I've wanted a fretless Rick Turner Renaissance for a couple years now, and was able to pick one up from the TB classifieds this last week. After spending a few days playing with it and tweaking it a little bit, I'm very pleased, with my only regret being that buying this will delay my ability to order the Serek Sacramento I also want.
Fit and finish are excellent, as you would expect on a bass of this pedigree. This is a less elaborate model (no binding or exotic woods), but I don't see any deficit of craftsmanship, and it's still a very attractive instrument. The bass is very light, so much so that neck dive can be a problem. The previous owner solved this with some ballast in the control cavity; I have been using a suede strap, which holds the bass firmly in place without increasing the weight.
The neck has a narrow nut but a nice round profile. I normally prefer a wider nut, but have adjusted fairly easily to this, and it does have some advantages. On the one hand, things can get a little crowded up by the nut, but on the other, the difference in neck profile between this and my fretted basses helps me keep the techniques separate. I do like the fairly flat fretboard and the smooth finish on the back of the neck. The lines are clear, which makes the transition to fretless much easier than it would otherwise be.
The piezo pickup is great and produces a unique tone. If my Rick 4004 is thunder, and my 4003 is lightning, this is the rain. It's warm, and can run from an upright-ish thump to a fretless horn-like tone to a more open rock sound, but it's always its own thing, especially with the TI Acousticore strings. The controls are simple (volume and tone) but powerful, and the bass played well with my rig (Mesa Buster and Verellen Meatsmoke preamp). I was surprised a how well it handled the Meatsmoke's overdrive, but it sounded really good with a nice, warm overdriven tone. This bass is also a delight to play unplugged, where it's a little louder than a normal electric bass.
Fit and finish are excellent, as you would expect on a bass of this pedigree. This is a less elaborate model (no binding or exotic woods), but I don't see any deficit of craftsmanship, and it's still a very attractive instrument. The bass is very light, so much so that neck dive can be a problem. The previous owner solved this with some ballast in the control cavity; I have been using a suede strap, which holds the bass firmly in place without increasing the weight.
The neck has a narrow nut but a nice round profile. I normally prefer a wider nut, but have adjusted fairly easily to this, and it does have some advantages. On the one hand, things can get a little crowded up by the nut, but on the other, the difference in neck profile between this and my fretted basses helps me keep the techniques separate. I do like the fairly flat fretboard and the smooth finish on the back of the neck. The lines are clear, which makes the transition to fretless much easier than it would otherwise be.
The piezo pickup is great and produces a unique tone. If my Rick 4004 is thunder, and my 4003 is lightning, this is the rain. It's warm, and can run from an upright-ish thump to a fretless horn-like tone to a more open rock sound, but it's always its own thing, especially with the TI Acousticore strings. The controls are simple (volume and tone) but powerful, and the bass played well with my rig (Mesa Buster and Verellen Meatsmoke preamp). I was surprised a how well it handled the Meatsmoke's overdrive, but it sounded really good with a nice, warm overdriven tone. This bass is also a delight to play unplugged, where it's a little louder than a normal electric bass.
