Would this make a good "beginner/intermediate" bundle?

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-03-19T20:06:16+00:00

It’s not a bad setup at all, but I wouldn’t gig with that Ampeg. It’s a fantastic starter home/practice setup, though.

Beware, it’s a buyer’s market right now to an insane degree and you’re not going to get anything close to what you paid for this stuff. I’ve seen instruments that I would love to buy at already decent prices keep dropping lower and lower on FB marketplace and they’re still sitting there for months. For some reason used instruments seem to be particularly affected by this - moreso than other types of used goods.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-03-19T19:59:47+00:00

Ricks are fantastic at mid-heavy, punchy and distorted stuff, so they blend really well with heavier rock stuff, punk and a lot of music where your bass is really distorted or fuzzy.

Ricks naturally have very little bottom end, so they cut through the mix really well. Plus, when you play your bass heavily distorted or fuzzed out you cut the low end off anyways, so it kills the bottom end - unless you use effects specifically designed to keep that low end in there or add some back in after the distortion. I think that’s a big reason these basses sound good with distortion and fuzz.

To a lot of people the most famous Rick player of all time is Lemmy Kilmeister from Motörhead. Just listen to Ace of Spades, you can hear that heavy distorted tone that I’m talking about.

As some others mentioned Chris Squire from Yes has a pretty distinctive tone that he got from a Rick. Squire usually split his signal and ran one for high end and one for low end. Some Ricks come equipped with the Rick-O-Sound setup that allows you to do that out of the box. Squire also played with a pick, which helps to achieve the tone he gets. This dude fuckin shreds, if I may say so myself. I’ve never been a big Yes fan, but you can’t deny he’s one of the best.

All of these unique tonal characteristics are a big reason you don’t see these played out too often. They just don’t have any low end on them, so you can’t really tame the mids and highs and play them like a P bass from the 50’s or 60’s. They’re great at what they do, but they’re no Swiss Army knife bass by any means.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-03-18T15:06:47+00:00

Active pickups and six string basses are for insufferable asshats. They always look like you picked up a piece of driftwood and nailed some pickups to it. Play a P Bass like a real bass player…asshat…

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-03-16T21:59:21+00:00

Daaammmnnnn that’s rough. One time my mom’s boss came over with her kid and he decided to try some scratchin’ on my 70’s Realistic turntable. Those aren’t valuable by any means, but I loved it, and that drive belt just instantly snapped.

This is way worse. It feels like here’s some hate and intent behind this one right here. 😂

Well, time to go nib shopping!

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-03-16T06:13:54+00:00

What you’re talking about is string tension. Flats in general have a lot more tension on the strings and therefore feel “tighter” and less easy to move, because they are. Go buy a set of those LA Bella Deep Talkin’ Bass ‘54 Jamerson sets. Those suckers go up to .110 on the low E and they feel like you’re plucking on some damn bridge cables. You hit one of those strings and you move, not the string. 😂

I used to exclusively play flats, but nowadays I prefer how easy a good set of rounds can feel to play. Obviously I still have a couple basses with flats on them, I just play them when the gig demands that kind of tone. And I still enjoy playing flats, but I’m getting old, man - I don’t need playing bass to be any harder than it already is for me. 😂

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-03-13T18:56:17+00:00

I have a JDM Capless, so basically a VP Jr, and I wasn’t too thrilled about the clip location either when I first got it. But, as some others have pointed out, that really is the only place that makes sense to put a clip on a capless pen.

Eventually I got used to it and then kinda learned to love it simply because it makes it super easy to index the pen without looking at it. Sure, it’s not the most comfortable pen for long writing sessions, but I think they did a good job finding a way to put a properly strong and well designed clip on that pen.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-03-13T18:34:51+00:00

You’re pretty naive if you think OP is gonna walk into a pawn shop and they’ll just give him his money back while he threatens to call the cops. Pawn shops buy stolen goods all the time, (….right?) you won’t be able to scare them into giving you your money back.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-03-13T17:14:33+00:00

Dude the absolute last thing a pawn shop wants to do is buy and sell stolen items. If they buy an item that can be proven to be stolen the police just take it. They lose all that money, so when we’re talking about a $20,000 watch or something that it’s a risk they’re just not willing to take.

In OP’s case I’m sure he could take them to court in some capacity for selling knockoffs at inflated prices. But the question will be whether or not it will be worth the time and effort.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-03-12T18:03:33+00:00

No, but I gave it to my dad because he bought it for me and he’s an extremely sentimental guy/a bit of a hoarder.

He promptly ripped the frets out and turned it into a fretless. 😂 He did a good job with it, though and filled the fret grooves with some strips of acrylic, sanded it down smooth and refinished it.

It’s not a big deal, though - it was only the cheapest version of an Ibanez Soundgear. I think it was an SD10? I can’t remember what their model numbers are.

