If you could only have two of these basses: Rick 4003, Fender CS Jazz, Stingray special

I own a Ric 4003, EBMM 4H and a US Geddy Jazz. So not the exact basses you stipulate.

If my house was on fire and I could only grab two of these three it would be the Ric and the Jazz. This is only because the music I perform today. The EBMM, to me, is just so punchy and I have a hard time having it sit in the mix and not be so obvious "hey that's a Stingray".

Those Specials are fine instruments, though.

 

Same...

 

Here's my answer. Why these two?
- I learned to play bass in 1968, on a friend's blue 4001, and I've loved Ricks ever since. Rick basses fit me like a surgeon's rubber glove; nothing sounds like one - especially with the right flats on it; and neither this '01 COY 4003, nor my gigged-nearly-to-death '73 4001, have ever given me the slightest problem.
- My recently acquired Stingray Special 4HH and I are still getting acquainted, and so far? This is a VERY nice bass. I haven't found a single thing to complain about.
- CS Jazz? Fender's Custom Shop and I... well, let's just say that, if every one of those wankers lined up on the Court House steps at high noon on the 4th of July to kiss my ass? I wouldn't take anything they had touched - especially a Jazz Bass. It's hard to find a lefty, but of the few Jazz basses - Fender, non-Fender, whatever - that I've had in my hands? I've never played one that I liked enough to buy. I know lots of people love them, but... they ain't for me.

 

Jazz and Stingray. Just more of a fit for my needs. They'd both be converted to fretless (unless for the CS Jazz I could get a Jaco, in which case it would already be fretless). I've never been drawn to the Ric sounds or ergos.

 

Where is the two Stingray option?

 

Can I have just two ricks?

I voted a 4003 and CS jazz bass. The jazz would be basically an American Professional with an unlined ebony fingerboard (with the luthier's choice of finish, trim and color).

L

 

The Rick and the Jazz, Because I already own a stingray.

 

I'll take just the Ric and call it a day.

 

I wouldn't own a CS Fender because they're not worth it to me. I'd rather buy a used MIM and mod it to my satisfaction. So I don't own a CS Jazz, but I do have a suitably modded MIM Jazz, as well as a 4003 and a StingRay. If I could only have two of those three, the Jazz would be the one to go, but I prefer to keep all three.

 

Probably the Jazz and the Ray. I’ve gotten some very convincing Ric tones from a P, and we all know how well Geddy did getting a Ric sound from a Jazz.

That said, you can walk into any music store, grab a Ray, and, assuming they are setup the same, can have an equally great experience with each. With Jazzes and Rics I’ve found there’s a bit more discrepancy from bass to bass. Might be worth grabbing the Ric if you have a really good one.

 

Well, on the one hand a Jazz bass sort of gets you an approximation of a Rickenbacker, a Stingray, and a Precision + it's a Jazz.

On the other hand, I personally hate everything about the ergonomics of Jazz basses, and I find the sound good, but unexciting.

Rickenbackers have the best access to the dusty end of the fretboard, of any of the basses I play, they look impossibly cool, and in comparison sound like a Jazz bass with a red hot poker up its jacksie.

Sting Rays are like a luxury Precision bass, with terrific ergonomics, and the most incredible necks, they look mean as hell in a refined way, and have a uniquely brassy, punchy sound that in comparison is like a Jazz bass with a high voltage applied to its bikini area.

 

+1

 

CS J and Stingray special. Easy choice because I've never once thought I needed "the ric sound" (and I'm put off by their ergonomics, electronics, bridges, dual truss, aesthetics, etc.). Between a J and a Ray, I can do just about everything I'd ever want in terms of bass guitar sounds.

 

I only need one, but I'll take a Walnut 4004 over all those:

 

Of the three...

Fender Mustang PJ LE and Silvertone 1444

 

I already have a Rick 4003 and a Fender J (as well as several basses that "do" a J Bass sound); a Stingray is the only one I am interested in checking out.

So I am already in the general "Rick and Jazz" club. But, if I had it to do over again, I would skip the J bass and go for the 4003 and a Stingray.

 

Do not like Jazz basses, that is why. I own a Rick and a Ray.

 

2 stingrays or a Warwick and a Stingray. I'm not a fan of your other 2 options.