Sue Ryder Bass Arrived

[martthebass]

Starting to see some lovely modded Sues ( or should that be Ryders? ). Now I've finished the minor beautification exercise on my fretless Ray it's time to start on Sonic Sue...........decisions decisions

[ras52]

I used my Susie in rehearsal for the first time last night. Unmodded, Fender 9050L flatwounds, tone rolled off about halfway... very tasty! She's my first venture into frets+flats, and I must say I like it! In a band with two guitarists, I think those low mids really help me be heard.

My only gripe remains the raised pickup pole pieces: there's a horrible click if I get over-excited and a string touches a pole piece.

[gafbass02]

To save me wading through the whole thread can someone point me at a replacement pickguard that will fit a ryder P? I'm after a white pearl, but if I can buy one rather than aurora project I'd prefer it as I don't like the pearl they use.
Also will standard fender type replacement necks fit em do we know? I wanna mod my song blue.
Cheeeers

Gaf

[tom1946]

Bassdoc has a template Gaf....

[Ou7shined]

Just a wee headsup to anyone wanting a de-fret and finish (maple infills) done on their SRs (or any other bass for that matter), shoot me a PM for details.

[Musicman20]

Its probably been seen but my immaculate and tech checked SR is now for sale. I had 2 before this and eventually got a very good example after a few couriers back and forth.

[lemmywinks]

[quote name='ras52' post='1191344' date='Apr 7 2011, 07:11 AM']My only gripe remains the raised pickup pole pieces: there's a horrible click if I get over-excited and a string touches a pole piece.[/quote]

If you take the pup out and grip their base the poles just push down

[gafbass02]

[quote name='tom1946' post='1191938' date='Apr 7 2011, 04:46 PM']Bassdoc has a template Gaf....[/quote]

Cheers bud

[edstraker123]

Bassdoc made a white pearl one for my Ryder and it's an absolute beauty !

[ras52]

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1192096' date='Apr 7 2011, 06:24 PM']If you take the pup out and grip their base the poles just push down[/quote]
Ah, thanks for the tip. She's staying at the rehearsal place (guitarist's shed) so I'll need to bring her home and strip her down, ooerr missus!

[gelfin]

Well, by the time I noticed this thread there seem to be no more available in the online shop.

Just won one on ebay £40. Happy days

[Ancient Mariner]

[quote name='gelfin' post='1194111' date='Apr 9 2011, 10:28 PM']Well, by the time I noticed this thread there seem to be no more available in the online shop.

Just won one on ebay £40. Happy days [/quote]

Great score - hope it's good for you.

I've been really liking mine, although I want to make some mods already and wish I had a couple more so I could try different things out.

[Ancient Mariner]

Loaned mine to a friend last week, who took it to compare with another friends (bought a while back at full price). He thought mine sounded very dark and a little muffled, despite the maple fingerboard. Compared to my J type, when the Ryder is on full treble it's as dark as the neck of the jazz with the tone rolled off to about half. Anyone else find theirs dark, and those of you with several, did they sound different to each other?

Edited April 11, 2011 by Ancient Mariner

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='1195585' date='Apr 11 2011, 12:21 PM']Loaned mine to a friend last week, who took it to compare with another friends (bought a while back at full price). He thought mine sounded very dark and a little muffled, despite the maple fingerboard. Compared to my J type, when the Ryder is on full treble it's as dark as the neck of the jazz with the tone rolled off to about half. Anyone else find theirs dark, and those of you with several, did they sound different to each other?[/quote]
Mmmmm darker. Ideal for a fretless conversion.

[Ancient Mariner]

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1195608' date='Apr 11 2011, 12:37 PM']Mmmmm darker. Ideal for a fretless conversion.

[/quote]

Hmmmm. I have been considering this. But given my relatively meagre bass ability already, I'm not sure that having infinitely variable pitch without any kind of fixed intervals is really a good idea. If you know what I mean....

[waltsdog]

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='1195585' date='Apr 11 2011, 12:21 PM']Loaned mine to a friend last week, who took it to compare with another friends (bought a while back at full price). He thought mine sounded very dark and a little muffled, despite the maple fingerboard. Compared to my J type, when the Ryder is on full treble it's as dark as the neck of the jazz with the tone rolled off to about half. Anyone else find theirs dark, and those of you with several, did they sound different to each other?[/quote]

Mine isn't dark at all in fact quite the opposite, loads of top end probably a touch more than my 50s Precision. The strings are some cheapo hartke rounds which are a bit zingy anyway so that might have a lot to do with it.

What strings are you using?

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='1195704' date='Apr 11 2011, 01:43 PM']Hmmmm. I have been considering this. But given my relatively meagre bass ability already, I'm not sure that having infinitely variable pitch without any kind of fixed intervals is really a good idea. If you know what I mean....[/quote]
Yep.
But when I do it, filling the gaps with maple veneer, it leaves nice markers (which can be blended in lightness to suit your taste) as a handy guide.

