martthebass

[quote name='marcus bell' timestamp='1384893028' post='2282047'] hehe same with me and a 4001s [/quote] Stop pining Marcus, a Rick is for life, not just for Christmas ;-)

Like many for years I gassed for a Rick and when I met one in real life I hated it. It was a 4003, I found the neck clubby and a bit too wide at the volute (though necessary to avoid neck problems earlier versions of the 400X sometimes had) and being a MM ray person I couldn't find a comfortable playing position due to the metalwork and the bound edges. A couple of years back I decided to have another go and swapped my MM ray 30th for a particularly fine Mid Blue 4003. I decided almost instantly (again) that I didn't like it and agreed with the 'vendor' to do a swap back. For various reasons this took a couple of weeks. In the intervening time I spent some time noodling on it in the house. Amazingly I found there was a great selection of sounds in there - some of which made me sound like Bruce Foxton et al (albeit with a significant hand injury) and it wasn't really an issue to play with the slab body and...... Anyway a deal was a deal and the bass went back to it's original owner but I was regretting not spending more time with it before deciding it was poo. Fast forward to earlier this year, I had some cash and decided to try out a 4004Cii, it must be better with all the ergonomic mods i thought. Unfortunately in my eyes and ears not, and this time I waited a good couple of months before letting it go. I'll not go into details but it just wasn't a 4003 soundwise and thats what I obviously wanted. In short, the 4003 has a number of design idiosyncracies and does have a series of characterisic sounds but it's not crap, it just polarises opinion and needs time to really decide if it's for you or not. It's no more a clank plank than a Ray is only a growl monster....

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1384892604' post='2282036'] Er.... shall I tell him? [/quote] Beat me to it.

.........£700. Education today ;-) Still cheap though.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1384733813' post='2280212'] I have no problem with Rick protecting their design rights. and all the while there are loads of shops openly selling modern Ricky copies who apparently just get left to it by John Hall. It's a joke. [/quote] I believe RIC have started to play catch up on some of these. The 'local' shop to me had a significant number of Rockinbetters on the wall and recently sold them all off as a job lot when they received a number of cease and dissist mails from RIC.

For every person who loves a Ric/Ray there will be someone with the exact opposing view. It's probably something to do with the 3rd law of thermodynamics. As Geddy said 'different hearts have different strings'.

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1384429092' post='2276529'] I think we need to be clear on a few things. The vm range has had a few rebirths. The latest run are cheap and difficult to work with I will agree. However the earlier vm range is excellent. They are not on a par with the cv range as the cvs are amazing guitars and well worth the extra money but they are very good entry to intermediate guitars. I've had 2 of the new ones pass through here and I have to say I was surprised at how they felt like affinity guitars. It's as if there's no substance to the wood or the pups. The old dd pups were great. I dunno what's gone wrong but someone at Squier has lost the concept. Anyway if youre buying vm buy old. [/quote] Maybe there's some variability here? I replaced my (fundamentally) Chinese Affinity P bass with a VM77 and they are chalk and cheese. The Affinity originally had a very weak pup, crap tuners, a single ply pick guard and the body was very lightweight. The VM77 is built like a tank in comparison at 9.5lbs, has a 3 ply guard, hot pups (though they will get changed as I prefer more mellow) and good tuners. I'm not a Fender/Squier fanboi but it seems pretty good to me for the cash. Oh, my VM is a 2013 model made in Indonesia...

[quote name='thunderider' timestamp='1384003048' post='2271746'] i got a ric 4004...it was for sale on here just after xmas....but i couldnt get that rick sound from it i bought a 60s bassman lookalike basicallyafenderside kick...it made it sound muddy....then i found a cheap ashdown 180 blue face combo and ashdown 115 and i can get a sound im happy with,loads of treble,piano like!!,but im putting it up for sale,or have some one who will swap a 4003 jetglo as thats what i really want.....but i beleve its a lot down to amp as much as anything....i wanna sound like alan davey,ex hawkwind....i can get his early sound....but ill never sound like him as i need to get a 69 bassman and crank it,a great universal amp to buy as well cheap is a laney dp 150...they give u a palet of tone. [/quote] To be honest you need to put a different harness into the 4004 to coil tap the pups to get it to sound like a 4003. I couldn't get a sound I liked out of mine through my MB/BF Compact - it was on the muddy side. I didn't want to invalidate the warranty by modding it so in the end I let it go and got a 4003. This works spot on with My current set up. There's a lot of people that hate the things, I agree on the ergonomics, THAT does take some getting used to but sound wise it's got a flexible sound that works in most situations. No...it can't sound like a Jazz, or a Precision, if that's the sound you want then save a few hundred quid and buy one of those (or a grand and have a Squier Jazz as I did). There's not many BCers that have only one bass, I wouldn't have the Rick as my only bass.....when you need a hammer why try and use a screwdriver?

