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Anyone actually use Rick-O-Sound?

#41
The curious anachronisms are what make Rics cool. I like all of them. Ric O Sound is best with 2 amps, but you don't need anything more arcane than a stereo-to-two-mono instrument cable. I did eventually sell my 4001. Every 4003 I tried was lacking tonally to me ever after; reading that the 4003 didn't have the cap the 4001 did, I figured that might be why. Glad they put it back, with a switch. If they'd only put back the contrasting stripe of wood in the middle of the neck, I might be tempted to try one out.

I did some recording with my 4001 panning one pickup L and the other R. There was a noticeable difference with no effects, just straight to the recorder. I liked it.
 
#42
JGR said:
i used it when i had mine running one pickup clean and the other overdriven into two different rigs and it sounded great, but its probably more than most folks want to both with on a regular basis.
Click to expand...

I can see using a volume / wah on the bridge p'up with distortion - Leaving the neck to hold down the fundemental of the tone while you play with the mid/high end...

Makes me want to wire my franken bass in stereo to give it a whirl...
 
#43
Fealach said:
The curious anachronisms are what make Rics cool. I like all of them. Ric O Sound is best with 2 amps, but you don't need anything more arcane than a stereo-to-two-mono instrument cable. I did eventually sell my 4001. Every 4003 I tried was lacking tonally to me ever after; reading that the 4003 didn't have the cap the 4001 did, I figured that might be why. Glad they put it back, with a switch. If they'd only put back the contrasting stripe of wood in the middle of the neck, I might be tempted to try one out.

I did some recording with my 4001 panning one pickup L and the other R. There was a noticeable difference with no effects, just straight to the recorder. I liked it.
Click to expand...

I have a vague recollection that a big difference between the 4001 and the 4003 was that the 4001 had no truss rod, and the 4003 introduced that big square area around the nut - - Am I remembering correctly?
 
#45
BigOldHarry said:
I'm not Jonesy, but I have to agree - I find the feel of Rick's to be awful. They sound dandy - and look very cool, but the necks just don't work for me (and as a HUGE Chris Squire fan as a kid, that really pissed me off:mad:).
Click to expand...

guess it's personal. i've never liked fender necks. up too narrow and down too wide. for my taste. rick neck felt just right. body edges are too square, i keep it kinda low [not as low as on my knees, but low] and it tends to hurt my right hand wrist. nothing a bandana could not cure.

anyway - rick-o-sound - i find it quite useful. as guitar players are switching pups on/off - so can we. two rigs - big deal. total control of your sound. split effects, different rigs. left channel/right channel.... your imagination is the limit.
 
#47
pjmuck said:
Interesting. So if using the stereo Y cable into the Rick-O-Sound input does that automatically bypass the mono input or can you use that in conjunction with the Rick-O-Sound? (i.e 3 outputs).
Click to expand...

Bypasses the mono IIRC.



BigOldHarry said:
I have a vague recollection that a big difference between the 4001 and the 4003 was that the 4001 had no truss rod, and the 4003 introduced that big square area around the nut - - Am I remembering correctly?
Click to expand...

4001 had 2 truss rods, like the 4003. Don't know about the big square area, my experience with the 4003 has been limited to looking at them, thinking "aww, no stripe down the neck," sitting down with one, playing a bit to get the feel of it, thinking "yuck," then plugging it in and thinking "yuck" again so I may not have noticed everything.

4003 neck was thicker, though I heard they are thinner on the new ones (the ones with the cap on a push-pull switch; haven't seen any of those though). I'd probably like one of the new ones quite a bit better than I did the 90's models I've played if that's true. Wouldn't want one without the stripe, though.
 
#50
While on the topic of Ric O Sound when I plug into my ROC input my bass cuts out. If I pull the 1/4" cable half way out it works. What's the deal do I have to run 2 cables to make this thing work right or is something wired wrong?
 
#51
DW1969 said:
While on the topic of Ric O Sound when I plug into my ROC input my bass cuts out. If I pull the 1/4" cable half way out it works. What's the deal do I have to run 2 cables to make this thing work right or is something wired wrong?
Click to expand...

