12stringbassist

May as well toss my Gretsch in...

My Custom Shop one-off Thumb NT in gloss walnut My Streamer Chrome Tone - one of the best basses I've ever played.

Yup - it's the worn brown mahogany Traditional model. Weighs a ton, but lovely.

Now that is one attractive bass! Well done!

I got this yesterday. Nice nice nice.

I won my copy in a Record Collector mag comp. Along with Rick Nielsen's book, it's a bible.

I've thought about it, but I can't play the things to save my life. Plus - lugging those things about would stop me doing it even if I was good at it. I admire drummers dedication, setting those things up and then dismantling them, plus all that thumping.

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1350548858' post='1840257'] This is the kind of photo that risks pushing Mr Hall's boundaries and would be most easily managed by banning all photos of anything Rickenbacker shaped. Just sayin'. [/quote] There are 4 genuine Rics in the picture. I'm certainly not offering anything for sale. If John Hall wants to have a dicky fit about the existence of the John Birch bass here that was made in 1976 and the Retrovibe in the last two years, then that's his own affair. He did issue Retovibe / Probass with a cease and desist order on the RV4 and RV5 and Probass complied. If Ric still made a 5-string I'd have one (price-sensibility permitting). The Birch I bought because I couldn't say no to it. It doesn't get out much, as the Rics seem to get all the walkies. I don't think that any forum is, or can reasonably be, or even should be, controlled by John Hall's desires. Even the RRF has an area to discuss copies (though they generally meet with hoots of derision from nearly all concerned). Neither of them is a faker in the true sense, either. A faker is [i]something that can be passed off as the real thing - an exact counterfeit[/i]. The basses are definitely Ric-styled basses, but the designs themselves, while featuring features very similar to copyrighted Ric shapes etc aren't really exact. But no-one with working eyes would think they were Rics! Banning a photo of anything Ric shaped would be discriminatory against all the other makers, so you'd have to ban pics of Rics too. And if Fender got snotty about all the makers who shamelessly nicked their ideas - Fodera, Sandberg, etc etc etc, then we'd have nothing at all to look at. Just sayin'.

THERE ARE TWO IMPOSTERS IN THIS LINE-UP....

Hi, For me the Fender is the better option - better re-sale value and it's not a copy that doesn't do what it sets out to do! The RB isn't a bad bass, but it doesn't sound or play like a Ric. The Fender probably has a better range of sounds, too. The best way to find out is to try them both.

Looking for a working band classic rock, glam , club etc. [url="http://www.ianedmundson.co.uk"]www.ianedmundson.co.uk[/url]

I didn't take it as such, don't worry!

[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1349553688' post='1827765'] Hold on,you mean a girl actually spoke to a bassist after a gig? [/quote] "Is this the way out?"

It was a great mag. I miss it. I wrote a long and turgid article about my Hamer 12-string bass for the 'my bass is...' feature. I got some bass strings for submitting it. Not a 12-string set, sadly, but what the hey... I managed to have a few nice conversations with Roger Newell who wrote for the mag. The mag was absorbed into Guitarist and my subscription was honoured with copies of that. I cancelled it when they started to forget what a bass looked like.

I own 3 Ric basses (below) and a 12-string Ric guitar. I certainly DON'T consider myself an elitist in any way, or to be a member of some exclusive and cosy club. I bought them years ago, well before the price doubled. They are very nice basses, but the current cost of them would make me think many times before ever buying one. If you have bad GAS for one, save. While you save, try other basses - you never know what will be the one to get you to buy. It may not be the Ric, but if it is, excellent - enjoy. Are they worth what they currently cost? I am not sure. A lot of basses have gone up in price and those at the cheaper end are getting better and better. Ric don't really market themselves as elitist that I've seen, but I agree that some people do perceive them as such. That's an illusion. They are just tools - pieces of wood with strings on, same as a Fender or Gibson. Also, their quality control recently has been a debacle (see the topics re Musicians Friend's infamous Ric sale in the USA). So many faulty basses, so little time.... They were actually accused of shipping a whole batch of seconds quality basses to MF. Ric aren't supposed to make seconds quality basses! What sets a Ric apart from other basses is "the unique Ric sound", but only if you can dial it in. If you don't set an amp up properly to get a lot of mid out of it, you may as well buy a Precision. The best bass I ever played in my life for getting a Ric sound with no difficulty is a Burns Bison reissue. Go figure!

