NBD. Rickenbacker 4003 Mapleglo

too cool! it sure does look great. i'm looking forward to hearing it just because you're so excited!

but i'm glad you like your ax --- congratulations on your new instrument!

 

Great score, much happiness to you both!

 

Is your cat's name Rick N. Backer?

 

Congratulations on the beautiful new bass and finally finding "that sound."

Look into the new version of the tailpiece RIC just introduced.

 

Yeah, there's absolutely nothing that sounds like a Ric! Welcome to the club! And yes, the old bridge is legitimately awful. The Hipshot is a drop-in replacement, and the V2 is also excellent, though you have to drill holes.

 

So cool. Glad it worked out. Embrace the growl!

 

Too cool. Beauty for sure.

BTW I have a 2019 used 4003 Maple glo currently in shipping from a GC in Florida. Gave me a great price and it was immaculate. I too was told about month long waits on ordering a new Ric. Just couldn't get any one to deal on prices or have any ideas on when a new one would be expected. Seems Ric has a real backlog.

Any way mine should be here on Wednesday, Can't wait.

Enjoy your new baby.

 

It's two things:
- the strings: they have to be fresh roundwounds to get that grinding tone.
- where and how plucked: you have to pluck between the bridge and neck PU's. And hammer hard and I mean _hard_ on every single note.

When the new strings die down in a few days you'll notice that "crunch" initially on the notes will start to turn into more of a "clop". Once they're fully dead in a couple weeks, you'll be kind of back to square one where you were in the 80's with your other rick, no matter how hard you hit it.
Compression won't help that, but it will definitely help even out the string volume and reduce the unwanted dynamics.

Similarly for the Chris Squire tone, which requires fresh roundwounds and a very strong picking hand.

Don't ask me why I know all this in so much detail.

That's not a bash on the rickenbacker (I love the 4003, I gigged with one for many years, and can't wait to get another one), that's just a fact of life of the rickenbacker when you want the GL tone and no one is immune. If you watch GL play, that's how he does it all the time, including on his jazz basses, and usually with fresh strings. If you're not gigging all day every day and strong enough to attack the bass like that, you won't get that tone.

As for the bridge, yes it's truly terrible, but fortunately there aren't detectable tonal consequences to replacing it. So if you can get it setup the way you want with the existing bridge, I wouldn't spend the money on replacing it. If not, by all means get the new bridge from rickenbacker, which looks to be much better and it'll still play and sound great.

Sorry to be kind of a wet blanket on the tone, but don't let that discourage you about the bass. It's a great instrument and when you find your tone on it, you'll probably still love it.

L

 

Congrats on the NBD. Nothing like a 4003.

 

I've never had an issue with the stock bridge. If you do it right, you can dial in the intonation and not have to touch it at least for a long time. It isn't as easy as some other basses to get to, but it can be done.

 

I still have the stock bridge on mine - I had to replace the saddles on my 4001 when I owned it because the graphite saddles wore down.

As for tone - you won't get a true Chris Squire without sending the at least the high end signal through a guitar head - I believe that's how he originally did it. I simulate the tone with my BOSS GT-10B with a little reverb and tremolo so I can get that Starship Troopers sound - it works well.

Geddy's tone requires some dirt and a lit of higher range mids.

I have a 2003 Mapleglo - great score!

 

Congratulations! And yes, replace the bridge soonest. Although it may be possible, I've yet to run across a Ric with the original-style bridge that would properly intonate; aside from being a PITA to adjust, the saddles simply don't have enough travel to get the instrument intonated properly. I replaced mine in the mid-70s and haven't had issues since.

 

My 4003 is starting to exhibit the (unfortunately) normal lift. If you opt to change your bridge, please repost. It would be interesting to see what route you go.

 

Some strings definitely sound better and last longer than others. You can maintain the growl with DR Hellborgs for about 500 hours of playtime, after which they go downhill swiftly. Rotos only last a day or two for comparison. The downside of Hellborgs is how different they feel and play due to their single wrap construction.

 

The Hipshot is probably the best course if you're using an older bridge, because it's a good design and a drop-in replacement, but the V2 is also good - it's mounted with 8 screws in total as well (massive overkill), so it's not going anywhere.