What would you change about a production bass model you like?

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, neepheid said:

Ooh, are we all showing off our stripes?

 

Stripes you say?

 

[knirirr]

The change I'd want to see would be for this to be unlined (with dots moved to the appropriate place):

https://www.fender.com/en-GB/squier-electric-basses/jazz-bass/classic-vibe-60s-jazz-bass-fretless/0374531500.html

 

If it had been I'd have bought one years ago and stuck with it.

Edited 21 hours ago by knirirr

[neepheid]

23 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Stripes you say?

 

 

Mmm, stripey.

[Terry M.]

45 minutes ago, johnDeereJack said:

Sandberg bridges - too many adjustment options! Gimme a BBoT any day! 😀

So no Warwick 3D bridges for you either then? 😂

[wavemaker]

I’m not a traditionalist at all, but if it was my decision, all pots would either 

a. follow the curvature of the lower bout (e.g. Stingray)

or

b. be mounted in a straight line parallel to the strings (e.g. Thunderbird). 

 

No exceptions. I’ll buy a Wal and a Spector each when I can get them without controls in that ridiculous diamond shape, and two Laklands when they get their stuff in order, thank you very much. 

 

Also, the right amount of pots is three.

[johnDeereJack]

5 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

So no Warwick 3D bridges for you either then? 😂

The Schaller bridge on my fretless is about as adventurous as I'll get! 😁

[diskwave]

As above really. CV 70 walnut P bass with RW. Love mine  and the thick 70's neck profile but RW would make them extremely accurate. 

[Terry M.]

26 minutes ago, wavemaker said:

I’m not a traditionalist at all, but if it was my decision, all pots would either 

a. follow the curvature of the lower bout (e.g. Stingray)

or

b. be mounted in a straight line parallel to the strings (e.g. Thunderbird). 

 

No exceptions. I’ll buy a Wal and a Spector each when I can get them without controls in that ridiculous diamond shape, and two Laklands when they get their stuff in order, thank you very much. 

 

Also, the right amount of pots is three.

As I sit here admiring my Warwick Streamer with the 4 gold knobs in a diamond shape 😂 My Thumb however has the magic number for you of 3 AND they follow the curvature of the lower bout 😊

Edited 20 hours ago by Terry M.

[wavemaker]

6 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

As I sit here admiring my Warwick Streamer with the 4 gold knobs in a diamond shape 😂 My Thumb however has the magic number for you of 3 AND they follow for curvature of the lower bout 😊

Lots of love for the Thumb, that’s truly the quintessential Warwick! I’m afraid I can’t say anything nice about that other bass you mention 😉

[paul_5]

For me, Ric necks should ideally follow the radius and dimensions of Jazz bass necks. 
 

I love everything about the sound of Rics, I just find them too skinny!

[Woodinblack]

The front knob of all basses shall always be volume!

 

- 

obviously if you have twin volumes, they shall be the front two knobs!

[Terry M.]

Even though I use them I've never understood the asymmetry of jazz basses. Charvel and Markbass have symmetrical offerings and not only do they look better to my eye they sit on stands way easier.

[Geek99]

2 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

Even though I use them I've never understood the asymmetry of jazz basses. Charvel and Markbass have symmetrical offerings and not only do they look better to my eye they sit on stands way easier.

It’s designed to be played sitting down 

[LowB_FTW]

If the 5-string Sandberg Forty-Eight had a reverse in-line headstock, I'd already have one in my collection.

 

Mark

[Stub Mandrel]

Remove extraneous and unpleasant zits/points from all G&L and Alembic basses.

[thebrig]

16 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Fender Precision Light range to be introduced, all to be under 8lbs.

I second that, but for me, it would have to be with just the P pickup, no need for the bridge pickup, imo.

[MichaelDean]

For my Combustion, it would be the hard corners of the bridge saddles. They're uneccesarily sharp. The corner could have been rounded but someone decided against it, probably due to cost. I also have the same issue with tune-o-matic bridges. They don't need to have the sharp point. You have to carve out a notch anyway, so you may as well round the top over. Eejits all of them!

 

And BBoT bridges can get in the bin. You need channels for the grub screws to sit in else you hit the strings too hard with a pick and the saddles are out of alignment. It was just the cheapest way to intonate a bass at the time and has been bettered.

[bassbiscuits]

I love my Yamaha BB604 but I’d love the option of more colours beyond the fairly dull choice of factory black, natural or red wine sunburst Yamaha colours. 

 

Lake Placid Blue, Inca Silver or antique white maybe?

 

[prowla]

On 16/03/2025 at 13:57, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

A lot of instruments have minor (or not so minor) quirks that may be a holdover from how things are done historically, but would benefit from an update.

 

What instrument's spec would you improve/change if given the power?