They are not a bad bass, all in all. I've sat down with two recently and had some time on them, after some resistance to the very idea of them. They do look very much like the real thing, but to be honest, it doesn't sound much like the real thing. If you don't want to lash out the cash for a real Ric, but want to look like you have one, this may be the thing for you. I'd rather buy a Retrovibe - different pickups, but a fantastic bass for the money (I have their 5 string and it's great). With modifications, it could be made into a much better bass, but it's not far up from the price of this and a couple of mods to the price of a decent S/H Ric. I have to chip in on the John Hall thing, very briefly. I asked on the Ric forum about how to fix the paint bleed into the binding on a Midnight Blue bass. My bass was a brand new one, imported via a guy in Glasgow and so it was outside its warranty zone, which I fully accepted and mentioned when I asked the question. He took all sorts of pops at me. I said the finish flaw was unforgivable in a bass of its cost and said I'd like to be able to stand next to him and hand him the bass at a trade show and see what he thought of it. Mistake. He took that as a near threat / verbal assault. He then did all sorts of weird things to get my address. Eventually he asked me for it directly and I never heard from him again.

Slap is merely another style of playing bass. I'm not that good at it. I have a few bluffer lines I can play, but I don't pretend for a second to be skilled at it. When it's done properly, it can be REALLY marvelous, mixing notes and percussive sounds and showing off a sense of rhythm. It can be really impressive. I don't think it's masking any lack of musical ability. It's just another approach to playing. You get some genuises slapping and some average players. [url="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1vxeh_robert-palmer-discipline-of-love_music"]http://www.dailymoti...e-of-love_music[/url]

Those with old jazzes will probably say they are the best. And worth the most. I have a 2010 USA Fender Jazz and it's the only Jazz [i](that I've ever played)[/i] that I like the sound of.

** BUMP!! **

[quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1342719611' post='1739991'] However, some of my favourite Paul McCartney lines in the psychedelic period, apparently played on a Rickenbacker, have a warm smooth honey tone.And how come some of his basslines sounded so un-Ric?[/quote] Paul still used his Hofner on quite a number of later Beatles tracks. He rolled off the treble on his bass to accentuate the bassiness of it, in keeping with The Beatles known sound. [quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1342719611' post='1739991'] My summary understanding (based on only a little experience) of Rickenbackers would be as follows: - Most bass players like the look of a Ric - A small number of bass players love the Ric sound (an important group with a valid opinion, but still a minority) - Almost no bass players rate Rics for their playability But how far am I off beam with the above generalisation? [/quote] Some do love them, some like them, some don't really care what a bass looks like. Some bassists can't stand the sight of a Ric. The idea of one gives them the creeping horrors. There is a lot of unfortunate reverse snobbery about them. Most players will be aware of the sound of certain Ric players basses (Squire, Foxton, Lemmy, etc) but will not know when a Ric is used on most other recordings. You can make a Ric sound pretty much like any other passive bass with sensible EQ and tone setting. I've used them for deep thudding blues with no effort at all. There is no typical Ric sound. You can get the CLANK that everyone talks about on a Ric, yes, but you can also get it on some other basses too, by experimenting with settings on amps and the other bass. Playability is all down to the personal taste of the player. I have 3 Ric 4003's and like them all. Other people will hate them. That's up to them. It doesn't make the bass bad. A lot of people moan about the 'sharp' edge binding. It can be worked round - you get used to playing with your arm not resting on the bass in the same way. I do it without thinking about it. The pickup cover can be removed if you don't like it. I've kept mine on.

If Springsteen wanted to play such a long set, perhaps he should have agreed to start earlier. Defeats the object of taking them off to then start a firework display, doesn't it??

If it was say a theatre show... Either in their cases in the locked dressing room or behind my bass rig, or on a triple Hercules stand behind the rig and out of the lights. I would have them moved into sight 5 mins before going on, after checking tuning. At a pub show.. On a triple Hercules stand place behind the PA stack, out of reach of the punters, or placed side on to bass rig, far side from drums.

Burns and Eastwood basses:

My photo got moved, so I'll reinsert it...

Hofner do love to take the piss. With their prices.