Regarding the whole graphite neck thing, I think there is a difference depending on whether we're talking fretted or fretless. On the fretless I agree with comments above that it is very intonation sensitive and in my personal experience (on a Jazz swapout for a Status F'less neck) I could hear every click/grind - for my taste the sound was too harsh but it may suit some. On fretted - well my Streamline sounds like a bass, I wouldn't know it was graphite other than by looking at it or toching it - I guess it's because the strings contact the frets not the resin board. The main difference for me is the complete lack of deadspots and that it never needs the rod tweaking.

For the last couple of months I've been using the Rick or Squier Jazz for gigs exclusively. This is mainly because the looks suit the band and (in the case of the Rick) the early 80s theme of the music. However, last night due to needing to take a fretless and a fretted I took the little Status to rehearsal as the car was full to the gunnels with gear and remembered why it was that I bought it in the first place. In short I remembered that the Status was so much easier to play than my 'normal' basses and didn't impede my playing in any way (wheras the Rick can feel like a moose on occasion). Does anyone else find themselves having to play 'second best' because the best (subjective to the individual and YMMV) doesn't look right?

I didn't think it was too bad for £240. It's not as good as the US 75RI I had but it's not U/S. I wish cheap basses had been this good when I was starting out.

+1 I've helped out a couple of local bands with rehearsals when their respective bassists are otherwise occupied. Never been asked to contribute to the room fee..

It is unfortunate what the webernet has done to the 'local' music shop. I pretty much supported my local store until about 2 years back. The web had really taken it's toll, the 2 shop units had been merged into one and even worse, the bass dept had been absorbed into 'guitars'. The business model seems to have evolved into 'the shop price' and the 'ebay' price. Stock is now very limited and what stock there is can be very 'store worn'. I could live with a shop verses web differential of maybe 5-10% (depending on the value) but on the higher end stuff this can be more like 20-30%. At this point I'll always be prepared to take the risk of having to send back an online purchase. Generally speaking, the only time I think 'shop' now is if I was looking at repair work. Sign of the times guess.... Of my current basses, Status and Rick obtained from good old BC'ers, MM Ray from EBay (but only because I didn't get a hit for my want ad on BC) and the Squier online from GAK or Dolphin or similar (they all merge into one to me). Amazingly the Squier which had travelled in a 'fairly' skinny box was perfectly set up and didn't have a mark on it.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1382615882' post='2254411'] It would be fantastic if they released a non-plate Jazz, with an option of the control plate, in some awesome colours, and not charge custom prices. Mind you, we all wanted a USA P/J, and they have answered this, in a very expensive way! [/quote] Sounds like youre reading from the FMIC 2014 Business plan....

My favourite colour on a Rick.....but I would say that. Less than £1000, jeez times must be hard. Couldn't find a newish one (ie one with all its paint) in good nick for less than £1200 when I was looking earlier in the year.

I like it more as a fretless.....gotta be 2eq though. It takes all kinds I guess.

Budget after disposals around the £750 mark....but happy to add stuff (sub etc) later. Those EVs do look blinding Crez...do you have personal experience of them?

The drummer less trio I'm in currently uses some backing (keyboards, drums) and we use gear which is less than portable....Peavey Hysis 2s, Peavey CS1200 and CS800. The gear belongs to the Vocalist and his car (and back) are suffering. So we're lookin at offloading the above and getting a lighter more portable option. mackie came to mind but what would be the compromise in terms of sound quality? Any advice would be appreciated.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1376830143' post='2179584'] I had a search and realised I could not see a DB/EUB porn page or one for putting gig shots into, I know I want to see you lot and your gear in action so I have started one, only EUB for now but hoping for some DB pics in a few weeks at an acoustic gig. Stagg in action.... [url=http://kcphotos.co.uk/p969084616/e6da89718][/url] Soundcheck... [url=http://kcphotos.co.uk/p969084616/e6422c7f2][/url] Nice venue... [url=http://kcphotos.co.uk/p969084616/e64c71340][/url] Lets see some more folks, standing, sitting, with or without the misery stick, antiques at the orchestra or flame blazen beasts at the rock and roll show. [/quote] Pete, is the flat cap optional if you go down the big bass route.......no problem for a Yorkshireman mind.

Sold my JV 57RI P bass back in 1988. Still miss it and it doesnt get easier with time. That is all..........

Great review R. Now where can I get me one of those handles for my G2 and the money for a super midget?