Convince me that I don't need a Ric

[dmccombe7]

This is the one for me but think its more a vintage colour without the Vintage switch option. Failing this it would be a standard black one. 

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by dmccombe7

[Skybone]

3 minutes ago, 4000 said:

Not all Rics are heavy. Many of the newer ones I’ve played are about 9 and a half pounds, but mine are probably under 9. 

My old 4003, and my current one are certainly no lightweights. Not overly heavy, but certainly "substantial".

The Walnut one's I've seen and tried seemed pretty light though.

[4000]

2 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Having that option at flick of a switch to go vintage is a big plus i reckon.

Dave

Yeah, I guess. To me it doesn’t really sound ‘genuine vintage’, but then neither does anything built after early ‘73. 😉 I could never get the tone I wanted out of Rics til I got my first ‘72. The first time I plugged it in it was the sound I’d always heard in my head. The only later basses that have come close IMO are the C-Series, and to a lesser degree the V63 and CS. 

I think the 4003 basses these days are a bit more amp-friendly as well. You really have to work to find the right combination with the old basses. 

[4000]

3 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

This is the one for me but think its more a vintage colour without the Vintage switch option. Failing this it would be a standard black one. 

 

Not a vintage colour in the real sense, but yes, Blueburst was discontinued a while back. You can buy the switch separately though. 😉

[4000]

8 minutes ago, Skybone said:

My old 4003, and my current one are certainly no lightweights. Not overly heavy, but certainly "substantial".

The Walnut one's I've seen and tried seemed pretty light though.

They vary greatly from bass to bass. I’ve owned about 20, played many hundreds. Some of the older ones like mine (and even the odd newer one) are under 9lbs. Typically these days and through the ‘70s they were more 9/9 and a half, occasionally towards 10.

Walnuts are typically around 8 and a half-ish. Same with Cheyenne’s. Heaviest I’ve had was my first CS, probably close to 10lbs, which is why I sold it. The 2nd was lighter, but still heavier than my ‘72s. The lightest I’ve had are the ‘72s, a couple of 4000 basses (72 & 73) and the Cheyenne II. 

Edited December 8, 2020 by 4000

[PaulThePlug]

Love the Rick Bass shape... Iconic... Never even held one. (Don't really like their guitar shapes, look overly fussey)

But to me that blue burst makes it look like a cheap toy... too bright i think.

Natural Wood, or a Classic Plain Black or White for me... Style v's Fashion.

Edited December 8, 2020 by PaulThePlug

[mikel]

Get one. At least it wont be yet another P or J. They are more versatile than they are given credit for. Macca use one with the Beatles to great effect, then there is "That" sound.

[dmccombe7]

17 hours ago, PaulThePlug said:

Love the Rick Bass shape... Iconic... Never even held one. (Don't really like their guitar shapes, look overly fussey)

But to me that blue burst makes it look like a cheap toy... too bright i think.

Natural Wood, or a Classic Plain Black or White for me... Style v's Fashion.

I'm in a 70's Glam Rock covers band so the blue burst would work really well. 

Buy a black one people expect you to sound and play like Geddy 😂

Buy a white one and they will expect you to sound like Chris Squire. 😂

Not a fan of the wood ones for some reason which is odd because i like a good wood finish on most other basses. 

The Black would be my 2nd choice to be honest altho i did see one of these that was quite stunning in the flesh.

[4000]

Bear in mind the Bluebursts come from the chunky neck era. 

BTW, Chris Squire’s bass was actually cream, not white. It was refinished by Sam Li and he just happened to have that paint around. 

[4000]

Speaking of blue, it’s another excuse to post my (extremely rare colour for the year) Azure ‘72, along with my main Fireglo ‘72. 
 

 

[dmccombe7]

57 minutes ago, 4000 said:

Speaking of blue, it’s another excuse to post my (extremely rare colour for the year) Azure ‘72, along with my main Fireglo ‘72. 
 

 

I could go for one of those. The Fireglow is nice and not as much colour change as the new versions. The Azure blue is far nicer than the midnight blue.

I always thought CS's Ric was an off white because of age. Every day a school day on BC. To be fair i was never a huge fan of YES. Liked some of what they did but not all so never really got into the CS thing.

Dave

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, 4000 said:

Speaking of blue, it’s another excuse to post my (extremely rare colour for the year) Azure ‘72, along with my main Fireglo ‘72. 
 

 

Is there a difference between the toaster style pick up and the current style with individual pole pieces ? Is that what makes the older 70's basses sound the way they do.

Dave

Edited December 9, 2020 by dmccombe7

[4000]

5 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Is there a difference between the toaster style pick up and the current style with individual pole pieces ? Is that what makes the older 70's basses sound the way they do.

Dave

Yes, the toaster sounds different than the high gain, but the pickup position (half inch from the neck rather than 1 inch) makes a big difference too. Both are, IMO, a big factor in the sound.

However, please bear in mind that ALL Rick pickups have varied over the years, so one high gain may be different from another high gain. Same with the toasters. My screw top high gain bridge pickups are both slightly different to each other in both construction and tone, although the basses are only a few months apart. 4003 pickups are generally higher output than 4001 pickups, but both have still varied over the years. 

The construction of the basses is also different; the Azure has a schedua neck laminate underneath the paint, whereas the Fireglo doesn’t. Anyone assuming a Ric from one year will be the same as another is waaaaay off. They don’t even look the same if you look closely; the body shape has changed over the years (again, even my two are different if you look very closely; compare them to the others posted and they’re even more different), and even the construction has changed. As a rule of thumb the horns get noticeably thicker from around ‘75 or thereabouts; eventually (‘90s?) they started to get thinner again, and the more recent ones are the slimmest ever.

