Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

The bit about Donovan's bass was quite interesting. Would this be the same bass that appears in the "Hold Out Your Hand" promo?

http://yesmuseum.org/video/Fish.mov

If so, it's a honey!!

Squire's own website says that the bass was repaired by Rickenbacker after the headstock was broken off.

But that's a true statement. After the headstock was broken off (and fixed by someone else) we repaired it.

I misspoke the quote from the site is. "According to Chris' guitar tech, Richard Davis, the headstock was once completely broken off and had to be restored for Chris by Rickenbacker." I did not see the post over on the RIC site so pardon me if I miss a detail here. The headstock was broken off then repaired by an otherwise skilled luthier who inadvertantly backfilled the truss channels with glue. The bass then goes to RIC for further repair and that is when the fingerboard was removed and the truss channels were cleared of glue. Is that about it?

I thought Al Gore invented Ric-o-sound ...

Well, other than the omission of the other person who fixed the head first, Richard Davis's statement is pretty true! Anyway, you got the whole story right now. For what it's worth.

Anyway, I've thought about it and there really isn't any shame in the glue incident- otherwise, it was a masterful job, so I don't mind mentioning it was done by Michael Tobias.

Comments made like Chris' treble pup being disconnected and the comments made about Paul's bass when it came back to Ric make me wonder. As much of a prize it would be to play Paul's, Chris', or Geddy's basses, I suspect that they may be so beaten from years of road use, you might come away wondering how they made such great music on such a beaten piece of wood... May not live up to the expectations.

Al Gore the father of the Internet and Ric-o-sound WoW??

Pay to play Squire's RM1999? No way on earth.

Anyway, re Donovan's old bass... I thought this was it, the other RM1999 he used on the Grey Whistle Test vid for his solo album...

I think it was back in the early 80's when Geddy was interviewed by Guitar Player mag. He said that he loves Rickenbackers but the rigors of touring were taking their toll. I recall him saying that his basses were constantly being "rebuilt". I was not surprised when he switched to Steinberger. Back then I just assumed that he would tour with the Steinbergers/Wals but use the Ricks in the studio. Of course, that was not the case. John Entwistle complained about how his Alembics would need constant adjustment as a tour progressed. Climate changes, being carried in the bellies of airplanes, bangs and bumps, and just regular play can take the life out of any instrument.

Is that the same Michael Tobias of MTD? I've used some of his Tobias basses and I like them quite a bit. I'm looking around for a used Killer B 5-string now; I like their sound compared to a lot of active basses.

I've met Michael a number of times (his shop's mere miles from me.) Good guy and a truly great luthier.

Yes that's the same Tobias. He sold Tobias Guitars to Gibson, so he also has to use a new name. Same reason Ned Steinberger uses the name NS Design now.

I learned fretting (and other stuff) from a guy who worked for Michael back when his shop was in Florida. He had one of the very first basses Tobias made and a few nice guitars, including a double neck.

humidity changes are tough on a bass ... the wood in the neck expands and contracts with humidity changes ... every spring and fall I do neck adjustments on quite a few 5 string basses ... even though I run humidifiers and dehumidifiers it is impossible to keep the basses in a 50% humidity environment all year long ... then when you gig and travel you are subject to a lot of climate changes ... when rush went to Brazil they did an outdoor stadium gig in the rain ... that has to be tough on equipment ...

For some reason, the only two wood basses that I have that seem to be impervious to climate changes are my 68 4000 and a Warmoth Jazz neck that is graphite reinforced. Even my Fender graphite necks seem to move.

on my 1968 4001 I never adjusted the truss rods ... I just adjusted the bridge every spring and fall ... on my mighty mite fender necks I give them a couple of coats of tung oil to help seal the wood to prevent s curving ...