Bronner

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1426927951' post='2723471'] I would so love to see John Hall post in this thread. Comfy chair, popcorn... [/quote] John Hall, Kinks. First, you'll have to ask him to put his vintage Fender bass down ([i][b][color=#008000]which he [u]still[/u] plays[/color][/b][/i]) so he can type with both hands. [url="http://www.jamble.it/le-chitarre-di-jimmy-page/"][/url] Jimmy Page also played a Futurama, the 6 string equivalent of a Rickenbacker bass in terms of build quality and design (i.e., a heap of junk): What does it prove by saying that in the past a guitar player owned and abandoned a guitar? So we should all run out and buy Futuramas?

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1426926230' post='2723452'] How do cheap Ric copies fare in this?[/quote] Much better depending on country of origin. Japanese copies are better than real Ricks at 1/10th of the price. Japanese engineering (of all things) is well known for quality. The Chinese ones are just as good because Ricks were never known for quality build or design. The price of real Ricks is justified only be the cult of personality that evolved when in the 1960s few options were available to bass players so well-known ('famous') players like John Entwhistle, McCartney, Peter Hook, and Roger Waters played (and later abandoned) the Rick bass because it was simply available. McCartney got a free left-handed bass in the 1960s; that's the story behind his.

[quote name='tonybassplayer' timestamp='1426923547' post='2723432'] I have heard the arguments, comments, criticisms etc etc for years but one day in the future when I have some money spare I am just going to buy one. Nothing looks as cool as a bassist with a Ricky !! I hear the same argument from MX5 and numerous other car model owners ( fabulous cars so please don't shoot me down ) about how they are the sensible choice above an MGB I know it's not the sensible option but I love my MGB [/quote] I agree with you. They look cool. And if you want it for that reason, nobody can disagree with you. More power to you. But for the average player, who maybe buying their first bass, I'd just say look around before you buy a Rick because [color=#282828][font=arial, sans-serif]₤1,500 will buy you a lot of bass elsewhere. [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=arial, sans-serif](And to the guy who said Ricks sound great through Marshalls, so will a Japanese bass, and practically every other guitar or bass, with the added benefit that you can afford to own the Marshall amp and another brand bass for the same price as a Rick.)[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=arial, sans-serif]The Japanese Greco Jazz bass is about [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=arial, sans-serif]₤150 ( 1/10th the price of a Rick); and it's a beautiful bass. For the price of a Rick you can have a free trip to Japan, buy a Marshall, and get a bass that sounds better than a real Rick (which sound 'clanky' as someone else pointed out).[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color] http://www.tcgakki.com/search/?result&cp=4&kw=Greco

[quote name='simes' timestamp='1426923051' post='2723429'] Guy I know plays an unmodded Rick through a Marshall head and 1x15 and 4x10 cabs. It sounds.............bloody amazing. [/quote] For the [font=arial, sans-serif][size=4]₤1,500 new price tag of a Rick, tell him he can have three quality basses or a custom bass by one of the great builders on this site. [/size][/font] [font=arial, sans-serif]Or even better, for the price of a Rick, he can fly to Japan, get a higher quality bass for [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]₤200 and still be better off[/font][font=arial, sans-serif] . [/font]

