Can't get a good sound out of my Ric

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1375799086' post='2165771']
Download the owners manual from the RIC corporate website so you know how to take care of it, and have a qualified luthier set it up properly for you.
[/quote]

Two pretty contrary things right there.

[4000]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1375884211' post='2166903']
Two pretty contrary things right there.
[/quote]

Why? I know how to look after my cat but I still go to the vet when it's necessary.

[FinnDave]

I thought Rics were supposed to sound sh*te, isn't that why people buy them?

[DiMarco]

Your Ric chose the wrong player. Oh and Rics sound awesome on a proper setup but you gotta dig in to pull out that tone.

Edited August 7, 2013 by DiMarco

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1375903616' post='2167277']
Why? I know how to look after my cat but I still go to the vet when it's necessary.
[/quote]

Owner's manual and luthier familiar with the laws of physics and engineering will disagree with each other.

[discreet]

[quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1375799086' post='2165771']
...just like you don't feed cattle hay to a thoroughbred horse.
[/quote]

You don't..? That would explain a lot.

[4000]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1375906412' post='2167357']
Owner's manual and luthier familiar with the laws of physics and engineering will disagree with each other.
[/quote]

Or not, if they don't have a chip on their shoulder.

[Mr. Foxen]

How does that statement even work?

[4000]

Pot, kettle.....

[steviedee]

I have to say this pretty much happened to me I bought a 4003 a while back, looks amazing. Did some recording with it sounded fantastic, took a wee bit of getting used to. Didn't use it for a while then I dug it out for the prog rock. Put some new strings on it hoping for some clanky goodness and it sounded sh*te. Whats more I couldn't play it. It sounded awful and I played really badly when using it. Got me really down, I was all for flogging it. Moaned about it on a couple of forums was told to try coated strings. So I bought some cleartones and crucially (for me anyway) opted for a heavier gauge. It's like a different bass it sounds exactly as it should and subsequently I can play it.

I have to say the Ric is still harder to play than any of my other basses but it's got a unique vibe and it's cool.

I suggest heavier coated strings!

[DiMarco]

Setting up a Ric properly is tedious and time consuming but once you have the low action and just a little bit of delicate fret buzz it kills.

[Jono Bolton]

[quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1375799086' post='2165771']
First, I must respectfully disagree with a post above: for every Rick that sounds great, there are fifty more that sound even better. .
[/quote]

You are John Hall and ICMFP

[matski]

I have the opposite problem: I can't get a bad sound out of my 4003S.

I've tried playing it through Ampeg and Genz Benz rigs, and even a Mesa Boogie Rectifier guitar amp - but whatever I do it always sounds, well, great...

And yes, I have tried switching between the toaster and horseshoe pickups, but to be quite frank however I set the tone knobs all I can ever get is a fabulous sound.

Also the playability, action, and intonation are all really good too. I've tried different brands of strings, but this does absolutely nothing as far as getting a load of fret buzz or dead spots to appear.

Plus, just to add insult to injury, all my bandmates think it looks really cool (not to mention the fact that one of my American pals swears that "Chicks dig Ricks") and insist that I use it at ALL rehearsals and gigs.

Whatever am I to do...?

[funkgod]

[quote name='Moos3h' timestamp='1375537780' post='2162663']
Could be something to do with them being lifeless planks ;-)

Actually, I think they sound dire BUT do work well in certain band contexts where 'cut' is required.
[/quote]

101%
I had a 70s one had it for 3 weeks, Hated it i named it the "fart machine", i had then (still have it) a £180 mex jazz that blows it away, so used that and got rid of the fart machine.
if you play hard as i do with fingers, aka rocco prestia, it was utterly usless. all it did was make
the cab sound like the speakers were farting (hence) and the pickup cover was right where i played and just in the way all the time, and so made it difficult to mute with the palm.
must be the most unfunkable bass on the planet,

again "contexts"

Edited August 15, 2013 by funkgod

[4000]

[quote name='funkgod' timestamp='1376555211' post='2175753']
101%
I had a 70s one had it for 3 weeks, Hated it i named it the "fart machine", i had then (still have it) a £180 mex jazz that blows it away, so used that and got rid of the fart machine.
if you play hard as i do with fingers, aka rocco prestia, it was utterly usless. all it did was make
the cab sound like the speakers were farting (hence) and the pickup cover was right where i played and just in the way all the time, and so made it difficult to mute with the palm.
must be the most unfunkable bass on the planet,

again "contexts"
[/quote]

I'm sure Cordell "Boogie" Mosson would have argued that if he was still with us.

