Sadly, I don't have either a fist full o' dollars, nor a way to get to Santa Fe.
What color is it? So I can know what I'm missing.
What color is it? So I can know what I'm missing.
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The "Ric Sound"?
- Thread starter MK1
- Start date
Sartori said:
I know LS said he's selling it. But I've seen a lot of guys on here who seem to love to hate their Rics. They cant sell them fast enough and then end up gassing for another. We'll see what camp he ends up in.
Took my 77 JetGlo 4001 to my buddy in Southern Cal. So he could try a Ric for 2 weeks before he spent his hard earned cash on one. Took 4 months to get it back! The guys in the band kept asking him to do "one more gig before you send it back". I do have some great pictures of someone besides me playing it live now though. He is gassing pretty bad for a blue one of course. Sell it at your peril. Most guys I know who sell their good basses wish they had them back eventually and end up paying more to retrieve them. Been playing since '70 in case you're wondering how I might know that. Good Luck.
I love Rics, but to answer the OP's question, the sound it doesn't get is low mid growl such as a Stingray gets. That doesn't mean that it's less than a Stingray, just different. When I think of basses that growl I think of Stingrays, Cirrus basses, Jazz basses and some Warwicks. There are probably many others I'm unaware of. It's a completely different sound.
There are plenty of other sounds it doesn't get - the EB0, the EB2, the Dan Armstrong (acrylic), the Hofner, the Grabber, the Jack Cassidy Epi and many others. No one bass can do it all.
The Ric is defined for me as the bright Chris Squier sound or the deep McCartney sound. Someone else said it best when they said the Ric sounds particularly unique as you move up the neck. It's a great sound - I don't want it to sound like anything else.
There are plenty of other sounds it doesn't get - the EB0, the EB2, the Dan Armstrong (acrylic), the Hofner, the Grabber, the Jack Cassidy Epi and many others. No one bass can do it all.
The Ric is defined for me as the bright Chris Squier sound or the deep McCartney sound. Someone else said it best when they said the Ric sounds particularly unique as you move up the neck. It's a great sound - I don't want it to sound like anything else.
That's why I have kept my different basses over the years. Not only do you learn to love each one for the unique things it offers, but as you said so well no one bass can do it all. If it could Leo would never have released The Jazz bass and we'd all be playing P's.
I agree with you, but you know what, with switchable pups plus individual volume and tone controls there is an infinite variety of tones to be had between those two ends of the spectrum.
Like many people I've owned lots of basses but my '73 4001 does it all for me and effortlessly cops every tone I need for a wide variety of stuff. In my view, it's really versatile for a passive bass. If only it had another string while retaining decent string spacing it'd be perfect
For me, the "classic" Ric tone that comes first to mind is that of Paul Gray, of The Damned (not Slipknot 
) and his wicked, clanking intro to their (little-known) track, "Billy Bad Breaks" 
.
Just take a listen to this. You don't have to bother with the whole clip - the first 10 seconds tells you all you need to know
...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVlEY4CAIpw
One of my Top 5 favourite bass tones of all time, that
.
) and his wicked, clanking intro to their (little-known) track, "Billy Bad Breaks" .Just take a listen to this. You don't have to bother with the whole clip - the first 10 seconds tells you all you need to know
...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVlEY4CAIpw
One of my Top 5 favourite bass tones of all time, that
.
I have always felt that 95% of your tone comes from your hands, but when I think of "The Ric Sound", I think of classic Rush & Yes for starters. I play many styles of music, and both my Rics (4003 and 4004Cii) can get just about any tone you could want. One key to getting the most out of a Ric is proper set-up - unlike most basses, Rics are designed to be set up with little to no bow in the neck. For my Rics, I favor med. gauge stainless steel D'addarios & a fairly strong right-hand attack - it seems the more you dig in on a Ric, the more you get out.
Jaymi
Pink Bass Man
- Feb 11, 2008
- 6,813
- 490
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Ampeg , Jaydee, Kalium
True enough...the more you dig the more you get....without a doubt!! I have been playing Ricks for 24 years and just when I think I can do better and get something else, I come back to the Rick. I have tried LOTS of other basses and nothing does it for me like the Rick so I don't fight against it anymore...
This is my 3rd (and last) rick, a fretted Jetglo that I bought new in 2000.
