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That Ric Sound


Guest MoJo
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Good news! Stick with it. It took me ages to sort the eq out on my old Trace but when I did it was great. So good that a mate eventually bought the amp off me on the strength of it and used it with exactly the same settings!

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Seen this guy before, he does a good ''Siberian'' although his sound is quite good I think it's helped along by the backing track, his treble pup is a lot more overdriven than CS's though as CS fuzz boxed his neck pup and the high treble and volume of the bridge pup was all he needed to get that sound.
Looks like a 74 he's using, so it's a smaller body and neck etc, but not like the period wafer 4001's without the skunk stripe, I've found my 72 gives as close as I can get to the CS sound, although my doubleneck is close too, SVT bright ch 1, on the bridge pup and either my bro's Vintage modern or Burman on the neck.

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[quote name='gary mac' post='1322738' date='Aug 1 2011, 07:56 AM']Chris Squire sounds like Chris Squire whether playing a ric or a fender jazz.

I'm sure there was a clip on here a while back showing him playing a jazz.[/quote]

Chris does sound like Chris regardless of what he plays, but without wishing to go back to another recent thread, he doesn't get the same sound on each instrument. His Jazz sounds different to his Ric, as do the Tobiases, the Mouradian etc etc etc. I know some don't perceive this but I certainly do. I've seen him live several times and every time he pulls out a different bass it sounds noticeably different, although still recogniseably like Chris Squire.

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[quote name='4000' post='1323044' date='Aug 1 2011, 01:31 PM']Chris does sound like Chris regardless of what he plays, but without wishing to go back to another recent thread, he doesn't get the same sound on each instrument. His Jazz sounds different to his Ric, as do the Tobiases, the Mouradian etc etc etc. I know some don't perceive this but I certainly do. I've seen him live several times and every time he pulls out a different bass it sounds noticeably different, although still recogniseably like Chris Squire.[/quote]

What he said. I remember being in a wee record shop in Glasgow (Lost in Music - sadly no longer trading) and a song came over the PA that I hadn't heard before, different bass sound but 'felt' like Squire's style. True enough, turned out to be "New World" off the second Conspiracy album.

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Yes it is a number of factors. The guy in the OP's clip is using a ric that doesn't have either horshoe or toaster PU's but is getting a very Squiresque tone. It is interesting if you go to other clips of that same bloke playing he also has a youtube clip of Long Distance Runaround. There are other clips of other people also playing this bassline, some on Rics and others on other basses and none of them sound as close. From this I'd hazard a guess that a lot of it is down to amps and other processing, though as also has been pointed out Chris himself doesn't sound quite the same using other basses through his own rig, it's got to be a combination. I noticed when I bought my Hatke Bass Attack pedal it had some guide settings in the booklet and one of these was supposed to emulate Squire's very high end tone as it was called something like 'Roundabout'.

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[quote name='Stacker' post='1323257' date='Aug 1 2011, 05:04 PM']I reckon 'Roundabout' has an awful lot to do with the toaster. But I must admit that fella is getting close to it.[/quote]

A lot of Squire's stuff does. Very underrated, the use of the toaster!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Amplification is a major factor in obtaining "the" Rickenbacker sound, valve amps do it so much better as the sound is slightly overdriven. The Tech 21 VT Bass pedal does a good job of nailing this sound. The positions of the tone controls on the Rick itself are also major factors and you do have to play pretty hard.

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  • 2 months later...

[quote name='bassman2790' timestamp='1312056948' post='1321717']
This is the sound I associate with Chris Squire and Geddy Lee but my 4003 doesn't sound anything like that. Does the action have to be quite low? What is the secret?
[/quote]

Geddy's Ric sound was much better than this and Chris Squire's sound! It's all about a well driven amp and some fingerstyle with a firm touch!

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[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1320002072' post='1421163']

Geddy's Ric sound was much better than this and Chris Squire's sound! It's all about a well driven amp and some fingerstyle with a firm touch![/quote]

Whilst I like Geddy's Ric sound, give me Squire's sound anytime. Far more depth, far richer.

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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!

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[quote name='barnettiuk' timestamp='1319971061' post='1420575']
..........and on the studio take of Roundabout CS is doubling his bass line with a 6-string to give it more top.


I'm almost ashamed to admit I know that........... :))
[/quote]


Squire has said this many times in interviews, but if it is on the record, it's mixed so low as to be inaudible. The only time the bass riff is doubled by guitar is toward the end of the song, after the lengthy mid-section and solos, and then it is clearly noticable, being an octave above.

The bass riff for the main part is clearly the Rickenbacker alone, it's the same bass sound as almost all of Fragile.

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