Delberthot

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-Rickenbacker-4003-Bass-Project-Guitar-/130717569491?pt=Guitar&hash=item1e6f5fd1d3"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-Rickenbacker-4003-Bass-Project-Guitar-/130717569491?pt=Guitar&hash=item1e6f5fd1d3[/url]

A few shots of my 2010 mapleglo and one from Friday night's gig I found the neck to be unwieldy and painful to fret after a while until I decided to raise the strap as high as it would go. Absolutely love it now and removing the pickup cover & fitting a black thingy to fill the gap around the pickup make it a joy to play now. [IMG]http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/Delberthot/Rickenbacker/DSC00990Large.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/Delberthot/Rickenbacker/DSC00989Large.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/Delberthot/Rickenbacker/DSC00988Large.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/Delberthot/Rickenbacker/DSC00987Large.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/Delberthot/533316_437098552989531_746791279_n.jpg[/IMG]

I began playing when I was 12 and bought my first 5 when I was 19. I played 5s exclusively for about 10 years before moving to 6s for a couple of years. I then realised that I didn't need the extra two strings or the neck that could've doubled as an ironing board (Yamaha TRB6II) so I went back to 4. I've only played 4s since and don't miss the low B thumb rest. I learned to play in D A D G tuning thanks to Bad Love by Eric Clapton and Another Brick in the Wall by the Floyd before moving to 5s so for the one or two songs I need a low D for in a night, I just tune the E down a tone.

Drop your panties Sir William, I cannot wait until lunch time

A few taken from Friday night's gig. Full of the manflu. Thankfully the adrenalin kicked in [IMG]http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/Delberthot/533316_437098552989531_746791279_n.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/Delberthot/282763_437098372989549_1098716442_n.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/Delberthot/270935_437098439656209_1757377300_n.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/Delberthot/181850_437098342989552_670539831_n.jpg[/IMG]

I nearly didn't make last night's gig. I've been unwell all week. After we sound checked, I spent the next 2 hours sitting in a corner shivering and sweating at the same time. The first set was terrible, we were told there'd be backline supplied and considering the pub is promoted as a rock venue I thought I'd at least get an old Trace 4x10" but was instead greeted with a 200w Marshall Dynamic Bass 15" + Horn combo. The entire first set was played from memory as the only time I actually heard what I was playing were a few notes for the intro to "With a Little Help From My Friends". During the break I tried to work out what to do and discovered a Crate bass combo so with a bit of help I got the Marshall on top and low and behold I could actually hear most of what I was playing during the second half. I spent the entire set jumping around and having a ball all thanks to that musicians friend, adrenalin, before collapsing into a heap at the end of the night. More importantly, playing the Rickenbacker with the bridge pickup cover removed and the wee black plastic thing installed instead meant that I could actually play it instead of fighting between playing in front or behind it. I also raised the strap quite high up to a Chris Squire level and it meant I could play it easier as well. I'm now a very happy, though unwell, chappy

It could be the valve, you can pick them up for less than £10 on Ebay. Just look for an 12AX7 or ECC83. You don't need anything fancy. A JJ Tesla will do the trick Is it, all the time or just with the valve preamp selected? There will be people more expert than me along but that's what I would try first before taking it to an amp tech

Presumably where Yamaha got the headstock design for the original Blazer basses?

The Rotos are totally smooth, quite high tension and the best sounding of all the flats I've used but I would say that Chromes are the highest tension