Like my previous 2 ricks, I can't sell it fast enough (But I refuse to do the shipping/remote sales nightmare - that's unfair to both me and the seller).
The ergonomics of the 4001/3 are also infamous, the balance is poor and on the strap the neck tends to dive a bit. I still have permanent damage in my left wrist from gigging with my other Ricks for years without realizing that I was doing it (often only shows up years later when one becomes old as I have).
My right hand I nearly destroyed too banging on the thing in an effort to get an audible sound out of it live. Fortunately, they record pretty good - you can get a fairly serviceable sound in the studio, but live. Forget it.
What I like about the rick tho: the woodworking is very high quality, IMO. They're made out of good wood (maple) with neck-through construction and the fingerboards are just beautiful. The bridge is garbage as are the pickups, but overall I think the 4003 is very well made. Also, except for the improvements in the necks, a 4003 you buy factory new today is practically like a 4001 you could have bought back in the 60's.
finally, they're still US-made and to my knowledge Rickenbacker still hasn't gotten on the foreign-labor exploitation bandwagon. I try to boycott those efforts and try to only buy US made gear now wherever possible, so the Rick is definitely a good bass to buy if you share that particular ethic.
They're gorgeous too - I love the way the rick looks. So if I do never manage to get rid of my last one, it still has aesthetic appeal for me...
LS
I bought a Ric here on TB a few years ago. It was an 88 4003. It was a great bass and much more versatile than I thought it could be. But I ended up selling it because the tone was great but it didnt give me what I expected...I thought it sounded more like a Jazz bass. The opportunity arose to sell it and I made a tidy profit. Then about 6 months ago I got gas for another Ric so I bought a 2009 4003 here on TB. Now...this is more like it! The neck is awesome and nice and thin, much better than the 88 I had.
The tone is also much more in line with what I expected. It sounds and looks awesome. When I pulled it out at a gig for the first time, I got nothing but compliments on the tone. I will most likely never sell this one.
The tone is also much more in line with what I expected. It sounds and looks awesome. When I pulled it out at a gig for the first time, I got nothing but compliments on the tone. I will most likely never sell this one.
Not all Ric's were used for Prog rock, metal players used them also. I have an old Bass Player mag with Steve Harris in which he it says has used a Ric at one time before he played and fell in love with Fender's.
Here is a youtube vid of a guy playing one of my favorite old Rush songs. Although he is playing it all wrong, I can't help but admire the sound of his Ric which I believe he captures that grindy Geddy Lee sound pretty good! Kinda makes me want to buy a Ric myself!
See what you guys think!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UguTmgX1t4A
See what you guys think!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UguTmgX1t4A
Jaymi
Pink Bass Man
- Feb 11, 2008
- 6,813
- 490
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Ampeg , Jaydee, Kalium
I talked with him once on that tone..I will have to look but he told me how he got it...
If you try hard enough, you can get the Rick sound. This was done with a Jazz Bass and a pick. Though Ricks are more fun to play than my Jazzes. A LOT more fun. God, I want one.
For me, the "classic" Ric tone that comes first to mind is that of Paul Gray, of The Damned (not Slipknot
I think The Damned were an all rickenbacker band at one point? But they were the greatest regardless.
The other definitive Rick tone is "by-tor and the snow dog" off All The World's A Stage.
And, sorry to keep twisting the knife... The thing to note about how to get these tones is how bloody hard you have to hammer the damn thing with the plucking hand. Even if you're a pick player you really have to grind into the thing to get that growly tone.
I've found this to be generally true for me to get a good tone out of any fretted bass, but the rick in particular. I've never been able to develop that kind of strength and when played with the (safe-for-my-right-arm) touch I've developed on my fretlesses, my Rick just disappears from the mix. Soon as I pick up my Bunny, the bass comes right back and I can turn the volume back down and all is right with the world.
The only Rick experiment I havn't performed yet is a fretless model. Now that Rickenbacker has quit making them and they're getting hard to find, I've kind of had to give up on trying that. The fretlesses I have heard played do seem to sound at least a little better, so it'd be worth it if I were a bit richer to try one.
LS
Another thing I've wondered is what is the difference in sound between the current neck pickup and the "toaster" pickup?
Sounds like there just isn't enough output. Couldn't you just raise your pu's a little? Or perhaps even just turn up the gain on your amp a touch?
Or am I missing the point here?
