The Rickenbacker Club Part Nine

[kcole4001]

So you guys think a Rickenbacker has to be rigged up in stereo to sound good? I don't have anything against doing that but it hardly seems necessary.

No, not at all.
In fact, I bought the Ric-O-Sound box right after they announced that it was to be discontinued (really, any quality stereo to mono splitter will work just as well) and found little to no difference in what I normally get from just the mono signal.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I just don't see it as worth the effort of lugging around two amp stacks.
I got to try it when I managed to get all my gear in one spot briefly.
The results were acceptable, but certainly no eureka moment.

Of course, Geddy used to split his neck pup output into clean and dirty signals, so maybe I need another amp and cab to see those results.
Great, more reason for GAS (like I need or can afford more)....
It never ends I guess.

 

[thiocyclist]

Actually I would say the opposite ...
Ricks have a distinctive high mid bark.

They definitely do but the Jazz has a similar EQ focal point that's a little higher register and I think that's why they are so punchy. Rics and Jazzes are both punchy, but the Jazz has an articulate punch while the Ric has more of a growl.

 

[Ric5]

They definitely do but the Jazz has a similar EQ focal point that's a little higher register and I think that's why they are so punchy. Rics and Jazzes are both punchy, but the Jazz has an articulate punch while the Ric has more of a growl.

I would call that high end response of the jazz bass treble and not high mids ... at least it is a higher high mid frequency than the Rick.

I suppose that problem here is bass, low mids, mids, high mids and treble are not defined in this conversation.

I consider bass to be frequencies below 150 to 200 hz low mids 250 to 500hz high mids 500 to 1000 hz and treble 1500hz and higher.

I am sure others will have a different take on this.

 

[thiocyclist]

My comparison really doesn't require the definition of frequency ranges because all I'm really saying is a Ric is like a Jazz with the voicing shifted down by some percentage, and that's probably the pickup position's fault. As a result you get Jazz tone versus Ric tone and the Jazz is definitely higher frequency range-emphasizing than the Ric, where the Ric has the advantage in the lower frequency range. But because Fender's punch through a mix well and have a strong midrange people tend to think they have more lows than a Ric... not true in my experience. That doesn't mean one is better than the other because clearly plenty of bassists and music listeners like both.

 

[Spectrum]

For those who haven't tried your Ric in stereo with a decent guitar amp, you don't know what you're missing. When set up right with a little distortion on the neck pickup it's like you are bathing in bass awesomeness.

I don't gig it this way yet, but when I get the right gear it's happening.

 

[Gaolee]

2. It sounds both more nasal and more aggressive, if that is possible.

That is the high mid bark of the Ric

4. Bottom end on the Ric is ferocious. It barks and growls where the P snarls.

I love statements like this because they are so subjective.

7. The Ric's neck is way too small, but I'll get used to it.

Hmmm many people don't like Ricks because they think the neck is too thick.

Music is subjective, so I'll take that as a compliment. The comment about neck size proves I'm a am a proud weirdo around here. Baseball bats are my idea of perfection. The Ric's neck is little. It's worth getting used to.

 

[Ric5]

Music is subjective, so I'll take that as a compliment.

Yes ...

 

[jbd5015]

I like to think of the Ric neck as a 'consistent' neck.

Im a definite jazz neck fan. Both my P's have jazz necks on them as i havent found a P neck that i fancy yet. They feel CHUNKY most of the time to me. Ive played one P neck that felt very WIDE because it was a very shallow profile/slim.

The Ric neck is just butter to play. Absolutely the most consistent feeling neck from top to bottom. I find myself not looking at my fretting hand as much anymore with this beast. At first it felt 'big' and perhaps 'wide'. But the depth of it is perfect.

Ive only played 2 Rics. Mine which is an '09 and a '78. Both felt pretty darn close, and with similar set-ups im sure would yield great interchangeability.

moral of my story: The Ric neck is definitely a bit different than what most are used to, but once you embrace it...what a joy these are to play!

 

[Scottkarch]

I like your description. I agree it feels more consistent from 1st fret to body. This closest neck I have is my 80's Ibanez Roadster. But it is still a bit more tapered. I've never played a bass that has a neck much like a Ric.

Are there any other basses that tend to have a neck like a Ric? I'd assume some P basses based on the profile type. But I've really only played one or 2 precisions.

 

[jbd5015]

As far as consistent necks go, i had a guild starfire that had one of the best necks ive ever played. TOTALLY different animal though. It was a short scale semi-hollow body. The neck and string spacing was crazy consistent, albeit much tighter and rounder than the Ric.

