Cairobill

If you want the McCartney tone and low tension get thomastik jazz flats. They sound fantastic and are a perfect marriage with a ric.

Having a serious obsession with J basses and Rics (I have a 78 4001), they are very different beasts tonally. Rics have a hollowness to the midrange that gives the bass a specific barky honk that is in a different sonic universe to the J Bass. When you drive it through a tube amp you get that Squire/Lee tone, simple as that. I can't imagine getting a tone like this on anything other than a Ric. I use flats at the minute though, so I'm after that McCartney thump which the 78 delivers in spades... My one also has a great deal of bottom end. I have tried many Rics in the past, however, that had no bottom whatsoever. Try before you buy!

Neither, Burgundyglo!

hello all I'm cutting a couple of demos on the 16th october with my band in camberwell, south London. Does anyone know of a place to rent an orange rig (preferably ad200 head and a 4x10) for a reasonable price or have one they could rent to me? Cheers, nick

[quote name='mcgraham' post='1336566' date='Aug 11 2011, 03:50 PM']then there are still select buyers out there who want this sort of instrument, so if you wanted to sell there is likely the right buyer out there... as is evidenced by this very thread.[/quote] hear hear, im after exactly one of those, a 32 inch fiver with high c

Ti flats sound excellent on my 4001. I would recommend you check them out during a rehearsal. You will find the bass has a huge amount of lo mid presence throughout the range and doesn't clutter up the high end. They also give the bass tone a lot of weight in my experience. I use round wounds on my other basses but the ti flats work incredibly well on my 4001. N [quote name='acidbass' post='1335987' date='Aug 11 2011, 03:53 AM']That sounds awful! The things we do for bread and butter eh? [/quote]

I bought a great late seventies 4001. After experimenting with rounds I went for thomastik jazz flats and it's a perfect combination. Effortless playability and tight full late Beatles tone. I have rounds on my other basses but the flats give the bass an amazing presence in recordings and playing live without cluttering up the highs. And, of course, you never have to change strings. A perfect bass. N

I use a tubeworks blue tube pedal. Very warm real tube overdrive. There's a rack version out there as well. N

I play j basses and rics. It took me many, many years to find a ric that did it for me. Like you I was put off by heavy. club necked, disappoInting basses. After trying quite a few (a drawn out 15 year search!) the bass I went for was a super light 78 4001 with a very thin neck and the most incredible deep and even McCartney-esque tone. Strung with thomastik flats it honestly does something that no other bass can do. When you get a good one they are fantastic basses it seems. They also look very beautiful indeed. Also, I play the ric with a pick and keep the cover on while i play my j the usual way with fingers. The ric suits a different approach for me. Regarding buying one I would try some of the recent 4003s with a thin neck that come up here and spend closer to a grand instead of the silly shop price. Nick [quote name='12stringbassist' post='1250889' date='May 30 2011, 10:31 PM']I own a few 4003's. If you sit down and spend some time with it, you'll either get used to the neck and the pickup cover, or still not like the bass. I agree they are wildly overpriced now.[/quote]

I just threw up in my mouth...