The Cheats Guide to getting a Rickenbacker Bass Sound on a Budget. Tips, Tricks ( Heated Debate).

What's Hot
2456789

Comments

  • GSPBASSESGSPBASSES Frets: 2335
    tFB Trader
    "Fretboard Mission Creep"
            I don’t know what to say about that, been called some things in my life but a Creep.

     

    @Bridgehouse mentioned me so I go to investigate why I've been named, having read through the post, I thought I have a Ricky body and neck, so I thought if you fancy partcaster build, this would be a cheap option for you. I don't think there's anything creepy about that.

     

    And by the way that hand built pink Ricky would not be a cheap option, it costs considerably more than a real Ricky.

    Your life will improve when you realise it’s better to be alone than chase people who do not really care about you. Saying YES to happiness means learning to say NO to things and people that stress you out.

    https://www.facebook.com/grahame.pollard.39/

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    GSPBASSES said:
    "Fretboard Mission Creep"
            I don’t know what to say about that, been called some things in my life but a Creep.
    How about a weirdo? Special? :)
    Be seeing you.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • valevale Frets: 1052
    GSPBASSES said:
    "Fretboard Mission Creep"
            I don’t know what to say about that, been called some things in my life but a Creep.

    @Bridgehouse mentioned me so I go to investigate why I've been named, having read through the post, I thought I have a Ricky body and neck, so I thought if you fancy partcaster build, this would be a cheap option for you. I don't think there's anything creepy about that.

    And by the way that hand built pink Ricky would not be a cheap option, it costs considerably more than a real Ricky.

    Hey @GSPBASSES i think you've got me wrong. 'mission creep' is a thing, not a person.
    no offence intended to you at all. i respect you & your work greatly. hence the swoon declared for the baby pink Ricky.

    see:

    "Mission creep is the expansion of a project or mission beyond its original goals, often after initial successes.[1] Mission creep is usually considered undesirable due to the dangerous path of each success breeding more ambitious attempts, stopping only when a final, often catastrophic, failure occurs."

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_creep

    i was just joking that (as frequently happens in fretboard posts, as subsequent posters up the ante with '...but for a few pounds more you can get...'), an initially outlined budget quickly escalates from the minimal to the extreme within a single thread page.
    so 'mission creep' because that familiar shift from micro to macro budget happened here too.

    but no criticism of any posts. all good stuff, & it's good to have all the options laid out, because other people reading the thread may have different budgets & be up for fancier things.

    anyway, there was genuinely no offence intended & keep up that stellar bass building.
    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 3reaction image Wisdom
  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Has your thinking changed at all @vale or are you considering a Rickenfaker still?
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    vale said:
    Hey @GSPBASSES i think you've got me wrong. i was just joking 
    I suspect that he realised that. His reply was definitely tongue-in-cheek.* Irony and sarcasm do not always come across in type.


    vale said:
    there will ... be scope to locate a non-Ricky bass, at a desired point along a spectrum of tones, ranging from 'sounding nothing like a RIcky' to 'sounding a lot like a Ricky'.
    Sixty years of musical instrument manufacturing history suggests otherwise.

    If somebody had devised an acceptable substitute that retailed for a more affordable price, we would all be using it.


    Be seeing you.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • valevale Frets: 1052
    edited July 2018
    @Bridgehouse

    the black ones look not too bad (coffin-esque, which is quite stately), but it's more the sound than the look that attracts me, hence my curiousity about how i might go about faking it on the cheap.

    but you know where my bass passions lay, even if the violin is about as far away from the ricky as it is possible to be. maybe why mccartney got one, to cover missing sonic territory the violin couldn't reach.

    so i like the sound a real lot, but as a thing, Ricky's are just too long (i'm shortscale for life, i have decided), heavy (that's why i want the violin), way too horny (that 'leaping dildo affair' on the top bout) & (obviously) way too over budget.

    if i won that black one in the irish raffle i would be utterly chuffed & probs have fun playing with it, but it's not something i would go out & buy, even if i had the lolly.

    i could get four violins (black, red, white & purple i think) for the price of one clickingbacker. imagine being able to change your guitar to go with your outfit? la classe!

    but each to their own (madness).
    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    vale said:
    maybe why mccartney got one, to cover missing sonic territory the violin couldn't reach?
    Perhaps, Rickenbacker saw the commercial potential in giving The Beatles free instruments during their all-conquering U.S. tour? ;)
    Be seeing you.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • valevale Frets: 1052
    edited July 2018
    vale said:
    maybe why mccartney got one, to cover missing sonic territory the violin couldn't reach?
    Perhaps, Rickenbacker saw the commercial potential in giving The Beatles free instruments during their all-conquering U.S. tour?
    true, but he could have just given it away or put it in a cupboard if he didn't rate it, as happened to a lot of their gifted promo gear. there are photos of fender & burns basses in the studio that maybe got used for one song (if that) & were then left to collect dust.

    at that time he was probably the most famous & wealthy bass player in the world, so he could have had anything he wanted (probably just for the asking) but he made that ricky his workhorse, so must have seen something in it.
    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    In his own words. (About one third of the way down the page.)

    https://reverb.com/uk/news/interview-paul-mccartney-on-his-life-as-a-bassist
    Be seeing you.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    There’s at least three separate debates to have here!

    Where to start? Well, there’s a scale length debate and whether short scale vs long scale is about fingers and spans and stretch and comfort or if it’s a case of “what you are used to” and how much it affects the sound.