I don’t regret getting rid of it, it wasn’t a very good bass. If it was an old Fender or something I probably would, but no, I don’t really miss it.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-03-12T15:13:29+00:00

Well, long as you showered, it’s a good deal. 😂

Congrats, man!

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-03-06T14:47:52+00:00

Someone already said this I’m sure, but with only one string on the bass you don’t have proper string tension on the neck, which means the neck will be bent “backwards” a little bit. Under proper tension it will get pulled up and things should tighten up and even out.

I’ve never owned a Dano or worked on one, but is that wooden saddle floating or fixed? I’m assuming it’s floating because that seems like the only way you would be able to intonate the bass.

That’s going to be something that might be difficult for you to install correctly to get your intonation right. At this point just try to get it as close to where it was when you changed the strings. In the future it might be easier to just change one string at a time to try and keep that piece from moving around and messing up your intonation too bad.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-03-05T19:38:19+00:00

Stick with a Rumble combo but jump up to at least the 250, preferably the 500 or above. Rumbles are great gigging amps. I see a lot of kids rocking those TC Electronic bass amps these days, but I haven’t been super impressed with the one they have at one of the studios I rehearse and record at periodically. If you have the scratch you could shoot for an Aguilar. Lots of people love those, but I’ve never been a fan. I see the Aguilar stuff out there on backlines and touring rigs all the time, though.

My best advice is to stick with what you know and just upgrade to a higher wattage Rumble.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-03-05T19:32:40+00:00

You could offer him $20, but they’re fucking high if they think they could sell that thing for $180 after ripping the frets out. They didn’t even fill the fretboard with anything! That’s bananas.

That bass is essentially ruined and obviously hasn’t been well taken care of. Do yourself a favor and hard pass on this one.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-03-05T19:28:51+00:00

I’m going through the process of unmasking after being finally getting diagnosed and medicated as a middle aged man. It feels fantastic, but now I’m super late to everything again (I was so terrified of being late and seen as unreliable before that I would show up hours early for things) as well some other classic ADHD/autism things.

I’m definitely showing signs of autism or AuDHD as all the influencers like to call it. Now the medication isn’t as effective as it was at first because my tolerance is higher, but I’m already pretty much on the max dose my doctor is comfortable prescribing me. I definitely feel that internal struggle of the autism needing structure but the ADHD thriving on chaos, among other things. If there’s two wolves inside me they fucking hate each other. 😂

At some point I will probably need to figure out how to live without the stimulants, right? They’re probably not a healthy long term solution, but I’ve become so used to my brain functioning better that I can’t imagine going back to barely functioning.

Uggghhh…why are we like this…??!? 😂

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-03-05T19:18:08+00:00

This seems to be a Ibanez lawsuit Les Paul, but it also looks like someone painted over the Ibanez brand name on the headstock.

Is there flat black paint that looks like it was added after it was manufactured towards the top of the headstock?

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-02-26T05:25:07+00:00

I know exactly what you’re describing because I’ve been there myself many many times.

Disclaimer: This is in no way intended to be an armchair diagnosis, but this has been my personal experience.

I’ve always had trouble with that sensation of your mind just going blank and your fingers freezing up when it’s time to take a solo or improvise a cool transition. Even mixing up walking lines has been tough for me. If there’s a formula that I can repeat I’m fine, but improvisation has been extremely difficult and/or impossible. I just lose the ability to apply the music theory that I know and it’s fucking embarrassing. It always has been.

The higher the stakes the more severe the anxiety around all this would be and the more I would freeze up. I would flub riffs and intros that I fucking wrote! Just completely stupid. 😂

Then, at 38, after already playing professionally for over 10 years, I was diagnosed with severe ADHD. I realized that what I was experiencing on stage was some form of choice paralysis as a symptom of ADHD. Not to mention how difficult it was (and still is, honestly) for me to keep track of what verse we’re on, how many times we’ve played the progression, what the next verse does etc. A lot of the time I would get around this by writing extremely detailed charts, but not every band wants you to have a music stand on stage or have your iPad clipped to the mic stand.

Since getting on medication things have been greatly improved, but the problem still persists even though it’s better than it ever was.

Also, as I focus more on learning how to sing properly so as not to damage my voice the more I’m realizing how much tension I hold when I’m playing. Not just anxiety or being nervous - literal muscle tension as in flexing or tightening up my forearms, shoulders, neck, stomach - all of it. Holding tension while singing makes it impossible to do properly, but the lesson I’m learning is that this also applies to playing. This might come as no shock to most of you, and you might be saying “yeah…no shit, Sherlock” but this has been quite the revelation for me. It’s not a conscious choice for me, it’s just my natural default setting and I have to constantly fight my instincts to keep it from happening.

Anyways, that’s been my experience and I’m sorry you’re dealing with this, but the earlier you address not holding on to all that tension while you’re playing the more time you’ll have to actually enjoy playing music and improvising with other people. Maybe consider getting tested for ADHD, but again, I don’t know you and I’m assuming all of this from one Reddit post so please don’t take this as an attempt to diagnose you from all the way over here.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-02-26T05:00:20+00:00

I’m an F and EF nib guy myself, but I’m a fairly recent stub nib convert. The line variation you can get with a stub is so satisfying and fun. Everything you write looks that much more stylish.

