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Rickenbacker

#121
Thanks, Funkster! I'll check that out, look forward to seeing you at some point.

Yeah, there's no way the capacitor surgery will screw up the bass, you can always go back to how it was. It's an easy mod and there really aren't any components that you can damage or anything, as long as you have some basic soldering skills.

You know, RickenbackeR, I haven't used the damping setup for quite some time. I used to use it in some songs once in a while for variety, but it was such a hassle to use that I just stopped dealing with it and dampened the strings with my palm when I wanted that effect. But now that you mention it, I think I'll revisit that forgotten feature, get some more mileage out of it.

Some favorite Ric songs? Wow, where do I start?

"Hello, Goodbye" ; "Penny Lane" ; - Beatles/McCartney

"Close to the Edge" ; "Heart of the Sunrise" ; "No Opportunity Necessary" ; "Looking Around" - Squire/YES

"Statue of Justice" ; "Crime of Passion" ; "Chamber of Horrors" - Rick Wakeman's Criminal Record lp. Squire played bass on these. (TIP: Squire fans, this is a "Must Have" album!)

"Holl Out Your Hand" ; "You By My Side" ; "Silently Falling" - Chris Squire Fish Out of Water

"Massachusetts" - Bee Gees (ok, go easy on me guys, this was their pre-disco era, and Maurice played a nice sounding Ric bass line on a nice song. Should be our state song.)

A note about YES' "Roundabout" which you probably already know. The bass line on this song was doubled by Squire on a guitar, so what you actually hear is similar to an 8 string sound in a way, since the guitar is an octave higher than his bass part.

Strings? Well, I've always used Rotosounds, 45 - 105. Roundwounds. I do have some Dean Markeleys that I bought a while ago but haven't put on yet. I had the Rickenbacker stock set for the 8 string, but man, $45 a set!! Ouch!! I did find some nice D'Addario's for the 8 string at $25 a set which I like, but I can't remember where I ordered them from and no-one seems to carry them anymore. I think they're set XL-860 if I remember correctly. I gotta look around.

Which reminds me, this kinda pissed me off about Rickenbacker a little bit. I wanted to know if they could just send me the higher octave strings for the 8-string as a 4 string set. that way I could use my customary Rotosounds for the low octave and the Rics for the high octave, since you can't just get those high octave strings anywhere. Anyway, they said no they can't do that, because it would break up the 8-string set. I said, yeah, but then you can just take the low strings and package them as a 4 string set, this isn't rocket science here. But they refused, so that's when I ordered the D'Addario's.
 
#122
Hi kids! Just wanted to let you know I had the surgery done yesterday (for $6.00, not bad) and also had a set-up done. It is now booming, booming, BOOMING!!! The tech told me that the 3rd capacitor is to reduce noise when playing in the Ric-o-sound mode, he said it might make more noise now, but I didn't hear any noise at all. It's just as quiet as ever. He said that the bypass takes it from 18 Khz to 15-16 Khz. He also told me that if I want to use the Ric-o-sound feature (I want a tube amp too now!) that it might make noise. However, the bypass wire is easy enough to remove and he also told me that if I wanted, he could put in a switch that would turn the bypass on and off. What a guy! This is one pleased customer! :D
 
#125
Thats right Jenn there was a question that it might have a effect on the RIC-O-Sound. I never have used Stereo thing yet but like you my RIC is quiet as a mouse in the mono format. It was such a great improvement that I will never go back but I did save the cap just in case I get a hold of one of those RIC boxes ;)
I love this thread it just keeps going to the top! :)
 
#126
Hey, how come i never thought about that! Putting an extra switch sounds like an amazing idea! I think i'm going to steal it!

I won't be able to perform the capacitor sugery until next weekend, when i come back from my short one-week vacation in Mexico City. I'll have to go to radio shack and buy a switch.

I agree with Funkster, this thread just keeps getting better and better! :)

At this rate, i'm gonna end up making my ric active, hehe.
 
#127
Here's a question for all of you RIC owners.
I had this vision, My 4003 is jetglo Black with white pickgaurd I saw this RIC trussrod cover on e-bay that was blk with wht lettering, I lost it yesterday to another bidder for $37 bucks. I want to give my ric the blkstar look with a blk trussrod cover and blk pickgaurd. I went to the RIC page and They say you have to give up your original trussrod cover plus 25 bucks to get a new blk one whats up with that?
I want to keep my original parts so does anyone know a way around this? Any info would be very helpful or should I just leave it blk & wht.
 
