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The "Ric Sound"?

#61
St Drogo said:
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?
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No, you're actually spot on - this is in fact one of those lengthy and hair-pulling experiments you're likely to go through trying to get a clean tone out of your Rick without having to resort to either a pick or weight-training on your right hand to develop the strength you need.

I certainly did all of those things to no avail (including strength training on the right hand!).

Flatwounds and lots of compression helps a little bit and plucking directly over the bridge PU will help too. But nothing compares to a different bass with a better tone ;)

LS
 
#62
unclejane said:
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.
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The unfortunate thing is that this is your definition of good tone. There are thousands of others. But I also think if you had your Ric set up right, you could have your cake and eat it too--I just don't want to patronize you with a bunch of suggestions.

By the way, it's disappearing in the mix? That almost always means you're hitting the strings too hard. Why not lower action and lighter touch?

Okay, one suggestion. Done patronizing.
 
#63
cassius987 said:
The unfortunate thing is that this is your definition of good tone. There are thousands of others. But I also think if you had your Ric set up right, you could have your cake and eat it too--I just don't want to patronize you with a bunch of suggestions.

By the way, it's disappearing in the mix? That almost always means you're hitting the strings too hard. Why not lower action and lighter touch?

Okay, one suggestion. Done patronizing.
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No problem, BTDT. That was the first thing I tried years ago when I first went into a studio with my old 4001 and many hours were spent with the wrenches in the years afterward altering the setup. Never heard it on a recording or live in a gig since (when I got the Steinberger, tho, suddenly the rest of the band went "whoa, we can actually hear you!").

A good tone for me is one with good clear audible notes at the minimum possible volume (i.e. without drowning out everyone else) - of all the basses I've tried over the years the Rick is the poorest at this (the Steinberger and my Carvin are the best, by contrast)

LS
 
#65
You have one heck of a wife my friend, and she must love you very much to drop the money needed for a Ric.

As for the signature "ric sound". Generally, it means that biting, crunchy clank that you hear with players like Geddy Lee and Chris Squire, or Paul McCartney's percussive thump from stuff like Sgt. Peppers. That's a ric too. Both tones are different (the difference of an amp and a different set of hands/technique), but they still retain a very hearable quality. They aren't just back there in the mix, but up front. That's what a Ric does. It is a more lead or moving-man oriented bass. It can be faded back to a more traditional bass role, definitely, but what they are known for is being able to make the bass player stand out a good deal. That's why they're used most by prog or (early, i.e. Deep Purple and Black Sabbath) metal bands.
 
#66
cassius987 said:
Well, I'll agree to disagree with you about the Ric's tone. I think it's something about how you're using it, or maybe you got three lemons, but that seems unlikely.
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My theory is, well, it just sounds bad. My other basses like my G&L and, better yet, my Carvin, don't sound bad (at least not when I play them). I can hear the notes I'm playing and everything else I'm playing along with too. With the Rick, I'm immediately whacking switches and twisting knobs trying to get an audible tone. That just doesn't ever happen with my Carvin Bunny. I just plug it in and go; just touch it and these nice velvety notes just flow out of it.

I'm just not strong enough, perhaps.

LS
 
#67
Fender32 said:
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" :bassist:.

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 :smug: ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVlEY4CAIpw

One of my Top 5 favourite bass tones of all time, that :hyper:.
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Thats the ric tone in my head still working on it my self. My best results have been solo'd bridge pup cranked bass on the amp. What amps did he play though back in the day
 
#68
This audio is from some basic tracking my band did recently. I used my March '73 4001 with TI Jazz Rounds played fingerstyle into my UA LA-610 Mk II into Pro Tools. Just thought you might want to hear another side of Rick tone. :)

 
#69
unclejane said:
My theory is, well, it just sounds bad. My other basses like my G&L and, better yet, my Carvin, don't sound bad (at least not when I play them). I can hear the notes I'm playing and everything else I'm playing along with too. With the Rick, I'm immediately whacking switches and twisting knobs trying to get an audible tone. That just doesn't ever happen with my Carvin Bunny. I just plug it in and go; just touch it and these nice velvety notes just flow out of it.

I'm just not strong enough, perhaps.

LS
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I think it's you. Plenty of us can get great sounds with a Rick just running everything wide open.

I play hard, with my fingers or with a pick, and it doesn't take that much strength, really.

Crank the mids up.... mmmmm. Never a problem cutting through at all.
 
