Rickenbacker Advice

[markdavid]

On 10/06/2019 at 20:09, Stofferson said:

Erm, I traded it for a Warwick Thumb. I am immensely happy 

Wise move, no point wasting your time with a bass you don't click with , Ricks are gorgeous basses but so many idiosyncrasies to deal with and things that imo have no place on a bass costing as much as they do.  That being said if they brought out a short scale bass I would no doubt be tempted.

[4000]

On 19/06/2019 at 10:23, markdavid said:

Wise move, no point wasting your time with a bass you don't click with

This, whatever the bass is. I love Rics (well, certain ones) but if they don't work for you, move on. 

[4000]

On 03/04/2019 at 18:43, speigel said:

well as you know its the same with every bass, its how you play it too. If you wanted a Squire/Lee sound from a Ricky you need to play it quite hard and you'll need the right amp.

Actually, Chris didn't play that hard most of the time. Geddy, well ok. 😂

[Kev]

Witch Tripper with a Ric? Hmm... :D

I have tried three times to get on with a Ric, two 4003's and a 4001, and each time I've sold.  Uncomfortable, couldn't get it to sound like the classic Ric tone I was after and it didn't really work for anything else.  They look AMAZING in my opinion, but considering the price of them they just aren't good enough.  Perhaps I need to try a vintage one.

 

[Monkey Steve]

I've had a 1975 4001 for about 30 years and was my main, usually only bass for the first ten of those, but until recently it had been in semi retirement because it's four strings and I'm now firmly a five string player, and my main basses for the last decade or so have been Warwicks.

I can sympathise with the OP because on the odd occasion that I've used the Ricky over the last 20 years it's sounded a bit thin and harsh, with my ears now being used to the much more tonally balanced sound of the Warwick (always with MEC $$ and active eq). The pickups in the Rickenbacker were mid-90's replacements (long story) so probably the same as reasonably modern 4003s.  Listening back to old recordings, those seemed much fuller but also a little flatter/duller, and the key change is going from playing with a pick through an old valve Marshall Super Bass II to playing with a really aggressive Entwistle style finger technique through an Ampeg SVT (or pedals doing a close impression thereof). 

I did a couple of dep gigs at the end of last year where I needed to use both, and a couple of unexpected things happened. The first thing of note was that whereas previously I'd always balanced both pickups with the neck rolled off a little, this time the sound was much better when just using the bridge pickup.  This may have a lot to do with the rest of the band - a two guitar death metal outfit, so I was looking for a very aggressive sound, though not using distortion.  I would say that this is the closest it's ever been to the Rickenbacker sound that I have in my head, and I reckon that the change is mostly down to the amp

Next, the output from the passive Ricky was far, far louder than from the active Warwick.  I tried to balance this by dropping the volume of the Ricky with an eq pedal, but in retrospect I should probably have boosted the Warwick.

Finally, at the shows, the soundmen much preferred the Rickenbacker - found it far easier to get to sit in the mix.

I've used the Ricky a few times since, for less extreme music, and find that the aggression of the depping set up can be a bit much for more standard classic rock/metal type stuff, but actually there's a lot that can be done for the eq by varying my playing technique, not hitting the strings as hard, switching between picks and finger style, etc

Edited June 21, 2019 by Monkey Steve

[4000]

38 minutes ago, Kev said:

Witch Tripper with a Ric? Hmm...

I have tried three times to get on with a Ric, two 4003's and a 4001, and each time I've sold.  Uncomfortable, couldn't get it to sound like the classic Ric tone I was after and it didn't really work for anything else.  They look AMAZING in my opinion, but considering the price of them they just aren't good enough.  Perhaps I need to try a vintage one.

 

They may just not be for you. FWIW a good vintage one will cost you an arm and a leg; I just had to insure mine.

”That” tone is very dependent upon using (or not using) certain amps and speakers. I avoid HF units/tweeters like the plague and find many modern cabs just have the wrong voicing. I use BF One10 cabs and Tech 21 VT500.

[4000]

18 minutes ago, Monkey Steve said:

I've had a 1975 4001 for about 30 years and was my main, usually only bass for the first ten of those, but until recently it had been in semi retirement because it's four strings and I'm now firmly a five string player, and my main basses for the last decade or so have been Warwicks.

I can sympathise with the OP because on the odd occasion that I've used the Ricky over the last 20 years it's sounded a bit thin and harsh, with my ears now being used to the much more tonally balanced sound of the Warwick (always with MEC $$ and active eq). The pickups in the Rickenbacker were mid-90's replacements (long story) so probably the same as reasonably modern 4003s.  Listening back to old recordings, those seemed much fuller but also a little flatter/duller, and the key change is going from playing with a pick through an old valve Marshall Super Bass II to playing with a really aggressive Entwistle style finger technique through an Ampeg SVT (or pedals doing a close impression thereof). 

I did a couple of dep gigs at the end of last year where I needed to use both, and a couple of unexpected things happened. The first thing of note was that whereas previously I'd always balanced both pickups with the neck rolled off a little, this time the sound was much better when just using the bridge pickup.  This may have a lot to do with the rest of the band - a two guitar death metal outfit, so I was looking for a very aggressive sound, though not using distortion.  I would say that this is the closest it's ever been to the Rickenbacker sound that I have in my head, and I reckon that the change is mostly down to the amp

Next, the output from the passive Ricky was far, far louder than from the active Warwick.  I tried to balance this by dropping the volume of the Ricky with an eq pedal, but in retrospect I should probably have boosted the Warwick.

Finally, at the shows, the soundmen much preferred the Rickenbacker - found it far easier to get to sit in the mix.

I've used the Ricky a few times since, for less extreme music, and find that the aggression of the depping set up can be a bit much for more standard classic rock/metal type stuff, but actually there's a lot that can be done for the eq by varying my playing technique, not hitting the strings as hard, switching between picks and finger style, etc

I also use the tones and volumes; I fiddle with both constantly. Also different strings and picks can make a huge difference.

My main Ric has been my favourite bass since 1993 when I bought it. I’ve been through all sorts of things since, Wals, Alembics, Seis, old Warwicks, Jaydees etc etc, but they’ve all gone and these days I almost exclusively stick to my Rics as they do pretty much everything I want. There are things they don’t suit, but they tend to be things I don’t play anymore. 

[BrunoBass]

Sage advice above regarding amps. I’ve found a useable live tone with my 4003 a bit of a moving target, however having disabled the tweeter in my cab (Genz Benz NeoX 2x12) things are much better. 

Incidentally, I used my 4003 on some home recordings recently. Plugged straight into Cubase 10 through my Focusrite interface with a bit of gain the tone is absolutely killer, exactly what I want. No amp involved, just the bass’s inherent tone. Wonderful.