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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    crunchman said:

    Worse still, it would most likely involve widening out the nut slots so it wouldn't be easily reversible.
    Yes, although if they're cut properly with a smooth rounded profile then they should take the original gauges as well. I've done that with a couple of baritone guitar conversions and not needed to replace the nut when going back to the normal strings.

    crunchman said:

    As for the 5 string question, I struggle reaching things on a 4 string with my short stubby fingers.  A wider neck would probably be even worse.
    Same here. Even a vintage P-Bass neck width is too big for my little hands.

    Basically it's more fundamental than that though... four strings tuned EADG is rock'n'roll and anything else isn't. And that's all there is to it.

    "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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  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
    Rocker said:
    The thin string! I thought it is for resting my ring finger and pinky on. Are you guys suggesting you can actually play it?
    Yeah, it's just us avant garde types that actually use all four strings. Sounds like there could be a market for a three string bass (with drop D tuner natch).
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    JezWynd said:
    it's just us avant garde types that actually use all four strings.
    Yowza! I'm avant garde.

    Shucks. I even go beyond the twelfth fret on a Rickenbacker 4001, using the neck pickup and some overdrive. It's the end of civilisation as we know it.


    Be seeing you.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    Funkfingers said:

    I even go beyond the twelfth fret on a Rickenbacker 4001, using the neck pickup and some overdrive. It's the end of civilisation as we know it.
    Same, although more normally with fuzz and the bridge pickup. I have been known to play as high as the 15th fret... but only on the thick strings. I love that super-fat sound when you do that, it's completely different to playing the same note five or ten frets lower on the thinner strings.

    "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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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    Maybe, if we keep up this banter, Bridgehouse will capitulate and invest in his very own RIC? ;)
    Be seeing you.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    edited July 2018
    Ric? No way. 

    At rehearsal last night, I not only played some 12-20 fret low note “boomers” but also played a 24 fret harmonic on at least 3 strings. 

    I dont need a ric for these shenanigans - I appear to be avocado guard already.
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  • Phil_aka_PipPhil_aka_Pip Frets: 9794
    Rics are shite basses anyway. Every note is a dull thud with no midrange to define it. If you played one fret up or down it wouldn't matter so long as you played your dull thud at the same time as the kick drum.
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Rics are shite basses anyway. Every note is a dull thud with no midrange to define it. If you played one fret up or down it wouldn't matter so long as you played your dull thud at the same time as the kick drum.
    Steady now, you’ll go upsetting our in house guru ;)
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    edited July 2018
    avocado guard.
    Sounds like something from a Seventies bathroom suite. :-P


    EDIT: Also sounds like something from the Word For Word round on "I'm Sorry. I Haven't A Clue." 
    Be seeing you.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    avocado guard.
    Sounds like something from a Seventies bathroom suite. :-P
    Many say it sounds like I’m playing in a seventies bathroom much of the time...
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  • FreebirdFreebird Frets: 5821
    edited July 2018
    rico said:
    I picked up a Squier Jazz for £100. End thread. Expect thread on topic of how to play this odd four stringed guitar. 
    Enjoy it!

    In the event of a fire, my P-Bass is the first guitar I would grab, and I only got it on a whim. I had no idea how to play it, but you soon get into it.

    Try searching on YouTube for isolated bass tracks.
    If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    Rics are shite basses anyway. Every note is a dull thud with no midrange to define it. If you played one fret up or down it wouldn't matter so long as you played your dull thud at the same time as the kick drum.
    Assuming this isn't some oblique attempt at humour...

    Have you ever played one, or even heard one?

    Bridgehouse said:

    Steady now, you’ll go upsetting our in house guru ;)
    Not upset, but from that description I would say he can't have, since it's the diametric opposite of what a Rick bass sounds like - unless you're using flatwounds and the mute.

    Laughable either way!

    "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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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    ICBM said:
    flatwounds and the mute ...
    ... on the fretless version. ;)


    Even as a 4001 owner, I can see both sides of the RIC argument. Some things about them are arcane and/or annoying. On the other hand, they produce some sounds that nothing else can.

    Whether those sounds are desirable is entirely subjective. 

    One thing that I will say in favour of the 4001 is that it forced me to overcome my reluctance to play bass with a plectrum. The transient attack is often part of the sound. 
    Be seeing you.
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  • Phil_aka_PipPhil_aka_Pip Frets: 9794
    @ICBM heard plenty and don't like them. never wanted to play one.
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    edited July 2018
    @ICBM heard plenty and don't like them. never wanted to play one.
    That's fair enough, but you're utterly wrong in your description of the sound, which just comes across as ignorant.

    If you'd said you hated them because they're all midrange clank, slightly dirty-sounding and don't have the smooth, piano-like sustain of a Precision I would think you just liked a different sound from me, which is fine. But they're absolutely *not* dull-sounding with no midrange or note definition.

    Listen to Chris Squire, for one...

    "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 personally don’t like them because

     they're all midrange clank, slightly dirty-sounding and don't have the smooth, piano-like sustain of a Precision 

    :D

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    I personally don’t like them because
     they're all midrange clank, slightly dirty-sounding and don't have the smooth, piano-like sustain of a Precision 
    :D
    You see, that's a fair comment :). It's exactly why I like them of course ;). (And actually, the neck pickup will do a smoother sound, although it never has the punch and definition of a P-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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  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    ICBM said:
    I personally don’t like them because
     they're all midrange clank, slightly dirty-sounding and don't have the smooth, piano-like sustain of a Precision 
    :D
    You see, that's a fair comment :). It's exactly why I like them of course ;). (And actually, the neck pickup will do a smoother sound, although it never has the punch and definition of a P-Bass.)
    You should hear the ACG now I’ve put the p-retro active circuit in - boost the midrange and sweep the frequency knob, and add a dash of bright and it goes all Ric on me ;)
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    JezWynd said:
    These bass rivalries can be more heated than the tonewood, vintage and dealer threads combined :)
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