NBD: RICKENBACKER

[Mo cowbell]

As some may remeber from a sleepaid induced nonsense post a few months back, I had questions about Ricks. Well, instead of asking I went ahead and ordered one from Sweetwater.

I was planning to do a box opening etc pictoral but my wife inboxed it before I got home. My birthday is Wednesday and as it happened, my wife and I were on a walk last week and she asked what I wanted and I said "nothing". Seeetwater called that day and asked if I still wanted the bass I ordered in April. I said why not! Anyway, Saturday morning my wife figured out what she was waiting to sign for. Well, she know some sort of bass but not the model.

First impression is that it was made with care. It feels like a fine instrument. The action is low. I have to figure out what the knobs do....it didnt come with an instruction manual. I'll play with it for a whole but it seems like the pickup cover is goong to have to go. Here are a few pics!

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

I love the checkered biding!
Congratulations and enjoy!!!

 

[dedpool1052]

That's freaking beautiful!

I love the satin finish.
Really ties the bass together.

 

[bholder]

Nothing else sounds like that.

 

[Mo cowbell]

That's freaking beautiful!

I love the satin finish.
Really ties the bass together.

Thanks. When they sent the pictures to me I was super stoked to see it. Autumnglow.

 

[Warpeg]

That, sir, is a fine instrument. Enjoy!

 

[MAJOR METAL]

It's a beauty man! Congrats, rock it in good health!

 

[5StringBlues]

Mighty fine, mighty fine.

 

[Mo cowbell]

I love the checkered biding!
Congratulations and enjoy!!!

Thanks! Yeah…I was really unsure about it until I saw it in person. I love it as well!

 

[msb]

Ok , that’s simply gorgeous !

 

[bobyoung53]

The knobs are simple, VVTT , if you're holding it in playing position, the bottom knobs are from left to right: neck volume and bridge volume, the top knobs are again, left to right, neck tone and bridge tone, the switch is up: neck, down is bridge and middle is both. If it feels odd to you just keep playing it, it will grow on you, it was smart of you to buy it before you asked the pros and cons, people love to bash these here.

 

[Mo cowbell]

The knobs are simple, VVTT , if you're holding it in playing position, the bottom knobs are from left to right: neck volume and bridge volume, the top knobs are again, left to right, neck tone and bridge tone, the switch is neck up, down it was smart of you to buy it before you asked the pros and cons, people love to bash these here.

HAHA! I am aware of the potential bashing!

Thanks for the tutorial. I’m planning on playing in a bit. Gotta play some early RUSH!

 

[Wasnex]

The knobs are simple, VVTT , if you're holding it in playing position, the bottom knobs are from left to right: neck volume and bridge volume, the top knobs are again, left to right, neck tone and bridge tone, the switch is up: neck, down is bridge and middle is both. If it feels odd to you just keep playing it, it will grow on you, it was smart of you to buy it before you asked the pros and cons, people love to bash these here.

I believe there is also a pull switch on one of the knobs. The bridge pickup has a capacitor that is switched in and out of the circuit to form an HPF.

Vintage (pull) engages the HPF.


@Mo cowbell ....stunning bass....!

Congrats!

 

[bdgotoh]

Congrats! Someday I will own a checkerboard Rick.

 

[Qlanq]

That' a cracking looking bass.
Enjoy.

 

[prowla]

The knobs are simple, VVTT , if you're holding it in playing position, the bottom knobs are from left to right: neck volume and bridge volume, the top knobs are again, left to right, neck tone and bridge tone, the switch is up: neck, down is bridge and middle is both. If it feels odd to you just keep playing it, it will grow on you, it was smart of you to buy it before you asked the pros and cons, people love to bash these here.

I believe there is also a pull switch on one of the knobs. The bridge pickup has a capacitor that is switched in and out of the circuit to form an HPF.

Vintage (pull) engages the HPF.
@Mo cowbell ....stunning bass....!

Congrats!

Yep - the pickups are referred to as Bass (the one nearest the neck) and Treble (the one with the big chrome surround).
The Treble Tone control has a push-pull switch for the "Vintage"/"Modern" sound; pulling it gives the Vintage sound, which enables a high pass filter (a series capacitor) on the Treble pickup and pushing it in bypasses it.
The Vintage sound is interesting; if you want Chris Squire, then use that.
The Modern setting gives a fuller sound from the Treble pickup.

Oh, and if you're thinking of trying Rick-o-Sound (ie. stereo), remember you only plug a jack into one output socket at a time; you can either use the Normal (mono) or the Rick-o-Sound (stereo) output, but not both.
Also, if you plug a mono jack into the stereo output you will only get the Treble pickup. (If you pull it out slightly you'll get the Bass one.)

 

[Kipp Harrington]

As some may remeber from a sleepaid induced nonsense post a few months back, I had questions about Ricks. Well, instead of asking I went ahead and ordered one from Sweetwater.

I was planning to do a box opening etc pictoral but my wife inboxed it before I got home. My birthday is Wednesday and as it happened, my wife and I were on a walk last week and she asked what I wanted and I said "nothing". Seeetwater called that day and asked if I still wanted the bass I ordered in April. I said why not! Anyway, Saturday morning my wife figured out what she was waiting to sign for. Well, she know some sort of bass but not the model.

First impression is that it was made with care. It feels like a fine instrument. The action is low. I have to figure out what the knobs do....it didnt come with an instruction manual. I'll play with it for a whole but it seems like the pickup cover is goong to have to go. Here are a few pics!View attachment 4761519 View attachment 4761520 View attachment 4761521 View attachment 4761522 View attachment 4761524

That is one fantastic looking thumper! Congratulations! I would love to have a Ric also. Only played one once and it felt pretty awkward. Let us know how you are acclimating to that beast. I'm with you for acing the pickup cover... is that do to the fact that it's "in the way" or cosmetic reasons? Anyhow, I think you are going to bond with the beast. Again, Congratulations!

 

[Relsom]

That bass is gorgeous. Enjoy! My B'day is tomorrow too!

 

[jamro217]

Yay!!!!!!

 

[smtp4me]

As some may remeber from a sleepaid induced nonsense post a few months back, I had questions about Ricks. Well, instead of asking I went ahead and ordered one from Sweetwater.

I was planning to do a box opening etc pictoral but my wife inboxed it before I got home. My birthday is Wednesday and as it happened, my wife and I were on a walk last week and she asked what I wanted and I said "nothing". Seeetwater called that day and asked if I still wanted the bass I ordered in April. I said why not! Anyway, Saturday morning my wife figured out what she was waiting to sign for. Well, she know some sort of bass but not the model.

First impression is that it was made with care. It feels like a fine instrument. The action is low. I have to figure out what the knobs do....it didnt come with an instruction manual. I'll play with it for a whole but it seems like the pickup cover is goong to have to go. Here are a few pics!View attachment 4761519 View attachment 4761520 View attachment 4761521 View attachment 4761522 View attachment 4761524

Very nice!

The knobs are fairly straightforward. Separate volume and tone for each pickup. The push/pull "vintage" knob, when pulled, engages a capacitor that filters out some of the lower frequencies for the bridge pickup only. This gives it the tone of a vintage 4001 Ric.

There are a few companies who make replacement bezels (flat) for the bridge pickup. And there are YouTube videos on how to take out the factory pickup cover. They look something like this: