Ricky basses, are they as bad as this guy suggests?

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RockerRocker Frets: 4943
Seems this guy has a 'thing' with Ricky basses:



[Found this on Basschat, apologies if it was posted here before]
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    Inexplicably expensive - check
    Small fret wire that could not withstand round wound strings - check
    Stoopid, low quality POS bridge/tailpiece/mute design - check
    Annoying machineheads - check
    Distinctive tone - check

    People tolerate all of the crappy aspects to get that distinctive sound.

    Having said that, Geddy Lee tells a story of all the fan mail compliments that he received for the tone of his Rick on the Rush album, "Moving Pictures". Ironically, all but one of the songs featured Geddy's black Fender Jazz Bass.

    Be seeing you.
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    many of my iconic albums have Rickerbacker bass on them (Rush, Yes, Marillion etc). The definitive Prog bass. 
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  • StrangefanStrangefan Frets: 5845
    Wow, he is not a majestic story teller. 
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    edited August 2017
    I know @ICBM will get on my case.... but....

    I have thought about getting one for years, and haven't, because I don't think it would add anything to my collection and dare I say it, I think they are a bit anachronistic..
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    anachronistic
    That summaries Rickenbacker in one word. They have been making instruments the same way for decades ... and ... they are proud of it.

    Some Rick idiosyncrasies are not detectable in photographs. They only become apparent during ownership. i.e. After you have parted with yo' money. That is why Dave is hacked off. 

    The reason why I own a 4001 is because, like the Fender Jaguar, nothing else makes those sounds. (The Geddy thing is mainly down to his picking hand technique.)
    Be seeing you.
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  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
    I wish they'd make a short scale version 4003. Heresy, I know.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    I haven't watched the video, but given how popular they are, and have been for decades across probably more styles of music than any other bass except the P, J and probably the Stingray, if he thinks they're no good then the problem isn't in the bass.

    The Rick 4001/4003 is one of the best, most flexible-sounding basses there is. They are anachronistic only in the same way as the Precision and Jazz, in that there were perfected early on so there has been no need to change almost anything about them.

    Inexplicably expensive - check
    Nonsense. Not for the quality they are.


    Small fret wire that could not withstand round wound strings - check
    Nonsense. Most Rick players use roundwounds.

    Stoopid, low quality POS bridge/tailpiece/mute design - check
    There is a small amount of truth in that, yes. The casting is not a very high quality metal and they can suffer from 'tail lift' over a period of time.


    Annoying machineheads - check
    Nonsense. They're the same as any other Kluson-type heads. (Or Grovers, on some old ones.)

    Distinctive tone - check
    Absolutely.

    In fact, I will give you a fault you missed - the pickups. They have no hum cancellation as standard, which is unique among professional-quality basses I can think of except for the reissue '51-style P-Bass. It's relatively easy to fix even if you don't want to change the pickups - but the pickups themselves are not the best quality either, it has to be said.

    I admit that mine has humbuckers - a Rick HB1 in the neck and a Kent Armstrong in the bridge. It still sounds just like a Rick though - the distinctive sound is not actually in the pickups, surprisingly.

    For me they are the most perfect of all bass designs and I wouldn't play anything else normally.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    Watched the video now.

    What a total load of tedious, moronic, uninformed bollocks. If you want to learn something about Rickenbacker basses, start by *not* wasting fifteen minutes of your life watching this.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    edited August 2017
    ICBM said:
    Watched the video now.

    What a total load of tedious, moronic, uninformed bollocks. If you want to learn something about Rickenbacker basses, start by *not* wasting fifteen minutes of your life watching this.
    Shame they don't hum cancel tho, hmm?







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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    Bridgehouse said:

    Shame they don't hum cancel tho, hmm?







    Yes.

    You can RWRP the bridge pickup on a 4003 easily, because the magnet is only held in place by the screws that attach the coil to the baseplate, so you can flip it and swap the coil connections - instant hum cancelling, although only when both pickups are on and at the same volume… still useful though - essentially the same as a Jazz Bass.

     In my opinion it's a huge oversight on an otherwise professional-quality instrument, but they won't change it… John Hall says it affects the tone. He's wrong - I recorded my bass before and after at full WAV resolution - there was no audible difference.

    Funny that this idiot doesn't even mention it - unless I fell asleep at some point :).

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    I must admit, they look beautiful, sound great, but like a lot of Rics they have some odd design choices.

    Bit like the intonation screw positions in that bridge - I mean, I know my P basses are only bent plate bridges, but I could adjust intonation with a Birmingham screwdriver on them :)
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    I must admit, they look beautiful, sound great, but like a lot of Rics they have some odd design choices.

    Bit like the intonation screw positions in that bridge - I mean, I know my P basses are only bent plate bridges, but I could adjust intonation with a Birmingham screwdriver on them :)
    The point of the over-tall bridge height screws is so that you can wind the bridge up nice and high, adjust the intonation, then lower it back down. OK it's a bit of a faff compared to a Fender, yes - but once set right it really never needs adjusting much.

    Clearly he did not know this either… or that the narrow truss rod access rout isn't a problem if you use the correct tool - a nut driver rather than an angled socket wrench. It's easy to be angry and dismissive when you don't bother to learn the right way to do something.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    ICBM said:
    I must admit, they look beautiful, sound great, but like a lot of Rics they have some odd design choices.

    Bit like the intonation screw positions in that bridge - I mean, I know my P basses are only bent plate bridges, but I could adjust intonation with a Birmingham screwdriver on them :)
    The point of the over-tall bridge height screws is so that you can wind the bridge up nice and high, adjust the intonation, then lower it back down. OK it's a bit of a faff compared to a Fender, yes - but once set right it really never needs adjusting much.

    Clearly he did not know this either… or that the narrow truss rod access rout isn't a problem if you use the correct tool - a nut driver rather than an angled socket wrench. It's easy to be angry and dismissive when you don't bother to learn the right way to do something.
    I might possibly be winding you up now ;)
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  • RockerRocker Frets: 4943
    Any Ricky's I saw in shops were expensive and out of my price league. They look the biz though as do P and J basses. Regarding the problem of string changing on a Ricky, this is a very infrequent procedure anyway so hardly a major problem. Or have I missed something...
    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

    Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    Bridgehouse said:

    I might possibly be winding you up now ;)
    I was wondering, since I assumed you knew that :).

    Worth mentioning for anyone else who took anything the idiot said at face value though ;).

    Rocker said:

    Regarding the problem of string changing on a Ricky, this is a very infrequent procedure anyway so hardly a major problem. Or have I missed something…
    Only that it's exactly the same as on any other bass.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Rocker said:
    Any Ricky's I saw in shops were expensive and out of my price league. They look the biz though as do P and J basses. Regarding the problem of string changing on a Ricky, this is a very infrequent procedure anyway so hardly a major problem. Or have I missed something...
    I dunno, minor inconvenience once every 10 years is a show stopper for me...
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    edited August 2017
    One of the great ironies of Dave's World Of Fun Stuff videos is that our hero spends the majority of his time slagging off something or someone. e.g. "Customer brought this mess for me to sort out. That customer is such an asshole." It is not all that often that the viewers get to witness Dave having any fun. So, you might wonder, who is the 'hole?
    Be seeing you.
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  • polotskapolotska Frets: 116
    edited August 2017
    @ICBM — curious if you might elaborate on the sound of your bass with the pickups replaced. I’ve toyed with the idea of picking up a 4003 and replacing the pickups with the Rickenbacker humbuckers, as I like the Rickenbacker bass sound but am quite averse to hum.
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  • girya32girya32 Frets: 10
    I bought one to try it out, hated the bridge, changed that, still found it a clunky thing compared to a jazz, sold it after 2 months. They look lovely, but like all guitars there's that marmite element to your choice. 
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    polotska said:
    @ICBM — curious if you might elaborate on the sound of your bass with the pickups replaced. I’ve toyed with the idea of picking up a 4003 and replacing the pickups with the Rickenbacker humbuckers, as I like the Rickenbacker bass sound but am quite averse to hum.
    It doesn't sound very much different. I think the characteristic tone is more to do with the construction of the bass than the pickups.

    The neck pickup (Rick HB1) is a little thicker than a High-Gain - for a while I had it wired in parallel to sound more like a Toaster, but it lacked a bit of thump so I put it back to series.

    The bridge pickup is a happy accident - it's a Kent Armstrong guitar humbucker from the neck position of an Eggle New York Broadway - it happened to fit, so I thought I would try it. It's a 7K humbucker so quite low-wound. I don't know if it's even available any more, but it shouldn't be too hard to find something similar - it's quite like a Firebird mini-humbucker. It did need the baseplate drilling to fit, but no other mods. (When I got the bass it had been drilled anyway, for Bartolinis.)

    I would definitely recommend something like this if you want a Rick but don't like hum - it's a better solution overall than the RWRP bridge pickup since all the sounds are now hum-cancelling. The only real problem is that the Rick HB-1 can be hard to get, and nothing else perfectly fits the pickguard.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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