ric vs jazz

[Spirit of Ox]

For the longest time, I and many others thought Geddy used a Ric on the first Rush album but it turned out he was using a P bass. I always though it was a Ric in mono through an old Traynor or Sunn amp.
It was a late 60's P bass through a Sunn 200s with 2x15.

 

[unresolved]

Sounds a lot like a Ric (and great) to me:



I'm pretty sure the person playing is a TB member. I don't remember his name, but his avatar looks like one of the masks in the background of the video.

 

[lfmn16]

There are some sounds you can get out of either, but I don't think you can get every Ric sound out of every jazz bass or vice versa. I could use a drill for a hammer, but it would be better to use a hammer.

 

[BassoSaku]

FWIW you can get pretty much same sound out of Rickenbacker 4003 and Fender Jazz Bass. BUT you can't get the sounds you get from Rickenbacker 4003 (with the vintage switch or a Rickenbacker 4001) out of a Jazz. Due to the capacitor on the treble pickup. Also the neck pickup alone sounds to my ears very vintagey. More so than the Jazz neck pickup alone. Might be the placement and the fact that the pickups are different.

 

[bigmoney2112]

Sounds a lot like a Ric (and great) to me:



I'm pretty sure the person playing is a TB member. I don't remember his name, but his avatar looks like one of the masks in the background of the video.

TJH3113 He is indeed a TB member. I watch his videos when I get stuck on certain things in Rush songs lol.

 

[Engle]

In my experience a good ballsy PJ can sound more like a Rickenbacker than a jazz. They can also sound like a Stingray. Basically PJs are awesome.

I'm with you. I grab my 87 Jazz Bass Special more and more because it's so versatile.

 

[Engle]

The Yes RRHOF show with Geddy playing Roundabout on a Jazz should show that it's not the bass.

It was interesting to see Geddy get that sound playing fingerstyle on a jazz

 

[electracoyote]

Bingo! Me too. Bought a Ric because of him, sold it because I wasn't him. Love the Geddy J, though.

Fingers and signal chain play a big role.

I have never plugged a stock Ric mono straight into an amp and sounded like Geddy or Chris Squire no matter how hard I try to imitate their technique.

 

[pbass2]

It was interesting to see Geddy get that sound playing fingerstyle on a jazz

But . . . it didn't sound like a Ric with a pick. That said, it certainly did the job and sounded good. I was actually glad he did it his way with the Jazz, as opposed to trying to ape Squire too too much--I think it was respectful.

Anyhow my answer is "no"...pretty much

 

[Kevorargh]

I tried a Geddy J - it was very tight and focused in terms of sound and feel, particularly the neck. I just got a new Ric 4003 after a long time not having one. I much prefer it to the American Jazz I had years ago. The Ric neck plays and feels better to me than the jazz and I love the tones you get with the Ric - one band BL told me years ago that he was amazed that I could get my Ric to sound like Fender. I think Ric can get a much fuller tone than a Jazz and soloed can rip through better than a Jazz.

Get a Ric. Now.

 

[superdick2112]

Ric Vs. Jazz ok
scale length
pickup position
those differences aside
can you not get the same tones out of each with your amps?

Yes and No.
Being electric basses of arguably similar construction, there is a great deal of overlap of their sonic signatures, but there are also some unique sounds only available with each bass.
I have tried over the years doing the "only one bass" thing with each of these basses (and also with a Precision Bass and a Spector bass), and inevitably I find myself missing those sounds unique to each bass.
It's taken me almost 35 years to learn this one indelible fact; I need at least one of each.

 

[pie_man_25]

They're both pretty different basses, I've only played one Ric, but the thing played vastly differently from my j basses. That being said, I can't say much else given I played it on an unfamiliar amp in an unfamiliar room for about ten minutes. But I mean, I'm sure if you were familiar enough with both you could make one sound like the other and vice versa, some may disagree from experience and I'm not inclined to disagree too much though.

 

[DigitalMan]

I tried a Geddy J - it was very tight and focused in terms of sound and feel, particularly the neck. I just got a new Ric 4003 after a long time not having one. I much prefer it to the American Jazz I had years ago. The Ric neck plays and feels better to me than the jazz and I love the tones you get with the Ric - one band BL told me years ago that he was amazed that I could get my Ric to sound like Fender. I think Ric can get a much fuller tone than a Jazz and soloed can rip through better than a Jazz.

Get a Ric. Now.

I think this is a good summary. To me the Jazz has a very distinct sound especially in the middle - 5th through 9th frets on A and D. It's a little warmer, organic, perhaps even "woody" sounding. The Ric is a fuller, deeper sound in that range.

 

[morgan138]

No need, unless you're looking for their approval to keep or get a gig.

I mean yeah, but I'm having a hard time thinking of a situation where random audience members are going to care about how well you can cop a Jazz tone with a Ric or vice versa!

 

[Ric5]

ok
scale length
pickup position


those differences aside

can you not get the same tones out of each with your amps?

Listen to moving Pictures by Rush ... Half Rickenbacker half Fender ...it is hard to tell the difference.

But the basic characteristics of the instruments are:

1 - The Rickenbacker wood construction makes it have a high mid bark
2 - the jazz bass wood construction makes it have more low mids.

Also Rickenbackers vary with time. The old 60s Ricks had weak underwound pickups and a .0047 capacitor and 500k ohm tone pots. This makes the old Ricks have a real treble bite. The modern 4003 has fatter sounding pickups and the .0047 cap is in a push pull circuit. And there were other variations from different eras. So Ricks from different eras will have a different tone.

 

[Ric5]

I am thinking of taking a Fender jazz or jag bass and putting in 4 pickups. 2 in the jazz positions and 2 in the Rick positions and have a toggle between them.

A big part of the Rick tone is the pickup locations,

 

[kkaarrll]

I am thinking of taking a Fender jazz or jag bass and putting in 4 pickups. 2 in the jazz positions and 2 in the Rick positions and have a toggle between them.

A big part of the Rick tone is the pickup locations,

View attachment 1129111

do you think that would be doable with master volume, master tone and a couple of 3way switches?

 

[Chrisk-K]

Geddy, Squire and Macca have fooled me many times. I dug Macca's Ric tone on the "Band on the Run" album only to find out that Paul used Danny Laine's Jazz bass to record the entire album.

 

[ProgressiveDoom]

well, this isn't helping me wanting a ric

Quite honestly I believe most of the sound can be found in the Rick pickups. I have put authentic Rick pickups in a few of my basses and they sound way more like Rickenbackers than the cheap Chinese Rick copy I own, in fact my Thunderbacker sounds more like a Rick than the Peavey t-40 witch comes with a built in Rick tone. If you still arent convinced check this out. Pictured is my Thunderbacker with Rick neck pickup and Rick copy bridge pickup.

 

[ProgressiveDoom]

In my experience a good ballsy PJ can sound more like a Rickenbacker than a jazz. They can also sound like a Stingray. Basically PJs are awesome.

Having owned a Jazz and a PJ I can say I totally agree.