4000

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1271855' date='Jun 16 2011, 05:13 PM']I have never seen Bernie slap in 3 consecutive years though (word is he is very good when he does) usually demoing the EBS effects (which aren't my bag) but that is what he is there for as it was an EBS stand as much as a GB stand.[/quote] Actually last time he seemed to be spending most of his time telling people how Dave Swift's Dingwall compared poorly with his GBs (I went back 3 times throughout the day to be confronted by the same scenario), but that's another story....

[quote name='silddx' post='1271105' date='Jun 16 2011, 10:08 AM']Crikey. We can get a bit earnest on here can't we. Although many of us detest the nail gun stuff, no-one has slagged off the man himself, have we? Loosen up a bit. We are ALL judgemental about most things and other people and ourselves. If we weren't we would be pretty useless human beings. We have to make judgements all the time, or we will probably die. Anyway, any idiot drummer can knock out percussive 32nd note triplets in time all day, just because it is done on a bass does not make it clever or compelling, it's just a circus act. Interesting once or twice, after that, you never want to see it again, unless you have personal problems To knock a nail into a piece of wood, I would choose a hammer, but if I chose a piece of parmiggiano would you want to watch it on youtube more than once? Would you say it was amazing? Tell all your friends to watch it? 'Like' it? "He knocked a nail with some cheese!! AHMAAAAZIN!". If you would do that, I would certainly judge [i]you [/i]in some way [/quote] Don't call me Ernest. As for the second para, now who's being earnest? And I doubt Nige takes what he's doing half as seriously as those slagging him off seem to, or seem to think he does. In the context of the thread I find the comment "loosen up", quite hilarious seeing as that's what's I've been trying to say all along. To be fair, is it Nige himself who's posting this stuff on Youtube? If so then maybe I'd advise against it, but otherwise it's not really his fault is it? And as for your analogy, it may be that someone would find knocking a nail in with a piece of cheese amazing and they'd be quite entitled to do so. I'd use Cathedral City personally though; the block's nice and heavy. FWIW at Bass Day a few years ago someone asked Nige to play something; Jonas Hellborg was about 2 feet away and Nige said "I'm not playing in front of him!"

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1270960' date='Jun 16 2011, 07:21 AM']Billy Sheehan was trying to talk at last years bassday up by the theatre doors and clutterbook still kept bashing away. As for the traders themselves as has been said in previous threads they can't really ask punters to refrain from slapping can they? I'm not an EBS fan or a slap fan anyway.[/quote] Last Bass Day every time I went up to the stand it was Bernie playing.... +1 on the judgemental thing.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1270350' date='Jun 15 2011, 05:27 PM']These comments only come from people that haven't endured the live 12 hour show! I have ONLY ever seen him play rhythmsync. Again though seems a nice guy and it's a giggle for five mins after that I wish you could just bring the volume down a touch [/quote] I've seen Nige a few times at Bass Day etc and he's never bothered me at all; I haven't noticed him being that loud either, unlike the racket that comes from Bernie's stand.

[quote name='Big_Stu' post='1270341' date='Jun 15 2011, 05:11 PM']I'm the same, too much coffee in the morning I reckon.[/quote] It's water with me. At both ends.

[quote name='Muzz' post='1270189' date='Jun 15 2011, 02:55 PM']Nige is a good guy, I've known him for a long time. The 'Clutterbucking' (and he's got his own entry in urbandictionary.com to prove it) is just a stunt, and it is does impress the, erm, impressionable, and of course there's no such thing as bad publicity*. There's a lot more to his playing than this, tho - he's a very talented bassist. To stretch a footballing metaphor, if someone posted a link of Lionel Messi doing some keepy-uppy, it'd be an unwise move to conclude he's a crap footballer. I'd imagine just as keepy-uppy sells Nike and Adidas, pointless slap sells strings.[/quote] Biiiiig +1. I never understand why people assume a player can only do one thing. I play differently in every situation I'm in, and widdle incessantly when I'm on my own. I thought everybody did!

[quote name='thestick' post='1269795' date='Jun 15 2011, 10:50 AM'] Its got to be Tal Wilkenfeld[/quote] Indeed. Others would be Me'Shell, Tina Weymouth & Melissa Auf Der Maur (love her tone). Big up for Yolanda & Rhonda too.

[quote name='J.R.Bass' post='1269504' date='Jun 15 2011, 12:34 AM']Has this guy ever played in a band situation? I've only seen him in/at trade shows playing clanky w***[/quote] See my post above. Darren Wharton's Dare and Forever Endeavour amongst others. He works for Rotosound which is why he's at the shows.

