I love Jazz basses, I have a few dozen. But, a Rick is a different animal indeed, and I have more Ricks than Jazz basses. If you truly want to be heard with a unique voice, get a Rick. You don't need to use the Rick-o-sound. Just run the bridge pickup alone without the vintage cap in the circuit. Instant clank and aggression that cuts. It's the opposite of the thin bridge-pickup-only Jazz sound and definitely the opposite of the scooped both-pickups-on Jazz sound.
But, it takes a while to get used to the ergonomics of a Rick. The first time I played one decades ago, I had to wrap a cloth around my forearm as the sharp edge cut into my wee man-boy arms at the time. But, that only lasted a day or two.
Remove the bridge cover, and plug into any amp. It's hard to get a bad sound out of a Rick. Neck pickup for great vintage tones, bridge pickup for Geddy Lee 70's aggression. Both pickups together are kinda meh, but alot of people like that flat boring tone.
Comparisons to a MusicMan are moot; the Rick has a midrange clank more than a high twang. It isn't an invisible or smiley-face eq bass.
Jazzes are nice, but are more of a generic tone (albeit a good one), and the way most people run them, are scooped and polite. Ricks are the opposite of that.
Just don't complain when the finish bubbles and lifts around the tailpiece, it's part of the Rick experience. Almost all of mine, even before the current paint formulation, have bubbled at least a little at the bridge going back to my '86 V63. It's just what they do, even when kept NOS.
