How hard do you grip the pick and how flexible are your finger and thumb? [/i] Quite firm I'd guess as I haven't dropped a pick whilst playing in a few years. [i]4. For funkier lines, how much palm muting do you use? [/i] I use a bit of right, outer palm over the bridge area to mute the strings (damn you sharp height adjuster screws) and keep the picking action very flexible. If that makes sense? I'm pretty quick on the octave disco stuff with a pick now too. I find it helps if I sort of anchor my outer wrist by the bridge and try and keep the picking fluid. I find a not too high or low strap placement really important. I don't want the picking arm to be bunched up or stretching.

I've had my white RV4 for just under a month now. Here's an attempt at a review. Construction: Great even paint in a very arctic looking white. The black 'binding' is painted on but is flawless. Inlays are neatly done and the medium frets are well finished. The rosewood board is not laquered like a Ric and was a little dry when I got it but that was an easy fix. Tuners and bridge both work very well and are better quality than you may expect for this price. The maple neck is glued very sturdily to the basswood body. Balance is good with no neck dive and weight is a very nice 8 1/2 lbs. The pots and switch are a bit cheap and nasty. I'll swap these soon. The side marker dots are very small and hard to see. I've put some stickers on here until I get used to the bass. Could do with a bit of copper shielding in the cavity. Playability: The neck is almost the same as my 2007 Precision in feel and string spacing. Because of the Musicman style bridge it's not as narrow at the bridge end as a Ric. It took a couple of weeks for the bass to 'settle' due to the extremes of weather it had been in and is now set up to my preferred 'not too low for aggressive pick playing' height. Just adjusted the rod for a slight relief. No fret buzz anywhere and a very slick, easy player indeed. It's now strung with Brentford FC spec DR Red Devils so it doesn't look too Fulham. Sounds: Before I plugged it in I looked at the two big generic MM pickups and was thinking about the cost of replacing them. I got a bit of a shock! They both have huge output but they don't sound 'woofy'. A really thick, snarly, growly rock tone. I was blown away. The bridge is my favourite with lots of snarl and harmonics. Both pickups on is smoother and slightly 'hollow' sounding. Neck pickup is a great old school thump but still with plenty of definition. Played through my Orange Terror with TC cabs it has no trouble at all cutting through a rock band mix. Overall: This doesn't sound much like a Rickenbacker. Then again I didn't really want it to so no complaints there. I love the look of a Ric and this has got that and is far easier and cheaper to replace/upgrade parts if I wanted to. The bonus is it sounds fantastic with what I do. For £249 it's a total winner. Is it better than my much loved Precision? No but it's very, very close and is only just over a quarter of the current retail price of one in the UK. I bought this with the expectation of it not being much more than something nice to have my picture taken with or maybe to use an occasional backup. It's now going to be a definite part of my gigging and recording armoury. I'm very happy this gamble has paid off.

There's way too much humility creeping back into this thread. Pretend you're American.

I'm getting into the swing of this. I could easily turn into Alan Pardew. After a very lengthy break I only got back into playing about 6 or 7 years ago and only co-formed the first band 4 years ago and only started gigging again in 2008. Since then I've: Headlined the Half Moon 7 times amongst other gigs Played two gigs with one of the bands that were heroes of my youth Released an album that's sold (not many though) in 12 countries Won a Classic Rock Mag battle of the bands and been on the cover CD Played a small festival to 2,000 Been interviewed on radio twice Written/co written two sets worth of material for the new trio in about a year Taught myself how to write good lyrics Started (3 tracks in) recording the next album with a grammy winning producer/engineer Been asked for an autograph once outside Griffin Park (this was of course the best of the lot)

I've felt much better about my playing after the last few gigs I've been too. Granted some of the players may have been better technically than me. I've witnessed some overplaying and underplaying but not much of the feel for the song and dynamics I put in. This being egotistical lark is fun.

My cousin Gary had one in 78. That's not helpful is it. Like a Marathon with different pickups. Steve Diggle used one when he was on bass duty in the first Buzzcocks line up. Body is 'obeche' wood I seem to remember. Can't see if it's got the clear plastic 'H' logo disc in the headstock that they always seem to be missing. Quite a skinny neck from memory. I'd have one if I was going down the collector path.