4000

Anyone who says that you can’t play an instrument using whatever works best for you is, in my not so humble opinion, a complete cockwomble. Has he heard Bobby Vega?

None of these videos are encouraging me at all. They all sound so nasal and weak to me.

I have to say, if I was playing fingerstyle exclusively, even I probably wouldn’t use my Rics a lot of the time. But I play with a pick 99% of the time, and it just suits. As for the drummer that is anti plectrums, just tell him he can only use his hands, no sticks. 😉

I think he’s playing that bass in my Whitesnake programme from 1980, although whether he used it live at the gigs I saw I really can’t quite remember; I think he may have. I ever find the interview amongst my hundreds of guitar mags I’ll let you know, assuming I didn’t bin it in my last cull. I think it might have been in International Musician and Recording World. I really should get rid of some!

Its a Fender. Neil used to mod a lot of his basses and always played in stereo as he said he didn’t like a clanky sound and he reasoned that being in stereo helped avoid this. I’ve got an interview with him somewhere from way back. There used to be one of his Arias (along with Cozy’s drums) at John Sykes’ studio near me, which is where one of my old bands used to rehearse and record. Played nicely, lower action than I expected.

Judging by Classicvibes post above it actually is......but just not a Fender. 😉😂

Aargh! My eyes!👀 Nice colour though. 😉

See for me, that bottom horn just doesn’t sit with the rest of it. Headstock too, if I’m honest. The Rumour though, very nicely thought out.

Ditto.

Personally I’d probably go Limelight, or possibly a lighter Nate. I’ve never played a G&L with a neck I’ve liked, but YMMV. Always way preferred Lakland necks (bar the DJ).

That looks grim! Wishing you a speedy recovery.

This, times 1000. I’ve been saying this for years. They’re the only fretted bass that IMO really sings out and gets bigger as you go up the neck. Which obviously won’t suit some players, but will suit others. The thing with a blind test is that whilst an instrument may have its own signature voice, this will be affected by many other factors, most important being the person playing it and rig used. It’s pretty obvious an instrument’s character will change if a different person plays it, because both the player and the instrument (and other factors like rig used etc) contribute to the overall sound, and few players play exactly the same. The mistake some seem to make is therefore extrapolating this as confirmation that the characteristics of a certain instrument are irrelevant. Just because someone else playing a bass doesn’t sound like you playing the bass, that doesn’t make the bass itself irrelevant in terms of generating the final tone. That’s 2 + 2 = 5, to quote Radiohead.

It’s not a nonsense, because it depends entirely on how you play the instrument. Some people’s technique will travel between instruments very well; others won’t. There are very few instruments I’m comfortable on. The movements I make when playing (both left and right hands) I want to be as small as possible, so I want something that accommodates that comfortably. Sure, I can adapt to a degree, but why should I? I can wear shoes that are too big or too small too, but they’re not going to be the most comfortable. The thing that makes me laugh is people assuming that everyone else is the same as them, because “my experience is”.🙄

That’s what I love about them.

Yes, crushed pearl. And checkered/chequered binding. Like these:

Still working my way through the online Radiohead Library.

The one I tried, which my friend lent me for a while, did indeed sound nothing at all like a Ric, nor did it really feel like one, which was probably the point.

I love a parallel neck (Rics, Alembics) but I learned to play on one, so for me it’s the most natural. Obviously for anyone who didn’t, I imagine it can feel weird. I struggle with the taper of most basses; because I prefer narrow string spacing the whole ‘narrow at one end, wide at the other’ thing is really of no use to me, I don’t want it to be wide anywhere!

A friend had a John Birch copy which I was desperate to get my hands on (had always fancied one) but when I played it I didn’t like it at all. The neck was a little bigger than my ’72s, but it was the weight and the sound; it was far heavier than my Rics and had nothing of the sound that I love. Of all the thousands of basses I’ve played, it was one of the ones I liked least. It was an incredible disappointment, although others may be more to my taste, I don’t know. I’d try playing everything, not just C Series, but I suspect the nearest to what you’re after might be from pre-‘73 (or an early V or CS). As I stated earlier, the pre-73 necks have a wider, flatter feel. It’s a long time since I played a C and I think I’ve only played 2; unlike you I’m not keen on the reverse headstock so never had too much thought for buying one, although I do remember the second one I played sounded very good. Of course either way it won’t be cheap, but I would advise playing first.

TBH I had no idea from the few pictures I’d seen (prior to yours here) that the finish was a sparkle/metallic one, and I hadn’t been that keen. Different kettle of fish now!

Ooh, that Alembic...

Just over half price? Wow. Why do I never see these bargains?

Well relatively speaking, yes, but it depends on your definition of shallow. There are certainly shallower necks out there. See, I think the recent Ric necks are pretty nice, if scaled up a bit from my old ones. The proportions are similar, although mine are definitely shallower. Unless there was something weird about the one you’ve played, or unless they’ve changed them yet again, which is possible, I wouldn’t consider any of the more recent ones I’ve played anything like “baseball bat”. I’ve played some that are, but that was at least 15 years ago, maybe more. The newer ones are typically a fair bit slimmer than a typical P Bass, for instance. But you won’t get a nut measurement like a Jazz on any of them (although speaking personally, a slim nut does not a slim neck make. I don’t think Jazzes have slim necks, unless you spend all your time on the first few frets). What in your terms is a very shallow neck? I’ve always thought of most Ric necks as narrow rather than incredibly shallow, although there are exceptions (BTW, for reference I’ve played literally hundreds of them). The shallowest I’ve played was maybe my ‘91 CS, although it was still pretty similar to my ‘72s. The slimmest all round was my old ‘71 21 fretter, but good luck finding one of those. C series should be pretty slim, but it depends what your definition of slim is. You need to play as many as you can and make your own mind up.

There are lots of reasons why the sounds differ too, and it’s not just the cap. 4003s typically have hotter pickups and lower pot values, which make them darker sounding. But the spec has changed constantly both for necks and electronics. Was the 4003 you tried new?