There was a time, from the late Sixties to early Seventies, when there was tremendous pressure for acoustic bassist’s to double on electric. Carter played electric and played it well, but decided to focus on his first love.
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Ric vs. Jazz
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
There was a time, from the late Sixties to early Seventies, when there was tremendous pressure for acoustic bassist’s to double on electric. Carter played electric and played it well, but decided to focus on his first love.
For me, the essential difference between J and Ric is with the neck pickup solo, and I strongly prefer the Ric.
EDIT: Oh, I like the J bridge pickup solo better than the Ric bridge solo. Stingray seems to be a perfect blend.
Just sharing some interesting facts:
The Ric bridge pickup is a little closer to the bridge than the P D-G.
The Stingray H is very close to being a Ric bridge pickup and J bridge pickup (60's spacing) in parallel.
EDIT: Oh, I like the J bridge pickup solo better than the Ric bridge solo. Stingray seems to be a perfect blend.
Just sharing some interesting facts:
The Ric bridge pickup is a little closer to the bridge than the P D-G.
The Stingray H is very close to being a Ric bridge pickup and J bridge pickup (60's spacing) in parallel.
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There was a time, from the late Sixties to early Seventies, when there was tremendous pressure for acoustic bassist’s to double on electric. Carter played electric and played it well, but decided to focus on his first love.
Yep. I wasn’t aware of Carter going electric, but Rufus Reid, Ray Brown, Dave Holland and quite a few others did and returned to doublebass. Now I’m seeing a lot more electric in that music again. Even Larry Grenadier!
That’s good. Both instruments have properties that the other can’t really copy.
At the time there was still a bit of an old-fashioned ideal about playing your instrument. Those guys wanted to be masters of their instruments. Reid and Carter both felt that if they had to do both, they could no longer master either. They felt it was more appropriate for the younger generation to come in and take on the electric bass, so they could focus on the double-bass.
I have the version of Rufus' "Evolving Bassist" that included discussion of bass guitar. You can read between the lines in those pages where he's more or less laying out how different the instrument is, and the concepts are different.
I don't know about Ron Carter, but Rufus Reid certainly did more orchestral work - he was more than just a jazz guy. I think he felt he just had too much to do on the double bass to let a bass guitar steal him away.
Imagine what Cream would have been like if Jack had stuck with upright.
There would have been even more feedback.
Sounds good. I still like the sound of the modern Ric with the Dorito pickups better, when you play it.
I have the book also, and have spoken to Rufus Reid about it. At the time it was beginning to look as if electric bass might completely replace double bass in jazz. So, many felt that they needed to play it to survive. By the early 80s it became clear that a jazz career focusing on double bass would remain viable.
I bought Rufus' book so long ago I don't even remember where it is, these days!
Hence, Christian McBride, John Patitucci, et al.
I bought that book at the Aebersold book/record store, at the camp, with Rufus Reid standing next to me telling me to not buy it!
Maybe, Rufus was embarrassed about the section on electric bass?
Maybe, Rufus was embarrassed about the section on electric bass?
Or the section about bringing your bass on a plane. Those photos were pretty funny.
Yup and Rics do that too except for 4001's and early 4003's with the bridge cap intact although they do do it to a degree.
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I own both and didn't listen with my headphones but did listen on a good hifi with good speakers, to me the J was kind of bland and bottomy and the Ric had more presence and a better tone, I'm surprised he had them so low in the mix though.
My thoughts exactly. Now I know what I'll be gassing for next :^ /
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He was telling me to keep listening and transcribing, and stay away from books.
I think he was a little embarrassed about some of it.
