The earliest UK Rose Morris Promotion advert I can find is from April 1964 and the earliest sighting I can find is John Entwistle from The Who's High Numbers episode July-Oct 1964.Any info on earlier dates will be much appreciated.
Query,Were DC RM1999's in the UK shops April 64 or on order and then shipped over around May 64 which would tie in with the Enwistle first sighting?
Thanks Mil
Re: My 1999 Ric is older than Squire and Macca's
Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 10:10 am
by pag
I have a June 1976 Beat Instrumental interview in which John Entwistle mentions having the first two RMs. He said “I bought the first one to come into the country but it had “teething troubles” and had to go back so I bought the second one”. He didnt say what the problem was with the first one.
Re: My 1999 Ric is older than Squire and Macca's
Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 10:45 am
by collin
pag wrote:I have a June 1976 Beat Instrumental interview in which John Entwistle mentions having the first two RMs. He said “I bought the first one to come into the country but it had “teething troubles” and had to go back so I bought the second one”. He didnt say what the problem was with the first one.
I believe he called it a twisted neck, but described it as the action being 1" off the fretboard, indicating it was another neck issue.
Didn't Roger Waters have the same problem with his 1999?
Re: My 1999 Ric is older than Squire and Macca's
Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 3:27 pm
by jps
collin wrote:
pag wrote:Didn't Roger Waters have the same problem with his 1999?
Why am I not surprised, after how it got played.
Exhibit A:
Re: My 1999 Ric is older than Squire and Macca's
Posted: Fri May 14, 2021 3:22 am
by Mil
I've spent many an hour through the years searching clips for RM's with dodgy necks,mine(DC179) had that ailment at one time.
I remembered around 40 years ago removing an old worn faded sticker from my case with the word Love just visible,remnants of the glue are still there.
So,was it my old bass on the clip? it's a long shot,it brought a smile to my face and I'II leave it there.
By the way,on Everlasting Love session musicians recorded it,the bass by Russ Stableford probably using a Fender,cough,cough.
The song caused a bit of a stir back then-
So it's back to searching for dodgy necks and old cases with faded stickers.
Cheers Mil
Re: My 1999 Ric is older than Squire and Macca's
Posted: Fri May 14, 2021 6:30 am
by pag
In more recent years with the benefit of the various technical hints tips and expertise of guitar restorers here on the Resource and elsewhere its a knocking bet that the RMs with “teething troubles” and bent necks were repairable but the know-how was not available locally here in Britain at that time. The dual truss rod must have flummoxed your average single truss experienced bassist. I owned another RM DD458 which had a replacement fretboard done long before I owned it probably due to a botched truss rod job or whatever. I found RMs to be pretty tough basses in general. Ive owned three including Maurice Gibbs bass (DH163). The Gibb bass was so tough I used to bend the neck as an effect when playing it in a post punk new wave band and it never warped. Other than a bit of a tweak for relief on DA24 when I first bought it I never had any problems. Were the first batch of RMs suffering from climate problems after being shipped from California to London? Probably.
I tried the “ex-Blackfoot Sue” RM at a Denmark St shop in ‘76. I think they wanted four hundred quid for it. I said to the guy in the shop that it looked like someone had used it to dig up the road. It had chunks out out of it and was a real wreck. Two years later I bought Maurice Gibbs RM for £295 and it was a peach.
Re: My 1999 Ric is older than Squire and Macca's
Posted: Fri May 14, 2021 11:34 am
by Mil
You got a great bargain there,I had to break my bank and pay an extra £30 more than yours,a new one was beyond me at the time,I think around £450 in 1982.My mate also picked up a 1968 100 Watt Marshall Super Bass and Cabinet around the same time for a few hundred quid,happy days.