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I found reasonable deals on the two I have , a 4000 and 4001 . I spent years (pre internet days) looking for a 4001 , they were not all that common around Halifax , although there’s many , many more around now. Eventually found one in Toronto. At first my 4001 felt different , I was an old Pbass guy , but the thin neck with little taper quickly became very comfortable , the binding didn’t bother me , and once I set the neck and everything to my set up preferences I found the bass incredibly stable. It quickly became my go to bass , and was for a good number of years. These days I mostly play short scales , when I do pick up a Ric I immediately remember why I used them so much. I love the feel.

Asking $400 Cdn at the moment , OBO … so it seems like a fair starting price. I have a friend that has a taste for older , unusual things , and this would be right up his alley. There is a bit of a drive to pick it up. I’ve managed to quit buying stuff because it’s a deal , or rare and unusual. Too much stuff… but I enjoyed looking this up and learning a bit about them.

I love a nice Ric. I have a couple of older ones. If you spend the time on one they can become wonderful. They feel like home. Would have bought that XC model in a minute if I had more disposable income. I thought it was gorgeous , and I know why they didn’t use the R tailpiece. And when you look at the price vintage 4005 basses sell at the price isn’t bad , it’s around what most US companies charge for limited custom runs. People once complained that Rickenbacker never made anything new. And people complain if they do. I’d lose it if they make a short scale bass based on Lennon’s 325 using a 350 body. Rics are not copies of Fender style instruments. Some love them for exactly what they are.

In the last twenty years there’s been some pretty remarkable advances in amp and cab design. I like lightweight , modern , cabs and Class D amps and I’ve never been happier. I have a GenzBenz Streamliner , it has a three tube preamp , and 900 watts at 4 ohms , you can easily dial in whatever warmth you’re looking for , but my primary gig amp is just a simple , clean straightforward Bergantino Forte. 700 watts at 4 ohms . Two very different amps , I’m often just using an 8 ohm cab and usually run things between 3&4. Tons of headroom. Never run out of volume. Easily the best sound I’ve had. I could run a gain pedal with the Forte , but I’ve never felt the need. I like that one simple.

The previous owner of the Unicorn used a pick , you can see where the black finish has flaked off over the bridge pickup. I’ve come to like the look so I’ll probably get some Black Beauties if I restring it.

A Westone Rail bass popped up on our local kijiji the other day , ad is still up , trying to talk an old friend into picking it up.

You can almost make a living doing it.

I think that’s what was on my Unicorn when I picked it up. They had been on for a while but still sound good. So good I’ve left them on . Normally when I pick up a bass I immediately put on strings.

I picked up this little Hotone Thunderbass on kijiji a couple of years ago , it will drive a cab but I generally use it with headphones , it has an aux in so I can plug in a tablet. I can quietly learn stuff. It does require a power adaptor , so there are some cables … I use it a lot.

I play blues and roots music and have twenty something basses , mostly play short scales these days but accumulated the usual bunch of classic basses. My usual gig bass is a Dano Longhorn with ancient strings , but they have a wonderful rich woody thump. Still the factory strings , it was one of the first batch of reissues from 98 or so. It weighs next to nothing , is comfortable and fun to play , and sounds great. It just sits in the mix , whenever I bring a backup bass I’m usually told the Longhorn sounds the best , even if I bring another Dano shortscale. However playing at home my favourite bass is a Gibson DC Jr with relatively fresh rounds. The Longhorn sits in a gig bag until it’s gig time. I cycle through the collection , but my favourite is the Jr or an SG bass that’s growing on me.

Halifax , Nova Scotia down close to the waterfront.

Wonderful jam night in the old dive we call The Land of Dreams , it’s really called Bearly’s House of Blues. Nice players and visitors from away. And the regulars … A good night !

It’s like a brand new amp after he’s checked it out. And those GenzBenz amps are truly wonderful things!

I have the book. It’s a beautiful work! I don’t know if there’s much of a difference between the real Gibson Tbird pickups and those made in Korea. I should just take the covers of my Rumblekat pickups off and have a look at them. I have an Epi Flying V with Tbird pickups. And an SG and Jr bass with Tbird pickups (although the Jr just has the single pickup) edit … the Kat has a four pole pickup

Andy Field still services those amps , unfortunately he’s in California, but after a trip to the spa they’re like a brand new amp. I had him check out my Streamliner. The only catch is if an unauthorized repair person has been at the amp he charges extra to undo the “repairs”. Thankfully mine had never been molested, I think he only charged about $85 for the overhaul. It was money well spent.

Trying to learn a little more about the Epiphone NYC pickups used in the Rumblekat. I was reading that Alan Woody had a thing for Firebird guitar pickups but that some Gibsons in the mid 60’s used Epiphone pickups before the stock ran out. I’ve read the original Epi NYC pickups were mini humbuckers. Do the Rumblekat Epi NYC pickups have six pole pieces? And the Gibson Tbird pickups that keep popping on other basses. They’re underneath the covers on a SG and a single one is on the DC Jr. what other basses are they on ? I know the Epi version was used on some of the Flying V reissues. And suspect they are on Gibson Vs as well.

There’s still many in Halifax without , some intersection lights are still dark , but as you go North the devastation increases , it will be a while before we see normal again. But we are among the lucky with power and no real damage.

We spend much of our time looking after my mother in law , she was lucky and had power restored the next afternoon. We just got power back at our place last night. One large branch fell on our shed, it’s been removed and we’re just chunking it now , fortunately our freezer had little in it as we mostly eat at the in-laws. It’s been cleaned out. We had a twelve hour storm , a lot of trees were down , most of the province lost power , but it was the North Eastern section of NS that bore the brunt of it. We were the lucky ones this time. Just the usual cleanup to finish up now. Extreme weather is no fun. And is happening more frequently. When Juan hit , we got a direct hit and lost twenty trees in our back yard. It was a mess. So this one’s easy.

They’re all very different amps. Missing Aguilar and Mesa , but that could change. And there’s a bunch of British and European amps that we rarely see out here that I’d love to try. Amp design has come such a long way in the last twenty years , now there’s some old school tube heads that don’t care for Class D , and I totally respect that opinion , but for my needs they do the job beautifully. I love them!

With a recent arrival I thought it might be a good time to get a group shot. Mostly Class D heads these days , I have Ampeg , Bergantino and Phil Jones cabs. Genz Benz Streamliner 900 , a powerhouse with a tube preamp , overhauled a while back by Andy Field , it’s like a brand new amp. Bergantino Forte , clean transparent , but with some serious slam , my main gig amp , SWR Headlite fairly recent addition and has a surprising number of features packed in a small box, Darkglass Exponent , wild little thing you can program with a tablet , GK MB200 great little practice amp , and a Hotone Thunderbass , I use as a headphone amp. Missing , my ancient little GK MB150 combo. Originally bought for upright , became a favourite practice , studio , rehearsal amp. Now mostly grab and go for rehearsals. I’m a bit of an amp nerd , and there’s a bunch I’d love to try out that we never see around here , most of the local stores stock the same stuff.

I can’t compare them , I just have the Exponent. And no dealer in the region. But I suspect the basic amp stage is the same although the Micro and Omega have six band slider eq and the Exponent has four band eq.

I suspect it is , but I can’t confirm. You do have access to both pedals in the Suite.

You’re starting out on the right foot! welcome !