Nigel is actually an excellent all-round player and knows perfectly well that that's no use in a band (he was actually in Dare). He's very self-deprecating and does most of that to amuse himself the same way I tend to pickup a bass and razz around on it at shows, not to impress anyone else but because I'm having a bit of fun (which I thought is what it's all supposed to be about). He's a very easy going guy and a very nice bloke. Ask Alan Cringean who was also next to him at one of the shows. If you filmed most of the players on any bass forum noodling around amusing themselves they'd get slagged to death. I know I would.

[quote name='Johngh' post='1264084' date='Jun 10 2011, 04:16 PM']Don't really play 4's much anymore, just fancied this as a stay at home noodle bass, until a very special Status popped up, so the Alembic came and went rapid like ![/quote] You can say that again! You've been through some nice stuff in a very short space of time John!

[quote name='Stag' post='1265806' date='Jun 12 2011, 10:20 AM']I strongly disagree, sir! Beeds - perhaps worth looking at my review of the new 4003's at [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=130851"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=130851[/url] - if you have any measurement / dimensions / string spacing questions id be happy to help.[/quote] Ditto, but your best place for advice would be Rick Resource. I'm better with older basses; I can only generalise about the 4003 model, but happy to help where I can. Do you prefer a more substantial neck or a slimmer / shallower / insert preference one? Hi-gains or toasters? Binding or none? Etc etc.....it's a bit of a minefield, unfortunately. As Jon says, if you're looking at any Ric then unless you really know you're stuff (and to be honest even then) you should try before you buy. IME the newer 4003 necks are slimmer, more like the very early 70s necks (more kind of shallow and flat than the mid-late 70s necks, although they vary hugely too). Through most of the 2000s (IIRC) they were much chunkier, more like a P Bass neck but with narrower string spacing and therefore width. The pickup output has changed over the years, pots have changed and of course you've now got the vintage tone selector which puts the bridge capacitor in and out. My favourite pickup combination is 1/2" neck toaster with bridge high gain or horsey (the nearest of the stock basses are the C-Series and V63); the toaster, particularly in that position, gives a more "vintage", hollow tone. In fact I have to say that although all the Rics I owned sounded like Rics I never nailed the tone I really wanted until I got an older bass with a neck toaster. What you may find though is that a 4003 with the 1" neck high gain typically sounds a bit thicker in a band situation. It all depends what you want (and of course how you play, eq, etc.). They vary so much though; a while back I tried a 2010 (?) 4003 and loved it. A few months later I tried another and didn't liek it at all; I a/b'd that one against a C Series and vastly preferred the C. Good luck!

[quote name='bassman2790' post='1265531' date='Jun 11 2011, 11:36 PM']This is my Ibanez SRX650 Same cream binding all around the maple cap as on my Ric, only Ibanez have thoughtfully added a chamfer for comfort[/quote] It's the forearm chamfer that cripples me. Any bass with a forearm chamfer I can't play for long; I would therefore find a Ric far more comfortable. As I've said before, we're all different and have different requirements. This is a perfect example of my point about someone assuming something is more comfortable across the board when for some it won't be (not that I'm saying that you're assuming that, I'm being general).

[quote name='Big_Stu' post='1265383' date='Jun 11 2011, 09:12 PM']The same Sam Lee who built Dave Hill's "Dad's Gibson"??? That's only the 2nd time I've heard his name related to guitar build. "4000" - I doff my imaginary cap to you. No it won't be anyone other than Lemmy I was remembering, since I have/had no interest in Chris Squire. It was maybe more than one article I was combining with a memory from 30+ years ago. Though in reference to your comments on StingrayPete's comments; not for the first time I will say that I "read" all posts on here as being solely the opinion of the writer & never to be gospel or claimed as "fact" unless it's specifically stated as such. I find it makes reading less annoying, baiting & controversial............. mostly.[/quote] Stu, as above his accounts seem to vary slightly; Robocorpse on here is a big Lem fan and may be able to confirm. FWIW Sam Lee originally painted Squire's bass the cream that it has been for most of its "famous" life; Chris said it was the only colour he had! Re the 2nd point you're probably right to do that and I wish I could; its just a pet hate of mine, not least because some posters really can't understand there's a difference. It's funny, I've been accused of too much fence-sitting before now but whenever I do actually voice an opinion people take issue with it. You can't win. Bassman, the binding thing is one of the issues that our guitarist has with Les Pauls; he hates it. I learnt to play on a Ric so I guess it's just what you're used to; it's never bothered me in the slightest and is probably why LPs also feel more familiar (and perfectly comfortable) to me.