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1426913291' post='2723411'] I don`t think i have ever seen so much anger from someone who doesn`t like a bass. [/quote] Isn't it delicious when someone criticizes the build quality and price of a product and the overzealous people that bought the shoddy product, and can't admit it, *prove* its greatness by criticizing the person that criticized the product. ( It's called an [i]Ad Hominem[/i][i].)[/i] Do you know how owners of Wal and ACG and prove those are nice instruments? They put up audio clips. They don't need to form an attack-cult. The [b]Mickenbacker Award[/b] of excellence for you. [color=#ff0000][size=4][u][b]Edit[/b][/u]: I just checked the price of new Rickenbacker basses in the UK: [font=arial, sans-serif][b]₤1,500 !!!!!![/b] ([/font][font=arial, sans-serif]or $2,242 USD). Absurd.[/font] [font=arial, sans-serif]Anyone who thinks they cannot get a better new bass for that price, is in error, in my humble opinion.[/font][/size][/color]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1426905818' post='2723403'] I own and gig with around 9 different bass guitars, mostly Fenders & Gibson models. The only bass I own that has a unique and inherently different sound than any other bass I own is my German crafted Hofner Club bass. You can't get that Hofner "thump" anywhere else. The Contemporary Hofner series made in Korea don't have it. Am I remotely on topic? Blue [/quote] No argument from me that the Hofner is a great bass. Plugged in direct it is warm and sounds like a bass. Adapts to many types of amps. Easy to play. Good for anyone that doesn't want a heavy instrument. It doesn't have a lot variety in the tone, but what it does it does better than any other bass.

[quote name='dadofsix' timestamp='1426905173' post='2723400'] Wow, man. Your point has been made . . . ad-nauseum. I'd like to be able to buy you a beer if the situation ever presents itself, but, never mind. You just keep on with your shrill preaching to the rooftops. If that's what makes you happy, have at it. You own this thread -- have fun. I'm done. [/quote] I criticized the bass. You criticized me personally for criticizing a brand of bass. Still I don't take it personally.

[quote name='dadofsix' timestamp='1426903726' post='2723396'] Wow, man. Give it a rest. So you can't get a Rick to sound good. My condolences. Others, myself included, can. For the life of me, I can't figure out why this point is being argued. [/quote] See if you can read this: For the money, instead of getting a Rickenbacker, the average person can: 1. Get a bass with more versatile tones. 2. That's easier to play. 3. Whose pickups will hum less and produce a more even volume across all strings. 4. Whose pickups sound good recorded [b]direct[/b]. ([i]Hopefully you understand what direct recording is; it's the actual sound the instrument makes; not the effects[/i].) 5. And that costs much less. Really, I'm trying to keep people from making the same mistake I made from buying a Rick bass by getting caught-up in the fantasy and mythology surrounding what is in fact a low quality instrument. I'm not the one who acts like somebody insulted my Daddy just because some criticisms were made about a mass produced product.

[quote name='simon1964' timestamp='1426902377' post='2723387'] The reason I won't is because I have better things to do.[/quote] You say you can make it sound good, and I say let's hear, and now you have better things to do? Instead of 3 comments, you could have just put up one audio clip of the Rick recorded [b][u]direct[/u][/b]. LOL ! Let't hear the bass direct, and it's 'diverse' tones ([i]as opposed to the amps and effects used to color the sound of the bass[/i]).

[quote name='simon1964' timestamp='1426900935' post='2723377'] It will if you know how to ride it properly [/quote] 1. Okay, I say the Rick sounds terrible recorded direct (especially for the money). 2. You say you can "ride" it properly. So, I agree with you, you're amazing, and maybe I'm wrong. THE TEST: Now put an audio clip of a Rick recorded direct, without effects, and show us how to "ride." Let's hear the amazing tone. The reason you won't, is because (1) you either don't know what you're talking about, or (2) any direct recording of a Rick will show it sounds like a cheapy instrument. Out of all of the well-known Rick players, how many of them are still using their instruments? Very few. Even the 'Lemmy' Rick has been re-designed, have a look at it and tell me if that's the original pickup configuration, right? It was so good he asked them to change it and they pay him to play it. - Roger Waters: Dumped the Rick. - John Entwhistle: Dumped the Rick. - McCartney: Dumped the Rick. - Lemmy: Asked the bass to be re-designed with a new pickup configuration. The real test of an instrument -- when deciding on price to quality -- is whether you are still going to want to use it down the road. But with a lot of players it's clear they used it until they realized there were better instruments for the money.