    Then there’s the violin bass question, its sound, its musical context, and possible alternatives to get that sound..

    Then there’s the original question of clank, midrange and tonal variation that isn’t your run of the mill P or J.. 

    They don’t sound much like Ric questions, but they are - Rics aren’t full scale. Rics have a unique flavour like violin basses, and they aren’t run of the mill...

    FWIW I understand McCartney had the violin as he was in Germany at the time, and what with Hofner being German it’s supply, demand, local market etc etc innit?
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    In his own words. (About one third of the way down the page.)

    https://reverb.com/uk/news/interview-paul-mccartney-on-his-life-as-a-bassist
    Ah, so he liked the Ric more because it stayed in tune better.....
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
    vale said:
    so i like the sound a real lot, but as a thing, Ricky's are just too long (i'm shortscale for life, i have decided), heavy (that's why i want the violin), way too horny (that 'leaping dildo affair' on the top bout) & (obviously) way too over budget.
    The weight issue on the Rick isn't as bad as you might think. I'm similarly inclined towards violin basses and short scale but since moving to a Ric I've enjoyed bass playing (and improved) enormously. Someone on the forum suggested Neotech straps and I invested in one. Best money I ever spent, it makes the bass feel weightless. I've had a few good basses over the years but the Ric stands above any others I've played. The neck is especially user friendly with a very flat back. I rarely use the clanking bridge sound, preferring the richer, more gentle neck or neck/bridge sounds; they're extremely versatile instruments.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    Bridgehouse said:

    FWIW I understand McCartney had the violin as he was in Germany at the time, and what with Hofner being German it’s supply, demand, local market etc etc innit?
    And because it was symmetrical so he could easily flip it round, and because it was relatively cheap - McCartney was notoriously careful with money. Lennon bought his Rick 425 on credit and went back to England before they could catch him!

    "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

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    JezWynd said:
    vale said:
    so i like the sound a real lot, but as a thing, Ricky's are just too long (i'm shortscale for life, i have decided), heavy (that's why i want the violin), way too horny (that 'leaping dildo affair' on the top bout) & (obviously) way too over budget.
    The weight issue on the Rick isn't as bad as you might think. I'm similarly inclined towards violin basses and short scale but since moving to a Ric I've enjoyed bass playing (and improved) enormously. Someone on the forum suggested Neotech straps and I invested in one. Best money I ever spent, it makes the bass feel weightless. I've had a few good basses over the years but the Ric stands above any others I've played. The neck is especially user friendly with a very flat back. I rarely use the clanking bridge sound, preferring the richer, more gentle neck or neck/bridge sounds; they're extremely versatile instruments.
    That's a very good call - I bought a Mono strap - wide, neoprene and well constructed - it makes my P basses wearable all day if necessary, and the Ibanez feels extremely light - by comparison even a decent normal padded strap makes them feel heavy.

    A good wide padded strap like the neotech or mono makes a massive difference to a 8-9lb bass and makes it feel more like 6-7lb on a normal strap.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    ICBM said:
    Bridgehouse said:

    FWIW I understand McCartney had the violin as he was in Germany at the time, and what with Hofner being German it’s supply, demand, local market etc etc innit?
    And because it was symmetrical so he could easily flip it round, and because it was relatively cheap - McCartney was notoriously careful with money. Lennon bought his Rick 425 on credit and went back to England before they could catch him!
    Thirty quid apparently..
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    Bridgehouse said:

    Thirty quid apparently..
    Not expensive even then. I wonder how much the shop lost on John's?

    I also meant Rick 325 :). 425 was the single-pickup one George had first...

    "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

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Reading that interview it felt even more like Paul didn’t choose the violin bass, he sort of just ended up with it - and it caused him tuning issues until it was sorted out much later on. 

    He must have liked something about it as he stuck with it - or it became part of his signature sound and that was that. Either way, I think @vale needs to consider that the violin bass might not be the absolute best option out there
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    Reading that interview it felt even more like Paul didn’t choose the violin bass, he sort of just ended up with it - and it caused him tuning issues until it was sorted out much later on. 

    He must have liked something about it as he stuck with it - or it became part of his signature sound and that was that. 
    The remarkable thing is that George didn't like his Gretsch Country Gent either - especially the first one, which was quickly relegated to 'spare' status when he got the second one, then later fell off the top of their tour car and was run over by a lorry, to much amusement rather than any serious annoyance, and John's Rick suffered from tuning trouble ever since some twit in a Liverpool music shop simply screwed the Bigsby onto it on the front counter - at the wrong angle.

    It was a different world then. Dave Davies didn't even have a spare guitar when his was lost by an airline on the first Kinks US tour - he had to go to a music shop and buy one, and the only half-decent thing they had that he could afford was some weird old Gibson shaped like an arrow...

    "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

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    Just to stoke up the heated debate, most people in the bass world would argue you can use a P bass in pretty much any bassing scenario.

    I would say a short scale P will do the same. So why should anyone (@vale included) bother with the effort of anything else?
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    you can use a P bass in pretty much any bassing scenario. I would say a short scale P will do the same. So why should anyone (@vale included) bother with the effort of anything else?
    The Fender Mustang Bass, Musicmaster Bass and Bronco Bass spring to mind.



    So do the Squier Jaguar SS, Jaguar Bass H and the Mikey Way signature Mustang Bass.



    Those EMG-35 sized soapbar pickups are a doddle to replace.



    Some good ideas in this video. 




    Be seeing you.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.