Have I become a Rickenbacker snob?

[ilan]

I had one of those EUB's years ago and sold it for the same reason - sounded like my fretless and not like an upright. The real deal is very different.

[coolhandjjl]

Or you could find the best of both worlds. Consider a converted Rickenbacker 4004. The neck of the older 4004 four stringers is wider at the 12th fret than a typical 4003, but not by much. They are about the same at the nut. There are several folks who have converted the Cheyenne or Laredo from four to five strings and find them to be very comfortable -- not too wide, not too crammed......

When I had my Laredo, the neck was probably the most "ease of playablity" neck of all my Rics. Great for 5 string mods, several members here convert them beautifully.

[jps]

I had one of those EUB's years ago and sold it for the same reason - sounded like my fretless and not like an upright. The real deal is very different.

It was pretty nice, though.

[Kiddwad57]

I have never tried a 4004/5 (or any other 4004), but the 4003/5's strings were too close together for me to get along with. The early model G&L 5 was the same spacing and didn't work either. For a fiver, the right hand spacing is more important to me than the width at the nut.

The ergonomics are so different on a real upright vs an eub. If it's not the lack of the crook of the neck it's the instability of not having a body. For me, Rickenbacker fretless basses are superior to other makers' fretlesses and can be a nice alternative for an upright in given situations; definitely preferable to any of the eubs I've tried for those instances but still no substitute for an amplified string bass when that instrument is the most appropriate option. I had an Ampeg eub for a while, tried the NS in a store, and hung out with Steve Azola in his shop playing some incredible basses, but ended up where I needed to be: a fretless Rick, a four string upright for jazz and a five string upright for classical.

[jps]

Have you ever tried one of these?

[Kiddwad57]

No but if you want to send it out I'll pm my address!

[jps]

Your location says "Lost in fog..." you must be in the SF Bay area.

[Kiddwad57]

Willamette Valley. Should be "lost in the mists…"

[superheavydeathmetal]

That is a good question. Maybe I have become a Rick snob. Certainly not in terms of build quality; there are tons of excellent quality bass brands on the market. But, every time I play another bass, I keep trying to dial in a certain tone. I would tinker and tinker. Then, one day, it hit me; "oh, I keep trying to make them sound like my Rick."

[thx1955]

I've only ever owned 2 non Ric's

1: A horrible Violin bass in the late 60's which I hated

2: A nice Gibson EB-3 in Cherry which I had from 69-72

Since 1972 I've only owned and played Ric's, came really close to buying a Dingwall at one time a couple of years back, but the cost was too rich for my taste

I don't see me owning anything else but Rics, on the plus side moving to a Ric fretless was effortless since my fingers already know where to go.

[woodyng]

Or you could find the best of both worlds. Consider a converted Rickenbacker 4004. The neck of the older 4004 four stringers is wider at the 12th fret than a typical 4003, but not by much. They are about the same at the nut. There are several folks who have converted the Cheyenne or Laredo from four to five strings and find them to be very comfortable -- not too wide, not too crammed......

When I had my Laredo, the neck was probably the most "ease of playablity" neck of all my Rics. Great for 5 string mods, several members here convert them beautifully.

That Laredo has the fattest neck of any of my Ricks,but for some reason,it is just a joy to play.

[woodyng]

I don't see me owning anything else but Rics, on the plus side moving to a Ric fretless was effortless since my fingers already know where to go.

That's what i was hoping for when i defretted my '04 Cii,because i Love the neck on it.
It's worked out very well.....

[Kiddwad57]

I've only ever owned 2 non Ric's 1: A horrible Violin bass in the late 60's which I hated

In 1970, when I was first getting into the bass, I showed my dad a Hofner I'd found. His response was a dastardly Kimberly violin bass from the Lafeyette catalog. It was diabolical.

I've been ogling 330fs in mapleglo but between the cost and the fact that guitar is just a hobby for me I doubt that I'll move into that rich of territory. Problem is, I "need" an archtop electric to complete the collection…

[woodyng]

My very first bass was a Realistic Beatle bass copy which was pretty bad. I found a real Hofner solid body bass in a Beale street pawnshop (back when they existed), But i wanted a Rick bass from the beginning....

[Kiddwad57]

I was really interested from the beginning too. My first teacher hipped me about them when I asked him about McCartney's MMT bass, but there weren't any around until later and then they were just too far out of reach. Much, much later I lucked into one through an act of kindness of a friend, the selling of which enabled me to get my current fretless (Chris Brubeck's influence). I love the other instruments I own and absolutely don't take them for granted, but to actually own a Rickenbacker is just over the top.