FWIW Geddy Lee played his really hard with fingers. Never seemed to have any problems.

[Norris]

Like matski, my Ric sounds great whatever I do.

However, I can't get a nice round funky Precision-like sound even with a severe mid cut. It sounds cleaner on a single pickup than on both, but still has that Ric 'fizz'.

[Qlank]

After years of saving up to get the bass of my dreams. Playing loads of Rics, spent many an hour on Denmark St. noodling away for ages at a white Ric in Andy's and thinking "If only this was a Jetglo I'd take it home now". It was a 76 and was just perfect to play. Nice neck, felt solid. Plugged it in and had that sound. Perfect. Didn't take it home because it wasn't black with the white trim.
Bought a new 2005 4003 and played it for a couple of months and had to get rid of it. It sounded awful. I am now back to a lovely Jazz bass that sounds like me playing. Think of a pack of dogs fighting over a deer carcass.
There are loads of basses out there ,how about going for a Thunderbird or a Jazz type kind of thing. The Fender Aerodyne comes to mind here, quite an aggressive sounding bass?

[gsgbass]

I'm totally into the Ric now. I do believe they're like any other bass. The right strings, and amp for it, and for the player too.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/ZCUBErG.jpg[/IMG]

Edited November 11, 2013 by gsgbass

[thunderider]

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.

[White Cloud]

I have owned two Ricks (at different times) and absolutely loved everything about them...they both sounded fantastic.

I wouldn't have dreamt of swapping either for a P or J ...horses for courses.

[cameltoe]

My brother in law has a 4001, I've used it a lot. I find it very comfortable to play and can get the action crazy-low, however I can never get a sound I like from it. It's either wooly, or twangy. It doesn't seem to be able to do that right in the mix, kick-drum frequency that you get from a P bass.

[Black Coffee]

I owned three Rics. A 4003, 4003 fretless and a 4004.
Loved how they all looked, hated how awkward they played and sounded. Grimace at the money it cost to see a childhood dream explode in my hands.
Have a look around, why aren't more people playing them. . . As all you see is fender Warwick Spector etc etc .
Can't get away from that. IMHO

[DiMarco]

No bassman344. Apples and oranges.

I play rics, jazzes, precisions, warwicks, ebmm. All are great sounding and playing basses, no issues there.

Each bass model has their unique voice and qualities. Whether you like a certain tone has nothing to do with quality, we call this "personal taste".
For heavy/modern stuff I bring the Warwick or EBMM Sterling which sound pretty hi-fi. For slap I got this Marcus Miller signature active Jazz and for oldskool tone nothing kills the Ric and Precision sounds, of which I use the Ric most as it is capable of more different tones (Precision is a one trick pony really).

If you can't get along with a Ric either your technique is simply poor or you bought the wrong instrument for your personal taste.
Simply blaming the instrument is rather foolish.

Others before you got great results playing their Ric, Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Justin Chancellor, Trevor Bolder, Geezer Butler, Cliff Burton, Roger Glover, Glenn Hughes, Paul McCartney to name a few.

[gjones]

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1384026300' post='2272145']
My brother in law has a 4001, I've used it a lot. I find it very comfortable to play and can get the action crazy-low, however I can never get a sound I like from it. It's either wooly, or twangy. It doesn't seem to be able to do that right in the mix, kick-drum frequency that you get from a P bass.
[/quote]

+1 Unless you're into Chris Squier clank or like a woolly indistinct sound don't even bother.

[Woodinblack]

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1384025254' post='2272120']
I have owned two Ricks (at different times) and absolutely loved everything about them...they both sounded fantastic.
[/quote]

So guessing from the way you said that you haven't got them anymore. If you loved everything about them, what made you get rid of them?