Also, as I’ve mentioned previously, as well as changing the pickup construction and output over the years (and bearing in mind that every individual pickup will sound slightly different anyway), and adding/subtracting the capacitor, the pot values have changed over the years as well, which also affects tone.

Then the older basses up to very early ‘73 have an aluminium tailpiece and saddles, whereas after that they change to zinc alloy, which again affects tone, IMO. 

I know it probably comes across that I’m nuts over Rics, but I’m certainly not nuts over ALL Rics. Anything after early ‘73 up to a few years ago when they reintroduced the full width inlays and walnut headstock wings really doesn’t interest me at all, apart from the CS, V63 and C Series (and the Cheyenne’s and Laredo’s). 

Anyone who is really interested in the minutiae of Ric instruments should go to the Rickenbacker Resource Forum, because the subject really is a bottomless pit. 
 

[4000]

5 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

I could go for one of those. The Fireglow is nice and not as much colour change as the new versions. The Azure blue is far nicer than the midnight blue.

I always thought CS's Ric was an off white because of age. Every day a school day on BC. To be fair i was never a huge fan of YES. Liked some of what they did but not all so never really got into the CS thing.

Dave

Chris is my favourite bassist, and Yes possibly my favourite band. However Chris has nothing to do with my love of Rics as my first bass was a Ric, years before I really discovered Chris and Yes. Lemmy was the main culprit, with Geddy, Roger Glover and Glenn Hughes also influential but slightly less so. 

[martthebass]

On 08/12/2020 at 18:38, dmccombe7 said:

This is the one for me but think its more a vintage colour without the Vintage switch option. Failing this it would be a standard black one. 

 

I have this one sat at home Dave but rarely use it with the Glam band.....it’s the only bass I use that people have tried to nick between spots 😂

[Skybone]

Must admit, I was saddened when they decided to discontinue the Midnight Blue option, always thought that (and the 4001 Azureglo) was a great colour.

And although I have a Jetglo, I do prefer the natural finishes. Just wish they'd use more figured woods for the Mapleglo basses. The Walnut one's are great because they have more variation in the wood.

[4000]

1 hour ago, Skybone said:

Must admit, I was saddened when they decided to discontinue the Midnight Blue option, always thought that (and the 4001 Azureglo) was a great colour.

And although I have a Jetglo, I do prefer the natural finishes. Just wish they'd use more figured woods for the Mapleglo basses. The Walnut one's are great because they have more variation in the wood.

The Midnight Blue colour has actually changed since it was originally brought in, which not many people realise. 

Azureglo was always my favourite. I blame Gaye Advert. 😉 I had a ‘76 Azure but sold it to a friend when I got the Fireglo ‘72 as I much preferred everything about the ‘72. I then spent 17 years trying to find an Azure with the same features as the Fireglo. You see very few original Azures from that era.

[PaulThePlug]

The Darker blue on the headstock wings on the blue burst is nice, and way darker than the body edges... wonder if the back is the dark colour. Glo's look a lot subtler than the Bursts in transition and more appealing.... Then again? dark stage, under lights 'n dry ice - them were the days...

Edited December 10, 2020 by PaulThePlug

[Skybone]

The back of the Blue Burst was... blue burst.

A friend of mine back in the late 80's had an Azureglo, gorgeous bass, I was of course, insanely jealous, and of course being the 80's, he got it for a song.

 

[police squad]

18 hours ago, Skybone said:

The back of the Blue Burst was... blue burst.

A friend of mine back in the late 80's had an Azureglo, gorgeous bass, I was of course, insanely jealous, and of course being the 80's, he got it for a song.

 

sold mine for £250 back in 1990. It was blue. Someone from the Swinging Blue Jeans bought it (and gave me tickets to the show)

[Skybone]

I remember looking at a checker bound Jetglo 4001, that was decidedly "relic-ed", but the shop was still asking big bucks for it in the late 80's.

[StickyDBRmf]

I'm doing a "i'm not reading the whole post" thing - I had a Jazz Bass because I couldn't afford a Rick and I played like Squire, Wetton, Clarke, Graham, and held my own on jazz standards. The only thing I couldn't do, I wound up w/ a fretless P bass and played all the above and managed 80's style bands and got my jollys off doing Wobble and Percy too.

[4000]

3 hours ago, Skybone said:

I remember looking at a checker bound Jetglo 4001, that was decidedly "relic-ed", but the shop was still asking big bucks for it in the late 80's.

Even in the days when you could give Rics away, checker bound with crushed Pearl inlays were more sought after. 

I remember missing out on a jetglo ‘72 in the Bass Centre in Brum in the ‘90s which was IIRC £795, or possibly £895, because I was a bit skint. For some reason it never occurred to me to ask about p/x-ing the Warwick Dolphin Pro II I had with me. 

My worst though was not buying Neil Brewer’s (Druid) ‘72 4001 when I had the chance, for £500 (could have been £600 actually, can’t remember) in ‘96. It both felt and sounded very different to my main bass and was quite a bit heavier, and I was looking for something as close as possible. Didn’t know who Druid were at the time, discovered a used copy of Toward The Sun in a 2nd hand shop later and loved it. Would have been nice to have owned the bass that was used on it. Lovely bloke by the way. 
 

 

Edited December 11, 2020 by 4000

[leschirons]

No, don't get one. I think they just go clank clank clank.

[4000]

Just stumbled across this:

https://www.andybabiuksfabgear.com/rickenbacker-2020-limited-edition-4003-fab-gear-model-candy-apple-purple/#prettyPhoto

I love purple! Luckily for me they’ve all been sold.