Funny Rickenbacker Story

[Progfan44]

A lot of people who have been upset with their Rickenbackers have their own unique tales about their dissatisfaction with them (some guy on YouTube claims to have smashed one after a gig), but I entreat you to top this one. I made a stupid decision a few months ago (as documented in a thread on this site) to trade my Stingray 5 for a Rickenbacker 4003. I remember even when I went to pick it up being slightly dissatisfied, but I figured it would grow on me.... stupid stupid stupid... Needless to say after playing the thing for 3-4 months it did not grow on me, and the no output pickups, uncomfortable binding and rectangular neck finally took their toll on me and I sold it to a local music store for another Stingray. Flash forward a couple of months, I'm attending college for music on bass starting in a few weeks, so I decided to take the ray in for some fret work and a setup at a music shop about a half an hour outside where I live. I went in there last Friday to pick it up and there, sitting on the wall was the ol' Ricky, complete with the sharpie dot I put next to the volume knob to get the best tone I could out of it. I guess the guy who bought it after me had similar opinions about it... Putting it side to side with the ray only re-established how much better the ray was, I was getting more sound out of the ray with the amp on 3 than with the rickenbacker on 7. I guess the turnaround on these basses is pretty huge, so I'm not the only one with a really negative opinion on them. Anybody else got any funny Ricky stories?

 

[stacker]

Yeh - John Hall.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I was getting more sound out of the ray with the amp on 3 than with the rickenbacker on 7.

Of course. The Music Man basses are active & you can't turn off the pre-amp. Ricks are passive.
With a G&L you can achieve the Rick sound & the Ray sound, & you can also turn off the pre-amp if you choose.

 

[Milo Spleen]

Yes, I traded in a wonderful 62 Jazz for my Ric. Sold a new 73 Precision for $300 because the original assembly was so bad. Funny is I still have the Ric 40 years later. I actually wish I still had them all, but there is a possibility that some people don't like some guitars.

 

[dbase]

I always wanted a Ric 4003 because of the looks... I traded a 1967 Gibson EB2 + $700 for a brand new Ric 4003 and love the sound. Actually better than my Fender Jazz. If I could put the Fender Jazz neck on the Ric I could have the best of both worlds. I use the Ric for main gigs, the Fender for practice.

 

[Gaolee]

I bid on a Ric on eBay, expecting to lose. But nobody else bid, so I got the Ric. I actually like it well enough, but it's not my main player these days.

It's not a very funny story, but I'm not very funny, so we're even.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Some days I wish I had bought that 4004 Laredo that was on Reverb dot com around xMas time, for only $1,500. The seller wouldn't send me profile pictures of the neck, but I have to admit I never called him on the phone, just messages through Reverb & then through his own web site.

 

[Crg2]

I love my 4003. It's not my only bass, and it has its place and time. It's not a do-it-all instrument. I'll always champion the 4003 for the very special thing that it does, but it's a "one-trick pony".

However, I think of mine as having a very strong passive signal, and at its best when distorted. Your mileage varied from mine. I'm one of those maligned former guitar players, which may have something to do with my preference.

I am sorry that the 4003 didn't work out for you, and that you may have lost a much-loved Stingray in the process.

 

[Freez]

You have a strange idea of what funny is. Eh?

 

[lfmn16]

You didn't really tell a funny story, you just whined about a bass you didn't like.

 

[Webtroll]

You didn't really tell a funny story, you just whined about w bass you didn't like.

This. I have my own issues with Rics and the inflated opinion people have of them, but I finally found one I like. They're not for everybody, and even more to the point not all Rics appeal to people who want one.

 

[Webtroll]

Actually I will contribute to the actual intention of the thread. My 3rd 4001 was purchased from an aquaintance and I picked it up at his apartment. The lights were out and I was not invited to go in. While there I noticed some movement on the walls, and before leaving I realized that the apt was roach infested. The next day I took it to Erlwine's to get a good setup on it and when they removed the truss rod cover it had baby roaches in there. When I picked it up after the setup they included a line for the deinfestation of the bass (for no charge, it was a joke).

There. The amount of funny is not big, but it oughta do.

 

[I Need a six...]

I met a turd who though he was a better bassist because he had a ric(he was not) and was dead set on buying one used for $800 untill i played it. I hated the uncomfortable binding and square-ish neck. Tone was good though, and I loved the Thin string spacing, But I'm glad that I didn't pick it up. They are really good basses and look good though, just not for me.

 

[GIBrat51]

You didn't really tell a funny story, you just whined about a bass you didn't like.

^This, pretty much. The only thing I found funny was that you;
1) Evidently don't know the difference between active and passive pickups; and
2) Can't seem able to find (and use) the Volume control on your amp.
All 3 of my Ricks work just fine; and, so do the controls on all my amps.

 

[pcake]

no humor in the original post that i could detect.

my ric was one of my all-time favorite basses. it didn't make me a better bass player, but it made me want to play more, and it had wonderful tone.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

my ric was one of my all-time favorite basses. it didn't make me a better bass player, but it made me want to play more,

That is why I wanted to buy one, to inspire me to play. I got a G&L ASAT instead & it did inspire me, for about a month. Then I got a tube amp & a Markbass cab & was inspired for another month. GAS is awful.

 

[Winterglo]

I love my 4003. It's not my only bass, and it has its place and time. It's not a do-it-all instrument. I'll always champion the 4003 for the very special thing that it does, but it's a "one-trick pony".

However, I think of mine as having a very strong passive signal, and at its best when distorted. Your mileage varied from mine. I'm one of those maligned former guitar players, which may have something to do with my preference.

I am sorry that the 4003 didn't work out for you, and that you may have lost a much-loved Stingray in the process.

My Ricks are not "One trick Ponies" I can get anything out of them. I guess I just know Ricks. Been playing them for almost 20 years. I have tried a lot of brands/basses. I always go back to the Ricks.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Different strokes for different folks.
There are days when I wish I had gotten a fireglo 4003, but I really had my heart set on a 4004L.

When I stop at GC & find a 4003, I always pull out Ace of Spades & they sound great!

 

[254 stringer]

Every time I see a post where someone says ricks have low output pickups I think they must have gotten one with wiring problems. My 4003 is very loud for a passive I would probably say it's about equal in output to my stingray.

 

[Freez]

My Ricks are not "One trick Ponies" I can get anything out of them. I guess I just know Ricks. Been playing them for almost 20 years. I have tried a lot of brands/basses. I always go back to the Ricks.

Yeah, seriously; if you can't coax more than one sound out of a Rick, you're just being lazy... I guess if all you do is run both pickups dimed all the time, then it always sounds the same. But the neck and bridge pickups sound completely different, and if you dial the volumes to different levels, you can get a ton of sounds (oh, and that's before you've even touched the tone controls). Want old school thump? Dial in the neck pickup, turn off the bridge pickup. Squire/Lee ballsyness, run it stereo and throw a little distortion on the bridge pickup. McCartney mellow? Engage the mute and use a pick. I've even seen a jazz player run just the bridge and get a nice burpy Jacoesque sound, but with more meat behind it. Really, with minimal effort you can get soooo many sounds out of a Rick, which is why McCartney, Lee, Squire, Glover, Quaif, Kilmeister, Mills, Burton, and pretty much any other Rick player sounds different from each other, all while using the same bass. There are too many people on these boards claiming the Rick is a one trick pony. It is a provable untruth (see names listed above), so to anyone considering a Rick, I say try one for yourself.