Who can tell me about my new Ric?

[Mr M Pulsive]

Frankly I've never even played one!... but I've got a 4003 on the truck & headed this way.

Any string preferences? Favorite settings? A list of things to do/not to do?

 

-Mike

[_Sweet Willie_]

Originally posted by Mr M Pulsive:

...A list of things to do/not to do?

 

-Mike

Watch out for Lemmy! He's been known to "liberate" basses from their owners in the past. You may even want to radio in and warn the truck driver.

 

And, as far as your legimate concerns...I am of no use to you! However, your pal Amy from Clatter may very well have some excellent advice. Perhaps dcr, if he's willing to come down off of his "philosopher-king" throne and spend some more time with us little people ...

 

Peace.

[Tom Capasso]

I'm no help either. Banta stops by occassionally - this is his forte. Try finding a thread he posted on and send him a message.

 

Good luck with your new bass. They are so well made!

 

Tom

[jreed]

I have a 4003, they're great basses. For strings I use dr-hi beams, the standard Rick strings sound good too.

Iv'e found with my Rick I really dont need/want to modify it at all, it has such a good sound just how it is.

The spacing is little smaller than other basses (which is good for my small hands).

IMO the only thing you need to do is play the hell out of it.

And the only thing not to do is drop it. Or, chuck it in a river.

I run mine through an Ampeg SVT 400T with a V-4 4x12 and a SWR 4x10. It sounds really good.

And they look so cool to boot.

[PJR]

Hmmmmmm....Ric

 

http://5centmary.com/Ric_closeup.jpg

 

I strung mine w/ TI Flats and started the Thump-o-rama !!

 

Enjoy !!

PJR

[Tom Capasso]

Originally posted by Sweet Willie:

...Perhaps dcr, if he's willing to come down off of his "philosopher-king" throne and spend some more time with us little people ...

 

Peace.

Hey Mr. Sociologist who studies behavior of people in groups, why don't you use your experience to predict how long it will take dcr to answer, since this forum is it's own unique society?

 

This is becoming the Liberal Arts forum - I'm heading down the hall to the classrooms with pianos in them...

 

Tom

[_Sweet Willie_]

Originally posted by Tom Capasso:

Originally posted by Sweet Willie:

...Perhaps dcr, if he's willing to come down off of his "philosopher-king" throne and spend some more time with us little people ...

 

Hey Mr. Sociologist who studies behavior of people in groups, why don't you use your experience to predict how long it will take dcr to answer, since this forum is it's own unique society?

 

Well, Mr. Capasso, predicting when dcr, as an individual, will respond is perhaps better done by a psychologist, since psychologists specialize in individuals. Sociologists focus on people (plural) doing things together (kudos to a fellah named Howard Becker for that "workingman's" definition of sociology -- and, no, he doesn't work for SWR ), and not so much on predicting or interpreting individual behavior. There is the muddy world of social psychology which is the circle in the Venn diagram that links the circles for the worlds of psychology and sociology...

 

Now, we could discuss things like the social norms of our little society...such as the flaming of new posters or the general preference for attentiveness to spelling and grammar. And we could observe that these are generalizations that are not true for every member, but are certainly generally true.

 

We could also discuss things like what patterns exist in our content...such as "4 strings or more," "what's better: jazz or precision," "jaco/wooten/marcus/stanley worship," "Fender sucks," "G.A.S....," etc. (I believe cornbread posted an insanely accurate list of these topics at one time!). In other words, what seems to be important to us as a group?

 

We could try to identify a status structure in our community: Are moderators at the top of the heap? (Do they exhibit the qualities that match Weber's ideal type of the "charismatic leader"? Do their powers of "post deletion/censorship" make them the top dogs?) Are DBB, JeremyC, and other music teachers/professionals at the top because of their knowledge, skills, and experience? Are newbies to the forum, teenagers, or those new to the instrument given the shaft and lesser status? Maybe there's status attached to post count, since the frequent posters are potentially setting the norms for the forum?

 

We could talk about racism, sexism, classism, homophobism, etc. on the board -- issues of social inequality. For example, why are there so few female participants? Does our frequent use of singular male pronouns (he, his, him) dissuade female bassists because it implies our group's assumption that bassists are male or do we simply reflect the reality that most bass players are male? And, if the reality is that most bass players are male, why does this systematic difference by gender exist and why hasn't this been raised as its own thread?