#72
MK1 said:
I've read a lot about Rickenbacker basses on this Forum and I've found these are pretty polarizing basses. The two main things either love or hate, are the feel and the "sound". My Wife just bought me a FG 4003 and I love this bass. No bass has ever felt better in my hands. I also love the sound of this bass, it is way more versatile than people would have you to believe here.
But what I'm trying to figure out is what is the "Ric Sound"? My bass has the push/pull tone knob and both modes sound completely different, not to mention the tone knobs are incredibly useful. So please tell me what the signature Ric sound is, because so far I haven't found a situation where this bass couldn't fit in.
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Your first sentence is proving to be a truism regarding Ric talk (polarized!) around here. Your wife is too cool. :cool: Treat her like gold and play the frets off of her gift! I am still honeymooning with my new 4003 (MapleGlo), digging the tones and how it plays. There's just a vibe and feel to it that's hard to describe but so fun to experience. I hear classic Ric tone with both pickups on with the bridge volume backed off a bit, tones full-up, vintage cap engaged. I still have the original set of rounds on mine and they're still sounding nice, but am looking forward to hearing what it sounds like with flatwounds...
 
#73
spiritbass said:
Your first sentence is proving to be a truism regarding Ric talk (polarized!) around here. Your wife is too cool. :cool: Treat her like gold and play the frets off of her gift! I am still honeymooning with my new 4003 (MapleGlo), digging the tones and how it plays. There's just a vibe and feel to it that's hard to describe but so fun to experience. I hear classic Ric tone with both pickups on with the bridge volume backed off a bit, tones full-up, vintage cap engaged. I still have the original set of rounds on mine and they're still sounding nice, but am looking forward to hearing what it sounds like with flatwounds...
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I just put a set of D'Addario Chromes on a few weeks ago, first time trying flats on a Ric for me and I figured Chromes would be a good match for a 4003 since they're naturally bright for flats. So far so good, deep and punchy. Seems like a nice match up.
 
#77
Sartori said:
I think it's you. Plenty of us can get great sounds with a Rick just running everything wide open.

I play hard, with my fingers or with a pick, and it doesn't take that much strength, really.
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+1. I really don't get the strength comments at all and have never felt like Rics required extra strength to play. Something is amiss here.

Jeff Scott said:
This audio is from some basic tracking my band did recently. I used my March '73 4001 with TI Jazz Rounds played fingerstyle into my UA LA-610 Mk II into Pro Tools. Just thought you might want to hear another side of Rick tone. :)

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This is a great bass tone I love to dial in on modern rock--especially what you're doing close to the 1:00 mark. Warm, very audible yet not annoying, with enough punch to really define the attack. Good job Jeff!
 
#79
Ric5 said:
Ricks are interesting basses ... some hate them and some love them ... I like Rics, but I am not a "Ric Cult" member. Also I am not a Ric hater either. I like the Ric sound but I also like other basses.
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There was Ric bashing thread here recently that was filled with misinformation. Weird, off the wall stuff. Real passion from the haters. I don't get it either... It's just a bass.

I love mine, but I also love my dog and my truck.
 
#80
I'm a huge fan of Rics...and delay.

This is probably one of my fave Ric vids of all time - beginning, up until 2:25 is my favorite part:




I moved away from Rics for a long time, all while owning mine. I went the P bass route, and was going more fingerstyle. I used the pick as well, but for some reason stayed with the P for two years. I also built a P/J made of rock maple(heavy!) to get a hybrid Ric/Precision tone. But it was too thick and didn't have the resonance of my Ric, I would later find out. It had bite, but sounded very "dead" in comparison.

Showed all my basses to my sister one day, and she said "Wow, that sounds beautiful" when I played the Ric. I started playing the Ric again. But the Ric was worth money, and I wanted a "beater" bass, that I wouldn't worry about.

So I continued to experiment, thinking maybe a thin maple body with a bolt-on neck might give me something similar to what I heard in my head. I bought an Epiphone Ripper bass. The Ripper was nice and resonant like the Ric, but for some reason, it was missing that warmth the Ric provided.

I finally decided it was the neck-through design of the Ric, as I switched out pickups on the Epi Ripper like they were going out of style - the best sound I got out of it was a G&L MFD in the Bridge position. This "Beater" bass was starting to get expensive!

It all ended when I noticed all the scratches on my Ric, and I went back and listened to some of the recordings I did with it. It always had that tone in it that I loved - I then decided it was really dumb to own something I never play because I'm afraid of scratching it!

I still want to put together and paint instruments, but I will no longer be going on another bass quest. I think it's time to build a guitar now.
 

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