[quote name='simon1964' timestamp='1426900487' post='2723375'] So McCartney can get a tone you like from a Ric, but you can't. Therefore Rickenbackers are disagreeable. Interesting logic... [/quote] [color=#000000][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif] You have to understand the compressors, consoles and tube microphones they used to warm-up that bass to get a workable tone out of it. [/font][/color] [font="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"][color="#000000"]The Rick sounds terrible recorded direct. What you hear on McCartney's recordings with the Rick is a highly sweetened tone from the studio gear; the Rick's organic tone is not flattering at all. [/color][/font] [size=4][color=#000000][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]If you want to carry around a Telefunken U47 mic, an EMI RS124 compressor[i]/[/i]limiter from Abbey Road Studios, and a REDD 37 analog recording console to your gigs, I'm sure you can get McCartney's tone. Otherwise, your Rick will sound like you are playing bass through a cheap electric guitar pickup. [/font][/color][/size]

[quote name='dadofsix' timestamp='1426899987' post='2723373'] I think most would agree that they look and sound like nothing else. Had a '73 4001 that I absolutely loved that, sadly, is no longer of this world. My '80 4003, gets pulled out everytime I lust for a bass sound not generated by something with Fender on the headstock. lol YMMV [/quote] Look at all of the great and inexpensive basses they make in Japan. You could have 3-4 of those for the price of one [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Rickenbacker. The choice isn't only between Fender and Rick.[/font][/color] [font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#282828"]The Rick's pickup commonly suffers from a lot of noise and hum, and can't handle a broad array styles. It doesn't match up well with many bass amps. Buying a Rick is like buying one of those French Bicycles from the 1920s with the huge wheel in the front and the little wheel in the back; looks cool, but won't take you far.[/color][/font]

[quote name='40hz' timestamp='1426899178' post='2723368'] Played a mid-late 70's 4001 not that long ago. An underwhelming experience to be honest. Didn't grab me. The looks however are just stunnning IMO. [/quote] Exactly. Looks great. About 20 years or so when I bought my Rick. I thought (hoped?) the [u][b]tone[/b][/u] I would get out of it would be similar to McCartney's tone, but I was wrong. The bass is disagreeable with many types of amps, and is just a heavy slab of overpainted wood with unnecessary metal parts. It looks like it will be amazing, but doesn't have playability or range of tones that even a $50 Chinese bass has. It's voiced like a cheap guitar pickup.

[quote name='Subbeh' timestamp='1426897821' post='2723352'] I've found Ricks have really grown on me over the years to the point where I'm really starting to GAS for one. Nothing else looks or sounds quite like one and I really feel that I need to own one at some point. [/quote] In terms of the looks, I can't argue with you. I tend to think they "look" interesting. In terms of the tone, I really recommend you borrow one from a friend for a couple of weeks if possible. The pickups sound like someone's first home pickup winding project. Very tinny. If there was any way I could get a good tone out of it, I would have kept it. It was just horrible. I tried it with many types of amps and strings. Also the the way the bass is designed really demands you to work hard for all the notes you want to play. It's also heavy, which I wouldn't mind if it had features, which it doesn't. Borrow one on a long term basis and see if you want to spend your bread on that.

Many years ago I owned a Rickenbacker bass. I saw that McCartney used one for several years. So I wanted one. Big mistake. If you've never owned or played one of these basses, they aren't that good to be honest. The day I got rid of it I had no remorse and I still don't have any remorse. They have a horrible tone and lack versatility. I'm sure the copies or another brand of bass altogether will be better. I'm just being brutally honest. Think of all of the other amazing types of basses you could buy for the money instead of wasting your bread on a Rickenbacker. Now that the decades have passed since getting rid of it; I've come to realize that McCartney probably played this bass because they made him a left-handed copy. He got it free. That's all there is to it. Just my opinion. As for other personalities that played a Rickenbacker: [color=#000000][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=3]Peter Hook's bass was actually a Hondo.[/size][/font][/color]

Here's an idea. Everyone that owns a bass with Jazz style pickups should put an audio clip (nothing fancy) recorded direct without effects. It would be really nice to [b][i][s]see[/s][/i][/b] hear something like that.