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' post='1265334' date='Jun 11 2011, 08:30 PM']Didn't Lemmy only replace the neck pickups? If he did, I always thought it to be a bit daft as he says in interviews he only used the bridge pickup.[/quote] He did indeed. Lem seems to have changed how he sets everything up over the years, and I can only imagine has more recently (relatively speaking, since my interest in him as a player goes back a loooong way) started using the bridge pickup only. In the old days IIRC he used to set his amps up with the presence, middle & treble full on, whereas these days he has has said he has the treble full off. In some interviews over the years his accounts of his gear differ slightly too.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1265193' date='Jun 11 2011, 06:29 PM']Should everyone that dislikes them not comment and leave only positive remarks and posts?[/quote] Again I think you've missed what I've written. The problem isn't people saying negative things about a bass, it's people then not qualifying their comments. It's when someone states that something (Ric or otherwise) is crap as if it's absolute fact, coupled with the implication from some (again, not you) that anyone who likes the bass in question (and this does generally apply far more to Rics) is in some way deluded, that's what I object to. I've been playing bass 30 years and have been through most of the better known makes. For most things I prefer Rics. Does that make me deluded? No, it means I prefer what works best for me. EDIT: Re the first point, the issue for me is stating opinion as fact. If you state "Fender basses are more comfortable", this is implying that it's a fact, which it can't be as I've already refuted it. If you state "I find Fender basses more comfortable" that's an opinion, and I have no problem at all with that.

[quote name='RhysP' post='1265205' date='Jun 11 2011, 06:43 PM']Squire didn't do the work himself; Sam Lee did it.[/quote] Yes, I know, I didn't want to go off on an A-Z of Chris Squire's bass too.

[quote name='Big_Stu' post='1265140' date='Jun 11 2011, 05:36 PM']I read some promo material for a "From The Jam" tour last year & it said he used a Precision for most of The Jam's recording; Malice was specifically mentioned. Surprised me, taking the blurb at face value. In the early 80's there was an excellent A5 size magaine called "Music UK". I don't think it lasted long. But one I kept for years had a Lemmy special in it, from when they'd really hit the big time. He said his all maple Rick started off as a Fireglo (he said it was pink) which he hated, so he sanded it all off. Not being arsed to refin it, it was for several years - in his words - bled on, spewed on, spat on & had all kinds of alcohol and bodily fluids soaked into it. When it got too much he sanded it back again. He thought between the now slightly smaller body size & all of the abuse it was what gave it "his tone". And of course he "always" replaced the neck pup with one from a Thunderbird.[/quote] I tend to watch footage of the Jam more than listen to the recordings; they're one of those "visual" bands. Playing live his Rics always sound like Rics and his P Bass always sounds like a P IMO. A mate of mine (a big fan) agrees, and he prefers his P sound. I've still got that issue of MUsic UK, somewhere. I was reading it recently. The bass wasn't his "all maple" Ric, if you mean the one with the maple neck (Lem was my biggest early influence so this is one instance where "fanboy" is probably accurate) the bass was his first one, which was a 70-sh (certainly between '69 and '71 at any rate) 4000 (at least he says it was a 4000; IMO it looks from footage under the guard more like a 4001s, but I'm perfectly happy to be wrong). He said it was, and I quote, "that horrible salmon pink colour"; he also added the T Bird pickup (and wired it wrong according to Peter Cook, who did some work on it and said that's why it sounded as it did. Apparently the output was actually really low!) He did indeed take all the paint off and played it like that for several years. The bass in question, the Ric he used in Hawkwind and at the start of Motorhead -it's most famously on the Ace of Spades video - can be seen here at approx 2:50. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9wnd69WKgw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9wnd69WKgw[/url] I've never read any interview (and I've spoken to him twice about this too) where he said it was sanded smaller, although I guess it's possible. Chris Squire of course is the most famous "sanded smaller" guy (McCartneys is just sanded different!). Squire said that he kept refinishing his (it started as Fireglo) and that every time he changed it he sanded the colour off (or wallpaper in one instance at least). He's said many times that the smaller body size of his bass gave it it's tone; I don't know if you're possibly confusing the two, but it's quite possible that they both felt the same. Lem only had 2 T/Bird pickups; he said he bought a pair of them in the West End. After that he got "a bloke" (I suspect Peter Cook as they look similar to the pickups on his old basses and as I stated earlier Peter had worked on Lem's bass) to make some copy T/Bird pickups, but Lem said "they weren't very good, not like the real thing". From there he went to Barts, and from there to Ric humbuckers.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1265044' date='Jun 11 2011, 04:08 PM']1) I know nothing of the company and dont like any other companys anyway really (Sterling Ball is a cock) so I only take the instruments as I find them. I know Ric players get some stick but what to many people is a rational list of reasons why we dont like them is to you an irrational hatred maybe? I drive old bangers and I love them but I can accept their flaws as its charachter and dont mind other people classing them as crap, Its life 2) Then you misunderstood his post as to me it implies that they had a witch hunt against him for suggesting bad things about Rics?[/quote] 1) No, you're completely missing the point I'm making. I accept that some people don't like them for those reasons. What I object to is that many (not necessarily you) seem to think that others should dislike them for the same reasons. That is irrational. I'm getting sick of repeating myself, but to categorically state that a Fender (to use the example given) is far more comfortable is nonsense unless it's qualified. How can it be categorically far more comfortable if I don't find it so? If someone says "I find it far more comfortable" I don't object to that at all; if they do, they do, but it doesn't mean I should too. What if someone inexperienced reads a load of "bass x is crap" stuff and on the basis of that dismisses them out of hand, when it could be that "bass x", be it Ric, Fender, Musicman, Wishbass, Kay, whatever, is the bass that would suit them more than any other?

