Why do so few seem to stick to their Rics

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

Geddy Lee, Phil Lynott and a number of others have owned and played a 4001, yet very few apart from notables such as Lemmy and Chris Squire carry on playing them.

 

Why?

 

I've heard them described "one trick ponies".

 

Opinions?

[WRGKMC]

I have a Rickenbacker 480 guitar that's shaped the same as the 4000 bass's are.

Its got a pair of Toaster style singe coil pickups in it and has a maple body like the bases.

 

It's tonal ranges are super wide but I wouldn't call it a one trick pony any more than the bases are.

You can be just as creative as you can on any other guitar but I'd say its a little tougher playing

than some guitars which may make it seem like its a limiting factor.

 

The bases have the same type of neck which remains slim nearly its whole length and doesn't widen like say a Precision does.

If you aren't used to that it may seem like a problem, but those who do play them usually love that profile.

Tone wise, yes it may have some limitations but its really only half the equation. The amp you use is the other half.

If your amps a one trick pony then sure, you aren't going to have all the ranges to play with other bases may have.

With active pickups and preamps many basses have huge tonal ranges.

 

People don't mod Rick's either. They are great builds as they are and as you'd expect for the prices you pay.

I haven't even seen any pickups you'd want to swap out on them besides maybe some Chinese junk.

Rickenbacker is highly active in putting down counterfeiting as well. They are always getting people kicked off EBay

for having even similar looking guitars. I think stopping flood of copies is beyond their ability at this point though.

They know how much the copies hurt their sales and values of used guitars.

 

Maybe other have opinions on them but if they are a one trick pony, its one I wouldn't mind being stuck with.

[isaac42]

I like my Rics, and don't have any plans to move on to anything else. I really like the Bartolini replacement pickups that I have in one of my Rics. A little more bottom end, and humbucking to boot. The single coil Ric pickups can be really noisy in some situations.

[isaac42]

My understanding is that Ric doesn't seek out endorsers. That could make a big difference.

[chunky-b]

I blame velcro. If they would use 3M tape, they would probably stick better.

[ThudMaker]

My understanding is that Ric doesn't seek out endorsers. That could make a big difference.

That's an interesting perspective. That is very possible.

 

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

I have a Rickenbacker 480 guitar that's shaped the same as the 4000 bass's are.

Its got a pair of Toaster style singe coil pickups in it and has a maple body like the bases.

 

10 years ago, you could pick up 480s for peanuts, the Serge Pizzorno from Kasabian starts playin one and they're now fetching stupid money, and having played one of the fan fret models, no, I'd agree the 6 stringers are not one trick ponies, bloody great guitars

 

[Mr Temporary]

Nobody's blamed Obama yet? What kind of internet discussion is this?

 

[WRGKMC]

I re-fretted mine because they were worn badly and it had those super thin mandolin type frets.

The fretboard was very brittle and I had to glue some chips back in removing frets

I had plenty of the thin wire and tried it but after leveling and crowning its still didn't play the way I like.

I redid it with the super jumbos and it plays like a champ now. Taller frets helped with the super thin neck.

 

I also removed the cap in series with the bridge pickup. I just didn't find that thin tone very usable.

Besides thinning the sound it cut the volume down and you'd have to crank the neck pup down 1/2 way

to balance with the bridge.

 

Without the cap the difference between the pickups seemed very mild. Since then I've grown accustomed to it and have

the ability to tweak it like any other guitar.

 

Under the pick guard there's a cavity for a third pickup. They did make a 481 or 482 that had 3 pickups with everything else being the same.

I thought about putting a third pup in there but the pick guard material is very thick, (about 3mm) and very brittle. Cutting the existing pickguard

would require a perfect route the first time around. I could probably pull it off but finding an actual Rick pup is a tough nut to find and

the idea of a third pup just doesn't get me excited enough to be bothered.

 

 

You're right about the price though. I think I paid about $350 or $400 for it in the mid 90's. I saw one yesterday selling for $1800.

That investment is better than many stocks or bonds. Mine may not sell as high because its got a few nicks on it but I have no plans on

selling it unless I got another rick to replace it.

 

[ThudMaker]

Nobody's blamed Obama yet? What kind of internet discussion is this?

He can't be blamed. It's all Bush's fault.

 

[WRGKMC]

Nobody's blamed Obama yet? What kind of internet discussion is this?

 

Who Be Dat?

 

Politicians are wanna be rock stars who go into politics because they have no talent as artists.

And since they have zero artistic talent, they haven't earned the right to be discussed here.

[Pine Apple Slim]

I regret selling my 4003 all the time. Best playing bass I ever owned. It was a great rock bass, but it lacked some bottom thru a little combo. I think thats where the one trick pony meme comes in, at least for me. Plug it into an SVT stack and there was plenty. Of course I didnt own a big stack.I went from a wedding/rock oldies band to a country band and couldnt get enough thump so I sold it.

I should have put some flats on it and tried that first. I LOVED the neck on that thing.

[WRGKMC]

My buddy used the black tape wounds for awhile. It gave a much darker tone on that bass.

I tried the long scale on my short scale bass and it was disaster. When I trimmed them the tape

started to unwind. I used some crazy glue to stop it before it all unwound.

 

They did add some plastic tone, a bit darker than the flats. They didn't last me very long though.

Maybe it was the brand or just because I'm so hard on them playing.

 

You're right about the Rick tone though. Those bases sound great with a big amp but can sound pretty thin on a small amp.

They do hit the spot for recording though.

[isaac42]

My stock Ric was awesome last night through my new rig. I could feel the floor vibrating on the low notes. Of course, it was a pretty big rig, by a lot of standards.