Ric or Fender ?

morrow · Post by **morrow** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 6:23 am

John , did you say you have three Rics now ?

Jeez....

I also have a 51 re-issue and love it. The SCPB's are very nice.

A friend recently bought a Squire jazz and I was blown away by it. I thought it was going to be a POS but it is as nice as any Fender that I have played. I was really surprised by the Squier. Some of them are surprisingly good.

henry5 · Post by **henry5** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 7:23 am

A very good friend who played guitar for many years ( and who was one of the best players I've ever heard) had all sorts of gear (PRS, Fender, Hamer USA etc), but he loved Strats the most. A few years ago he sadly gave up playing and sold everything he had. Eventually the bug got him again, although he doesn't now gig or record anymore. As he no longer had any guitars he went out to purchase a new Strat from a local dealer. They had one of pretty much every model currently made; he played them all and ended up buying a Squier, as he said it sounded and played "the most like a REAL Strat", and he really knows his onions when it comes to Strats. He didn't like any of the US ones at all.

On a slightly different tack from Fender, I have an Epiphone Les Paul Custom which soundwise pretty much blows away our guitarist's Gibsons, although admittedly it's not as well made; I also A-B'd another the same as mine against a Yamaha SG1000 (which I was considering buying) and the Epi blew that into the dust too. And the 2 basses I've enjoyed most recently in my travels (I try and play everything I can get my hands on in shops) were an Epi Jack Casady, which I thought was marvelous, the best bass I've played in years, and an Epi Flying V bass, which but for the neck dive I would've bought on the spot. So for me, it's not all about how much it costs or where it's made...although there are 1 or 2 exceptions (my Alembic springs to mind).

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:09 am

the last time I played a squier jazz bass it was like it was made by the Mattel toy company ...

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:28 am

+1 on the Epiphones, Shaun! I am playing several Epi basses right now and love them. Highly underrated.

throw_this_away · Post by **throw_this_away** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:29 am

Morrow... just got myself a nice autumn-glo 4000 from a local guy. I wonder if it was the same guy you knew.

Kidding... 3 is a typo. Though I did come mighty close to pulling the trigger on getting that monty brown 4003 from Mike Parks.

steverok · Post by **steverok** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 12:21 pm

I took the Ric 4001 in for a set up and clean up, the electronics are dirty, the frets need leveling, etc., my friend says I can keep it indefinitely, so I guess I have Ric bass ! Hopefully, once it's tuned up, it will be a good instrument, other than the chrome pitting in areas, and some scratches on the back, it's in pretty decent shape. I tried several Fender Jazz's today, one thing I noticed about the US ones is that the frets are smoother at the ends, whereas the Highway, MIJ, and Squier were rougher. The Geddy Lee bass is RAD !! That thing rocks, it has a punchy sound, I can tell, but I think I should get a regular Jazz, if I'm allowed just one, and I have the Ric too. Interestingly, the butterscotch jazz w/ maple fretboard sounded much different than a sunburst one with rosewood fretboard, the butterscotch was warmer with less high end. Weird ...

edski · Post by **edski** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:51 pm

Woods are the most important factor shaping the sound of a guitar. A maple neck vs a rosewood neck is a major difference in both feel and sound. On a bolt-on guitar/bass, the tightness of the neck/body pocket makes a huge difference in sound. The guitarist in my band has 2 Strats, one a maple neck and the other rosewood, and they are very different guitars.

I would have bought the Geddy Lee bass if it were made in the USA...by far the best J bass I played while looking for a new bass last spring.

bassmandudge · Post by **bassmandudge** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:57 pm

Interesting about Squier over Fender originals. I had a squier precision bass, and to this day it has the best neck I have ever played, bar none and I have been playing for 25years plus. Problem was the P bass had a terrible sound. So I ripped the neck off, got myself a set of active EMG jazz bass pickups, and made a new body for it.( I am a joiner by trade which helps) It is now simply awesome. Although I am thinking of making a 4003 copy body out of Yew with maple banding. If I do I will post a photo.
I got my first Rick in Dec, I have wanted one since I was 13 when I first saw Motorhead, Rush and Yes in '79/ 80 ish. It is tricky to play at first and I have got to remove the Bridge pick up cover, see other posts, but it is a Rickenbacker 4003, it is the Les Paul of the bass world. I have an American strat and it is balanced, beautiful and has all the tone in the world...but the Les Paul rocks. I have my home made jazz/ P bass which is balanced, fast as hell, beautiful but my Rick Rocks...Can't wait to Bi amp it.....oh my god!! Look out.

Oh, and lastly the best bit of advice I saw somewhere on here, If you are buying a fender/ squier/ whatever, buy the one you play, they do vary and I have it on good authority that the Ricks don't vary as much. Enjoy

bobcat · Post by **bobcat** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 6:19 pm

Oooh, you wanna post a picture of your Squier-necked custom bass?

My first bass ever was a black Squier Affinity P-bass. It could take a beating, and the neck, as has been said, was incredibly comfortable once it had been played for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, the rest of the construction was kind of mediocre (bridge was cruddy and wouldn't adjust so well, electronics were fuzzy and crackly out of the box, volume knob fell off, etc.), and it only got one (debatably two) good sounds. But seriously, it was an awesome bass to learn on. I managed to sell it, along with my practice amp, a brand new cable, and a brand new set of Fender nickel strings for $100. I'm good friends with the sister of the person I sold it to, and I hear she plays the living hell out of it.

beacon · Post by **beacon** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 1:21 am

I love my ric...it is and will be my first choice. Combined with the SVT Classic the drummer says certain notes rattle his teeth! That said, some material requires five strings so I shopped many...ordered a Fender Custom Classic V. Been waiting 6 months...due in March. We'll see.

highway_star · Post by **highway_star** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:18 am

Interesting anecdote: Chuck Levin's in Wheaton, MD had just received a Geddy Jazz Bass when I called one day and the salesman was gushing all about it. So I went in to try it out. I played a 4003 while he got the Geddy Lee from the stock room. I tried both of them and bought the 4003 instead.