Why Rickenbacker?

[micguy]

To my understanding, the pickups are wired in a specific manner to achieve its distinctive voice, with the noise being an unavoidable consequence of that design.

They're single coils - nothing all that special about their design. A Jazz bass with one pickup soloed hums just fine, too.

The sound of a Ric is more about where the pickups are (their locations are different than where Fender put theirs) than how they're made.

 

[TeeSee]

Tom Jones comes close in my book. Hope you're enjoying some good ale over there. I'd have to go all the way to Boston to enjoy anything pulled off a cask. Cheers.

Yeah there's good ale here and there's some crap stuff too. Talk about taking coals to Newcastle, some of the best IPA's I've found are US. I said some.

 

[TeeSee]

When I was a kid, in the mid-70s, the Rickenbacker 4003 was like a private jet: highly aspirational. They were always among the more expensive basses in circulation, something that hasn’t changed that much, it appears. Only working players seemed to have them—which, to me, said it all. And man, did they look GOOD!

The only one I’ve ever played belongs to a friend and is heavily modified, sporting Bartolini pickups. (FWIW, it sounds bitching.) He uses it for reggae. Go fig’r.

I’ve gotten to the point where I do not keep seeking greater satisfaction when I’ve already succeeded beyond my wildest hopes. But if one came around in an outstanding deal, in GWO, I’d totally jump for it, just to see.

And IMO, they still look amazing. I’ll take one in Jetglo, to go.

Y'know, I would have thought the last bass to play dub would have been a Ric, they're synonymous with pick playahs hence everyone talking about the 'growl'. I guess if you treat them right instead of flogging them they'll sing like a siren to you, just a little respec' with a gentle fingering on the button and the world's your oyster.

 

[FSGrind]

If you check out the Rickenbacker group on Facebook it seems like a lot of people collect them like art pieces instead of instruments. I have a 1973 Rickenbacker 4001. I am not really a fan, looks cool tho.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

Luckily the new ownership has improved the warranty experience tenfold. Ben Hall has commented in a few places that the old warranty card that explains the risk of “non rick certified strings” is super antiquated and they don’t turn down anyone who uses their warranty nowadays.
I have seen him personally reach out to people with the single-truss rod issues that came from the shift this year.
(That being said I agree with you)

Does this mean that the warranty also no longer starts running the moment the instruments leaves that factory? Because that was the main problem in the past, that by the time customers actually purchased Ricks the instruments could already be out of RIC's warranty and the dealer was stuck with costs for any repairs, and not always willing to do so, leaving the customer with a piece of junk. A totally rotten business model.

The thing about "non certified strings" was really bad as too of course and I'm glad to hear they have stopped that nonsense. Things like blaming Pyramid strings when the severely flawed tail pieces on Rick 12-strings guitar shattered because they couldn't handle the tension of perfectly normal strings. Wasn't the word "Pyramid" actually sensored from the Rick forum, so people had to use another "secret" word when referring to Pyramid strings? It was absolutely insane! RIC also almost routinely block people who make comments that are seen as critical RIC or Rickenbackers on social media. They make the third reich seem like a beacon of free speech. Or have this side of their business practices improved lately as well? I no longer bother following then. Cool instruments (when they work), disgusting company. Or at least they used to be.

I'm glad to hear that the new ownership has improved at least SOME things because the people in charge before were... well, I'll be kind and say "a bit eccentric".

 

[MichelD]

I always thought they looked really cool and wanted one. When I got in a cover band in 1977 the guitar player tried to sell me his Jazz bass (shoulda bought it) but I got a Rick 4001 instead. I loved it at the time and played a lot of Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, Beatles, Stones, Doobie Bros. etc. on it, but later in the late 80s I moved to more roots oriented music and sold it in 1989 or '90 for $450 (what I had paid for it) with no regrets.

The original bridges are a pain to adjust. You have to detune the string so you can get a tool in there. I didn't know about sophisticated things like intonation at the time and never noticed a problem and didn't touch anything.

 

[JKB1957]

Reason #1: Chris Squire
Reason #2: Mike Rutherford
Reason #3: Paul McCartney
Reason #4: Geddy Lee
Reason #5: Paul Simonon

All in all, I LOVE the sound!!! The necks on the 4001 from the 70s are SUPER thin and fun to play! The Electronics on the newer ones are more versatile and cover more ground, though the necks are a little chunkier. I just love the sound and aesthetics enough that I'll work with the cons! And out of devotion for the Squire aesthetic, I'll keep my bridge cover on and adjust my playing accordingly!

Add Lemmy to your list.

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

I absolutely love my Rickenbackers! I have a 1985 4003 and 2023 4003S, my 4003 is a lot mellower (dark, smooth and sweet) than my 4003s (grunt, bark and bite, but can easily be tamed). I love using my Rick’O’Sound for running 2 separate effected signals at the same time, I’m planning on eventually drilling my S for the Stereo jack. Ergonomics aren’t bad, it’s never bothered me. I think it’s one of those things where if you don’t perceive there’s an issue, there’s not an issue. There’s plenty of slab bodied basses out there that don’t get the guff Rics do.
The necks over the past 10 years or so I couldn’t stand though, they were like varying sized 2x4s with rounded corners. The new necks are still D shaped but much thinner front to back, I love it! My 1985 has more of a jazz bass C neck.
I love the variation in tone of the neck, both and bridge Pickups. Really the only basses that I flip the selector switch regularly on and would be happy to have 3 basses with either position, they are great tones in their own right. Neck pickup is big and woody, bridge pickup has bite and snap to it and together the blend to give what almost sound like a P and Jazz bass playing on top of each other dark and burpy. And it has that singing quality in the high mids that’s similar to a Thunderbird.
They are awesome with dirt as well, the overtones from the neck pickup and the stabbing brightness of the bridge pickup together give off a really satisfying profile to run into distortion.

