could a jazz bass with a harder/heavier wood body get a rickenbacker sound?

[bon viesta]

main components that make rickenbacker basses sound like rickenbacker basses: hard maple body AND neck, neck thru construction, and two single coil pickups.
now, normally a jazz bass would only check off one of these categories, but if you use a harder wood (waaaaaalnut anyone??) or denser and heavier wood than alder or ash, could you get into rickenbacker type ‘treble-ville’? i think rickenbackers are the only mainstream bass i’ve ever seen to use maple bodies, and not even counting mainstream stuff i don’t think i’ve EVER seen a maple body bass. well, i’ve seen 1-4 at most. like, on the webs. and that’s obviously for ergonomic purposes. but anyways, skimping out on the neck thru aspect do you think that a harder wood body with a two single coil pickup configuration could find a sound similar to ricks?

 

[bholder]

Nope. A J pickup ain't a Rick pickup.

 

[jd56hawk]

Why not just go this route?

 

[elgranluis]

Yeah.. just put rick pickups on anything , it will sound like a ric 99.87567%.

 

[GTHintz]

Honestly with the right set up and gear you'll sound like a ric. Naturally they are similar yet different sounding but I'd really have you listen to the Moving Pictures album from Rush if you're not familiar already. They used a Ric 4001 and a Jazz to record it. You can tell some subtle difference in each track where the Rickyness shines through moreso but they really sound similar and both sound awesome especially played by the legend himself. Geddy Lee.

 

[bigtone23]

If you put the J pickups in the Ric spots, it will take on more of that deeper, fundamental Ric tone. Same with putting Ric pickups in the J spots--you get more J burp. Of course this is an oversimplification, but pickup type and location go a long way. The settings on the amp take it further.
I have a Peavey Patriot with an added neck pickup. They pickups are agressive single coils located in the 24th and 36th "frets." This bass sounds like a Ric, despite having an alder or poplar body.
My Foundation with the same pickups in the J spots sounds more like a Jazz bass. This one must have a maple body, it's really dense and heavy.

 

[GretschWretch]

I believe the Gibson "big bottom girls"-- Ripper, Grabber, G-3 -- all had maple bodies.