 

I've owned my Ric 4003 for a few months now, after many years of being put off buying one due to the previous versions' medieval bridge and the weird dual truss rods — both issues that are fixed in my 2024 model. I really like this bass, however:

 

1. The bridge is not as long as the previous design, so the gap in the binding is more obvious. Either the bridge should have the same length as the previous version, or the butt of the centre section should get binding.
2. The mute just doesn't seem like a good idea, the thumbscrews to adjust it are stiff making it difficult and time-consuming to adjust, and the strings are not muted evenly when it is raised. What's the point of it? It would be a lot more useful to be able to palm mute which would only be possible if the built-in mute was removed entitrely or it was removable as a sub-assembly.
3. The bass picks up a lot of noise. I shielded mine with copper slug tape. Surely something like this should be done at the factory?
4. The bass comes with a huge rectangular case with no option for a gigbag. I bought a thomann / music area SafeCase 80 padded gigbag for mine, and I would have much preferred if something like that had come with the bass instead of the case.
5. I bought a rickysounds acrylic thumbrest that fits across the top two screws of the pickguard, however I removed it after a while as it seemed too tall and got in the way. What might be useful though would be a similarly shaped thumbrest cut from the same material as the pickguard (i.e. factory offcuts) which would visually blend in better, and having a lower profile, not get in the way as much.
6. RIC should offer optional accessories to facilitate experimentation with ric-o-sound. I had to do a fair amount of research to find what adaptors would work best. I have a splitter cable for recording, and an OBNE split meld to split the output into two signals which I'm planning a pedalboard around. If I do build that board it I will probably also get a JHS summing amp pedal to recombine the effected signals as I'm unlikely to take two amps to a gig.

It's quite remarkable that they're still a favourite, given that essentially the same instrument has been in production since 1959; they have, however, have had gradual upgrades over the years.

Me, I don't have a particular issue with the bridge/tailpiece unit (set it up once and forget it) and I quite like the dual rods.

To your points:

1. I've just reverted a V2 bridge I put onto one of my 2010 basses: a. yes, it's too far from the end of the body and b. the action wouldn't go low enough. ((RIC did produce the 4004 with a Schaller 3D bridge.))
2. The mute is presumably intnded to be always on or always off, rather than switchable. I think that they may have thought about options but not come up with something they want to go with. I've got a synth pickup that fits in there for when/if I get another project one.
3. I agree regarding the noise; they are single-coil pickups. ((RIC did produce the 4004 with humbuckers.))
4. I guess the hardcase is for protection; standard gigbags work.
5. I don't like the thumbrests which sit on the pickguard. However, if you take off the Treble pickup cover you can get bezels to fit there with thumbrests/indentations.
6. RIC do (or did) sell the Rick-O-Sound splitter box, but it's stupidly expensive. You can split for a pedalboard using a GigRig CincoCinco (or make a Hack-O-Sound) and plug in an EBS Flat splitter cable.

Regarding  enhancements, I like to put a Hipshot drop-D eXtender on mine, but a. they don't fit all Rics and b. the RIc model is discontinued.

Edited 56 minutes ago by prowla

[edstraker123]

Relicing should be outlawed as a crime against humanity (or at least instruments). When was the last time you went to a car dealership and paid extra for fake dents and scratches ?

[Stub Mandrel]

2 minutes ago, edstraker123 said:

Relicing should be outlawed as a crime against humanity (or at least instruments). When was the last time you went to a car dealership and paid extra for fake dents and scratches ?

 

I suggest you google "patina pickup truck"

 

 

[neepheid]

6 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I suggest you google "patina pickup truck"

 

 

 

Are shock absorbers and springs extra?

[Dood]

17 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Fender Precision Light range to be introduced, all to be under 8lbs.

 

16 hours ago, fretmeister said:

If I can build a bitsa at 7lb then Fender can do it too.

 

Looks like they've managed it with Blu DeTiger's signature Jazz, choosing to go with a chambered body at ~7lbs 14oz according to the interwebs. I'd go the Shuker route of using a dense centre block, such as Northern Ash and then using chambered lightweight wings, but that's not gonna wash sub £1000 - That said, Cort's Modern-4 was insanely light. 

[Dood]

Hmm,

 

Unless it's a period correct model, let's shave those heel blocks down on bolt-on basses, get rid of neck plates and countersink fixing bolts.

Hide pickup tangs! - Especially on Split-Coil P pickups. Well done EMG (and Dimarzio) for managing this! Small comforts and all!

A wider range of pickup cover types.

Radiused pickup covers.

Oh headstocks... either flat out do the copy you're trying to pretend your not, or come up with something original that doesn't look like a 4 year old drew it. 

Rounded/Rolled fingerboard edges as standard. 

22 frets on more models please. Well done Sandberg. 

The afore mentioned Luminlay or decent contrasting markers. 

 

[Terry M.]

39 minutes ago, edstraker123 said:

Relicing should be outlawed as a crime against humanity (or at least instruments). When was the last time you went to a car dealership and paid extra for fake dents and scratches ?

Amen to that!!! 👏👏