Fender Rumble Club

[Linnin]

Anyone ever seen Fender bridge covers with bottom cutouts?

No, I have not. Not even modified. I guess the easiest and most popular modification was to just take them off and throw them away.

From a production standpoint, it would have cost more. Having new dies machined to stamp out the parts is expensive. A different bridge cover design may have also required additional labor. Leo was notoriously 'thrifty'. In high school Leo studied book keeping, and as anyone that lived through the Great Depression, he was very tight with a penny and wasted nothing.

Leo was a first rate tinkerer and inventor. He had no electronic background at all, with the exception of loving radio and reading books on radio repair while in high school. This coupled with self taught radio repair gave Leo his start.

During WWII the man who would become Leo Fender's business partner, Don Randall, was a radioman and repairman in the Army Air Corps (there was no Air Force back then). He was so good at it, that he was kept in California to teach new recruits. Randall had electronics training where Leo had none. Don Randall also named nearly all of Fender's products. He ran Fender Sales and made Fender into a well respected brand known world wide. He also brokered the deal to sell Fender to CBS in 1964 for thirteen million dollars.

 

[G-Dog]

. . . I guess the easiest and most popular modification was to just take them [ashtrays] off and throw them away.

From a production standpoint, it would have cost more. . . . Leo was notoriously 'thrifty'. . . .

Leo was a first rate tinkerer and inventor. . . .

Did Leo not know his customers were throwing away his finely crafted bridge covers? Waste not, ...!

I thought he did at least some ergonomics studies, ok, maybe just took user feedback from selected musicians. It's even been said that Leo basically designed the contoured Stratocaster after complaints about the edges of the Telecaster body from Western Swing artist Bill Carson. Did no one ever tell Leo that the bridge cover made changing strings inconvenient? Doesn't sound like something the first rate tinkerer would let pass.

Just wondering.

 

[DerekW]

No, I have not. Not even modified. I guess the easiest and most popular modification was to just take them off and throw them away.

From a production standpoint, it would have cost more. Having new dies machined to stamp out the parts is expensive. A different bridge cover design may have also required additional labor. Leo was notoriously 'thrifty'. In high school Leo studied book keeping, and as anyone that lived through the Great Depression, he was very tight with a penny and wasted nothing.

Leo was a first rate tinkerer and inventor. He had no electronic background at all, with the exception of loving radio and reading books on radio repair while in high school. This coupled with self taught radio repair gave Leo his start.

During WWII the man who would become Leo Fender's business partner, Don Randall, was a radioman and repairman in the Army Air Corps (there was no Air Force back then). He was so good at it, that he was kept in California to teach new recruits. Randall had electronics training where Leo had none. Don Randall also named nearly all of Fender's products. He ran Fender Sales and made Fender into a well respected brand known world wide. He also brokered the deal to sell Fender to CBS in 1964 for thirteen million dollars.

And subsequently started Randall Amplifiers.

 

[Roger Ammons]

And subsequently started Randall Amplifiers.

Played a Randle stack back in the mid eighties. Thought I was somebody with two twelves on the bottom a fifteen with two tweets and a horn on top. I think it was an rb 200 ?? Not sure. But was two hundred watts. Thanks for the memory

 

[Linnin]

Did Leo not know his customers were throwing away his finely crafted bridge covers? Waste not, ...!

That, I can't tell ya 'cause i don't know.

maybe just took user feedback from selected musicians. It's even been said that Leo basically designed the contoured Stratocaster after complaints about the edges of the Telecaster body from Western Swing artist Bill Carson.

Let me go dig out Forrest White's book, 'Fender - The Inside Story'. Chapter 9: The Fender Stratocaster' pages 79-92. There is a lot more in there than I am going to relate.

"Freddie Tavares told me the complete story of the concept and design of the Stratocaster. He said that when he went to work part time with Leo in March 1953, no drawings had been made on the guitar, and he himself drew the shape of the body and neck according to Leo's exacting directions. I asked Freddie where the ideas came from for the guitar. He told me different musicians had offered their opinions, but he thought Bill Carson gave Leo most of the ideas."

Freddie Tavares would be Leo's right hand man in R&D from that time on. Freddie was a native Hawaiian, and played steel guitar; 6 string electric guitar, and the Fender Precision Electric Bass. He was good friends with custom guitar maker, Paul Bigsby. Some will point out the headstock of Bigsby's custom guitar for Merle Travis, and say Leo copied it. No he didn't. Freddie Tavares drew his own stylized version. Bigsby didn't sue, so there you go. Freddie Tavares is far more instrumental to the success of Fender than many folks know.

 

[GregT]

I just deleted my last post because I used voice to text without proofreading it. Duh!!! I am not even sure what it said myself.

What I meant to say was about the ashtrays on old Fenders. We didn't change strings back then. Flats lasted nearly a lifetime and pretty much still do.

Note to self: Proofread before posting!

 

[Linnin]

Note to self: Proofread before posting!

Where's the fun in that?

 

[Linnin]

And subsequently started Randall Amplifiers.

Don Randall had a really cushy position as a CBS Vice President in charge of their musical division. He left in 1970 and started Randall Amplifiers. I have never read anywhere if he were forced out as Forrest White was, or if he was just fed up with CBS.

 

[Dare Rivas]

Thanks guys! Now to start shopping the used departments haha. Although from all the love the rumble line is getting pickings might be slim!