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1264854' date='Jun 11 2011, 12:58 PM']2 points there for me, 1- Why is it irrational hatred? I dont like the neck dive, neck profile, build quality, finish, the bridge or the various sharp bits that protrude from most Rics thats before we get to the sounds, so if someone else feels like me then thats not irrational at all is it? It might not fit your feelings about them but its not irrational at all IMO. 2- As I read it it was the Ric fan Boi's that were carrying out said witch hunt?[/quote] 1) It's irrational because not liking certain things about that brand doesn't mean that brand is crap, which is what keeps being implied. Have you actually read my posts? I don't like Fenders much for reasons already discussed, but that doesn't mean they're crap. I don't get on with Status, but that doesn't mean they're crap. The Ric haters seem to hate everything about the basses, the company, the people who like them; there is nothing, nothing, NOTHING to like about them and everybody who does like them is some sort of deluded fanboy.....that, to me, is irrational hatred. They don't seem to be able to just say "oh it's just not for me" or accept that to someone else they might just actually work better, sound better, be more comfortable etc. I would defend any brand in the same way. If somebody said the same about Fender, or in your case Musicman, I would still say it was irrational hatred. 2) You misunderstood my post. I appropriated his words to use in the context of him appearing to be carrying out a witchhunt against Ric (see above).

Good stuff Jon! Sounds pretty much the same as I understood it. I believe the P was only used on the "solo" part (if you can call it that) on By-Tor.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='1264416' date='Jun 10 2011, 09:37 PM']I remember hearing that he preferred the Rick and only went back to the Hofner because Elvis Costello said that he suited the Hofner more than the Rick. And someone mentioned the lack of artist relations. I had quite an interesting debate on the Rickresource when I suggested that the Rick that Lemmy used with the maple fretboard and the star inlays was in fact a copy which meant that the extremely limited edition of about 50 Lemmy Basses hand carved by pixies in gum tree lane was silly as he had never played an original one. Plus it had no bearing on anything he had used as it couldn't possibly be a proper signature model as it was a completely different spec No one could provide evidence that the Rick in question was real but it didn't stop their witch hunt[/quote] McCartney was also starting to find the Ric heavy too (he's getting on you know) which was a factor. As for "Lemmy had never played an original one", you've lost me. Lemmy has played loads of original ones. Are you not very familiar with Hawkwind / Motorhead or something? His original bass was "an original one", the White BT was an original one, etc etc. The maple-necked one isn't the only Ric (whether it is or isn't) Lem has ever played, it's one of many. As for the spec, Ric have stated quite categorically that when an artist gets a signature model (which they don't bother with now) it isn't necessarily an exact copy of an instrument the artist has played but more of a version that the artist wants to play, designed in conjunction with the artist; it will therefore vary according to the artist in question. With Lem it was more a case of "if we built you a signature Ric what would you want?". I find irrational hatred of a particular brand really weird. If someone doesn't like something, fine, but to then feel the need to (using your own words) turn it into a witch-hunt I just find very odd. Did John Hall once pee in your wardrobe or something?

