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Renaissance/Turner Basses Club

#1,023
porterbass said:
Rick Turner friends... Here's a Renaissance fretless 4 string at Guitar Center. (It's at the GC location right by me.) If you're looking for a fretless Ren 4, this is a good one. A 2003 version in outstanding condition. Cedar top, walnut body. Nice headstock that goes well with the cedar top. Seems to be a good price at $1,399.

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Here's my old one, from the 2005 Namm Show.

RB4-FL-Front-Full-1200_0279.jpg
 
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#1,024
porterbass said:
Rick Turner friends... Here's a Renaissance fretless 4 string at Guitar Center. (It's at the GC location right by me.) If you're looking for a fretless Ren 4, this is a good one. A 2003 version in outstanding condition. Pretty much a dup of Jeff's bass pictured above. Cedar top, walnut body. Nice headstock that goes well with the cedar top. Seems to be a good price at $1,399.
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Bought this, guilty as charged. I just happened upon the listing at the Chicago GC in a Hail Mary Google search after someone bought a used fretless Ren I had my eye on over on Reverb. After that, I took the risk of ordering a used item at GC, comforted by the fact that this gentleman on this thread said it looked OK. I figured that I could always return it if it was a total misrepresented wreck.

Ordered it late Saturday, got it today. Zero drama outside of the slack tracking that GC does. It's literally a time capsule piece, almost like someone bought it, put it away, and never played it. Plays and functions flawlessly, sounds great with what are apparently the stock Acousticore strings - certainly lives up to the reputation. The two 9v batteries are labeled 5/02 which makes this bass a 2002, and it has the side-install electronics with two little trimpots, which I guess are volume and bass boost, from some of the research I've done. Small but comfortable neck - sort of deviates from Sadowsky land and actually reminds of the neck on my EBMM Lukather guitar a little.

I can't stand any kind of string that rolls under the finger like TI or the Acousticores, so those will go. I'll get some phosphor bronze and tapewounds down the road and see how it goes. Pics to come as I assemble my paperwork and application to join the club!
 
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#1,026
cxcxcx said:
I can't stand any kind of string that rolls under the finger like TI or the Acousticores, so those will go. I'll get some phosphor bronze and tapewounds down the road and see how it goes. Pics to come as I assemble my paperwork and application to join the club!
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I didn't like the Acousticores first off but I'm really into them on my Renaissance fretless now, not sure they'd work on anything else though!
 
#1,027
Played a little Smalltown USA fall festival yesterday with my RB-5 Special. On the big stage at the Buchanan, Virginia "Mountain Magic Festival" with some friends I've played music with most of my life.
Mountain Magic.jpeg

The young lady on fiddle here wasn't even born yet when we started playing together. I have watched her grow into a fine musician. 30 years under the bridge on the rest of us.:unsure:
 
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#1,031
I purchased the bass from azbazz who was kind enough to sell it to me. I've seen reference to the top as Blue Gum, which from what I have found is a type of Eucalyptus. The sides and back are mahogany. Looks like a highly figured rosewood fretboard with abalone makers front and side. Maple neck, maybe walnut head laminates, or something else (can't think of the name right now).

Beautiful bass in great condition. plays and sounds beautiful!

70892AC9-24CD-459B-844B-9FFB3334BEF8.jpeg 0DED6C69-0460-43FA-A824-5C03A396A9B3.jpeg 8B324E9C-C4C5-4D30-86E0-7D6CD90FE391.jpeg CCA8D4D2-2B25-4091-B02D-9CA481321140.jpeg 26EC1F0B-6F38-4D9D-8D92-06458C4B5E8B.jpeg 93D7675E-64F5-4692-88E0-0724D9E15C43.jpeg
 
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#1,036
"Knock Knock... Mind if I come in?"
Just unboxed a fretless 4-string Ren purchased here on TB, and I couldn't be happier!
Back story... I am a big fan of fat p-bass necks and tape wound strings, and I had been off-and-on searching for a fretless acoustic/electric bass. I thought I would not bond with the slimmer neck profile of the RT and acousticore strings. I had been talking to another TB member about an old Fender bass he was selling, and I happened to mention that his RT Ren (also for sale) would come very close to scratching my fretless itch. But I said I didn't think I would bond with it. He surprised me with an offer I couldn't refuse, and so... I DIDN'T refuse!
It arrived tonight and after 30 seconds of playing I realized that my apprehensions were ridiculous. This is a fantastic instrument! Picture doesn't do it justice. Will post more details and pics soon. My face hurts from smiling!
RT Ren.jpg
 
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#1,037
T-boneParish said:
"Knock Knock... Mind if I come in?"
Click to expand...

Come on in, Welcome, Congratulations & Compliments. That's a fine-looking Ren 4 there. Curly redwood I think? Yep, Rick's guitars are like that. If you get it, you really get it. I get the same feeling playing mine today as the first time.
 
#1,038
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#1,040
A couple of weeks ago I adopted a wonderful fretless 4-string Ren, but I hadn't been able to spend much time with it until I got back to town Monday night. Here are my thoughts…

I absolutely love this instrument!

Over the past 40 years I have owned many different basses – Fender, Gibson, Ric, G&L, Yamaha, Guild, and several lawsuit basses – but I have never played a bass like this.

The feel in my arms is thin and light – much better than the jumbo acoustic basses I have played.

I sometimes like to play with my thumb and index finger -- with palm mute or without -- and my pinky fits right into the comfy groove at the bottom of the bridge.
Ren pinky.jpg


I thought I would mostly play jazzy upright-type music with this bass, but I'm gravitating towards heavier, groovy stuff like Led Zep, Jamerson, and R&B. Led Zepellin "Ramble On" is a perfect tune for this bass.

Last night I went through an overdrive pedal and I was in heaven!

The upper register is reminiscent of brass instruments like tuba and trombone. Actually, the fretless slide sound is very trombone-ish.

The acousticore strings are slinky and unusual, and that's a good thing. They roll under my left-hand fingers when I play vibrato, and roll under my plucking fingers when I really dig in. Actually, I have been digging in aggressively, and this is causing me to develop callouses higher up on my index fingertip than I ever had. New callouses!

In fact, this bass is causing me to play different music than in the past. Different technique, different voicing… It just sounds like a different instrument. Kind of like a Moog synth with a bendy pitch wheel.

The mother-of-pearl neck dots catch the light and shine green like an LED light. Very pretty, like the twinkle in my woman's eye.

All in all, I am really smitten with this wonderful instrument.

As I said in a previous post, I didn't think I would bond with the thin neck and the acousticore strings, but I was wrong. This instrument feels perfect. It feels unique. It feels "just right." I would not change a single thing. I never thought I would say this, but my Custom Shop Precision is no longer my go-to instrument when I want to pick up the bass.

I am in heaven – and it is a heaven I didn't know existed until a couple of weeks ago.
 
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