prowla

Yup - it would be where that orange wire runs from the switch to the bottom-right (in the picture) pot, between the green sleeves to the two tone caps. So, you’re not going to get the Chris Squire sound.

The Vintage/Modern switch is a clever mod; it just engages a short across the cap when in normal position and disengages it when pulled. An easy retro-fit and invisible from outside.

It also functions as a hub on my pedalboard, as it has an FX loop. I run that to a GigRig switcher which switches/bypasses various other pedals.

I'm a Rickaholic!

I use Rotosound 40-60-80-100 roundwounds on my Rics.

On that front, I have an EBS Microbass 3; it is an absolutely excellent piece of kit. Its only downfall is the "distortion" channel; if it had two identical ones it would be perfect (they do a Stanley Clarke acoustic bass version, but it doesn't have the tuner). Apparently the Microbass is the pre- section of their Reidmar amps, so I have one of those to try. The last jam I did I took along a Trace Elliot amp and played it through a large cab; it sounded rather good with just the pre-shape button pressed.

I had a 4003s/5 for a while; the styling amused me, but it didn't feel like a Ric to me and I never quite gelled with it; I sold it back to the person I bought it from after a year(@6feet7). I played @Happy Jack's and his was the same. As for HW, he has a good reputation for producing replicas to order, including some of those instruments RIC never made. I have a faker from another UK-based maker (DC) who has stepped back a bit; it was originally made as an 8-string, but the neck couldn't cope and it was re-purposed as a 4. That sort of hints at one of the pitfalls: a Ric neck can be lovely and slim, but can't handle high-tension/heavy gauge strings and adding an extra one adds 25% more tension which can have structural implications. I'd expect HW to be well across those implications. Also, for info, Retrovibe do 5-string faker pickups. Also (#2), some real RIcs (4004 Laredo/Cheyenne and the 4003S/5) had Schaller 3D bridges, so there'd be no harm in using one of those. Pics of my 4-nee-8 string faker.

A Precision will tend to be louder than a Ric, but the Ric is more subtle and you have to work a bit to get the character. You might need to up the Gain a bit for the Ric. When in mono mode, winding back one of the Vols a smidge can make it louder. To get the absolute best you can use the Rick-O-Sound (stereo) output to run it to two amps and then set the controls to suit. A Precision does what it does very well; if you're stuck playing roots & fifths below the bottom 5 frets then you're as well sticking with the Precision. The Ric realisation comes when you do more adventurous stuff and notice how the sound gets thicker as you go up the neck and more growly as you play lower down. They really are a very expressive instrument. Perhaps it's better to think of it as starting afresh rather than a variant of a Precision.

Well, yes and no... If you run Rick-O-Sound then you can control each pickup separately. If you want to play anything Chris Squire, pull the Treble pickup tone and then go "Oh!". The bypass pot is an easy fit which does unlock some variations.

Rics are the best basses money can buy.

There's a current trend for reissues/remixes/remasters and some can be great whilst others just plain aren't as good as the original releases. The Giles Martin Beatles ones and Steven Wilson's reworking of Deep Purple Made In Japan are standouts which demonstrate what can be achieved in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing; Led Zeppelin's Houses Of The Holy is also surprisingly good. Others seem to be geared towards boosting the treble for someone who's played their system so loud they've blown the tweeters and as a result can sound pretty awful on a decent system (Dio's Last In Line and Alex Lifeson's Victor are examples). I've not heard The Lamb Lies Down, so can't comment on that; however, my general comment is these reissues/remixes/remasters can be quite variable.

Ok - I just think of them as a headless.

Erm, Status Graphite and Steinberger... I'm not sure what date mine is.

I like the look of them; a headless 5-string could be a goer for me. I'm not sure about locking jacks - I thought they'd been and had their day in the 80s.

Slowly and difficult! You have top play the stick through an amp; it doesn't really work not plugged in. (But plugged in it sounds really impressive.) I'm finding the fattest bass string gets in the way of the next one, which is a hindrance. I have done various bits of tapping on the bass, so I'm either really impressive doing those things I have muscle memory for or really useless searching around for notes. I play guitar, but fretting notes with my right hand and playing scales seems to go against the direction my fingers want to go. All-in-all, it's interesting...

...and you could do your back in bending down? 🙂

Note: if you do a stacked tone pot and connect the caps to the blend pickup-side connections you could have independent tone controls.

So, Gibson & Rickenbacker basses have "non-standard" scale lengths. And most other basses are derived from Fenders. 🙂

Those ones have the V2 bridge, which has been stock for 3 years now.

You missed my comment about "spots" earlier!

I don't think I'll be playing one.

As per my comment: you can use the neck, but need a new fretboard (& frets). They missed a trick: they could've done it as a fretless!

I think the 4001/4003 are the best basses ever made; best looking, best playing, best sound. But this short scale is an eyesore. I prefer my Kay (still needs a pickguard) short scale!

The "standard" wasn't a standard when Rickenbacker made the 4001 series in the 1950's and they've had no reason to change. I think the 1960's long-scale Gibson EB0 was 34.5" (as was the Ampeg bass). The answer to people complaining that Rics aren't Fenders is to just say stop moaning and go and buy a Fender or one of the multifarious Fender-a-likes on the market. Next people are going to complain that Rics have a 2+2 tuner layout instead of the "standard" 4 in a line.

Well spotted... ...or not!