Modding a Ric....

[guy n. cognito]

Well John Turner, that's all fair enough to me. For what it's worth I wasn't trying to excuse personal attacks on anyone--just the criticism of the mod. Criticism, not personal attacks, should be protected as free speech just about anywhere IMO.

There is no such thing as protected free speech on a privately-owned message board.

 

[kcole4001]

But why not remove it? No one prefers it. ......

Actually, a lot of people do like the cap.
Not me, but there are a significant number.
Given the choice, I much prefer the full voice of the treble pickup.
And if you ever sell the bass, it can still be listed as all original, any other mods notwithstanding.

A short jumper is easier to install and easier to remove.
I didn't even solder the jumper I installed in my 4080, just tightly twisted a solid core wire in place.
It has worked perfectly since 2005.

 

[arsie]

There is no such thing as protected free speech on a privately-owned message board.

Yup, there's not a byte of public space on the internet, its all privately owned by someone or other.

 

[RaginRog]

I'm not trying to start anything here, but JHud owes us nothing. If he wants to chop his Ric up into little pieces and burn it to ashes, that's his perogative. We all have the right to express our displeasure at this act, but thats as far as it goes. It's his bass. He should and will do with it as he pleases, and he did. Ironically, he did try to sell it just a few short weeks after the fact. In hindsight, maybe he should have picked another model, but as I recall, the devisive nature of that thread was a little over the top.

As far as Rics being stable, I disagree. I had a Jetglow and was so ready to emulate one of my bass playing inspirations, Geddy Lee, but every time the season changed, the neck would twist, making it unplayable. I sent it back to Rickenbacker several times. As a matter of fact, in the nearly 2 years I owned that bass, Rickenbacker had it in their possession more than me. I took a big loss on that bass. Unfortunately, that soured my desire to own a Ric. I think I got a lemon. That happens, even to the best of them.

I've always wondered why they don't offer a bolt-on 4003...this way if there's ever a neck issue, it's an easier fix. Customer send bass neck back...send customer new neck...bolt on.

 

[iiipopes]

I prefer the in-line capacitor. But there are situations where straight-through is the more appropriate tone for the song. So I installed a push-pull on my 4002 so I could have it in or out at my choice.

Mr. JH himself has even bridged the cap with an aluminum chewing gum foil wrapper.

My 4002 neck has not needed anything for almost 20 years, after I finally decided on a brand, model and gauge of string and kept consistent with it. It has the old-style truss rods, as well.

Re bolt on neck: Different neck constructions result in different sonic and response characteristics. Not better or worse, just different. And BTW -- on some of the 3000 series basses from a long time ago, I believe they were bolt-on. So RIC does know how to do bolt on bass necks, but it would change the characteristic tone of their basses, which they don't want to do.

 

[JoshuaTSP]

Had my first rehearsal with the stock 4003......wow, I knew this bass sounded good, but wow.

There's no way I'm changing the pickups now.

 

[kcole4001]

I've always wondered why they don't offer a bolt-on 4003...this way if there's ever a neck issue, it's an easier fix. Customer send bass neck back...send customer new neck...bolt on.

Rickenbacker neck issues that are not due to abuse/neglect seem to be pretty rare overall.
It does happen of course, just not often.

The 2000 and 3000 series basses were bolt ons and didn't sell too well, and so have been discontinued.

 

[kcole4001]

Personally, I really love Rick basses, and wouldn't mind having one or two of their guitars as well.
The 4000 series bass is perfect for me and I don't really need anything else currently.

There are several things about the company that I like as well, not that that has anything to do with my preference for the bass.
I would actually consider myself as a fanboy, but I don't buy into the whole RIC culture thing.
Some folks take it a little far, that's fine for them.
I still have a lot in comon with them, but freaking out because somebody has differing opinions or wants to mod his own bass is bizarre.

A little objectivity would do wonders.

About RRF, there seemed to be quite a sliding scale for tolerance of individual opinions, some people were allowed more 'freedom' than others, that's the big reason I left, and I'll leave it at that.

 

[msb]

I rarely post on the Resource board but I am thankful for it . I had an issue with my output jack and initially thought a pickup had died . The issue was quickly resolved thanks to the experience on the Resource . In the time since I've helped several others that had thought a pickup died and were relieved to discover that the issue was only the jack ... and a quick fix .

I've described Rickenbackers as a combination of unfortunate design decisions and yet truly love them despite the awkward bridge and other wonky bits .

Not a fanboi .... but still a fan .

 

[cassius987]

But why not remove it? No one prefers it. it's like the famed "Ric-O-Sound". Ric uses it as a selling point despite the fact that 99% of Ric owners don't use it. Which is why I have a mono plug in my Ric. Well, the real reason I have a mono plug is because of Ric's inconsistency from year to year and my unwillingness to wire up a true stereo jack that I will never use.

This kind of thinking bothers me--"no one" prefers it? How on earth do you know that? You don't. I was just thinking yesterday how cool the effect of the capacitor is on the treble pickup when it's soloed--I was using it to record a lead part. It makes it sound really burpy. Same goes for ROS... if you don't get it, fine, but why are you attacking it? I don't even know what inconsistency you're referring to as ROS is a very simple wiring and I believe it's been pretty much the same for a long time now. Based on posts like this I have to think you haven't spent enough time with these features to understand how they can be useful.

Just for laughs try exercising your right to criticism at the RickResource Forum. Unless, of course, you are criticizing a non-Ric or a modded Ric.

Somehow I have a feeling this particular criticism won't be moderated. As you point out, places have some criticisms they'll allow and some they won't. Please note my use of "should" from when you quoted me earlier.