 

Are you enlightened, o' fearless moderator Capasso?! Our off-topic exploration, "Sociological Inquiries and the LDL," is now on pause.

 

AND...PJR's idea of TI flats on a Ric sounded nice to me.

 

Peace.

[shakedownstreet]

I have a 1974 4001. There are some similarities so: Both flat and round wound sound good. I wouldn't change any pickups or the bridge..you don't want to lose that Rick sound. Hopefully, the bass will work out for you. You should be able to get a wide range of tones out of it.

[dcr]

Well, while you mooks were dicking around with predictions & such, I showed up. Geeks.

 

As far as the Ric goes, it depends on what you want. PJR has one path--flatwound thumper; this is what McCartney played. The other is to go with steel roundwounds. When I was really into that "prog" sound, Ken Smith stainless steels in no larger than a medium gauge were my hands down favorites, both for sound, feel, & longevity. I've got Dean Markley "Will Lee" steel rounds on it right now, though ("What'd you buy that for?" "It was a bargain!"), and they also are great. Lesson is that any set of high-quality steel rounds will be fab. I've tried nickel rounds on it too, and while I really prefer those on a Jazz, I think a Ric loses a bit of personality with them. (Of course, it depends on what you count as personality, so YMMV.) Along the same lines, while I love the sound of a Jazz through a compressor, I prefer the Ric signal to be uncompressed; its personality is in the peaks, so don't squish 'em. Again, YMMV. Also, back to strings, I find that once the strings start to go "stale," it just doesn't sound right. It needs good strings with plenty of snap.

 

You may want to remove that plastic doohickey over the bridge pickup, if you like to play over/near that pickup (I do). They used to be metal & integral to the working of the pickup, but they're just cosmetic now. I sometimes see people dismantle the bridge mute; I'd advise against that. It doesn't get in anyone's way--it just sits there at the back with its second-hand apron--and I really dig the sound you can get with that thing activated; this goes DOUBLE if you use flats & want a thump tone. I wish mutes were still standard issue on basses.

 

The bridges are good & resonant, & reasonably adjustable, but intonation, I can promise you, will be a bit of a pain. That's the one thing I don't like about the Ric. The intonation screws are very hard to get at; you'll see what I mean. At minimum, you'll want an offset screwdriver.

 

I never set mine up myself, aside from the real basics. It's neck-through with two truss rods, and I just decided at the outset I'd never touch 'em, & I never have. But boy howdy with a good set up, it feels nice!

 

Biggest thing, of course, is to play it & play it. They have a very different feel from any other kind of bass. You'll notice that the neck is very uniform all the way up, both in terms of width & depth. It's a great neck. But it all takes some getting used to.

 

Last thing, try different tonal adjustments. My fave (for rock): put the pickup selector in the middle (both pickups on), roll all 4 knobs all the way up, and then back of the bass (neck) pickup volume just a tad until the sound starts to "growl." Oh, yeah.

 

Enjoy it. The notes are very even, it sustains for days, it's clear, very distinctive, responds well to a light touch, & has a sound that bespeaks the quality of its manufacture.

[dcr]

PJR--What a sweet looking bass!! I know you don't have it any more, but I'm VERY interested in your impressions of it with flatwound strings.

 

I've been playing a lot of Jamerson, & am starting on Duck Dunn, & I really dig that old-school R&B thump kind of sound. I've contemplated getting a P-bass or similar, stringing it with flats, & getting it a mute so as to achieve that kind of sound. But now that I think about it, McCartney had a similar kind of sound with his flat-strung Ric. And the mute's already there. What are your thoughts?

 

PS I'll echo Mr. Disco-Dead--don't change NOTHING on the Ric! Adjust to your heart's content, but a Ric needs Ric parts for Ric sound. End of story.

[Gogrick]

Dangit!

 

GAS.. pains.. rumbling.. must... resist...

[_Sweet Willie_]

Well, maybe Lemmy won't need to "liberate" your bass after all.

 

I'm guessing that he already is happy with one of these . (Even though it's not black, would you still let him play in your band, Erik?)

 

And, dcr,...geek?...moi?! That hurts coming from a philosopher!

[PJR]

Originally posted by dcr:

PJR--What a sweet looking bass!! I know you don't have it any more, but I'm VERY interested in your impressions of it with flatwound strings.

