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Retirement Basses: Rics or Rays?

Should I get a Ric or Ray as a retirement present to myself?

  • Ric

    Votes: 70 24.6%

  • Ray

    Votes: 113 39.8%

  • Both

    Votes: 54 19.0%

  • Neither

    Votes: 47 16.5%
  • Total voters
    284
#41
Dingwall.

The Ric has no soft edges on the body. The poor ergonomics are the price you pay everyday. I had one and it only lasted a couple years before I moved it along. The last one I picked up and played was surprisingly heavy. I didn’t remember that, but my other bass, the won that kept its spot over the Ric was a 12 pound Kramer aluminum neck beast.

The Ric was starting to give me set up issues, and the whole neck with double truss rods worried me.

The Stingray is a solid choice, but all the ones I’ve played were on the heavy side.

Both of these designs are dated, hidebound by tradition.

There Dingwall Supers are FSO, but every detail has been refined. QC is top notch, as is customer support (even if you bought it used!) Supers can easily weigh in at under 8 lb, 7.5 is common.

The longscales are amazing.

Good hunting!

My retirement purchase was a guitar, and it’s been super fun. Maybe something completely different is in order.
 
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#42
Whichever, it’s try before you buy. I’ve owned 5 Stingrays and 7 or 8 Ric’s over the years and they vary wildly. I had three Stingray where the D and G strings got lost in the mix. I’ve had a few Ric’s where the neck was like a baseball bat or had a very “woodeny” tone.

I’m a Ric fan, so I’d go with that.
 
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#43
Well, those of us forced to retire are going the opposite way :( Divesting - Having said that Stingray - all day

Maybe knee jerk reaction but instead of canned beans, I bought a 25 lb bag and man they taste better if you cook them yourself. I am going back to work but enjoying most of this paid 18 months. I got as library card as well and planning to finish the Outlander series and Fire and Ice House is paid off. CC's next. And bass related, my old plain basses are just awesome. What I've done to them and their history (if they were used) are is akin to well age whiskey or wine.

I did meet a guy who worked for the Maclaren's in Fullerton and Vinny and Joey at the Big Manzana, He has some meat prototypes which probably should not be posted online even if I get one. All I have to say is that Leo and George and the current owners are very innovative and the Vinny and Joey are laser accurate in what they do. City rents and cost aside. they really are top notch and worth what they are asking.
 
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#45
The best answer is try several of both and pick whichever feels and sounds right to you. Both are iconic basses, so I could see potentially getting both. I could also see owning neither. But the decision is yours and should be based entirely on your needs and expectations.

My first bass was a Ric 4001. I still own it, but it's fairly heavily modded and no longer sounds like a Ric :bag:. If I could send myself a message through time, I would say leave it stock. The things I really hated about the stock bass is it really picked up hum. Also the A, D, and G string sounded great, but the E string was blurry and cardboardy. A store about 45 minutes away shows a 2012 Ric 4003 in stock. I am tempted to make the drive and risk GAS.

I used to lust over early Stingrays. Never owned one, but everyone I tried :drool:. I have demoed several modern Stringrays and never found one that I thought was great. I wound up buying a Modulus Flea 5. Great bass but IMHO does not fully represent to tone of a vintage Stringray.
 
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#50
Bob_Ross said:
More recently, I had just about convinced myself that my retirement gift to myself would be either a Wal Mk I, or an Alembic Series I.
But now that I am officially retired, I've realized that either of those instruments would just wind up being a vanity purchase. I don't need -- nor even really have room for -- yet another bass, and neither of those instruments would lend themselves sonically to the types of music I've been playing for the past few years. Or decades, really.
Click to expand...
I view Alembic as the final frontier in bass purchases but it likely won’t happen for me. I would have to try before buying (the ones I’ve played weren’t that inspiring) and how often do you come across them? Consider getting an Alembic Superfilter. I have one and the range of sounds is amazing. Much cheaper than their basses!

I bought myself a Fodera Monarch Standard for a retirement gift. It wasn’t all that.
 
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#56
Just my opinion…

As much as I ADORE the Rickenbacker tone, I’d never pay for one with my own money because I absolutely can not stand the way they feel and play. MAJOR ick. Life is too short to play basses you hate playing.

Stingray. All the way.

Still need to get my hands on a few 5ers… MTD, Fodera Ryan Martinie signature, Ken Smith BSR, Dingwall Lee Sklar model, Warwick Streamer… just to see what they’re like. They all seem to do what I want sonically (at least from YouTube) but most important is the feel.
 
#59
Love to listen to many Ric players but never bonded with the Rics I've played. The ergonomics don't suit me.
My choice would be a Stingray, or, better yet, a fretless Stingray!
 

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