In a music store today...

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

gee, josh...i thought you wudda walked away with the svt after takin' all that lumber for a test drive !!!!!

[superdick2112]

Cassius, DrumcityGuitarland (great store) not far from you up in Wheatridge has a pair of MM Big Als, and yes, they are smokin' basses. They just sold the one meant for you - a Big Al Dargie II fretless. Had a chance to play it before it sold, and it was probably the best fretless bass I've ever played. For the hard rock/metal stuff my band plays, the Rics work great on some songs & stages, & not so much on others. In addition to my 4003 & 4004Cii basses, I usually bring my MM Stingray, my Spector Euro 4 and my Ibanez ATK. Sometimes those active basses cut through better & just have the right sound for certain venues, and theres nothing wrong with having a few different brands in the 'ol low-end toolbox. Love my Rics, but there are nights when I swear my Stingray is the best sounding bass I've ever heard....

[johnallg]

gee, josh...i thought you wudda walked away with the svt after takin' all that lumber for a test drive !!!!!

[cassius987]

Sometimes those active basses cut through better & just have the right sound for certain venues, and theres nothing wrong with having a few different brands in the 'ol low-end toolbox.

The weirdest thing about Big Al (or maybe not): to me, it sounded better passive (admirably good at that). Maybe I just like the bit of impedance loading, I dunno.

I'm with Joey, if Rics did not exist I'd be playing a MusicMan or a solid P Bass. (I used to be in love with Jazz Basses but I totally switched teams a few years ago in favor of Precisions... weird.)

gee, josh...i thought you wudda walked away with the svt after takin' all that lumber for a test drive !!!!!

My backs says "NO!!!"; tone was nice though. I guess GC can't be too mad at me, I probably got those new speakers broken in for them.

[ricaddic]

the Rics work great on some songs & stages, & not so much on others. theres nothing wrong with having a few different brands in the 'ol low-end toolbox. .

I totally agree, I love my Rics too, but I need more than just Rics, just playing one brand bass would get very old very fast for me.

[cassius987]

Angelo, in some ways I'm the exact opposite of that. There's something that I find really attractive about sticking with the same gun, once you dial into what it is you want to use. I'm not suggesting that it should always be a Ric for everyone--for a lot of people it's a trusty P Bass and I think that's fabulous. In any case I really like the idea of just having one kind of bass to totally let your muscle memory conform to. So while I used to own a bit of a variety pack, I'm now just a Ric bass owner, because after my first one I knew these were the right ones for me. I don't regret selling my Jazz Basses or the Stingray even though I still admire those basses plenty (with some respectful disagreements with the Jazz Bass nowadays).

What people like me tend to do, I am finding out, is collect multiple copies of same/similar models and then give them slightly different setups, etc., to get a slightly broader palette. If I ever get to the point where I can just decide on exactly ONE of my Rics to favor above the rest I will probably end up with just that one Ric, but at this time that would be impossible.