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1264124' date='Jun 10 2011, 04:47 PM']He sounded just like himself on the clips i've heard. I really don't get the whole "Ric sound" thing, the ones i've played have sounded nothing like what i have come to expect, that's with me playing them and their owners gigging them. The best "Ric" sound i've had from a bass was attained with an RD Artist. I also find them uncomfortable basses to use btw, the little quirks are, for me, serious design faults.[/quote] His Ric sound and his P bass sound are nothing like each other IMO, but I think we've just been through a similar issue in another thread. Depends on your ears I guess. What's funny is I can get my Rics to sound pretty much exactly like many of those classic records, as can certain of my friends that own them. Ever thought you're maybe doing something wrong? One thing I will say is I don't feel that if you want that classic sound you can just plug in and play; there's a lot of tweaking involved. I eq pretty heavily. You also need the right Ric and the right amp.....

I think I recognise that bass..... Hiya Wints!

[quote name='Delberthot' post='1263412' date='Jun 9 2011, 10:59 PM']How is it sh*te? This is from experience - if you had a choice of something comfortable and easy to adjust and something with hard edges and harder to adjust then I know which one I'd go for. And yes, you can get the Hipshot bridge (didn't they have to stop making them because of RIC?) and the Pickguardian thingy for the pickup surround but I wouldn't want to spend £1600 on a bass only to find that I had to buy extra bits to make it easier to adjust[/quote] Ok, maybe "sh*te" was a bit harsh, sorry , but it just gets so predictable; "I've had a few of bass "x", didn't get on with them, therefore they're crap and should be avoided at all costs". As I've doubtless posted countless times, I've owned 12 (I think) Rics and played hundreds more. I've owned 4 Fenders or Fender types and played hundreds more. I've also owned about 25-30 other basses from Alembic to Wal and have played literally thousands of others. And yet I keep coming back to my Rics, although my point isn't really about Rics but about preferences. What you have to realise is that this is all subjective. The Fender bass with it's forearm contour is, for me, one of the least comfortable basses ever made. The contour causes nerve problems in my right arm and actually stops me playing. The "hard edges" of the Ric cause me no such problems. Generally speaking (depends on the bass) I find slab bodies more comfortable. Why? No idea. They just seem to suit me better. So Fenders are NOT more comfortable. They are more comfortable FOR YOU. They may be for many others too, but it's still subjective. Our guitarist can't get on with Les Pauls, he finds Strats far more comfortable. I'm the opposite; a Strat feels far less comfortable than a Les Paul to me. We're different and obviously have different physical requirements. In terms of build quality, the only new Fender I've bought had a neck that had to be replaced within the first week. The entire neck. That's a biggie. Never had a problem with a Ric (except for a very old and somewhat abused bass where the neck had pulled forward), although I know some others have. However I'm sure someone somewhere has had problems with just about any make you could care to name. Whether they make a huge issue of it is another thing. In terms of being easy to adjust, what about Fenders where you have to take the entire neck off to adjust the truss rod? Or anything with an ABM bridge, which I actually find far more irritating to adjust than a Ric one? The Ric bridge isn't the easiest thing to adjust, but I've never had a problem with it. If you're not used to it it can be a pain, but you could say that of anything. I had to replace the bridge on my old 70s P Bass because every time I hit the string it moved the string on the saddle. And I play very lightly. I don't stick my finger in the Ric treble pickup hole either so again it's never bothered me. Plenty of people manage without modding. These are all personal preferences and experiences and don't necessarily mean that a particular make is inherently flawed. I would never say the Fender bass is inherently flawed. I don't tend to get on with Status basses; every one I've had I've had problems with, but many people swear by them and have never had a single problem. That's fine by me.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='1263182' date='Jun 9 2011, 08:06 PM']Cos they're uncomfortable, the bridge is badly in need of an upgrade, if you play without the pickup cover you lose the skin off your fingers on the sharp edges, from the ones I've had they're simply not worth the money in terms of fit and finish versus the cost and waiting time. Compare it to the simple Precision or Jazz - comfortable forearm contour and belly cut, easy to adjust string height and intonation, you can rest your thumb on the pickup, no mucking about with twin truss rods that have to be adjusted differently from most other basses made. If I was a pro player and really wanted to get a Rick sound then I'd try different amps, effects etc rather than getting another one. Oh aye - Bruce Foxton also endorses Waterstone semi-acoustic basses[/quote] Oh God, not this familiar sh*te again.