I'm a multi-instrumentalist musician from a little, if not hugely controversial country called Panama. I've been playing professional since age 12, of my 60 something years. Heat & humidity down there are quite high yearlong, & combined with never been adjusted; the neck/truss rod, the Hofner Beatle bass ended up with an immense bow. Thus an impossible way to play comfortably with such a high string height action. Worst, the action was so high; that it actually detuned or went sharp as you played towards the 12th fret. Tuning it flat to compensate... yeah right. It sounded great, as what we hear in Paul's recordings, but no; I passed up the purchase. Then in Miami, early 80's; a music store owner offered me this used Rick really cheap, that had (maybe still has?); a symmetrical body shape. I recognized the model from the inner sleeve cover picture, of Deep Purple's Machine Head. The full picture of the bass is not part of the collage, but there's one with the bass player & part of the band; him standing with it. The front picture, has a Fender... Jazz, P bass?. As with the Hofner, it had a bad bow & worst; it was bent or twisted to one side. Took it to various luthiers to get fixed & even to a Cuban Tres maker. No fix. Really too bad, it had a beautiful blue-green color. The bow was not as bad as the Hofner & it was playable, as we did all we could to compensate for the fault. Both the Hofner & the Rick, have been designed with thin necks (wide wise & the thickness). Maybe necks made of ash or maple & if so, they rely on the truss rod to compensate for the thinness & possibly the softer wood. They also are set necks to the body, so the can't be removed easily or without damaging that wood bonding. >>> Big time error with this & any new guitar you buy, is not to adjust that vital truss rod as soon as you get it <<<. Plus periodically, say every year as needed or as temperatures & seasons change. That is what happened to the Hofner & Rick basses & combined with the high humidity of Panama & Miami, plus the high temps... well there you go. Next post, a little bit more on this & that. Oh... what I was able to find on Deep Purple's original Machine Head album, DEEP PURPLE Machine Head British Hard Rock Vinyl Record LP Record Collector's Information #vinylrecords ...
