4000

First Chilis track I ever heard. My girlfriend at the time loved Pretty Woman and played the soundtrack all the time.

What amazes me, given how hard he plays, is that I read an interview where his tech said that around ‘99 his action was 1/32” across the neck, 12th fret. Now I can cope with that because I generally play so lightly, but he hammers it.

I like Californication miles more than One Hot Minute. In fact the only album of theirs I like as much is BSSM. I prefer Stadium Arcadium to Mother’s Milk, and definitely to One Hot Minute, although I do like that.

Not so. I’ve seen loads of raw buckeye in certain luthiers’ stock and handled enough in my time. It just needs a lot of work and absorbs loads of finish. It feels almost like cork.

Is the Buckeye Burl that Alan uses stabilised or raw wood?

In an interview I read (in Guitarist I think) he said he hated the final mix of Californication and they had to do one especially for him. I love it, although I’m sure he doesn’t care what I think! Ah, music and memories.....

Actually it’s not, sorry. I’ve had 2, played maybe 3 or 4? One of them (my ‘96) was possibly the heaviest Ric out of the many hundreds I’ve played. The other (a ‘91, see pics in previous posts) was about 9 and a half pounds. In fact if you read the interviews with Chris, he says that despite them weighing and measuring his bass (which was indeed sanded and slimmed down), the CS models are not really anything like it, other than cosmetically. Apart from the Vermillion fingerboard and headstock wings, the paint job and the scratchplate, they simply follow the spec of the equivalent V63. So around ‘96-‘98 (forget the exact year) the headstock was shortened on both models (less vintage correct) and the neck was thickened. The earlier ones have nice slim necks, but Paul Wilcynski, who refinished my ‘73 4001 shown previously, has held Chris’s bass and he says the neck is by far the thinnest Ric neck he’s ever seen, and he’s worked on a lot of Rics, including vintage ones and reissues (including CSs). The electronics on the CS were the same as the relative V63 too, so at the time had relatively hot pickups and low pot values (nothing like Chris’s - his treble pickup, which is a genuine horseshoe and not the technically dissimilar reissue- apparently barely worked), making them generally quite dark sounding, although there will be exceptions, as always. A guy I know from Rick Resource has the first one into the country and that’s a really nice one. He’s also had a few RMs (i.e. original ‘60s ones) and he says his stands up. One of the reasons Chris had his wired in stereo(the other being to use effects on one pickup and not the other) was to bring the output of his treble pickup up. http://www.rickresource.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=20 Some people say they can’t tell the difference sonically between the V63 and CS, but the 2 CSs I had were the most similar sounding Rics I’ve played, and sounded more honky and less open than the various V63s I’ve owned/played. I do (or rather did as they’re fading fast) have ears that frighten sound engineers though, or so some of them have told me! Sonically - certainly from the perspective of the bass itself and not the player, effects, amps etc - you’d possibly get nearer Chris’s sound with a C Series, or better still, go vintage. Although if you got a CS and put a lower output scatter wound toaster in the neck, put a real vintage horseshoe in the bridge, and changed the wiring loom (or at least the pots), then you might not be far off. Although there is that super thin neck and body...... 😉 Oh, one last thing about the CSs, in my experience; they look gorgeous, but the paint discolours/ falls off if you so much as look at it. Cue Nigel Tufnell. 😂

I sympathise; lifting my cat carriers does me! I’ve had loads of chiropractic over the years and it does help, but it’s so expensive and I struggle to afford it these days

Actually, if my back wasn’t such a mess I might over 6ft! Good luck with the osteopathy mate, I hope it works for you.

I think that’s because most people lie about their height. Based on the supposed heights of many people I know, I’m 6ft 4. 😁

Pretty small, yes. Although I’m six foot so not quite sure how small, but a lot smaller than me. But they’re all pretty small apart from Will Ferrell, sorry, Chad. 😉 Most famous musicians I’ve met are on the small side. Except some of the Proggers, who tend to be pretty tall; Chris Squire in particular springs to mind. Randy Rhoads was tiny.

The other day I was watching some footage I shot a few years ago of me playing my old Wal Pro II. I really wish I hadn’t sold that bass, although I could only play it seated now due to the weight. FWIW I much preferred it to my Wal Custom, although I currently fancy giving either another go. Just a small matter of enormous amounts of cash..l

He walked past me at Heathrow once. I was so stunned I couldn’t think of anything whatsoever to say. 😂

The ones I played were definitely heavy. I thought the necks were far from fast though; in fact the one I mentioned (which I have a feeling may have been Paul Turner’s) had one of the least playable necks I’ve ever laid hands on, and I’ve played an awful lot of basses. Again, I’ll qualify that by saying that I like a parallel, narrow neck (Alembic, Rickenbacker), or something like an Ibanez SR. My preference is also for very narrow spacing.

Yep, for me his Wal tone beats all the others. You can hear the Leigh Gorman influence; “swimming in the sound of Bow Wow Wow”. 😉

I’ve played maybe 3? I thought they were ok, except for 1 which felt like the most clumsy feeling ‘70s Jazz ever. The neck felt huge and the whole thing just felt horrible, one of the least “me” basses I’ve ever played. They’re very well made, but very much not my thing. However I’ll add I don’t really get on with Jazzes and despite the looks, the basses I played had a lot of Jazz in their DNA, I felt. YMMV. Obviously Scott’s does. FWIW I generally haven’t liked the Foderas I’ve tried either. Nothing against boutiques though as I love Alembics and Seis, amongst others.

I think of him as, for want of a better description, the Van Gogh of guitar playing. He’s not trying to be beautiful and technical. I remember first hearing the solo to I Could Have Lied and really not getting it. Then one day it fell into place, in the context of the lyrics that precede it, and that was it. FWIW I love Californication, every bit as much as BSSM. It’s just different, more song orientated. My favourite RHCP track is actually Venice Queen. I love BSSM but I don’t need them to be that band forever. I’m quite happy that they’ve evolved; it’d be bloody boring for them - and me probably - if they hadn’t. Them not constantly redoing BSSM shouldn’t mean anything; they still did it and it still exists. I’m actually not that mad on Mother’s Milk, to be honest, at least compared to some of the other albums.

Have to say that’s by far the nicest-looking Sad I’ve ever seen.

I’m pretty sure the necks slimmed down again - relatively speaking - relatively recently. The recent ones I’ve played have been nothing like the size of the ones I played several years ago, or even my ‘98 V63. They’re more like a chunkier version of my ‘72s.

Yum!

I enjoyed Stadium Arcadium. Or most of it.

I’ve found it really depends on the bass and the tone you’re after. I’ve played some great sounding recent basses, some poor sounding old ones, and vice versa. The back pickup on my 21 fretter (which was a green screwtop) was really, really weedy; as I play very lightly it was too weak for me. My current two, and the ‘73 4000, are/were the best. But I will say my 4004 sounded fantastic too. I only got rid because I found the unbound body aggravated a nerve issue. The ‘73 4000 (as opposed to a through-neck ‘72 4000 I had) was the most aggressive sounding bass - of any make - that I’ve played. The first time I used it at a rehearsal was on a song where I came in part way through. When I came in, the band stopped playing because they couldn’t believe the racket.😁

I know. 😉

‘73 4000 again, ‘91 CS, ‘72 4001, ‘76 4001. There have been many others, but I can’t be bothered rooting out the photos.

‘73 Paul Wilczynski refin: