ric vs jazz

[Ric5]

more great Rick tone

 

[prowla]

Um, Geddy Lee has fooled me more than once. So you might have a point there.

You can get the same sound at certain points on the neck, but not all the way up.
Geddy dialed back from the full Ric sound after Farewell To Kings.
Rics even sound like Rics when they're not plugged in.

 

[prowla]

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

Actually, I thought his sound on that was a bit lame.

 

[prowla]

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

I find I can play that finger style marginally better than with a plec; there's a slight funkiness to it.
You do have to whack the strings a bit to get the clankiness...

 

[kkaarrll]

what neck do you folks like better?

 

[monsterthompson]

what neck do you folks like better?

My J has a slim neck and pretty low action. It's very easy to play. However, my Ric isn't much thicker, and the action is set a tad higher, but with a shorter scale. Both are bound necks. If I had to pick one, I'd say the Ric, but it isn't a wild difference.

I have played other Ric years which have wildly different profiles, and my J would best most of those, for me. My Ric was built in 2015 and I bought it new in 2016.

 

[J-Bassomatic]

There is only one answer and everyone here knows what it is. Get one of each!

 

[prowla]

There is only one answer and everyone here knows what it is. Get one of each!

The correct answer is two of each!

 

[Eckie]

But when you open the tone on a Rickenbacker all the way there is no other bass that sound like it does ...

Chris Squire's bass sounded like no other - he said that a few times. On Fish Out Of Water he used a different Ric and the difference was clear. I don't think there's much difference between a a stock Ric and a Jazz and at concert volumes with drums and other higher frequency sounds it'd be really hard to tell them apart

 

[Ric5]

Chris Squire's bass sounded like no other - he said that a few times. On Fish Out Of Water he used a different Ric and the difference was clear. I don't think there's much difference between a a stock Ric and a Jazz and at concert volumes with drums and other higher frequency sounds it'd be really hard to tell them apart

True and not true ...

His white bass was a 60s 4001. I owned and played a 60s 4001 for 30 years. The 60s 4001 bass had the neck toaster 6k ohm, the horseshoe bridge pickup 4 to 5 k ohms, and a different neck construction. In the 70s they changed the neck to make it stronger and changed the pickups to 8k ohm high gains. Chris was under the delusion that his bass was different from all other Ricks. The reality is 60s Ricks were different than 70s Ricks.

 

[Eckie]

True and not true ...

His white bass was a 60s 4001. I owned and played a 60s 4001 for 30 years. The 60s 4001 bass had the neck toaster 6k ohm, the horseshoe bridge pickup 4 to 5 k ohms, and a different neck construction. In the 70s they changed the neck to make it stronger and changed the pickups to 8k ohm high gains. Chris was under the delusion that his bass was different from all other Ricks. The reality is 60s Ricks were different than 70s Ricks.

So the CS signature bass which Chris collaborated on wasn't the same hardware as his Number 1?

 

[Gilmourisgod]

He claimed that the repeated refinishes and planing wallpaper off his bass resulted in a thinner, lighter body, convincingly translating that into tone is a tone wood debate I'll avoid! Didn't he also mess with the electronics to get the bi-amp thing going in a kind of proto Ric-O-Sound? The few interviews I've seen with him discussing gear made me think he didn't find it a subject of great interest, he left it to his bass techs. There's no doubt he got a unique sound out of it trying to emulate Entwhistle's trebly sound. He's quoted as saying the CS model sounded "nothing like" his original.

 

[Jeff Scott]

...He's [Chris Squire) quoted as saying the CS model sounded "nothing like" his original.

That makes perfect sense since the pickups are not like the originals, for the most part.

 

[prowla]

He claimed that the repeated refinishes and planing wallpaper off his bass resulted in a thinner, lighter body, convincingly translating that into tone is a tone wood debate I'll avoid! Didn't he also mess with the electronics to get the bi-amp thing going in a kind of proto Ric-O-Sound? The few interviews I've seen with him discussing gear made me think he didn't find it a subject of great interest, he left it to his bass techs. There's no doubt he got a unique sound out of it trying to emulate Entwhistle's trebly sound. He's quoted as saying the CS model sounded "nothing like" his original.

I had my RM1999 wired to stereo at one point, but I got bored of faffing around with cables.

 

[prowla]

True and not true ...

His white bass was a 60s 4001. I owned and played a 60s 4001 for 30 years. The 60s 4001 bass had the neck toaster 6k ohm, the horseshoe bridge pickup 4 to 5 k ohms, and a different neck construction. In the 70s they changed the neck to make it stronger and changed the pickups to 8k ohm high gains. Chris was under the delusion that his bass was different from all other Ricks. The reality is 60s Ricks were different than 70s Ricks.

I think he had several Rics over the years and probably had a clue as to what they sounded like.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

This video had him discussing his live rig, which may not have much to do with his classic studio sound. I hope all these basses have a good home with his family now.

 

[Ric5]

I think he had several Rics over the years and probably had a clue as to what they sounded like.

SOMETIMES HE REALLY GOT THE INFORMATION WRONG

THERE ARE CHARISTICS THAT HE SEEMS TO THINK ONLY HIS BASS HAD THAT WERE COMMON TO ALL OF THE 1960S BASSES ...

 

[prowla]

SOMETIMES HE REALLY GOT THE INFORMATION WRONG

THERE ARE CHARISTICS THAT HE SEEMS TO THINK ONLY HIS BASS HAD THAT WERE COMMON TO ALL OF THE 1960S BASSES ...

(No need to shout...)
Well, all Rics have a basic sound, but I think he was referring to details and nuances.
I think that's what he meant when he mentioned the "CS" model sounding "nothing like" his.
I never had the opportunity to play his, nor to compare it to mine, so I can't vouch for the uniqueness of his.
I do know that he had the treble horseshoe re-magentised at some point, which would have affected the sound.

 

[Korladis]

ok
scale length
pickup position


those differences aside

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

You can't get the sound of a Rickenbacker with the bridge pickup solo'd out of a Jazz Bass. Or the sound of the neck pickup solo'd.

And you can't get the sound of a Jazz Bass with the bridge pickup solo'd out of a Rickenbacker.

This is due to their drastically different pickup positions.

In my experience, the only sound they actually share is with both pickups all the way up.

And I pretty much never use that sound. My typical Rickenbacker sound (bridge pickup only) sounds much more like an angrier P-bass or a MusicMan Stingray than like a Jazz Bass.

 

[prowla]

You can't get the sound of a Rickenbacker with the bridge pickup solo'd out of a Jazz Bass. Or the sound of the neck pickup solo'd.

And you can't get the sound of a Jazz Bass with the bridge pickup solo'd out of a Rickenbacker.

This is due to their drastically different pickup positions.

In my experience, the only sound they actually share is with both pickups all the way up.

And I pretty much never use that sound. My typical Rickenbacker sound (bridge pickup only) sounds much more like an angrier P-bass or a MusicMan Stingray than like a Jazz Bass.

I like to angle the neck pickup to favour the top strings and the treble one to favour the lower ones.
Growl at the bottom end and thicker sound higher up.