The esscence of Rickenbackers?

[sikamikanico]

I love single coil basses and began toying with an idea of having a 4001 inspired bass built... I want the same scale and pickup positions, but I may rethink everything else! I'm mainly trying to get a McCartney-esque tone, so I'd be using flats...

Some questions I have:
1. Which replacement pickups would work the best?
2. Would a Schaller bridge work well? Any other suggestions?
3. Besides the scale and pickups (type and position), what contributes the most to the essence of the Rickenbacker sound?

Any ideas and suggestions are welcome!

[christw]

1. Genuine Ric pickups is all I can recommend. All the aftermarket Ric pickups out there are over the top replacements for the stock ones. (Have you seen Seymour Duncan's Ric replacements? Rail humbuckers!)

2. Take your pick. A bridge is a bridge to me. Get the one that you want and it'll probably do as good as any other one.

3. Pass!

[rick4001s]

hello
1. What christw said
2. What christw said
3. Maple neck & body with neck thru body

[pringlw]

Yep. Go with original Ricky pickups. You can buy them at "Pick of the Ricks" - which I think is simply pickofthericks.com

I don't know if the bass your having built is more expensive than a Rick or less expensive. If you are building a Rick inspired bass that is even remotely close (or more than) a Rick, I would just buy a real Rick. Nothing says Rickenbacker more than a Rickenbacker.

[AtomicPunk]

The essence if a Rick is "clank". There is something to the electronics being essentially guitar pickups used on a bass. Definitely go for the 1/2" spacing on the neck pickup. I think the thin, laquered neck has something to do with it too...but that's just me.

[lug]

Pup position, single coils, and neck-thru full maple bodies are the keys to the Ric sound, IMHO.

[sikamikanico]

i'm not having the bass built yet, I'm just "designing" it in my head... but it should be a cheaper version of a real Rickenbacker... can't afford a real one and a friend of mine started building basses, so I thought it may be a cool project! while I can get Fender copies at any price I want, Rick copies are not that common...

hmm, i see that pickups are not that cheap any reason the bridge pickup is twice the price of the neck pickup?

prices are from here:
http://www.pickofthericks.com/catego...-Bass-Pickups/

[I<34080]

You'd probably want a Horshoe+Toaster instead of the newer model pickups.

Really though, if you want THE Ric sound, you need a Ric, there's a bit of magic in them.

[kcole4001]

Here's a little nugget of info:

Ric5 (Jeff R) built a couple of SG bodied basses, with bolt on necks and used mainly RIC pups, though one had a J pup in the bridge position, and got a VERY Rick-like sound, so I believe the tone is largely in the pickups' placement, also in the single coil tonal palette. The pot values also make some significant difference.

These basses definitely did NOT sound like any SG type bass that I've ever heard before.

[kcole4001]

Finally found it!

Here's the link:
My 2nd Frankensteined 5 string SG bass build

[pig]

Originally Posted by lug

Pup position, single coils, and neck-thru full maple bodies are the keys to the Ric sound, IMHO.

Nailed it

[Fab4ever]

I would only add that if you're looking for the classic McCartney Rick sound, the bridge pickup isn't that important -- he typically used the neck pickup only. Not a lot of "clank" in his sound.

For what it's worth, I got an old maple Epiphone Ripper, took out the humbucker and substituted a toaster-style guitar pickup in there and it gets passably close to McCartney's sound.

Now, if I only had McCartney's fingers, melodic sensibility and overall musical abilities......

[xaxxat]

Pups at the 24th and 36th fret positions, or so I've been told.

[CostaBass]

I have a 81' 4001 Ric with flats, the bass is in perfect harmony. Not to much treble not much bass. It's perfect, it cuts through the mix with and holds down the bass.

Make sure you get the spacing right for the pick up. The location of the back pick up is key. The sound of ric alone comes from the back pick up. The front pick up is no different from a Gibson EB-0

[lunarpollen]

Originally Posted by CostaBass

I have a 81' 4001 Ric with flats, the bass is in perfect harmony. Not to much treble not much bass. It's perfect, it cuts through the mix with and holds down the bass.

Make sure you get the spacing right for the pick up. The location of the back pick up is key. The sound of ric alone comes from the back pick up. The front pick up is no different from a Gibson EB-0

I disagree... The old Gibson EB pickups were massive humbuckers with huge output.

And McCartney just used the neck pickup for the classic Beatles stuff. If a McCartney Ric-style tone is what you seek, I think that most important would be the correct electronics (same pickups, plus tone and volume pots with the same values), correct pickup position, Ric scale length, and proper string type.

After all that, what will matter most is the way you shape your signal after the fact, as well as your technique and feel. McCartney didn't use pristine transparent tone and hi-fi amplification on the Beatles recordings, so things like wood type, weight, body shape, etc. don't really matter so much. Listen to the bass tone on "Rain" for example; you aren't hearing the grain in the maple, that's for sure.

[jumbodbassman]

Originally Posted by lug

Pup position, single coils, and neck-thru full maple bodies are the keys to the Ric sound, IMHO.

all of the above and highly laquered bubinga fretboard...

[sikamikanico]

thanks guys, I think I got the right picture in mind!

[hdracer]

When I first got my '85 4003 with original hard case and opened it up it had the "essence" of a old musty basement. It took a whole bottle of Frabreeze to get that smell out.