It looks like Alembic uses a similar philosophy on their necks as guild did with the Starfire. Ive never played one, but if you look at the string spacing on these basses, it doesnt seem to change drastically from bridge to nut. Same for the Ric.

 

[GG7]

Finally got around to removing the pickup cover from my 4003.

I bought one of those Bezels from Tube Ampology which surrounds the pickup and covers up the hole around it which is visible with the cover gone.

That pickup cover is chromed plastic by the way, so anyone still claiming that it has anything to do with the sound of the bridge pickup needs to rethink their opinion on that.

I always said it was pure aesthetic, and in my case, totally in my way!

 

[Korladis]

I prefer the cover on, myself.

 

[Aceonbass]

I've never heard anyone claim that the bridge hi gain cover affected the sound of that pickup. It's the steel shoes on reissue horseshoe pickups that that claim has been made of.

 

[BassGen]

Remember reading something somebody posted a few threads back about the chroming that is on the plastic doing something but it is a vague recollection.might have been on th Ric forum too.

I still have the cover on my 2011 MapleGlo and it is fine. My 2001 JetGlo came itch the cover removed but in the case. I bought the Tubeampology bezel with the thumb rest. It made for a cleaner look and is functional too.

 

[thiocyclist]

That pickup cover is chromed plastic by the way, so anyone still claiming that it has anything to do with the sound of the bridge pickup needs to rethink their opinion on that.

I've never heard anyone say that it affects the sound, ever. Shielding maybe but not the sound.

Is the wink because you are hitting on people who think that? Kidding. Or am I?

 

[BassGen]

For the record, auto correct butchered my previous post. Just noticed and was within the threshold to fix it so I did.

 

[GG7]

I don't know where I read it. I think it was on here somewhere. Might not have even been this Ric thread. But someone had taken the thing off and someone else was going on about how it was a vital part of the bridge pickup's sound or something to that effect.

The original guitars did have those Horseshoe style ones on there like the bass Chris Squire has ans I believe that those covers do play a roll, but since they changed the style, it has never had anything to do with the pickups electronics and what not.

I was just saying that now that they are using chromed plastic covers, it should lay that whole silly argument to rest.

I always chalked the argument up to people confusing the old Rickenbacker 4001s to these new ones.

The cover looks cool and I would have loved to keep it on there, but I play with a pick and I palm mute my strings exactly in the spot where that cover is, so that forced me to play further up towards the neck, and the tone gets all square wavy when you pick the strings that far up.

I use that for effect on mandolin sometimes, but it doesn't work that great for bass! lol!

P.S. I use the WINK emoticon all the time, interchangeably with the smily face, so pay it no mind. I meant nothing by it.

 

[GG7]

Remember reading something somebody posted a few threads back about the chroming that is on the plastic doing something but it is a vague recollection.might have been on th Ric forum too.

I still have the cover on my 2011 MapleGlo and it is fine. My 2001 JetGlo came itch the cover removed but in the case. I bought the Tubeampology bezel with the thumb rest. It made for a cleaner look and is functional too.

Yeah... It was a while ago now and might have just been one guy with the wrong info, but when I posted those pics I thought I would head off any comments like that off at the pass! LOL!

I like this bezel. I decided to just get the standard one since I use a pick all the time on this bass.

$40.00 is a lot of money for a piece of black plastic, but the guy did take the time to CAD up a nice design and have these manufacturered, so I figured what the hell. No one else is making one that looks this official. I didn't want to have that big gully surrounding my bridge pickup.

Don't know why Ric doesn't have something like this in there in the first place for folks who can't play the bass properly with the cover in place and need to remove it. ??

 

[Aceonbass]

The hi gain covers have been chrome plated plastic since the pickup was introduced around 1969. The original horseshoes were magnetic, without which the original horseshoe pickups would not work. Current reissue horseshoe pickups have magnetic slugs for pickup poles, while the chrome plated steel covers are claimed by RIC to have some effect on the magnetic field, and therefore the sound.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I've never heard anyone say that it affects the sound, ever. Shielding maybe but not the sound.

Yes it does provide some shielding as, IIRC, there is a copper layer in there, too.

I don't know where I read it. I think it was on here somewhere. Might not have even been this Ric thread. But someone had taken the thing off and someone else was going on about how it was a vital part of the bridge pickup's sound or something to that effect.

The original guitars did have those Horseshoe style ones on there like the bass Chris Squire has ans I believe that those covers do play a roll, but since they changed the style, it has never had anything to do with the pickups electronics and what not.

In fact, if you remove the horseshoe "covers" on those old pickups you won't get much sound, as those are actually the magnets that are needed to make a sound! They are not just decorative in this case.