The long answer: a Rickenbacker is a synergy of its components: the maple neck-through body, the fingerboard, the truss rods, proprietary fret wire, the bridge/tailpiece setup, the pickups wound with 44AWG wire with a proprietary insulation rather than standard 42AWG, the wiring setup (backwards from Fender Std re where the "hot" wire of the pickup goes first), and so on. And if you try to emulate everything, RIC has the best intellectual property protection in the business. Since the copies are simply that, copies, they cannot approach the tone of a Rickenbacker bass by definition, and are therefore inferior in all aspects.
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Rickenbacker tone without ludicrous prices?
- Thread starter SabbathWorship
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- bass basses rickenbacker
Nope. I did that on a P-bass and on a J-bass. My playing started to sound a little like Stu Cook of CCR, who did exactly that, (Rick pickup in the neck position of a P-bass) but it sounds nothing like a Rickenbacker. I know. I used to own a 4001, and I currently own a 4002 (yes, "2," not "1" or "3"), and my custom fanned fret bass has a Rick humbucker in the P position. It sounds like a P with a tad more growl, because the pickup is in the "D-G" string position of a P pickup. That's all. No Rick or Rick-ish tone. A great bass with its own voice, but not Rick.
Essentially any 2 pup bass:
Strings: RotoSound Swing Bass 66 rounds
Tone: full treble
Use a pick ; close to bridge
Amp: more toward Bright
That tone is short lived ; replace strings as often as you can afford; cjesn with alcohol on cloth after Every gig rehearsal practice
I get “semi Ric “ tones from my Squier Jazz 5 ; bridge pup; would serve well to audience but wouldn’t fool a Ric 4001 owner
(It’s the audiences opinion that counts btw)
This guy breaks down how he gets the various Chris Squire tones using a Line 6 Helix, and is able to get very close to the Rick-O-Sound using a Jazz with tapewounds.
Watching that video was painful. It should have been titled "How to drag out what should be a 5 minute video to 37 minutes". I got about 12 minutes in and had to turn it off.
Ric5
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- Jan 29, 2008
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- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
This parts bass cost me a fraction of what a real Rickenbacker would cost, and it has no mechanical mute, and no bass cutting capacitor.
Yeah, he’s painfully “Laid Back Stoner Guy” on all his videos, if you skip to the meat (I did, and right quick, too) you hear that it sounds vaguely similar to a Ric with stock hi-gains. I’m not convinced you wouldn’t get the same result dropping them into almost any bass though, and it didn’t sound as convincing as the Line 6 Helix patches on a MM.
Very informative - thanks for posting. His Jazz approximation is very good, and his bona fide 4001 sound is killer.
That's a ludicrous display of lutherie skills! hahaha
..... I'm sorry.
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Geddy Lee and his Jazzes have been mentioned a lot, for good reason. I think you have to look at his setup, which I don't think has been detailed here. Of course, to match his would cost a lot more than a Rick. But things like the YYZ pedal might get you closer. And pluck aggressively. https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/tech-21-yyz-geddy-lee-signature-sansamp-yyz-pedal-demo/
We all have stuff we dislike...
this person just doesn't happen to like the price attached to a bass that has a sound he likes.
We have different dislikes, and if we were to verbalize them to someone who isn't bothered by the same thing, it could be called "crying."
I'm sure it seems ludicrous to him... I would use the word "ridiculous," because it's ridiculous to me, and I refuse to pay what they want. It may sound good, but there are many basses that have a great sound at half the price.
Still doesn't sound exactly like a Rickenbacker, even with the cartoony EQ and drive settings to give it the best shot at it. If you buy a Chinabacker and then piss money up a wall buying real Rickenbacker pickups to install in the thing then you have no financial sense.
A cool idea, but who shells out for a Babicz bridge and then makes a pickguard out of printer paper? The idea of a crossover P/rick has always appealed. My P bass is much more comfortable than my Rick, and has a nice grunt and heft to it versus the slightly more brittle quality of the Rick.
I used to think Rickenbacker basses were out-of-reach levels of expensive. I then figured out how to budget my finances and stash money away. I couldn't buy a 4003 overnight, but I could after ten months of saving and ring-fencing enough money, and sacrificing a bit of savings I might have used elsewhere. It delayed the purchase of my first car, for example.
Americans have this easiest of all, as Ricks are cheaper over there. Stash away $100 a month and after a year you have a $1200 chunk that will get you a nice used 4003. No Rick bass tomorrow, but don't impulse buy your next three $400 basses and see where that gets you.
If the 4003 is the bass you want then you won't feel sad about spending that $1200 after a few months. I went balls-out and bought a Kitchenaid mixer a few years ago when I pretty much could only barely afford to do so. The thing is still pride of place in my kitchen, and I still use it regularly. I've forgotten the financial shock of the purchase now, as the mixer has proven to be so useful and robust.
I suppose you could buy the actual pickups, place them on a body the right spots and wire them like Ricks? Then again, maybe Rickenbacker could join the world of normal people and make a decently affordable range.
Or maybe not screw people over for trying to sell those japanese Lawsuit Ricks. That one really gets me, since some of them seem to be Ricks, but better, for cheaper. They barely raised a finger when they were made, why do it only after 40 years and thousand bucks worth of price hikes?
Or maybe not screw people over for trying to sell those japanese Lawsuit Ricks. That one really gets me, since some of them seem to be Ricks, but better, for cheaper. They barely raised a finger when they were made, why do it only after 40 years and thousand bucks worth of price hikes?
That makes sense... I guess if it's important enough and one wants that sound, it's just a matter of waiting to get it.
Yea I've gone the route before of buying a cheaper instrument, then winding up spending more on upgrading it with pickups, tuners, etc.
Ric went after the Japanese clones right away, hence the "Lawsuit" nickname. Some of them were made as good or better than Ricks of the day, the really good ones sell for $700+ these days, if you can find one. Ric has them taken down on ebay, but they pop up on craigslist randomly. The Chickenbackers are a pale shadow of those 70's basses.
I need to go make some more popcorn. Anybody want some?
