I had another addition yesterday. It wasn't planned just kinda happened.I was idly thinking about an Ashbory,it would
fit great in my bag when stuck in motels with work,but the Ashbory was not to be
This popped up on Gumtree
It's a Retrovibe RV4. David Konig who is Retrovibe had these made a couple of years back,then John Hall from Rickenbacker got his lawyers
involved and the RV4 was discontinued.David normally gets short runs built,my Evo and Zygote basses are from runs of 12,so there were very
few of these sold.Pity as it's a belter of a bass.Obviously you know what it's shaped like but the 2 MM pickups lean towards well MusicMan and
Stingrays.I think it's a set neck under the flawless white,has a very nice binding job,4 wire pickups so series/parallel are an option,good inlays,
comfortable neck. In all a damn fine bass.
When these first went on sale they were £299,bloody cheap price,not as cheap as our HBs but Retrovibe is a one man band so David can't get
the prices Thomann do.I've a lot of time for Mr Konig,when the Rick lawyers struck He was left with stock he couldn't advertise or sell but he
took the hit and bounced back with new models,see the current range here.
retrovibe.co.uk/index.htmlMr K also knew I was looking for a certain bass(not one of his) and put me in touch with the seller.You get the picture,Mr K is No Treble he's all
about the !!!!
He sent me a wooly Retrovibe hat at Christmas not as an endorsee but cause I'm bald (yes)
Anyway back to the RV4. It had the worst set up I've ever encountered,string height was 8mm
D & G were jumping out the nut slots
A shoe
lace was acting as a string tree
and the saddle grub screws were wound right out.Looks like no-one had ever adjusted the truss rod,quarter turn
and it all became good,I'll be keeping an eye on it next couple of days though. All I can tell you is it's playing very sweetly just now.
So after all this why did I buy this bass? I'm not a fan of Ricks. Simple ! would you believe the asking price was £80 inc hard case.Used Retrovibe
Vantage normally are £200.It would have been criminal not to buy it
I did endure 4 train and 2 bus connections to get there and back,to Blairgowrie
no relation I'm afraid, 7 hours total.
Worth every second.
KB