Thats what happens when you plug a standard mono 1/4" Tip Sleeve signal cabel in. For ric-o-sound, you need a tip ring sleeve to 2 1/4" signal, also known as a TRS insert or stereo Y cable.
 
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#53
I used to run Ric-O-Sound in the 70's. I think Squire, Entwistle & Doug Pinnick also use a form of it.

Run the treble pickup through a tube amp (I use a Traynor YBA-1) with a little "grit". Keep the neck pickup clean & boomy. I use an SVT.

I found when playing in a 3 piece situation, that when the guitard started his solo I could add some sizzle and it didn't sound like the middle dropped out.

I'm 50 now and its just too much work!
 
#54
I've had a plan for a thunderbird mod that's something like this. Someone here posted pics of a t-bird with a Dimarzio Model One type pickup (maybe a Willpower Neck, I forget) they installed. Gave me the idea to do a similar install, but then run two outputs: one with all three pickups (each with a stacked vol/tone control), one wired just to the big mudbucker neck pickup. That way, you could use all three pickups mixed how you like in mono, or send the standard two pickups to one amp and the mudbucker to a second. I got an Epiphone Goth T-bird on ebay for cheap, one of these days I'll get around to routing the pickup cavity...
 
#55
I've played around with it on my Rick, but ultimately nothing serious with it.

It does kinda sound cool when the outputs of the pickups are panned hard left and right in a stereo mix... the timbre difference between the two pickups kind of creates a subtle "surround sound".

I'll agree it is kind of an archaic thing, a holdover from yesteryear. You can pretty much get the same effect by just splitting a mono signal, and EQing each path differently (ie, a "virtual .0047 capacitor" can be placed on one path via a high pass filter), and the only thing you would really be losing would be the unique timbre of neck pickup on one path and the timbre of the bridge pickup on the other. Lots of bassists already do this... I read about Amy Humphrey splitting her signal into multiple amps... and ironically enough, she was playing a Rick 4003 and not using the Rick-O-Sound jack!

It's one of those things where if RIC discontinued it, the purists would be crying murder. (And John Hall, who personally sees it as outdated, likes to point out that on all "modern" Ricks such as the 4004 bass, there is no Rick-O-Sound.)
 
#57
lawsonman said:
I'm curious what makes them uncomfortable for you? I'm fairly short ( 5'8" ) with small hands and I hardly know I've got it strapped on.
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For what it's worth, I'm 6'2" with average sized hands.
I've been playing Fenders for so long now that to me, that's how a bass should hang on a guy. Ric's just don't hang comfortably on me.
Aside from that the most uncomfortable thing about them is the sharp edged binding around the entire front of the bass. It cuts into my forearm when I hang my arm over the bass. Over the years, I have been able to borrow Rics for gigs and rehearsals, so I've spent time with them. I find them just uncomfortable enough that I can't pull the trigger and buy one. But if I ever see an 4003S (that's the discontinued "no binding" model, right?) that is priced OK, I'll probably find a way to buy it;-)
 
#58
Ric5 said:
snip...cutting through the mix and good tone are 2 different things.
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OK, I'll bite...would you like to expound on this?
If it doesn't cut through a mix, how do you decide it has good tone?
(If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it etc...)

Thanks for the pic of the P-bass with Ric pups. How do you like it?
Does it sound more like a Ric, or more like a Fender?
 
#59
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned Billy Sheehan. OK, so he doesn't play a Ric but his Yamaha Attitudes are all stereo wired and he runs the neck pickup to one rig EQd for loads of low end, with the back pickup going through a second rig EQd much higher and with distortion.

When you see him demonstrate the way he can manipulate the tone using the two volume pots you realise just how flexible this system can be.
 
#60
WeeMann said:
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned Billy Sheehan. OK, so he doesn't play a Ric but his Yamaha Attitudes are all stereo wired and he runs the neck pickup to one rig EQd for loads of low end, with the back pickup going through a second rig EQd much higher and with distortion.

When you see him demonstrate the way he can manipulate the tone using the two volume pots you realise just how flexible this system can be.
Click to expand...

Very true. Also, is that bass wired with two mono jacks or a config. like the Ric?
 

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