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Rickenbackers
- Thread starter Ric5
- Start date
I think it is just a screwdriver in one of the pickguard screws. I may be mistaken, but it looks like a modified 75th Anniversary limited edition. The paint appears to be that model's Dark Cherry Metallic.
Why buy a Rickenbacker bass if you go and change it into something that is now not a true Rickenbacker bass?
Perhaps the stock Ric tone is CLOSE to what you want, but not quite there? There's also the hot rod factor, which some of us find cool.
Why buy a Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, or any other mass produced bass and mod it, as many bass players do? Nothing sacrosanct about a Ric. Its just a really nice plank with wires, like every bass. If the mod improves on the function or tone, why not? I'd rather see it done to a newer bass that has no special collector's value than some old "classic", but people wince when they see a 62' Jazz modded along the way. Of course the guy who modded a 62' in 65' didn't think he was trashing some future classic, he just wanted to improve on "x" or "Y" and wasn't too concerned about future horrified Fender purists.
And, by the way, who gets to decide what a "true" Rickebacker is? The V63? 4001? 4003? 4003SW? Rickenbacker Corp has made numerous changes to the basic design as the whim or market forces suited them. Will the "true" Ric please stand up? Once that's decided, we can more effectively winnow out all posers with "fake" modded Rics. And what about those poor hacks who modded the hell out of their Rics, Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Roger Glover, Lemmy Kilminster, etc. etc. Were they all misguided, or just "impure"?
If it's your bass, mod it or do what you wish to it as it is yours and it doesnt matter what anyone else thinks. I dig modded ones as well as stock ones.
I never used to catch anything when I went fishing but boy did I reel a heap in this time loll
Last edited:
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
How about this one, instead?
Hmm. That was, most definitely, not the guy who cuts the routes in my former 4004Cii. Mine were expertly done by RIC.
I think 1 5/8" is as close as you'll get.
I don't have much to add. I'm the apparently odd duck that likes my Rics stock (or somewhat stock; I added the push-pull tone and Ric/Schaller straplocks to my '83) and don't feel an urge for a fifth string. While I cringe at some "mods" done seemingly by hillbillies on crack that serve no purpose other than to prove they can inflict a faulty and demented altered aesthetic and add no improvements whatsoever, I have no problem whatsoever with a modification that improves the usability of the instrument for the person playing it. It's a mass-produced object, not a religious artifact. (I'd feel differently about something rare.) And the fact is, Ric isn't producing certain desired variants, so why not modify one to suit your needs? (Part of Ric's charm, for me, is the company's built-in quirkiness. Still, some of their decisions are inexplicable, like no longer producing fretless instruments. I'd love to see an emerald green fretless 4004 someday, for instance.)
I think my point is that you're always going to hear from the whiners, and because of the level of noise they make they'll seem like the majority, but I'd wager there are many more like me that don't really care and aren't very vocal about it. It's the squeaky wheel that gets all the attention, so it's easy to forget there are three other wheels just quietly rolling along. So don't let the noise upset you.
I think my point is that you're always going to hear from the whiners, and because of the level of noise they make they'll seem like the majority, but I'd wager there are many more like me that don't really care and aren't very vocal about it. It's the squeaky wheel that gets all the attention, so it's easy to forget there are three other wheels just quietly rolling along. So don't let the noise upset you.
I read an article not long ago about someone driving one of those three-wheeled Morgans around Manhattan. It wasn't very complimentary. (I think they described it as the most difficult driving experience they ever had.)