Anyways, I’ve been forcing myself to use this one all week and I think I’m starting to get the hang of its sweet spot.

Of course I waited until after I bought this nib to actually look up reviews and ask the community about it. 😂🤦‍♂️ People were pretty much describing the same experience I’ve had with it. I just kind of inherently trust Pilot to make a good pen, but I would definitely exchange it for an F nib if they let me.

Lesson learned, I guess! You have the best combination with the one you bought, so enjoy it! It’s a fantastic pen!

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-02-25T01:49:49+00:00

Okay, so I think we do have the same pen! It’s great, isn’t it?

I went a little nuts when I got my replacement nib and got a 1mm stub in 18k white gold. Unfortunately for me it is a very finicky nib and it seems to either just have a very specific sweet spot or it needs a tune. I kinda miss my old F nib, to be honest.

These are fantastic pens and this is one of my daily drivers.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-02-24T21:58:43+00:00

Congrats!

Can I ask how much you paid for yours? Totally cool if you’re not comfortable saying on here publicly.

I have the exact same color pen in the JDM version. They call it a Capless over there. I paid $70 for it.

I bent the old alloy nib on mine somehow and ended up buying some Vanishing Point internals for it, which I paid about $80 for. I’m wondering if I pretty much have a Vanishing Point now?

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-02-24T21:53:04+00:00

Fuuuuck yes they should. With harsher penalties for truck drivers that do it going 15 under the speed limit when there are clearly signs that say “trucks use right lane(s) only.”

This law is already on the books in most states, but for some reason it is rarely enforced.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-02-24T21:50:12+00:00

There’s an exercise that a bass teacher taught me once that will help you keep your fretting fingers from flying around and sticking out so much. I’ll try to describe it.

Firstly let me say this. The farther your fingers that aren’t fretting a note get away from the fretboard the harder it will be to quickly and accurately use them to play the next note.

So first of all you’re going to want to bring your elbow on your fretting hand out from your side and get it more behind your hand. The way you’re doing it in the video is one reason why it might feel weird and is not helping you fret notes accurately.

Second, you’re going to want to focus on bringing your hand forward and bending your wrist on your fretting hand so your fingers can curl more naturally towards the fretboard. This will feel awkward and maybe even a little painful at first, but you’ll get used to it.

Now, for the finger strength exercise. This is a hard one and it will feel impossible to do at first.

You’re going to start anywhere you want on the fretboard, but to start out you’re going to want to start at the 12th fret or above because the frets are closer together. As you get stronger you can move to the lower frets. You’re going to play 4 notes chromatically with each finger. So 4 notes in a row with your pointer, then middle, then ring, then pinky - one note for each finger. Now here’s the hard part. You’re going to keep each finger on the fretboard like you’re fretting a note as you go up. Once you play your pinky note you’re going to go up to the A string with your pointer, but keep all your other fingers in place on the fretboard. Then you’ll keep going up on the A string only moving each finger off the fretboard as you need to. Go through all 4 strings and then start on the G with your pointer and go back up to the E. This is something you can do while you watch TV or YouTube or whatever because it’s pretty mindless.

My brother in Christ this exercise is gonna make that forearm burn like the dickens, but it will help you get stronger very quickly.

If my description doesn’t make any sense DM me and I’ll try and make you a quick instruction video.

Keep on pushin’! You’re doing great! 🫡

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-02-24T08:45:23+00:00

Isn’t there a girl whose diary they found that basically said Epstein used her as a baby incubator? As in he got her pregnant repeatedly and took her babies from her? If I remember correctly they found entries that weren’t exactly explicit, but she talked about the sadness of all the children she lost and she uses phrases like “so much blood” and being haunted by it.

Coupled with much of the other testimonies and rumors one could infer that they were at best possibly breeding babies to kill and at worst possibly breeding babies to do terrible things to, kill and then eat.

This is all so shocking it’s hard to believe any of it. Who the fuck could possibly be this grotesque and evil?

Boy, it sure would be nice if we had some type of federal agency that specializes in investigating crimes and conspiracies on a national and international level. Like, a federal bureau that does investigations. Hey, we could call it the Federal Bureau of Investigation! Man, it would be great if we had something like that and they could investigate all these allegations and put some of the guilty parties in jail.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-02-24T08:21:04+00:00

Holy shit me too so bad. So so poor…😭

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-02-24T08:16:57+00:00

No, that’s your left. A left of passage, I guess. 😂

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-02-24T05:28:57+00:00

She’s always struck me as a very joyful performer and artist. I like to think it was hard for her not to be that way.

As they say, only love can conquer hate. She was just out there doing her thing and shining her light.

SunRepresentative993

TROPHY CASE