Pickup threads need sound clips. Really looking for comparisons b/w J pickups.

As popularized by Ringo, Yoko and the other three. Also known as the Baritone Bow-Less Violin With Frets. And appearing all over this Blues album: [url="https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/freddieroulettedaphneblu"]https://www.cdbaby.c...ulettedaphneblu[/url] [sharedmedia=core:attachments:185507] Tracks: 1, 2, 8, 14

[u][b]Little Dogs With Big Teeth:[/b][/u] 1. Cheap, dependable, good tone: Fender Blues Jr. 2. Wonderful amp that may need to be repaired at some point, due to faulty parts and/or overheating, yet excellent recording quality. Marshall JTM 30, 2 x10. 3. Vox AC15. 4. Want a simple little blues amp for home practice? Pignose. * You can probably get away with using #1 and #3 in a live setting if your drummer has a light touch. ** My favorite = #2. Despite it's reliability issues; a perfect studio amp in terms of tone and features.

Seagull S6 Cedar Top. Get the one with the satin (thin) finish. The more lacquer on the top, the less bass response you will get. Don't believe me? Spray paint your bass amp speaker and see what happens. The top of an acoustic guitar is the 'speaker,' in a word. Thinner finish = more bass. Now that it has a thinner finish, you have to take greater care of it because it's easier to crack. (N.B. If you're planning on dropping the guitar or leaving it out in the snow, get one with a thicker finish.) Disclaimer: I used to formally endorse Seagull / Godin guitars many moons ago. I am more than happy to give them a plug now because their instruments were always first rate as was their artist support. I originally bought my first S6 (a couple of US hundred dollars at that time) and they asked me if I wanted to promote the guitar. They were a relatively unknown brand back then. The rest I got free (Thanks Seagull!). I never looked at another Martin or Taylor. Some of the higher end ones they made for me were works of art in terms of wood work and design, but even the lower priced ones were exceptional instruments. Seagull Price to Quality is [u][b]amazing[/b][/u]: Ultra [u]low[/u] price, Ultra [u]high[/u] quality. [sharedmedia=core:attachments:185508] Also big respect to Seagull for supporting Blues musicians when nobody else would. [u][b]Sound clip[/b][/u]: This is the 12 String version of the S6 on the song '[i][b]Little Wing[/b][/i]' -- all the shimmer and jangle you can dream about. (Track #5) [url="https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/freddieroulettedaphneblu"]https://www.cdbaby.c...ulettedaphneblu[/url] [u][b]Rest of the instruments[/b][/u]: National Lap Steel, '74 Strat + Marshall Plexi + Univibe; Warwick Corvette Fretless Passive, Fender Rhodes, Hammond Organ, Drums.

Came across this website http://www.gbguitars.co.uk/gb_demos.asp They sell hi tech futuristic basses (not sure what else to call them). These basses aren't for me, but an interesting site and interesting basses. [i][b]They have a great website design; finally a manufacturer that understands that customers want to [u]hear[/u] the gear before they buy.[/b][/i] Worth a visit for a little look-see.

1. I like the bass. 2. I play other instruments and nice to play bass also to compliment the other stuff. 3. A lot of the good bass players passed on (came up in the blues scene with older musicians) 4. When good bass players weren't around, it was better to do one's own bass lines than have someone play bass that wasn't attentive to tone, volume, timing and sometimes even chord changes .

1. When you play as part of an ensemble (or "group"), the better you understand the other instruments you're playing along to, the better you will play your own instrument. 2. An understanding of harmonic instruments ( anything that usually plays more than 1 note at a time) will give you more options in constructing bass lines. 3. Experience mixing live sound and studio recordings is also good because it forces you to evaluate your tone and volume as part of the big picture (the song as a whole).

I'm a big fan of fast fret -- not because it makes the frets "fast." It cleans strings and frets. It's a quick way to do it. And if you use it after you play, there's less buildup of gunk in the first place. Strings last longer. Also good for getting the gunk off of the fretboard that builds up. The excess oil should be wiped off.