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A Bass with a Rickenbacker sound

#61
bigtone23 said:
I fully believe a big part of Ric tone is pickup location, in addition to pickup design.
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i always agree with this if just wiring passive/direct....some basses, however, have different filtering and series/parallel options that allow more shaping control that, if the pickups arent in the right spots, they can be faux approximated (especially if using a parametric filter)
 
#62
Rib 13 said:
i always agree with this if just wiring passive/direct....some basses, however, have different filtering and series/parallel options that allow more shaping control that, if the pickups arent in the right spots, they can be faux approximated (especially if using a parametric filter)
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StereoPlayer said:
Ya know. I've said this before with discourse( is that a real thing?:smug:)

My 4001 ric sounds like a ric...unplugged.
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#64
bigtone23 said:
I fully believe a big part of Ric tone is pickup location, in addition to pickup design. Many moderate wind single coils will get close to the High Gain tone, but they do have to be located at the 24th and 36th fret area to get that harmonic node/tonality that is so signature. I have no experience with the Bison, but do have it with the T40 and actual Ric 4001/3. The T40 (in single coil mode) has it's pickups shifted a 1/2-3/4" towards the bridge vs a Ric. I measured out my friend's 74 4001 (as well as an 82 T-40) and adjusted the numbers to 34" scale to get these specs. This, in part, explains the brighter tonality of the T40. It's pickups are close to Ric positions, closer than most other basses, which mostly place pickups based on P, J or Stingray sweet spots.

This is purely speculation on my part, but a fellow TBer is acting on it and will have results soon. The Peavey Patriot has a single Super Ferrite-a moderately wound, aggressively toned single coil (much like the High Gain) located pretty much right where the Ric bridge PU is located-it's just 1/4" more towards the neck. The theory is that putting another Super Ferrite at the 24th fret location and a 3 way switch should result in a pretty good facsimile. We will see...

When I find an appropriate Patriot, I'm going to do this, too. Real Rics are priced higher than I care to spend, Chickenbakers, too, for that matter, once you account for some parts and electronic upgrades, proper fret and nut work, too. Patriots are really cool, inexpensive basses, and I love 80s Peaveys. I do enjoy a project, too.
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Yup!
 
#67
bigtone23 said:
I fully believe a big part of Ric tone is pickup location, in addition to pickup design. Many moderate wind single coils will get close to the High Gain tone, but they do have to be located at the 24th and 36th fret area to get that harmonic node/tonality that is so signature.
Click to expand...

I think this is probably the key. I'm always surprised that people try and copy the outline of Rickenbacker basses rather than the (very basic) technology that lends them their tone. Pickup type and location are pretty key. The wall-to-wall maple construction helps too. Maybe the slightly shorter 33'' scale length helps as well, as the strings will be a little bit slacker at a given pitch?

I owned a Godin Shifter bass for a while, and the neck, neck + middle and middle pickups all sounded pretty Rickenbacker-ish.

Godin-Shifter-Bass-Body-620x399.jpg
 
#69
klejst said:
Perhaps but if you're looking for the Rickenbacker sound what really else would be the staple starting point other than an actual Rickenbacker though?
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As stated, my old, 2005, pre-vintage circuit Rickenbacker 4003, didn't sound like a Rickenbacker (assuming we're referring to the "classic" Rickenbacker "clank").

It sounded excellent, but it didn't give that classic Rickenbacker bass sound that everyone refers to, and I am assuming is the whole point of this thread, is for someone who is trying to achieve "that" Rickenbacker sound.
 
#70
Skybone said:
As stated, my old, 2005, pre-vintage circuit Rickenbacker 4003, didn't sound like a Rickenbacker (assuming we're referring to the "classic" Rickenbacker "clank").

It sounded excellent, but it didn't give that classic Rickenbacker bass sound that everyone refers to, and I am assuming is the whole point of this thread, is for someone who is trying to achieve "that" Rickenbacker sound.
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Ric-o-sound does that.
 
#72
Surprised nobody else mentioned it yet, but you can get a pretty good Ric emulation out of a G&L L2K in treble boost mode with new rounds. I bought my 83' L2K for that exact reason, having just stupidly sold my 79' Jetglo. The G&L L2K is a more versatile bass in almost every respect, but it never made my heart race like the Ric. I'd compare it to the T-40, a real "swiss-army knife" bass that will cover a lot of the more common bass tones. L2K's are common on Ebay for $800-1000, so a little cheaper than most used Rics, but not cheap either.
 

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