Back in the club!

[david_schwab]

It's the same way with a lot of things that people have no clue about. For instance, I'm a Mac user. You get PC users who have never even seen one in person swear up and down how Macs suck!

Back in the '70's I had a real chip on my shoulder when people saw my case and asked if it was a Fender! Around the same time Fender was running ads on the music shows on TV that said "9 out of 10 bass players play a Fender..." Bah I say!
Many bass players are still stuck in this Jazz Bass mentality. Guitar players are even worst!

I've always enjoyed the fact that a Ric looks and sounds like a Ric, and they have been doing it that way for a long time!

Originality is a good thing!

[kpj]

Thank you Mr. Hall for continuing to produce such a fine instrument and for your never ending efforts to protect its unique identity!

An analogy: my wife was a gearhead when she was younger and her car of choice was Oldsmobile. She used to **** from people who were hot rodding their Camaros and Chevelles. While they were buying parts of the shelf for their 350's, she was hunting down all the parts for her 455. She used to scoff, "Anybody can build up a Chevy." Kind of how it is with Fender and Rickenbacker.

[sabbath_of_bass]

All I ment by my comment earlier was that a Ric isnt really good for alot of genres. I love that ric sound. And a ric always sounds like a ric. I mean you can tell right off that its a ric or not. I love Rics to death. I love how they play and sound. But its not a sound I think works with alot of different things. But thats just me. To each their own. I didnt mean anything bad against them.

[rickenbrother]

My feeling is you can use almost any bass guitar in any kind of music. The only circumstance I've found not to be good, is an acoustic bass guitar in a loud heavy metal band since it tends to feedback.
I've played all types of music through the years, all types of rock, blues, jazz, old wedding standards, etc. and I could get my 4001 and 4003 basses I've had to suit all of them. It's a matter of playing style, eq, string type and the way you have your bass guitar set up. They are as versatile as you play them to be.

[ken_swearingen]

The guys at bass central don't know what there talking about when they say go for an older one,they[older ones]have a different truss rod system, the pickups aren't as powerful,the new ones are put together like tanks with "thunderous tone".

[cheyenne]

My two cents worth, If you want to sound like everybassplayerontheradio, dont buy a Rick. I personally own several different bass guitars, they all have their place, and I use them alot. But,, you can buy an Ibanez that sounds like a Fender, and a Fender that sounds like a Warwick, and a Warwick that sounds like an Alembic, but you cant find ANYTHING that sounds like a Rickenbacker.

[rictified]

I also think they are very versatile, they are very responsive to your touch, and the type of strings you have on them, set up, etc. you can get the kind of sound you want from them if you try for it. You can even imitate other types of bass sounds with them if you want. Listen to Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Paul McCartney and Maurice Gibb (60's mostly) and you will hear 4 completely different types of bass sounds and all were done on the same kind of bass, in fact three of them were RM-1999's. And when I play I don't sound like any of them either. I play blues, soul, jazz, and rock, have done country, surf, rock a billy and the Ric covers them all. I'm also with Joey, I've done gigs from weddings to civic centers, you name it and the Rics have always been able to lend themselves to the sound I wanted and needed and it's in your hands, that's why I like them so much. It is very easy to get the sound that you want out of a Ric. You can really make them stand out or you can make them fit right in the pocket, it's up to you, the player.