Greetings and a 4001V63 question

rich_briere · Post by **rich_briere** » Tue May 03, 2005 2:10 am

Good Morning All,

My name is Rich Briere, I'm a 54 year old Geezer and a long time lover of Ric's. My first question for ya'll. My V63 seems to lack the punch that it once had and, although I'm an experienced bassist and somewhat knowledgeable on gear, I'm stumped. I believe that the problem comes down to strings.

For years I was a devoted Ric/Roto-Sound user and vaguely remember enjoying the combination. I then took a couple of decades off, played other basses and used other strings. When I loaded up the Ric with these "different" strings recently, 45-105/several different brands, the magic that this bass once had was gone--flew the coup. So, what's the hot string in Ric-Ville these days?

#2. Might the bass be P/O'd that I've neglected it for two decades and simply refuse to let the Genie back out of the bottle?

Bass-ically Yours,
Rich Briere
http://www.richbriere.com

bottom4 · Post by **bottom4** » Tue May 03, 2005 2:16 am

Welcome Rich!

What year is your V63?

cheers

rich_briere · Post by **rich_briere** » Tue May 03, 2005 2:27 am

Thanks Andy.....it's a pleasure to be here. As mentioned above, I've now fallen firmly into the land of Geezerdom so my memory isn't what it used to be. I'd say that the bass, which I bought new while calling on a dealer in Connecticut, came into my possession around 1986.

Bass-ically Yours,
Rich Briere
http://www.richbriere.com

teeder · Post by **teeder** » Tue May 03, 2005 2:57 am

Hi Rich,

I think some of the earliest V63's had real magnetized horseshoes. Could it be that this bass has them and they are loosing there power?

rich_briere · Post by **rich_briere** » Tue May 03, 2005 3:03 am

G'morning Kevin........thanks for the response. These horseshoes appear to be good ol' USA-made genuine, "as seen on TV", plastic. :^>)

Bass-ically Yours,
RB

highway_star · Post by **highway_star** » Tue May 03, 2005 3:12 am

Welcome Rich! It's good to see another member from the Fender Forum join us! There are few others around, too. Seems like Fenders and Rics go together to many bassists.

rickaddict · Post by **rickaddict** » Tue May 03, 2005 3:12 am

Yes it could. If you could take a close-up photo of that horseshoe pickup and post it here it would help. The serial number would also be informative.

And I know a lot of us forumites would be interested to see some photos of that v63!

Welcome Rich!

rickaddict · Post by **rickaddict** » Tue May 03, 2005 3:14 am

(From above) Yes the horseshoe could be losing its charge.

rich_briere · Post by **rich_briere** » Tue May 03, 2005 3:25 am

Losing its charge? Even if it's plastic? What would Benjamin Franklin say? And, should I be assuming that I'm correct in that the material that it's made of IS plastic? As for recharging--which I find interesting as I'm hearing about this for the very first time---do I spray it with Kryptonite to "re-charge" or are you guys just pulling my E-string? :^>)

Fender Forum folks---thanks for the kind welcome! :^>) If any of you are fans of Fender "stuff", or SUNN amplifiers, you may want to visit my site.

At any rate, it's a real pleasure finding THIS place. It seems VERY friendly and "peaceful".

Bass-ically Yours,
Rich Briere
http://www.richbriere.com

rickaddict · Post by **rickaddict** » Tue May 03, 2005 3:45 am

Rich- Be careful. Some here may pelt you with rocks and garbage for saying the F word around here!

A close-up photo of that pickup would be a good thing. If the pickup cover IS made of plastic, then your Rick is most-likely not a v63.

bottom4 · Post by **bottom4** » Tue May 03, 2005 5:05 am

Here's a photo of the HS in my 85 V63.

rich_briere · Post by **rich_briere** » Tue May 03, 2005 5:23 am

Jeff, .....not to "F"ret, the "R" word is my reason for being here. :^>)

The pic above is EXACTLY what I have. So, any ideas? And, again, the string of choice for V63's?

Bass-ically Yours,
RB

bottom4 · Post by **bottom4** » Tue May 03, 2005 6:47 am

Well Rich, the HS on this one is not plastic! So check it out. Are the poles screw tops?

The strings I use are either RIC strings or DR LoRiders Stainless

Cheers

rickaddict · Post by **rickaddict** » Tue May 03, 2005 6:55 am

Well Rich, you'll find almost as many opinions on strings here as there are forum members. Someone here recommended DR Hi-Beams so I tried them.

http://www.drstrings.com/HiBeam.htm

I like them. DR also makes nickel-wound strings that others here have recommended.

If your pickup is as you say exactly like the one above(with screws for the pole-peices and not slugs) then you do have a very early v63. I'm not a pickup expert(Sergio is our resident pickup expert) but I believe that these pickups can lose some of their magnetic charge and become weaker. They can be re-gaussed, but I don't know much about how to do it or who can do it for you.

teeder · Post by **teeder** » Tue May 03, 2005 7:06 am

By the way Rich, welcome, from one V63 owner to another.
Did someone say something about Fenders and Ricks going together?