re = /(^\w+\s\w+\s\w+\s)(\d{3})(.*)/m
str = 'Bach 2000 v03CD15 045 - Cantatas BWV 147-149
Bach 2000 v03CD05 1 - Cantata, BWV 112
Bach 2000 v03CD05 10 - Cantata, BWV 113
Bach 2000 v03CD1 1 - Cantata, BWV 100
Bach 2000 v03CD1 10 - Cantata, BWV 101
Bach 2000 v03CD1 020 - Cantata, BWV 102
Bach 2000 v03CD10 10 - Cantata, BWV 129'
subst = ''
result = str.gsub(re, subst)
# Print the result of the substitution
puts result
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html