"The" RM 1999

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cheyenne
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Re: "The" RM 1999

Post by cheyenne »

haw wrote:I've often wondered if something like CTTE would sound as good if it was recorded with today's recording techniques.
Now that would be interesting would'nt it? 8)
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seyesbass
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Re: "The" RM 1999

Post by seyesbass »

I dont think it would have been as good because the temptation to let todays editing and effects techniques
take away some of the edge (pun intended) and those happy accidents in the studio is too great as happened with things in the Horn/Rabin eras.
It would have been too squeaky clean these days unless it was a real time run through and overdubs.
CTTE was all edited together on the hoof and thats what makes it what it is.
Mind you I bet Eddie Offord would have been happy to do digital edits rather than those razor cuts on CTTE.

Having said all that if Yes could get the Yessongs CTTE masters and create a new version bit by bit by disecting all the sounds and performance detail
that would make a powerful new version to listen to.

Maybe Yes should re-record some absoloute classics because but keep the 70s stage sounds because the songs developed a new life when they took them out on the road and they could have a session of recording those versions with the original band members.
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seyesbass
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Re: "The" RM 1999

Post by seyesbass »

Incidentally,
Heres me practicing a few bits of Yes stuff on the 4001CS that I bought from Graham Griffiths.
Now its a kind of close re-creation of DH163.

My daughter set up the video camera to show me how to use Final Cut on her Mac.
I can use the on off switch and bring up the files....look out Microsoft!!

The bass is just going straight to the Ampeg practice amp via my stage pedal board.

Link;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjGVfETaqGo
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sloop_john_b
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Re: "The" RM 1999

Post by sloop_john_b »

seyesbass wrote:Incidentally,
Heres me practicing a few bits of Yes stuff on the 4001CS that I bought from Graham Griffiths.
Now its a kind of close re-creation of DH163.

My daughter set up the video camera to show me how to use Final Cut on her Mac.
I can use the on off switch and bring up the files....look out Microsoft!!

The bass is just going straight to the Ampeg practice amp via my stage pedal board.

Link;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjGVfETaqGo
I didn't know any of the tunes :oops: , but nice bass and nice playing!
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weemac
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Re: "The" RM 1999

Post by weemac »

Sounds good Pete! You have a much stronger right hand than I'll ever have! :)

emac.
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seyesbass
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Re: "The" RM 1999

Post by seyesbass »

Going back to some of the stuff I have mentioned about "the"RM and all the other RM basses is the reason why I posted the link on my reply.
( on that link I was playing bits of Yes stuff like; Survival,America,Ritual,Silent Wings Of Freedom and Sound Chaser by the way)
The white bass is a refinished 4001CS but it sounds very close to the sound of a genuine RM and thats the point..................
I remember so well how pleased I was with the immediate gratification of plugging in RM DH163 to a Fender Bassman 100 shortly after it was delivered from the shop in Essex when I bought it in the mid/late70s.
Without any messing around with settings it was obvious that compared with other current 4001 basses I had tried up to that point that the 60s Rickenbacker bass was so "right".
I didnt know as much about the RM as I do now but I was perfectly aware from what I had read (Peter Cook in London did some reviews of Ibanez copies in which he mentioned failing horse shoe magnets in 1977)and was hearing from DH163 that the design features of the RM put it head and shoulders above current (70s) Ricks.

When the 4001CS came along and I was fortunate enough to get one so early I was pleased with the attention to detail and thought it was very close to the 60s RM but could have been even closer.
In my article about the bass in Bassist Magazine in the 90s I mentioned that the option of stereo output (ala Chris's mod) would have been a good idea for Yes bass fans.
What would tip the scales in the RM re-issue/CS stakes (saying it for the hundredth time) would be a CS spec bass with a brand new Aluminium cast bridge/tail , "live" HS pickups C64 vintage tuners and roundhead screwsetc. plus clay dots and reduced/carved volute behind the (Bakelite) nut.

How hard could that be as a money spinning project (they would fly off the shelf at any price you care to mention) plus an enjoyable challenge for the craftsmen/women at Rickenbacker considering that the majority of differences between old/new are hardware issues?
Chris Squire would be first in line for a bass like that and how much more profile would you need to push your instruments?
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cheyenne
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Re: "The" RM 1999

Post by cheyenne »

Great playing Pete. You and I have alot in common. We share a common picking / attack technique. As a matter of fact, my wife walked by as I was listening to your soundbytes and thought it was me.

I've been a pick player since about 1976.

I really like the distortion / overdrive you use. It must be awsome playing that stuff live where you can really let go and get lost in the moment.
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haw
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Re: "The" RM 1999

Post by haw »

seyesbass wrote:Maybe Yes should re-record some absoloute classics because but keep the 70s stage sounds because the songs developed a new life when they took them out on the road and they could have a session of recording those versions with the original band members.
Nice thought but given band relations as they currently stand... :D

I agree with both of you about CTTE - if you did it with up to date technology it would definitely lose something. That said, the first time I ever heard it, it was on an Avocado coloured cassette so the sound quality was abysmal!

Pete - really digging your playing! Magic tone. What are you using for Silent Wings? I use a Digitech Bass Synth and it does a pretty passable Mutron III impression. You got the real thing? Do tell!
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Re: "The" RM 1999

Post by just_bassics »

Great stuff, Pete!

Hey, waiy a minute... I've played all three of those basses. Amazing that Pete and I both have a '98 V63 but the necks feel so different.

I knew all of those songs, loved the Ritual bits. Where's your timpani? :lol:
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Re: "The" RM 1999

Post by ajish4 »

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jps
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Re: "The" RM 1999

Post by jps »

just_bassics wrote:Amazing that Pete and I both have a '98 V63 but the necks feel so different.
We'll have to compare mine to them as mine is an April '98.
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Re: "The" RM 1999

Post by 1boominrick »

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the forum and glad to hear so much interest in that great CTTE sound. I have a 2009 4001C64MG and a Line 6 LowDown amp. Together they capture the sound accuratley when using the Brit setting with a little compression (on board).

What is unclear is whether the C64 is a reissue of the RM1999, or just the way the 4001 was offered in 1964. I know Chris's was an RM 1999, but what about Paul's? His was handed to him by John Hall in 1965 and I assume it was not intended to go to Rose Morris. Can someone enlighten me on that?

This my second post. Much of this info may already have been discussed. I haven't made it around the RRF all the way yet.

Tom
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seyesbass
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Re: "The" RM 1999

Post by seyesbass »

I think Pauls is technically a 4001s.

I used to own an RM that was the next serial # to Pauls (which I only found out after I sold it) and in my original (pre internet times) reply from Rickenbacker about its history they had it as a 4000 single pick up from 1961!
It was however always a two pickup bass and one of the Rose Morris exports..or did it get here another way? who knows.
Having said that presumably there were instruments that seem to have been produced and remained at the factory for some time before they get to the shops.
My CS is an August 1990 production but I didnt get it until 1991.

So there are all sorts of anomalies with Rickenbacker products and thats where a lot of the confusion surrounding Pauls bass arises from.
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jps
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Re: "The" RM 1999

Post by jps »

seyesbass wrote:I think Pauls is technically a 4001s.
I too, agree that it is a 4001S as it was never in R-M's hands, and given to Paul in the US.
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cheyenne
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Re: "The" RM 1999

Post by cheyenne »

Another RM 1999 question.

Does anyone know why Chris chose a Rickenbacker in the first place?
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