 

[Linnin]

Need a light?
Invalid Link Removed

 

[Linnin]

Thanks guys! Now to start shopping the used departments haha. Although from all the love the rumble line is getting pickings might be slim!

Just buy new! Click 'n' Ship! Easy! Easy!

 

[Matthew Fisher]

No, I'm not kidding. Someone might need it. My place is too small to keep it, so I thought I 'd offer before I took it to the pasteboard recycling dumpster.

I've got one as well in case anybody needs the full cardboard stack. ;-)

(Edit: Oops, necropost. Carry on!)

 

[baileyboy1]

Long story, then question for those of you well-versed in both the Rumble 210 and 112 cabs:

I have a Rumble 500 combo that I really like, and recently acquired two different amp heads merely out of great opportunities (a used GK 700rb mkii that GC had marked at $180 with absolutely no issues; a Genz Benz Shuttle 6.2 that I got essentially for the price of three pedals that I sold just prior to getting it). I bought a Rumble 210 cab for the heads as well as an extra cab for the 500 combo. It works very well with all three of these amps (not as bright as a GK Neo cab matched to the GK head, but still very good with that amp).

Now my question: while I got the 210 cab because it would match well with the combo and serve as a nice cab for the GK and GB heads, a part of my wanted to actually get the 112 cab just to try something different. I've only ever had one other 112 for bass, a GK combo with a 112, which sounded very boxy. However, there seems to be a lot of love for 112 over a 210 setup, and 212 over a 410 setup. Just curious to hear from others what I might be missing. Worth it for me to try the 112?

 

[Linnin]

I've got one as well in case anybody needs the full cardboard stack. ;-)

(Edit: Oops, necropost. Carry on!)

It's OK. Mine has gone to recycling reincarnation. ... Ohm ...

 

[Linnin]

Worth it for me to try the 112?

I don't think so. Especially since you have Rumble 210 already. The best use of the Rumble 112 is on top of another Rumble 112. With a Rumble 500 head it is a killer mini-stack that always has people shaking their heads in disbelief.

 

[G-Dog]

A few non-Fender bridge covers I've encountered facilitated string changing with bottom cutouts!

Anyone ever seen Fender bridge covers with bottom cutouts? I'm surprised if Leo, the consummate engineer, never tried that. Anyone . . . Anyone . . .

FOUND IT! Leo had it functionally, if not aesthetically, correct on the '51 P-bass!!! But he lost that functionality on the newer versions, while gaining considerable aesthetics, IMO. Sorry, even though it allows string changes without removal, to me, this ONLY looks good on the '51 P-bass (Tele).

 

[Linnin]

Leo had it functionally, if not aesthetically, correct on the '51 P-bass!!!

True dat, but what would turn out to be a problem was the very same through body stringing (just like the telecaster) of yet to be invented flatwound bass strings. V.C. Squier of Battle Creek, Michigan came up with a design that would work. Until 1957 when Leo re-invented the Precision with a new split-single coil pickup and what would become the industry standard bass bridge in the simple string through the bridge L-plate with four adjustable barrel string saddles. This new Precision design would stand the test of time like no other. Still going strong some 59 years later. Not only that, but modern versions of the original 1951 Precision are still being made to this day.

 

[bdowd]

I bought my 200c used, didnt have to worry about this, but you guys who purchased rumble cabs new, what was your speaker break-in time? What method did you use? I have a 112 on the way, excited to hear it with the combo.

 

[Matthew Fisher]

YMMV, but I never got the B string to sound quite right on my La Bella FL sets. I really don't like the tapered B string as I don't think it blends well with the other four. Plus, I feel like it sounds bad above the 7th fret, and for me, five stringed basses aren't just about low notes, it's about the ease of having an extra string and also the tone of the B string on the higher frets. When you hit the 12th fret on the B string, it has the potential to sound so much fuller and richer than the same note on the E or the A string. I feel like with the La Bellas, I didn't have even tonality between the B and the rest of the strings.

I was and still am a devoted La Bella user with four strings, but eventually, I got fed up and decided to try the GHS Precision Flats 5 stringed set. Haven't regretted the change. They're not only cheaper than the La Bellas, I think the .126" B string is outstanding.

If you want more even tension, it makes sense to use extra light top four strings to go with the .126" B string, but the standard M3050-5 is a pretty good set, and available for extra long scale (I play a 35" scale). The tone is similar to a La Bella. In a recording of a song, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Just to follow up on this, after a few months with the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] set, I'm finally ready to try the GHS Precision Flats that you that you recommended. Just to see for myself how that B string sounds and plays.

5-string video demos for the GHS Precision Flats have been hard to find, but here's one. The B string definitely does sound at home with the rest of the set. The audio quality isn't great, but the B string fits in very well -- even on the 10th fret, which he plays several times in a Stevie Wonder lick that starts at about the 3:42 mark. I thought other people might like to hear it.



I will of course be playing the new strings through a Rumble -- what else?

 

[someguyfromNC]

You guys might thing I am strange... I love my V3 rumble 500 210 combo and extension cab. BUT for as good as it is for Bass... I found it even better for a keyboard. It is just ridiculous how good it sounds in a club even without pa support. I even had to use it for guitar one night when a buddy of mine showed up.

This thing can seriously do it all.