What all round Bass ?

Creed_Clicks

Hmmm that oil city overkill in the bridge of a j / jb bass sounds like it could be interesting 

4string

Creed_Clicks said:

Hmmm that oil city overkill in the bridge of a j / jb bass sounds like it could be interesting 

We have the Overkill in the bridge of a Harley Benton J bass as a demonstrator and I use it has my spare when I gig. My main bass is a 4003... We need to record them side-by-side, but my bass players ears struggle to tell them apart in the mix of the punk-adjacent band I play with. 

Creed_Clicks

@4string interesting!

ICBM

In fact the Rickenbacker ‘bridge’ pickup is in a position slightly closer to the ‘neck’ pickup on a Jazz than it is to the bridge. Like the Precision, they’re really all middle pickups.

prowla

ICBM said:

In fact the Rickenbacker ‘bridge’ pickup is in a position slightly closer to the ‘neck’ pickup on a Jazz than it is to the bridge. Like the Precision, they’re really all middle pickups.

I refer to it as the "Treble" pickup for that very reason, plus the fact that the controls are so labelled.

prowla

4string said:

Creed_Clicks said:

Hmmm that oil city overkill in the bridge of a j / jb bass sounds like it could be interesting 

We have the Overkill in the bridge of a Harley Benton J bass as a demonstrator and I use it has my spare when I gig. My main bass is a 4003... We need to record them side-by-side, but my bass players ears struggle to tell them apart in the mix of the punk-adjacent band I play with. 

I've (many times) said that it's possible to get the sound if you stick to the 1st 5 frets; it's only as you meander up & down the neck that the character of the instrument and the interplay between the Ric's two pickups becomes evident.

JezWynd

@prowla, as someone who obviously knows their Rics, are their any years or models that have slimmer necks or are they all standardised?

Creed_Clicks

Apparently the latest Ric 4003 has a slim neck ?

Schnozz

Gotta be the Marleaux Consat Custom 5 - Pays homage to a RIC 4001/3, but can play any genre.

I'm ashamed to say I've owned 50 basses, but that was the best.

I think I paid £1200 2nd hand in 2011(?).

prowla

JezWynd said:

@prowla, as someone who obviously knows their Rics, are their any years or models that have slimmer necks or are they all standardised?

I've got a couple of 2010 ones which have nice slim necks.

My 2013 one is a bit chunkier, but that's the one I've got the trem on, so it's OK.

My 5-string is noticeably different, but actually I find I am playing some things better on it!

There's a lot of hand-work goes into making them, so I'm not sure you can point out particular years, TBH; some say the 2000's, but I can't say for sure.

Creed_Clicks

@4string I just ordered the overkill pickup so over the next while will track down a bass with j pickups. I suppose that opens up a lot of options but am guessing anything modeled on a 70s j bass with the bridge pickup closer to the bridge is key here ?

ICBM

Creed_Clicks said:

@4string I just ordered the overkill pickup so over the next while will track down a bass with j pickups. I suppose that opens up a lot of options but am guessing anything modeled on a 70s j bass with the bridge pickup closer to the bridge is key here ?

No, the exact opposite. The Rick pickup position is closer to the Jazz neck pickup than the 70s Jazz bridge. The 60s Jazz splits the difference.

Creed_Clicks

@ICBM ah I see. I won’t be too precious about it then to try out this pickup. I spied a G&L tribute JB2 so could work.

4string

Creed_Clicks said:

@4string I just ordered the overkill pickup so over the next while will track down a bass with j pickups. I suppose that opens up a lot of options but am guessing anything modeled on a 70s j bass with the bridge pickup closer to the bridge is key here ?

Thanks for your custom. :-) @ICBM is the expert on placement. I must ask Ash to create an R based neck pickup at some point, when he has 10 minutes to breath... Something that fitted the neck position of a J bass would be nice. Hmmm, then a J bass body with the pickup routs in the same place as an R bass. Sounds like a project.  

ICBM

This is a useful graphic...

Keefy

ICBM said:

This is a useful graphic...

Yes. Yes it is.

Creed_Clicks

Hmmm so that overkill pickup could nearly go in the neck of a J bass !

ICBM

Creed_Clicks said:

Hmmm so that overkill pickup could nearly go in the neck of a J bass !

Not if it's a Jazz bridge size - they don't fit in the same routs.

Bridgehouse

ICBM said:

This is a useful graphic...

Would be interesting to see how my Shuker would fit in there. 

ICBM

It's certainly true that most of the basses I really like have the pickup (or the one I like) somewhere around those two red lines. I'm not a fan of the bridge pickup sound at all really - the closest is the Stingray, but it's still closer to the R position than the Jazz bridge, even the 60s one.