[mcnach]

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='1195585' date='Apr 11 2011, 12:21 PM']Loaned mine to a friend last week, who took it to compare with another friends (bought a while back at full price). He thought mine sounded very dark and a little muffled, despite the maple fingerboard. Compared to my J type, when the Ryder is on full treble it's as dark as the neck of the jazz with the tone rolled off to about half. Anyone else find theirs dark, and those of you with several, did they sound different to each other?[/quote]


Not at all. All three were similar.
bypass pot/cap to check how bright it can be. I would not be surprised that the cheap components used hag a wild tolerance range and maybe you ended up with an extreme case.

maple/rosewood: can seriously anybody hear a difference that can only be attributed to the maple/rosewood fingerboard and nothing else? So far I have never seen real evidence.

[mcnach]

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='1195704' date='Apr 11 2011, 01:43 PM']Hmmmm. I have been considering this. But given my relatively meagre bass ability already, I'm not sure that having infinitely variable pitch without any kind of fixed intervals is really a good idea. If you know what I mean....[/quote]

It's a lot easier than you think.

Besides, when you fill in the fret slots with some sort of veneer, it gives you a really good landmark.
If you like the fretless idea even just one bit... I'd encourage you to try. The Ryder is actually quite sweet in fretless form. I'm not a great fretless player by any means, but within a couple of weeks I can play an unlined P-bass reasonably well most of the time. An OLP I had converted a little while ago was an instant player, as I was used to playing OLPs/Stingrays and the neck dimensions and position and everything was just very familiar. If you are used to P-basses... it'll be a satisfyingly easy experience, and a whole new range of sounds at your disposal

Edited April 12, 2011 by mcnach

[macshadow]

Now the happy owner of a red Ryder, thanks to Tom! Will re-string it over the coming weeks. Now have a patriotic Ryder trio - red bass, white Tele, blue Strat... all exceptional value for money. I know the guitars have come in for some criticism but so far I'm pleased with all of them.

George

[LawrenceH]

[quote name='mcnach' post='1196094' date='Apr 11 2011, 07:14 PM']maple/rosewood: can seriously anybody hear a difference that can only be attributed to the maple/rosewood fingerboard and nothing else? So far I have never seen real evidence.[/quote]

I'm pretty sure I can, but to tell for sure would require swapping fretboards on a single neck and installing frets of the exact same profile/spec which is a lot of work! Especially as to do it properly would require multiple examples of each board and to set up blind tests and/or measurements.
Of course I couldn't tell for sure on a recording because you can make one sound like the other, always more than one way to skin the proverbial cat, but for a given bass I'd say if all else stays equal, maple will tend to make it sound 'snappier' compared to rosewood - I've tried enough basses to be confident that there's a trend there. I don't know if lacquering a rosewood board would give the equivalent change though.

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='macshadow' post='1197080' date='Apr 12 2011, 05:37 PM']Now the happy owner of a red Ryder, thanks to Tom! Will re-string it over the coming weeks. Now have a patriotic Ryder trio - red bass, white Tele, blue Strat... all exceptional value for money. I know the guitars have come in for some criticism but so far I'm pleased with all of them.

George[/quote]

My White tele has now got a lovely set of Fender Japan pups in it, that and the 11-53 gauge strings I put on it have turned it into a budget tone monster. Very happy with it now. Just takes a few tweaks here and there.

[mcnach]

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1197105' date='Apr 12 2011, 05:59 PM']I'm pretty sure I can, but to tell for sure would require swapping fretboards on a single neck and installing frets of the exact same profile/spec which is a lot of work! Especially as to do it properly would require multiple examples of each board and to set up blind tests and/or measurements.
Of course I couldn't tell for sure on a recording because you can make one sound like the other, always more than one way to skin the proverbial cat, but for a given bass I'd say if all else stays equal, maple will tend to make it sound 'snappier' compared to rosewood - I've tried enough basses to be confident that there's a trend there. I don't know if lacquering a rosewood board would give the equivalent change though.[/quote]

leaving aside for a moment the impracticality of a proper "one variable only" test...

it just seems there's far too much variation between "same fretboard" instruments to be able to confidently establish there is a significant difference between "different fretboards".

if you think you can hear it, power to you. I have pretty sharp ears and I can hear differences between instruments, but never a difference that I can confidently say: "that's because of the rosewood". At the moment, every "test" I have seen has either been severely flawed, or did not support the hypothesis of there being a difference.

But I try to keep an open mind and I am intrigued... I have an opinion, but I have been wrong once or twice in the past , and an opinion is not a statement of fact.

Edited April 12, 2011 by mcnach

[Ancient Mariner]

When it comes to guitars I generally like maple necks for tone and like the feel of a maple fingerboard better than rosewood. But a guitar is more than the individual woods it's made up from,: my maple-necked strat is very warm, fat and rounded, while my rosewood-boarded (veneer) strat is much spikier. But most of that is down to the bridge and saddles + pickups, rather than fingerboard material.

[Musicman20]

My SR just had an outing, straight into a small PA for acoustic - type band practice. It sounded great!!!