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Renaissance/Turner Basses Club

#921
My very first Rick Turner bass, bought new from Rick Turner himself. RB-5 #13-3182 was a NAMM Show demo to show off full gloss poly on quilted maple. Technically it's a Custom, with some Standard and Deluxe features.

#13-3182 (angled).jpeg

3182 stamp detail.jpeg

The rosewood accents on the plastic backplate and truss-rod cover are my doing. They are meant to match the 'Dingus' strap extension, and you know... just look cool if you notice stuff like that. I sometimes think about swapping the chrome hardware for gold.

3182 plate detail.jpeg

3182 control detail.jpeg

#13-3182 headstock.jpeg


La Mar Del Fuego...
#13-3182 front (full).jpeg

#13-3182 front.jpeg

#13-3182 back (full).jpeg

#13-3182 back.jpeg

...The Sea Of Fire.
 
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#923
EdwardofHuncote said:
My very first Rick Turner bass, bought new from Rick Turner himself. RB-5 #13-3182 was a NAMM Show demo to show off full gloss poly on quilted maple. Technically it's a Custom, with some Standard and Deluxe features.

View attachment 4139392
View attachment 4139389
The rosewood accents on the plastic backplate and truss-rod cover are my doing. They are meant to match the 'Dingus' strap extension, and you know... just look cool if you notice stuff like that. I sometimes think about swapping the chrome hardware for gold.

View attachment 4139395
View attachment 4139396
View attachment 4139433

La Mar Del Fuego...
View attachment 4139397
View attachment 4139398
View attachment 4139399
View attachment 4139400
...The Sea Of Fire.
Click to expand...

That wood is just outrageously gorgeous! I wouldn't dare take it out of the house for fear of the slightest mark...
 
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#924
ficelles said:
I wouldn't dare take it out of the house for fear of the slightest mark...
Click to expand...

Oh, it has its share of little boo-boos... nothing more than casual though. This was my main bass for a good while in a neo-oldtyme band that is kinda' on hiatus while new parents and newlyweds adjust, and while they rebuild my spine with Titanium plates and screws. I do musical instrument repair on the side (mostly on upright basses) so I am fanatically careful with my instruments, but I play every single one of them. Turners, Alembics, even a Squier Tractor. If I can't gig 'em, I don't want 'em. :bassist:

Lemesee if I can find an old picture... here's one from a hot, sweaty, gym gig we used to play twice a year. It was a called Contra Dance. It was probably 85° in that joint. Poly finish holds up well... I'd have worn Nitro home with my shirt. :facepalm:

New River Bound .jpeg

That was 5 years, and almost 100 lbs ago. Wow. :facepalm:
 
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#926
Has anyone tried any alternative strap extensions for their Renaissance bass? That flat metal bar isn't exactly pretty, I was thinking of something curved with a scroll at the end in bronze or similar...
 
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#930
hey EdwardofHuncote. when you polished the Thoms with sandpaper..was it to get rid of the extra zing? i stopped using them when i had my Ren made into a fretless, been using LaBella white nylon strings but I have had it with them, and thinking about MAYBE switching back..but:
this is a 5 30" scale with a high C...I cant find any thom sets in 30" scale.
 
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#931
johnp352 said:
hey EdwardofHuncote. when you polished the Thoms with sandpaper..was it to get rid of the extra zing? i stopped using them when i had my Ren made into a fretless, been using LaBella white nylon strings but I have had it with them, and thinking about MAYBE switching back..but:
this is a 5 30" scale with a high C...I cant find any thom sets in 30" scale.
Click to expand...

Just made them smoother, faster, more flat-like.
 
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#934
EdwardofHuncote said:
My very first Rick Turner bass, bought new from Rick Turner himself. RB-5 #13-3182 was a NAMM Show demo to show off full gloss poly on quilted maple. Technically it's a Custom, with some Standard and Deluxe features.

View attachment 4139392
View attachment 4139389
The rosewood accents on the plastic backplate and truss-rod cover are my doing. They are meant to match the 'Dingus' strap extension, and you know... just look cool if you notice stuff like that. I sometimes think about swapping the chrome hardware for gold.

View attachment 4139395
View attachment 4139396
View attachment 4139433

La Mar Del Fuego...
View attachment 4139397
View attachment 4139398
View attachment 4139399
View attachment 4139400
...The Sea Of Fire.
Click to expand...
That is absolutely gorgeous and...wow. that's just spectacular.
I brought my Flamed Walnut RB-5F to church to play a kinda toned down set a couple of weeks ago and it always sounds great! Smooth and woody but growls really nice digging in with the AcoustiCores. Anyway, this last week I brought a different bass (Am. Dlx. Jazz 5) as I've been rotating a bit more the last month or 2 and Pastor comes up to me right after service and asked about the Turner just gushing about how beautiful the bass is!!
Rick not only makes beautiful basses, but great playing and sounding basses.
 
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#936
mtb777 said:
That is absolutely gorgeous and...wow. that's just spectacular.
I brought my Flamed Walnut RB-5F to church to play a kinda toned down set a couple of weeks ago and it always sounds great! Smooth and woody but growls really nice digging in with the AcoustiCores. Anyway, this last week I brought a different bass (Am. Dlx. Jazz 5) as I've been rotating a bit more the last month or 2 and Pastor comes up to me right after service and asked about the Turner just gushing about how beautiful the bass is!!
Rick not only makes beautiful basses, but great playing and sounding basses.
Click to expand...

Thanks, and yessir... great tools are what he proclaims. That's pretty accurate, and he occasionally makes them attractive too with his own little artistic touches. The Boss definitely has made his marks. I've had both of my Electrolines out for the past month in rotation, and been really enjoying them after a good while cased-up. Even in the cold-dry months here in Virginia, they are remarkably stable. The action on the Renaissance basses never even moves with those AcoustiCores. I'll swap out and play them next.

Lately, the Model One bass has been joining me at a biweekly acoustic jam a few of us are doing to beat the lockdown blues. It is just perfectly suited for sitting in a circle and playing. The shorter scale and smallish body... it's just irresistible to not noodle on it between tunes. Maybe we hear what we want to hear, but I'm starting to wonder if it isn't even better at the acoustic gigs than the Renaissance basses are. Probably depends on the day and the gig. I am very much looking forward to an actual gig situation to find out.
 
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#937
EdwardofHuncote said:
Love those ebony neck laminates too. :)Curious though... the LED circuit is battery powered I guess... is it separate from the preamp power supply?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure. I think there is only one or two batteries in the cavity, so I assume it is powered off the same source as the preamp. As I recall, the switch only works when plugged in. I sent it in to have a little mod done, it's on its way back now so I will check the LED power source when it gets here.
 
#939
RVBASS said:
Sent it in to have the active preamp installed, it now has the full electronics. Looking forward to checking it out this week.
Click to expand...

That semi-parametric equalizer is a humdinger of a circuit. Anxious to hear what your impression is after messing with it. I have used mine both ways, for boosting lows and for cutting highs. It can get eXtreme real quick. It's almost like the dampening ratio and frequency sweep of an SF-2. That's the experienced effect, anyway.
 
#940
Question on the D-Tar tone control, how is the taper on other people's instruments? Mine is brightest at full anti-clockwise then does very little until the last 5% of clockwise travel where it goes quickly from bright to very dark, like it's the wrong taper in the wrong direction... also doesn't have the stepped feel of the volume control. As it's an old instrument I"m wondering if it's been replaced at some point...
 
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