4000

That’s the holy grail. 😂

Yep, and the best bit is they all mean something different depending on who you talk to. 😂

I found that really interesting because I thought he had a better sound before. 😉 😂 If you want a big round sound, want big, ringing clean notes and don’t play very many notes (unless of course you’re James Jamerson), a higher action will doubtless be very helpful. Personally I don’t want a big round sound, I want a twangy, buzzy, growly sound and I’m generally pretty busy, so for me it doesn’t really add anything I want. I’m from the Entwistle/Squire school and we all know how the Ox liked his action; “on the other side of the frets”. 😁 FWIW all through the ‘80s I had engineers and producers telling me I couldn’t use any distortion, so much so that they eventually talked me out of it. Until I rediscovered it and finally got a sound that (a) I liked and (b) actually worked. Apparently Geezer Butler got the same thing. 🙄

I can’t stand flats and a high action, it feels horrible to me and produces the kind of tone I’m trying to get away from. Thing is, I don’t see why you should make things difficult for yourself. And another thing worth considering is that even though I prefer very low action and don’t go higher than 40-100, I’m already starting to feel the first twinges of arthritis in my hands (I’m late ‘50s). FWIW all my family suffer badly with arthritis.

Ask Joey DeMaio. 😉

Well, not entirely right. Because it depends entirely on what tone you’re after. 😉 Also (although a different issue), there’s no point if you’re then unable to play your lines….

I’ve tried pretty much everything you can at some point. However I naturally both pluck and fret very lightly - plus I like a tone with some twang, buzz and rattle in it - and high action has never worked for me. Can it sound good? Absolutely. But for the way I play, it just doesn’t work. I like a bass to be as easy to play as possible.

I’m in my late 50s and at school (oop North) it was all referred to as heavy rock until probably when NWOBHM hit. It wasn’t even hard rock. Everything from Purple to Sabbath and Priest via Rush and Zeppelin was heavy rock. I do wonder how much this differed depending on where you lived though. FWIW, so far as I’m concerned all these genres and sub genres are pointless anyway. I mean, where do you stop? It’s all music to me.

These days I always play seated so it’s thankfully not a big issue for me anymore. 😉

Nobody should expect to love any instrument. Everyone is different physically, everyone generates a different tone, everyone wants to hear something different, feel something different……..

Grew up with all this. Always thought he was a great player. I was listening to him probably a decade before I started playing and even longer before I’d heard of guys like Jaco and Stanley.

So G&L do do slimmer necks then? Every G&L I’ve ever played - quite a few - has had the exact feel I run screaming away from. 😉

Have just seen the ad. It’s a bog standard 4003 from several years back, before they reintroduced the full width inlays. And to be picky, it’s Fireglo, not Fireglow. 😉

Yes, The NY footage is ‘73 IIRC. But the best sound he’s had, And in my opinion one of the best sounds ever (in context obviously) was the stock bass. Of course YMMV. He often said how much he loved the sound of his Vigier and I personally think that was an incredibly bland sound. I don’t think the Ric’s sound was ever what he was after, but that step on his journey became tonal nirvana for some, even if it was anything but for him. I’ve noticed that someone moving on from a particular instrument or tone tends to make some feel that it therefore wasn’t valid as there was something better available; I don’t take that view at all. Just because they preferred something else doesn’t mean it was better per se.

I think this is the problem with a lot of Ricks people encounter. Pre-Internet, even a lot of pros weren’t entirely sure how they worked, so as you say, the damage is done. I didn’t know how to adjust the rods (or do a lot of other things on them) until the Internet happened. I will say my ‘91 CS was the worst-built Rick I’ve owned, so maybe there were more issues around that time.

I’ve never had that issue over 20 or so basses. My action is typically between 1 and 2mm at 12th fret E, 1 or thereabouts 12th fret G, so very, very low. I use 40-100 or 40-95 Rotos. Heavier strings can cause issues, obviously, so depending on what flats you use that could be an issue. I’d recommend something with lower tension like TIs. Sometimes the older 4001 basses struggle a bit in terms of action because the neck sits lower relative to the body and the bridge bottoms out or runs out of intonation; I did have that with my 21 fretter (the 21 fretters often have the bridge too far forward which doesn't help). Assuming that it’s the oversized neck cavity causing the neck to sit forward (normally the most common cause), my advice with that issue would be to have the neck cavity filled with a maple block and recut closer to the size of the neck pickup whilst also having the neck pulled back, effectively resetting the neck angle. I’ve seen it done and it’s worked fine. FWIW my V63 had a big neck which would have taken some shifting. Around maybe ‘98-ish the necks became much bigger. My CSs were ‘91 and ‘96 and had slimmer necks.

It’s a shame he’s mixed down so much on the dvd. They only turn him up near the end! Here’s the isolated bass from Highway Star:

Beat me to it! I need to type faster.😉

I’ve had in the region of 20 Rics, including a V63, and never once had a warped neck. Have had a few on other basses though. With regards to the comments about some Rics weighing a lot, the current 4003 basses seem to be typically heavier than many (not all) 4001 basses. My two ‘72s are probably slightly under 9lbs, not heavy. The heaviest I owned was my first CS. The second one was heavier than my ‘72s but noticeably lighter than the first, and my V63 was a bit lighter still.

I don’t think you have to use a bass exclusively to be a “poster boy”. He used the Rick, unmodified, on the entirety of Machinehead (probably their most famous album) hence why I used that clip; it sounds amazing on every track on the album, IMO, and is for me one of the all-time great bass tones. That’s enough for me. He hasn’t modded the bass on the Denmark Dvd, it’s stock. It’s modded on the colour New York footage, which is on the same dvd. Roger stopped using the Rick because he wasn’t a big fan of of his own sound at that time, saying it was too clanky and distorted and that’s not what he was after. However that’s what many love about it. FWIW I don’t think any other sound he’s used has come close, but obviously his opinion will differ.

It’s an age thing. For me, creeping towards 60, it’s one of the most famous rock tracks there is.

I have listened to Badger I think, but it will have been a long time ago, and I’m not 100% sure. Thanks for the tip.

Wow. That would have been one of my dream gigs. Fotheringay’s first is one of my favourite albums.

Caravan. Heard them over 40 years ago on the Friday Rock Show and thought they were brilliant, then for some reason didn’t listen to them again until last year, when I made a point of it. Absolutely love them, they’re now one of my favourite bands. Also, 666 by Aphrodite’s Child, which I’d never heard until last year. Banging. Anthony Phillips’ solo stuff. Lovely. Thanks to our own Old Man Riva (to whom I’m eternally grateful) the duo Pooka, and subsequently Natasha Lea Jones (formerly one half of Pooka). Adore them, listen to them all the time. In fact I’ve listened to so much new old music in the last year whilst working from home, I’ve lost track a bit. And I’ve liked or loved most of it. There have been some peculiar omissions too that I finally caught up with. Kate Bush has been one of my absolute favourite artists for years but for some reason I’d never got round to listening to the 9th Wave on Hounds of Love, or the entire Aerial album (no, I can’t understand why either). I listened to them both on the same day and was reduced to tears for about half an hour. Unbelievable, Possibly the biggest “new old” discovery is going back a couple of years, but would be Sandy Denny. Finally thought I should listen to more of her well over 40 years after first loving her performance on Battle of Evermore. I’ve never looked back and will be eternally in love with her voice and songwriting, and her interpretations of traditional songs like She Moves Through The Fair and Banks of the Nile. My eternal regret will be not discovering her properly when she was still with us.