 

I've been playing a lot of Jamerson, & am starting on Duck Dunn, & I really dig that old-school R&B thump kind of sound. I've contemplated getting a P-bass or similar, stringing it with flats, & getting it a mute so as to achieve that kind of sound. But now that I think about it, McCartney had a similar kind of sound with his flat-strung Ric. And the mute's already there. What are your thoughts?

 

PS I'll echo Mr. Disco-Dead--don't change NOTHING on the Ric! Adjust to your heart's content, but a Ric needs Ric parts for Ric sound. End of story.

I loved the sound on certain styles of music.....and the look. I just couldn't get past the ergonomics. That dang p/up cover was always in my way....( I know peeps take em off....but I didn't want to bastardize this one too much ) and I couldn't find a comfortable compromise for my right hand positioning.

Plus my present style of play lends itself to a mix of slap and fingerstyle which because of the reasons listed above I wasnt able to perform with the Ric.

 

PJR

[Mr M Pulsive]

Well..... I should have mentioned this in the first post .... BUT:

It's not new ('90) and it's already had 2 things changed on it. It's had a Kahler tremolo bridge put on and the bridge pickup swapped out for a Seymour Duncan (the original pickup is coming with the bass.)

 

At the moment, I think I'm going to try it as-is, then depending on how I feel about it..... maybe restore it down the road.

-Mike

[Cup]

Best of luck with the Ric Mr M Pulsive, I just know you'll love it. Must have been something about the way Miss Clatter plays that inspired you to get one!

 

I've touched nothing on mine, I buy the recommended gauge nickel strings, and haven't went near the truss rods yet (stable Irish climate thank you SO much). Have fun!!

 

P.s Did you notice they've extended the Lemmy range by another 10...must start saving NOW.

 

Enjoy

[getz out]

Jeez, can someone tell Lemmy to put a shirt on!?!

 

[Mr. Phil]

Originally posted by getz76:

Jeez, can someone tell Lemmy to put a shirt on!?!

 

I agree.

 

Lemmy looks a bit ODD in that photo.

(not that he doesn't otherwise)

[Mr. Phil]

I have a Question about the RICS:

 

What is the bridge mute, and can I get one put on one of my basses?

 

I'm guessing it isnt like an URB mute. You know those rubber things...

[dcr]

The Ric bridge is built so that a mute, which rests inside a cavity in the body under the bridge, can be either lowered into the cavity or raised up through the bridge against the strings. If you see a picture of a Ric bridge, you'll notice two small knurled knobs on either side of the bridge; they dial the mute up & down, & the mute moves in between them. You could not install a Ric bridge mute on a bass without installing a Ric bridge & routing under it. You're better off either getting an "ashtray" over the bridge with a mute, or (my fave) wadding something soft, like a rag or sponge, under the strings by the bridge. Cheapest bass effect in the world!

 

BTW, as Michael Palin will tell you, the "little rubber things" go somewhere else entirely.

[dcr]

Hey, a big thanks to PJR! With his guidance & inspiration, I've just ordered a set of TI flats, & soon I'll be starting a Ric thump-o-rama of my own!! Thanks, Peter!

[rockinredneck69]

No info for anyone here really, just had to say that I totally freakin' love the looks of those Ric! I'm glad I read this post though because I saw that its meant for small hands, I'd like more input on that as I have big hands but love the sound of them.

[tim4003]

Chris Squire of YES has big hands and has played a RIC throughout his career. http://www.soundchaser.org/photos/details.php?image_id=402

[The Bear Jew]

Well, maybe Lemmy won't need to "liberate" your bass after all.

 

I'm guessing that he already is happy with one of these. (Even though it's not black, would you still let him play in your band, Erik?)

Dude... Lemmy's bass is wood-toned. That is permissible for use onstage with my band. Of course, Lemmy already knows these rules.

 

And Lemmy doesn't have to put a shirt on... he's frickin' LEMMY fercryinoutloud!

[PJR]

Originally posted by dcr:

Hey, a big thanks to PJR! With his guidance & inspiration, I've just ordered a set of TI flats, & soon I'll be starting a Ric thump-o-rama of my own!! Thanks, Peter!

Depending on what strings you have on the Ric presently......be prepared for some truss work , as the Ric neck is easily influenced by different guage strings. The 4003's tend to fair better as their truss design is a bit beefier than the 4001's.

 

PJR