 

[Ric5]

Most of the Ricks that I owned did not have Rick-o-sound. My 1968 4001 was mono, pretty much all of the "s" models are mono, the V63 and C64 basses were mono, the 4001cs was mono, Also the 4004, and 2000 series are all mono. Then some of the 4001 and 4003 models that I had the Rick-o-sound was malfunctioning so I rewired them with 2 mono jacks.

But I actually did try a 4003 stereo into 2 amps ... it sounded impressive ... So it is a cool feature that is rarely used. Most bass players are not going to bring 2 amps to a gig and run stereo. Also with todays amps and pa systems you can get just as good of a sound out of a normal bass amp and pa assistance.

 

[cassius987]

I think ROS is too big a hassle to use live unless you're a big name with lots of roadies. But in the studio it is a blast and has led to some of the coolest tones I've recorded.

 

[kcole4001]

Unfortunately you're right, I don't generally have enough room in the truck or on my side of the stage for two amps, and don't feel like taking the extra time to dial in two separate channels on the board for gigs.
It is a cool, flexible setup for recording though!

And I don't get how much more 'true stereo' one could hope for...

 

[FaithNoMan]

I think ROS is too big a hassle to use live unless you're a big name with lots of roadies. But in the studio it is a blast and has led to some of the coolest tones I've recorded.

I buy most of my "effects" to record direct(I really like the Leeds pedal right now!) but I always have been curious about the ROS, and will eventually get a cable for it=)

 

[zon6c-f]

My ' 72 Burgundy-glo 4001-s was stolen in mid '80's. I only strung it with Roto-Swing bass strings, however when I took it in for a set-up, I complained about the significant reduction volume between neck and bridge pups. Solution ? clipped the cap. Lost the ultra treble; gained equal volume.
I replaced that bass with a used '78 4001-s. As my wife knew I was interested in Jaco, and Bartolini pups, she gifted me with a set of Bartolini Jazz pups, which her dad installed.

I never liked the stock Grovers on either Rick, so she also gifted me with a set of Schaller tuners which I was fortunate enough to have the late-great Greg Curbow to install. I would not have done these mods with my -72, but the '78 seems fine with it. It neither sounds like a classic Rick, nor a Jazz. In late 1997, I strung it with a set of La Bella Jamerson flats , as I was changing from Prog rock to Electric Blues. I haven't changed strings since..read my recent post in the Rick club, same date as today.
Another gift from my wife: My '78 now resides in a top-of-the-line Rick case. I married the right Ga Peach.....

 

[cassius987]

I buy most of my "effects" to record direct(I really like the Leeds pedal right now!) but I always have been curious about the ROS, and will eventually get a cable for it=)

It is absolutely amazing how cool it sounds when you do a clean neck pickup with minimal distortion as the foundation, then a second channel with all of your wonky stuff like chorus, filter, overdrive, on the treble pickup--especially with the cap in-line!--and mix them in a DAW. The sound is gigantic and extremely rich.

 

[aquateen]

it should be noted that the ROS is not a 'stereo' option, it simply allows each pickup to be amplified individually.

 

[kcole4001]

'Stereo':

"Stereo sound systems can be divided into two forms: The first is "true" or "natural" stereo in which a live sound is captured, with any natural reverberation or ambience present, by an array of microphones. The signal is then reproduced over multiple loudspeakers to recreate, as close as possible, the live sound.

Secondly "artificial" or "pan-pot" stereo, in which a single-channel (mono) sound is reproduced over multiple loudspeakers. By varying the relative amplitude of the signal sent to each speaker an artificial direction (relative to the listener) can be suggested. The control which is used to vary this relative amplitude of the signal is known as a "pan-pot" (panoramic potentiometer). By combining multiple "pan-potted" mono signals together, a complete, yet entirely artificial, sound field can be created.

These days "true" stereo is mainly confined to recordings or broadcast of live, acoustic music, particularly classical music. Almost all pop records and movie soundtracks are of the "artificial" variety.

In technical usage, true stereo means sound recording and sound reproduction that uses stereographic projection to encode the relative positions of objects and events recorded.

During two-channel stereo recording, two microphones are placed in strategically chosen locations relative to the sound source, with both recording simultaneously. The two recorded channels will be similar, but each will have distinct time-of-arrival and sound-pressure-level information. During playback, the listener's brain uses those subtle differences in timing and sound level to triangulate the positions of the recorded objects. Stereo recordings often cannot be played on monaural systems without a significant loss of fidelity. Since each microphone records each wavefront at a slightly different time, the wavefronts are out of phase; as a result, constructive and destructive interference can occur if both tracks are played back on the same speaker. This phenomenon is known as phase cancellation."
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Each pickup, obviously being placed at different nodes under the vibrating string, produces a unique signal, which in any output system that separates the individual pickup output into discreet channels is, to my understanding, stereo.
Any system using the combined pickup outputs and later splitting them into two channels is not stereo.

If I'm missing the gist of this, please enlighten me.

 

[cassius987]

ROS is neither true nor artificial stereo. True stereo is a stereo recording of an audio source and artificial stereo is a recording technique that implies a stereo feature to a mono track. I don't know what to call Ric-O-Sound to be honest. The strings are vibrating and you are able to sample the vibration at two distinct points simultaneously. This is very different from just running both pickups mono because there is none of the filtering and loading down associated with that. You get a bigger, fuller sound with less loading and no frequency filtering. I only know one name for this... Ric-O-Sound.

For people to act like this is a useless feature is totally beyond me. It's downright amazing in recording.

 

[Jaymi]

I have owned MANY Ric basses and after having soooo many stock, I have a couple that are modded....look at my last pic set in the Ric club on this site....the bass is purple, you cannot miss it!!!

Mods are up to the owner.....personalized is a better way to think of it...you have personalized the bass to your tastes etc/../...works for me...