isaac42

On 4/22/2024 at 12:54 AM, daddymack said:

looks dangerous...you could poke your eye out on that!😉

Not impossibilistic!

$90 for a black Burning Fire. Not Glarry branded. Came from Ktaxon, about whom I know nothing. I intend to experiment with the wiring. I have a few ideas I want to try out.

My main bass in the surf band I play in is a short scale Rickenbacker 4005XC.

On 1/30/2024 at 11:29 AM, Super Bass said:

I think it's still broken

Nah, it's not broken. It's just that no one uses it anymore.

On 12/25/2023 at 2:28 AM, nbaptsta said:

My main issue with the HB is the weight! Reviewers says that HB is heavy!

Your call. I mainly play Rics, which run about 9 lbs. I have one that's about 13 lbs, and I agree, that's heavy. I also have lighter basses. A Glarry is 6, maybe 7. Cheap, too, at least here in the States. I got mine for $87. They tend to be more now.

On 12/22/2023 at 9:57 PM, daddymack said:

Purdy...and, IMHO, 'not as bright as a stock Ric' is a good thing.

That's what tone controls are for!

The HB wouldn't have to be a better bass. If it's as good, at a lower price point, it's a better buy.

The thing is, though, that whatever you buy can be modified or upgraded down the line, should you so desire. As badpenguin said, play them, if possible to see what suits you. I'd say, especially in terms of feel. Does the neck feel good in your fretting hand? Does it sound good all by itself, not plugged in? Pretty much everything else can be changed. Better/different pickups, strings and electronics. Better setup. A bit of fretwork, if necessary. All can make a difference.

I am not personally familiar with either model. With the SX costing half again as much as the HB, I'd go HB unless there were a compelling reason not to.

I'm getting a piano. Inheriting it. I'm the only musician in the family, so it seems logical. Either I get it, or it goes away. Mom always wanted me to have it, anyway.

We've had it as long as I can remember, though my brothers remember when we got it. It's a Winter&Co upright grand. Full keyboard, only two pedals. The soft pedal doesn't work the same way as on a grand, but that's the way it is. Doesn't matter, as I don't have room for even a baby grand.

Piano will be delivered tomorrow, midday.

Meanwhile, having cleared out a space for the piano, I currently have a bit of empty wall. I have taken this opportunity to take a pic.

This a 1978 Rickenbacker 4001 in BurgundyGlo. It has Bartolini pickups. Some don't care for them, but like them quite a bit.

At some point, likely when the Barts were installed, something got changed in the wiring such that the Ric-O-Sound doesn't work. I should probably fix that one of these days. Meanwhile, it works fine with the STANDARD (mono) output. Sounds great, though not as bright as a stock Ric.

On 12/14/2023 at 8:15 AM, zzach said:

 

Balls.

On 11/23/2023 at 5:33 AM, Jazz Ad said:

nope

Nope, what?

15 hours ago, DeepEnd said:

Not that I'd know but I'd expect an 8-string bass to be a niche instrument.

Very much so. Not many bands would find it right for even a full set, let alone full time.

I understand that the bassist for King's X uses a 12-string bass! I don't know why anyone would want not one, but two octave strings, but he's not me.

Cheap Trick has also used a 12-string bass: https://www.12stringbass.net/cheap-trick-discography

I promise, I'll get back to this. Someday.

Meanwhile, I finished up the fashion show for our new band member today. She's seen all of my basses except the acoustic-electric Ovation.

Today was the Hagstrom 8-string. I also brought the H8 strung for 4, because the 8 tires my hand quickly. I always figured that it was the 8 strings, but now I'm not so sure.

Two weeks ago, I took the H8 strung for 4, and noticed that my hand got tired. Shouldn't, as the Hags are short scale, so ought to be easier to play, not harder. I gave it some thought, and checked the nut depth. Sure enough, the E string was high. The extra effort to push the string down on the lower frets can tire a player out pretty quickly. So, I took it down to my local guitar shop and he filed down the nut slot a bit. Played it today, and it was much better.

Playing the 8 tired my left hand out quickly. Sure enough, the nut slots are too shallow on that one, too. I switched after only one song (though we had played that one several times, trying to get it right). Played the other Hag for a while, then switched back for Sophia, in which I have a short lead. Sounded really good! Did not sound as good on Death of a Gremmie. That one seems to want more punch than the 8 strings seem to have.

Dunno if I'll use the H8 in performance. I guess we'll see. That's still a ways in the future. Meanwhile, it's in the shop for a setup. Should be much easier to play when i get it back.

I suppose I'd look on Amazon.

I wonder if it would be possible to switch the functions of the footswitch with the surface-mounted switch. That would be a cleaner implementation, if possible.

Probably not, though. If it were, it would have been done already.

No doubt. By the time that one disappeared, I don't think he was even playing it anymore. I suppose that's why it was in storage.

But I recall reading something a year or two ago, someone said to him, "You should play the Höfner." Not a Höfner, the Höfner. I assumed that his first one was meant, but I must have been wrong. Maybe I'm misremembering, I dunno. Don't suppose it matters much.

I didn't know it was missing. Seems to me that I've read interviews where he's said that he's played several Höfners, but they didn't sound like his old one, so he always played that one on recordings, but took a different one on tour. Makes sense not to take a special bass on tour; too many ways for bad things to happen. But if his original Höfner disappeared in '69, what's the old one he's been playing off and on since then? I dunno.

Anyway, if you know of any old Höfners laying around, might check them out.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66700300

39 minutes ago, JC Bass said:

Gorgeous!!!

Glad you like it. The 3001 has an interesting sound, not like any other Rickenbacker bass.

I apologize for letting this slip, but I promise to pick it up again. Probably next week. I'll be out of town this weekend.

 Friend got in touch with the designer. Had a nice conversation, and he told him how to reduce the volume of the crash. He also said that most people wanted it to be louder!

Anyway, my next project is to reduce the crash volume.

Pickups and pots can be replaced. Necks, not so much.

I have long thought that, if it feels good in your hands, and sounds good unplugged, everything else can be dealt with. And a lot of problems can be fixed with a good setup. Took me a while to learn that.

3 hours ago, daddymack said:

I am actually somewhat familiar with many iterations, [as I would think Isaac42 would be as well] but, unfortunately, there were so many violin bodied basses in the late 60sup tothe early 1980s [I owned two, one an Eko, and another Japanese no-name] and beyond that definitively nailing this down from a fuzzy pic is nearly impossible. It is also possible that that headstock on the bass was refinished white to match the bass. But the head stock does not match Hofner of the era

Actually not. I don't think I've ever played one, and never really wanted one. I do find them more appealing now, in my old age.

Probably due to dementia!

So get back to 1975 and get us a clearer picture!

No idea. Good luck!

He says it has a problem: it works too well!

Specifically, the reverb crash is too loud. Y'know, like a real reverb crash. I hope he can find a use for it. The reverb itself sounds really good.

I did some looking. Seems there was a 200, as well as a 300 and 400. I got the impression that they were low end basses. Not bad, I'm sure, just not high end stuff.