 

[stringthrough]

Owned one. Sold it. Don’t like them.

Unstable neck, funky bridge, esthetically over-designed for my taste, don’t even like their sound, but hey, I had to try one cause Paul, Chris and Geddy liked them.

If you want something different than the Fenders, look into a Stingray.

 

[sunbeast]

They're single coils - nothing all that special about their design. A Jazz bass with one pickup soloed hums just fine, too.

The sound of a Ric is more about where the pickups are (their locations are different than where Fender put theirs) than how they're made.

I assume what Kerem is referring to is that Ric pickups are not wound RWRP to each-other the way that Jazz pickups are, so with both pickups engaged they are hum-additive rather than hum-cancelling. John Hall (old CEO of Ric before his son took over) when asked why claimed in forums that making Ric pickup RWRP would change their tone, which isn't the case (I've done RWRP mods on several Rics now without a noticeable change in tone)- but he commonly and stubbornly defended anything approaching critique of Ric and would make all sorts of questionable claims in their defense so no surprise there.

I owned a Rickenbacker 4003 for a while. Despite its appealing appearance, it turned out to be the noisiest bass I have ever owned, and the bridge didn't allow me to palm mute. To my understanding, the pickups are wired in a specific manner to achieve its distinctive voice, with the noise being an unavoidable consequence of that design. However, I'm open to correction from experts if I'm mistaken.

I wouldn't buy another Rick due to the reasons mentioned above.

As mentioned above, there was no good reason that Ric pickups couldn't be wound RWRP like Jazz pickups, and modifying one of the pickups to make them humcancelling in center position is actually a very easy mod with no effect on tone- you just have to flip one of the magnets upside down and reverse the + and - coil wires of one of the pickups. That said, much of the noise is likely the result of the complete lack of cavity shielding in factory Rickenbacker instruments, so RFI buzz can be a real issue even if you do make the pickups RWRP (which cancels low frequency hum but not high-frequency buzz). There is some shielding in the neck pickup cover, and potentially the bridge pickup as well, but nothing as useful as grounded copper foil in the pickup/control cavities.

I agree about the bridge and palm-muting, which is why my main Ric is a 4004 (no mute) and my 4001/3 basses have all gotten Hipshot replacement bridges.

 

[moon-bass]

Like many others, I didn't get the appeal of a Ric until I owned a Ric. Nothing else to add other than they are just super cool basses and a lot of fun to play!

 

[Gaolee]

I have had two Rics and currently have and El Degas copy from the 70s. The Rics were a 1998 and 2006. I liked them well enough, but not enough to keep them. Later on, I missed them a bit, and when the copy popped up for about a third the price, it was an easy decision. The copy has a log for a neck and a single truss rod. There are other little details that let you know it is a copy, but it is close enough to scratch that itch. And it is an itch if you have that itch. It makes perfect sense to hate Rics or to love Rics. Being indifferent is much harder to pull off.

 

[logdrum]

He swapped basses several times throughout his career.

Looks like he preferred a lowly Fender Jazz to replace all these boutique Rics and Wals

 

[Steve Cooke]

The look is unmistakable, the sound is great and more versatile than is often said. But oddly my favorite part is the huge neck of my 2017. Never even considered necks before, thought they were all about the same. Love the original V1 bridge, set it and forget it assuming you arent changing string size all the time. I use the stock size strings from Ric or Curt Mangan.

 

[Hot Rats]

...Because I don't always want to play my Spector, Stingray or Precision.View attachment 5269591

Dang, I wanted that so bad when it was for sale. One of the first basses I ever played on was a blue Ric like yours.

 

[FunkHead]

Dang, I wanted that so bad when it was for sale. One of the first basses I ever played on was a blue Ric like yours.

Yeah, I realized I just couldn't let it go. The Look, The sound, The feel is amazing.

 

[JenderBazzFass]

Are the Ricky basses like their guitars, which hang weird on you (compared to other electric guitars) and are hard to get used to? The only time I played one I found it a little strange, kind of like when you play a Firebird or an SG.

 

[MrAB4003]

Hi tb-player

Yep!

View attachment 5269599


wrong pic

View attachment 5269592

that's because!


greetings

Wise(b)ass

I never would have imagined Lemmy behind the wheel looking like that! I didn't think he owned a car when he was living.

 

[Wood and Wire]

I never would have imagined Lemmy behind the wheel looking like that! I didn't think he owned a car when he was living.

I think that shot is from something like "Terrorfirmer", or some other movie he was in - I can't quite remember which.

 

[Spectrum]

I never would have imagined Lemmy behind the wheel looking like that! I didn't think he owned a car when he was living.

It's a clip from a Foo Fighters video.