#128
Unfortunately Funkster, there is no way around this. This has been a very hot topic of discussion over on the voxtalk.com site for many months. If you want the black nameplate part you will have to give up your original white one.
Rickenbacker is trying to eliminate forgery Rickenbacker copies of their instruments. One of the ways they do this is by controlling the nameplate for the headstock. Repro pickguards can be had from a number of sources on the net in any color.
Contact me if you need some pickguard sites that sell repro Rickenbacker p/g's.
Cheers
 
#130
Speaking of making a Ric active, Steve Barr of Vintage Bass Trading Company (moderator of the bass page on the FDP) has plans to make a "Ric Retro" active preamp to fit into a 4001/4003 without modifications. It's to be patterned along the lines of his "J-Retro", which has gotten rave reviews.
 
#131
Thanx bassman for the info. Thats not really a surefire way to stop the fakes but its the rules. Before I give up my original I'm going to try to track a blk one down. I'll e-mail you when Im ready for a pickguard only cause Im going to leave it alone until (if) I can find a cover.
Thanx again.
 
#132
Funkster, try ebay.com you may find one there. If you haven't visited ebay before, just type in the word rickenbacker in the ebay search box and your there. Keep going back and looking for one if you don't find one immediately. They aren't an everyday item but they do show up from time to time.
All Rickenbacker dealer's must obide by the Rickenbacker nameplate policy, so they won't sell you one either unless you turn in your original one.
Let me know when you want the pickguard info.
Cheers
 
#133
Funkster...I was thinking about switching mine to black a while back, but decided against it...I did however, search ebay, and other auction sights, there was always one floating around somewhere, so check back with them from time to time...you'll find another sooner, or later. I was also looking for the black pickguard to match, and also saw one from tome to time....GOOD LUCK!:D
 
#134
Funkster, there is a site (Chandler Pickguards?) that will make a custom truss-rod cover for a Ric. That way, you can get one in black while keeping your white one. The only problem is that it won't say, "Rickenbacker" on it. How about a black or white moto combo p/g-t/r-cover?
 
#135
Good Morning guys
Thanx bassman,mr2112,Offbase, You guys have been very helpful. I missed one on ebay 2days ago for 37 bucks( fell asleep at the wheel) I couldn't get my final bid in, ebay was having psome problems. I seen a blk star ric on ebay the same time I seen the cover and fell in love with the all blk look.
bassman any sites you have that sell pguards or any ric parts would be greatly appreciated, or any of you guys have any good sites, I'm definitely checking out the chandler site from Offbase. If you guy's happen to come across a blk trussrod cover before I do (ebay,bidbay ect) make sure you drop me a line.
Thanx again lets keep this post alive! this is a great place to come when you got questions or just want to hang with some RIC owners. Bought one of those fancy silver casses from my local GC last weekend man even Ric's casses are mint, perfect fit and nice material. Later guys send me those URL's.

[Edited by Funkster on 08-25-2000 at 09:50 AM]
 
#138
Do any of you actually use the volume and tone controls on your Rics?

In the 25 years I've had mine I've never used any setting but full up on volume and tone. Any adjustments I make are made external to the bass. I use volume pedals and/or amp faders for volume control, and the amp/mixer tone controls or a graphic EQ pedal for any tone control variations. I know some guitarists like to use the knobs on the guitar for control and effects, but I've never found myself using these controls. In any event, since I don't use them I've toyed with the idea of taking them out altogether and replacing them with whatever resistors and jumpers are needed. Then use the leftover space for something else, one option is installing active electronics.

Also, does anyone else find that the Rics have rather crappy PU selector switches which seem to go bad without alot of use? The switch on one bass is basically frozen in the 'both' position. The switch on my other Ric won't stay in one postion, it jumps back like it's spring loaded return to center, so I've got to replace them both. I think I paid $15 - $20 for one not too long ago, I just haven't gotten around to installing it yet.

Any thoughts on any of this?
 
#139
Howdy JMP
I haven't had my RIC long enough only a month or two, so far all the switches and pots on mine seem to be great quality. I do however since the bypass surgery play with the vol and tone for different tone. I find the best sound out of it now is with the neck pup vol rolled back just a touch everything else wide open. No more smiley face on the EQ on my amp helps also this bass loves mids so I can almost run my amp flat and get a great sound. I was mainly a Fender Jazzbass guy so the RIC is a whole new world and animal and I'm having a blast trying to tame it.
 

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