4004Cii/5 Questions

[jwr2]

I hate those pickup and bridge covers!

What were they thinking?

[gshadoan]

I think the Fender pickup covers are awesome. They look great. Like the Ric ones too. A sign of the times. Fender and RIC inventing that 60's vibe. Did we even have air conditioning back then? Can't remember the 60's Maybe folks prespired so much they would short out the pickups? Hopefully (getting back OT) the new Cii5 will have a really cool hybred horsey on it? Covers every where. Add a little wheight to those babies ROFL.
Seroiusly, they DID get allot right. Obvoiusly. How many of us gaze at our instruments with pure love and amazement how a small peice of wood can bring out such devotion. I know I sure do.

On the tail peice, yeah, I think the mute should at least work. Honestly, I am not really looking forward to taking my brand new bass apart to fix such a simple device. I still haven't done it yet. I know it's easy. A little constructive feedback for the QC dept. A redesign (if it ever were done) would have to remain true to the original look, function like the hipshot, but NOT look like it. A tough propisition. If it were easy it would have been done already. I mean really, how much time is there in a small family run company with a 2+ year order backlog to do redesign R&D? Easy to say for us arm chair quarterbacks. Not so much in the real world. If John Hall runs his company anything like most small family run companies', he is already working long days, with little time off just doing the day to day stuff. Pile on top of that, all the tradmark work he has to do, and yeah, he's a busy guy. And let's try and squeeze in that family, and a life/band/hobbies/etc in there too.

Also, It may very well be that the Cii5 prototype did not have the my perceived pickup issues. I am sure someone played the hell out of it,(John Hall probaly) and at least would have pluged it into an amp. Right?? I mean... right??? Still a stunning instrument. ALLOT Right on that one.

Oh, and the new 4003, Drop dead cool. Love the FWI. Real eye opener!! Plays like a dream. Open the case and folks say "WOW!! Thats nice"!
I know I said I would never buy a new one again, but when I saw it I couldn't resist the urge.

I guess I do fall on the left of the great divide here, but would like to see us eventully build a bridge of buried hatchets. Nothing said here in this tread hasn't been said before, and really isn't all that inflamitory or any reason to get all spun up about in my opinion. Certainly nothing to block posters for. Thanks RIC and The Halls for all their hard work and great Company. I love your basses. (quirks and all). I hope you have another great 75 years, and more. Please make us the CII5. We all love them. They are a thing of beauty.
Thanks for all the memories.

[jwr2]

I love P-basses and I love jazz basses ... but nothing is uglier than a 60s sunburst Fender with the pickup and bridge covers ... that is a big reason why I went to Rickenbackers ...

[jps]

I love P-basses and I love jazz basses ... but nothing is uglier than a 60s sunburst Fender with the pickup and bridge covers ... that is a big reason why I went to Rickenbackers ...

Um, what's that bass in your avatar?

[jwr2]

That is my beautiful black and maple jazz bass ...

No cheesy 3 tone sunburst and no cheesy pickup covers ... And a 5th string ...

[sloop_john_b]

I love P-basses and I love jazz basses ... but nothing is uglier than a 60s sunburst Fender with the pickup and bridge covers ... that is a big reason why I went to Rickenbackers ...

GENTLEMEN! LADIES!

Be sure to have your wits about you. For what you are about to witness is not but for the faint of heart, not but for the weak of stomach, but for those who with only the most desensitized souls; those who have seen God's most grotesque creations and feel they can see no worse.

For nothing - and I mean nothing -

is uglier than a 60s sunburst Fender with the pickup and bridge covers

BEHOLD! IN ALL ITS TWISTED, MALFORMED, FREAKISH GLORY!

DRAW THE CURTAIN! SHOW YOURSELF TO THE WORLD!

[rickenbrother]

Yeah, looking that terrible no wonder Fender never managed to sell many of them

Actually that's one Fender I really do like ALOT!!

[jwr2]

I sure do hate the 3 tone sunburst ... I remember how Ric did a one off testing that color ... yucchh!

For Fender I like most of their other colors ...

[just_bassics]

Actually that's one Fender I really do like ALOT!!

+1. My favorite Fender finish. Looks just like my baritone Jaguar.

[ajish4]

I wouldn't mind a nice old Jazz myself.

I don't think I've ever seen one with the covers on it, but I like chrome.

LOTS OF CHROME.

[edski]

Personally -

1) this Ric 5 string, 4 vs 5 strings, flats vs round...old. Can't we all just get along?

2) I'm with Jeff Rath onthe Fender PU covers - hate them. Others are free to feel differently. Just like I don't like the plastic faux horseshoe on the 4001/03 (lost mine minutes after getting my 4001 in 1981; probably threw it out when my parents moved out of that house 11 years later), and I like the cap on my 4001. To each his own.

3) RIC makes fine instruments, but they can't satisfy everyone. Other manufactures make fine instruments, but they can't satisfy everyone. No guitar manufacturer can. I think that's been said. Heck, some people like Gibson Thunderbirds, why I can't fathom. But I'm not going to berate them for it.

Do What You Like...

[jingle_jangle]

You ever seen Jeff's Fenderbird, Ed? Yum, yum.

I wonder what the percentage of guitar players would poll Rick as their favorite brand. Probably pretty low.

But popularity contests often pick a lowest-common-denominator, but "safest"-feeling, "winnah".

There are often hidden benefits to going with the minority choice. I'm writing this on an Apple iMac, a brand chosen by less than 5% of computer purchasers. Still comfy after all these years and nary a sneeze due to a virus.

My new SONY VAIO is out for service after picking up a virus fatal to its hard drive while Juliana was using it...

[cheyenne]

Although I love the look of the traditional horseshoe / toaster appearance of the earlier Ric basses, I've never been able to get around playing with the "shoes" or the plastic cover of the more modern 4003.

However, on a Jazz bass, I kindof like the neck pickup cover installed. I finger and pick just below the cover, and when the tune meets the occasion, I rest my hand on the cover to pick for a more "bassier" tone.

Im not sure what the difference is, (I havent gotten out my slide rule out yet), but it seems to work for me with Fender, but not Rickenbacker.

[rikk]

This has been a very interesting thread.

[jwr2]

You ever seen Jeff's Fenderbird, Ed? Yum, yum....

Thanks Paul ... I love my Fenderbirds ... Just rewired 2 of them with preamps ...

I wonder what the percentage of guitar players would poll Rick as their favorite brand. Probably pretty low.....

According to a poll on Talkbass about 5% for bass players.

I think it would be really good if we could voice opinions here and we could agree to disagree and not get easily offended when someone expresses an opinion that we disagree with.