During a discussion with Rick he suggested lightly sanding the bottom side of the strings to smooth them out some.
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Renaissance/Turner Basses Club
- Thread starter EdwardofHuncote
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Nice. Mine is a 2010 I purchased used.. . Mine is a mwah monster! More mwah than any other fretless I have
- Aug 21, 2013
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- I privately own and operate a local musical instument repair shop.
Hmm... like about a 600 grit ultra-fine. That could work. Maybe I'll try that on a used set. I caught a deal on a 5-string set of Acousticores for $94 a while back, and have been holding them back for when this bass came back from the shop.
I have a standard RB5FL strung with Acousticores. I love the bass, but unfortunately don't play it as much as I used to. I got it primarily for a faux upright sound in small musical theater pits where there wasn't enough room for my '39 Kay DB. More and more, I find myself able to use the upright, which, of course, is a good thing! The Ren is a wonderful instrument with its unique voice and sensitivity, I will just have to redouble my efforts to find appropriate situations to gig with it.
One thing it is missing is one of the small round decorative buttons at one end of the bridge points. It came off sometime during a run of "Hair" a couple of years ago. Someday, I'll have to call Rick and see about ordering a replacement.
Cheers,
Dennis
One thing it is missing is one of the small round decorative buttons at one end of the bridge points. It came off sometime during a run of "Hair" a couple of years ago. Someday, I'll have to call Rick and see about ordering a replacement.
Cheers,
Dennis
I wonder if those are just the top ends of acoustic guitar bridge pins? If so, you should be able to take care of that pretty easily.
- Aug 21, 2013
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I'm with Jeff on this one... they look like just the tops of wood bridge pins. A carefully placed drop of CA adhesive and a couple of these ought to fix that.
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- Mar 1, 2005
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- Endorsing Artist: Crook Custom Guitars
Agreed, they do look a lot like the top of a bridge pin.
Strangely, they are also the only cosmetic item I don't really care for on my RB5s. I wouldn't purposely remove mine, so as not to potentially devalue the instrument, but I am curious...what does it look like without them? Any marks left behind after they were lost/removed?
Strangely, they are also the only cosmetic item I don't really care for on my RB5s. I wouldn't purposely remove mine, so as not to potentially devalue the instrument, but I am curious...what does it look like without them? Any marks left behind after they were lost/removed?
- Aug 21, 2013
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@biobass, :thumbup: on the 1939 Kay DB...
I'm finding it interesting even if not unsurprising, we Renaissance players have similar gigs. Until a few years ago, upright bass was my main instrument, and I never was totally happy with the metallic sound of conventional electrics on the gigs where I needed one. I'll always go to the trusty upright when genuine DB sound is needed, but the Renaissance bass has become an integral part of "my ideal sound" for about a 60/40 split.
In what might be the oddest circumstance, I'm getting away with using an RB5 in a string band, in a region that is traditionally intolerant of any kind of plugged-in bass. Granted it's fairly polished neo-oldtyme/chambergrass/contradance music... but overwhelmingly, people comment on how much they like the 'different' look and sound of the Renaissance.
I didn't expect that level of acceptance, but I'll sure take it.
I'm finding it interesting even if not unsurprising, we Renaissance players have similar gigs. Until a few years ago, upright bass was my main instrument, and I never was totally happy with the metallic sound of conventional electrics on the gigs where I needed one. I'll always go to the trusty upright when genuine DB sound is needed, but the Renaissance bass has become an integral part of "my ideal sound" for about a 60/40 split.
In what might be the oddest circumstance, I'm getting away with using an RB5 in a string band, in a region that is traditionally intolerant of any kind of plugged-in bass. Granted it's fairly polished neo-oldtyme/chambergrass/contradance music... but overwhelmingly, people comment on how much they like the 'different' look and sound of the Renaissance.
I didn't expect that level of acceptance, but I'll sure take it.
Do a Google image search for Panormo guitar, this is most likely the reason they are there in the first place. The bridge would probably look just fine without the pinheads but it works for historical reasons.
I don't have it anymore, but I briefly owned the one on top here (6-string fretless Ren):
Sounded awesome, but I wasn't enough of a fretless guy to keep it.
Sounded awesome, but I wasn't enough of a fretless guy to keep it.
- Aug 21, 2013
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- I privately own and operate a local musical instument repair shop.
I bet it's less noticeable on satin finished basses. There's a beautiful glossy sunburst RB4 STD at the Guitar Sanctuary that's missing one of the bridge tip ornaments. Pretty obvious in the picture of that one.
Thanks for the tips guys, I think you are on to something with the top of the bridge pin idea.
I have a suspicion that the reason the Ren may be tolerated a bit more in some situations is that not only do they have a unique, "acoustic" sound quality, they also have a more "acoustic instrument" look to them. I have a few musical directors that I work with who specifically request that I bring the Ren.
The Acousticores are my string of choice on the Ren, but I have used TI Jazz Flats and Labella nylon-coated flats on it for some shows that I was using an ebow to cover some arco parts. Obviously, the ebow doesn't work with the Acousticores.
I also have a Fender acoustic/electric Precision Fretless (kind of a poor man's Rob Allen) strung with the Jazz Flats, that serves some of the same purpose as the Ren, but the Ren gets much more use. To complete my stable, I have a '65 Jazz with TI Jazz Rounds and a Roscoe Beck V with TI Jazz Flats.
Fun discussion!
I have a suspicion that the reason the Ren may be tolerated a bit more in some situations is that not only do they have a unique, "acoustic" sound quality, they also have a more "acoustic instrument" look to them. I have a few musical directors that I work with who specifically request that I bring the Ren.
The Acousticores are my string of choice on the Ren, but I have used TI Jazz Flats and Labella nylon-coated flats on it for some shows that I was using an ebow to cover some arco parts. Obviously, the ebow doesn't work with the Acousticores.
I also have a Fender acoustic/electric Precision Fretless (kind of a poor man's Rob Allen) strung with the Jazz Flats, that serves some of the same purpose as the Ren, but the Ren gets much more use. To complete my stable, I have a '65 Jazz with TI Jazz Rounds and a Roscoe Beck V with TI Jazz Flats.
Fun discussion!
- Aug 21, 2013
- 6,662
- 2
- 16,441
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- I privately own and operate a local musical instument repair shop.
I agree, the aesthetic attributes of the Renaissance helps. There's something about the look of a horned bass with metal parts that doesn't sit will with some of the unplugged folks I gig with, while others don't care either way. (so long as I'm centered up on the 1)
The sound however, wins over most skeptics in short order.
- Aug 21, 2013
- 6,662
- 2
- 16,441
- Disclosures
- I privately own and operate a local musical instument repair shop.
Mine has the older, slide out control panel from the side of the body. I have seen some with a round cover plate near the volume and tone controls which I wish mine had as I know some day one or both might need replacing (they are perfect now); this would certainly make it DIY if it had one.
The RB5FL (2000) I had was the Highlander ("There can be only one!") preamp. My current RB4FL has the D-Tar preamp in it.
I also have the older slide out panel that houses the input jack/preamp (Highlander) and batteries. Terrible design, not surprised to see that Rick changed it.
Has anybody heard both pre-amps and know if the D-Tar can be retrofitted into the older model Rens?
Has anybody heard both pre-amps and know if the D-Tar can be retrofitted into the older model Rens?
