I think that sounds right. Been too long to know for sure.
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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
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- club thunderbird
Those guys had a sound. Were studio musicians at Studio One in Doraville, GA. and decided to do their own thing. I loved their sound. Unique and very smooth. And like all top level musicians, they could play more notes but knew when not to.
He was. Such an unsung great player.
Not surprisingly, they had airplay in Georgia before they "broke" in 1974. "Back Up Against the Wall" at the very least got a fair amount of airplay.
Two of the original cats had been in the Classics IV, another cool band.
l
agreed, and kinda braking ground in the genre with a non Gibson/FSO?.....thoughts?..
Yes kind of. Leon had already been there done that real early on. I don't know for how long. He certainly moved on and never seemed to go back to Rics. Paul stayed with them when they would have been considered somewhat odd for the Southeast. But you are certainly right that was "out of place" then. Miles was there at the time and can help more than I can. I was just a babe back then!
thought you may mention and right on...my 4001 into an SVT and 2000S (stereo) still didn't sound as good as my Biicen mono into the 2000S or a GK 200B.... something about Ricks....
Bugger. It was from the Daddy Cool channel.
Yeah, I’m a few years younger than you so I never got to see them. But at that time (or area anyway) the girls stayed at the primary school til Yr 6, then moved on to a high school. But us boys got moved out after Yr 4 and went to a high school that had Yrs 5 & 6 on campus as well. Catholic schools did this anyway, not sure about anyone else.
Anyway, there was a function / party for us and someone brought a little suitcase record player and one of the girls brought the Eagle Rock single by Daddy Cool. That song got played over and over again. We loved it.
My limited experience with Rics is they either sound great or awful, or at least a bit odd. Harder to get the great part. Just my take. Irv had a clip of his "Ric" and it sounded great.
Nice price on a [This invalid link has been removed] in California:
was gonna ask you that since I don't think I ever heard you comment on Ricks....don't think this club has many Rick owners....I've heard them sound great too.... more of a lack of mids (probably perceptional) and the weird ergos.....
Yeah, the GA music bass scene was mainly Fenders back then from what I can recall, with Gibsons a very distant second. Ricks were rare, though more common on treble guitars. They (and oddball customs) were mainly for visiting prog rockers, and later New Wave groups (if they had bassists).
Berry Oakley (Allman Brothers) and Bootsy Collins (James Brown) were huge influences and they played Fenders.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,963
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
I restored a really nice '86 Ric 4003 (the short-lived model with the reversed tr access, double pg and two wood screws through the flimsy bridge to stop it from peeling up ~) Aside from its baked-in Ric shortfalls, it sounded good. But as with many players, it didn't jell with me (bad ergonomics) and I sold it for a profit.
Not mine - but one like it. Mine had nicer maple flaming in the body. Truss-rod access reversed at the heel under the upper 2-part pg - note; two (wood) screws holding down the lower part of the bridge. When I first got it, I thought some DIY'r added the bridge wood screws - apparently Ric did that because higher tension round-wound strings were pulling up the lower section of the bridge... my gripe with Ric is that they sold at a premium and yet refused to fix the bad design choices from the '50s on. The newer ones are much better but it took them decades to get it right, all for the sake of "nostalgia".
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Besides being visually interesting, the main reason I used to want a Rick was to cop the Rick Wakeman sound and vibe.
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,894
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- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
I will say that having owned over 50 basses in my lifetime, the one I miss the most is my '73 4001.
That’s only maybe $250 more than I paid 3 years ago. Says good condition, but I couldn’t see the wear they mention. Mine only had a small rub mark on the top of the HS.
My biggest gripe with my Rick 4003 is it makes me left pec sore when I get into the music too much and unconsciously pull it tight against me- because of the squared off upper horn. With that said I've gotten good sounds out of my Rick and the action is phenomenal- it's just that the good sounds don't always come quickly with the default settings as with a Precision or Jazz bass which, at least for me, don't require much tweaking to get the sounds I like-
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,963
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
I agree, I really like the "look" of a Ric and the sound is ok too... ergonomics however and that bridge (which they finally resolved but only recently) on a vintage Ric I can do without.
Here’s my 73’ Rick.
Bought it new in 73’. It’s been modified with early EMG pickups on an 18 volt platform.
At the time I wanted it to sound like my Steinberger. I think it’s even better.
I got rid of that awful stock bridge too.
It used to be Rick James white. All of the years playing in smoky bars, sweat, spilled whisky and beer have turned into a faded yellow. You can't buy that color. You have to earn it.
I’ll see if I can dig up an ancient picture of me using that with my SVT when I was 17.
Cheers
Bought it new in 73’. It’s been modified with early EMG pickups on an 18 volt platform.
At the time I wanted it to sound like my Steinberger. I think it’s even better.
I got rid of that awful stock bridge too.
It used to be Rick James white. All of the years playing in smoky bars, sweat, spilled whisky and beer have turned into a faded yellow. You can't buy that color. You have to earn it.
I’ll see if I can dig up an ancient picture of me using that with my SVT when I was 17.
Cheers
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