Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Jeff, what is that, a C63 you're playing there?

woops C64

Can't be Jeff - it's a four string.

I think it's really a subliminal message about how heavy flatwounds really sound.

Jeff R....Hilarious!!

I love it here...

actually it is a reversed v63 image ... as long as we don't get personal and don't get mad this can be fun ... and you guys do know I exaggerate a little ...

my band is going to do a White Stripes song ... "7 Nation Army" ... it sounds like it was recorded with flat wound strings ... I nailed the exact sound on my 4004L5 with palm muting ... and I did it with round wound strings ...

Jeff, maybe a decent reasonable facsimilie but you can't duplicate the bottom of flats by using your palm, a mute or whatever, you only dampen down the overtones of the rounds which is not the same thing. I agree you can get a nice warm middy sound by damping the strings but not a real thumpy flatwound sound.
Try a set you'll see what we are taking about. I have a nice three year old set that are just about broken in I can send you free for just a small handling and postage fee.

I have more than enough bottom ... I have a low B string ... I have an ampeg head ... I have a bass pod ... I have 2 speaker cabs and I have a 6000 watt PA with 2 huge 18" folded horn subs ... Low end is not a problem ... I can rattle your teeth and re-arrange your internal organs and produce a thump inside your chest by playing my bass ...

"Seven Nation Army" isn't a bass - it's an Airline guitar and a Digitech Whammy pedal.

Why don't we get Bob and Jeff in a steel cage grudge match, one armed with a set of rounds, another with a set of flats, and the one who makes it out wins? Let's just end this once and for all!

I played both my 4001 (with flats) and my 4004 (with RW's) last night...some observations:

The 4001 needs some work...the output jack is a PITA and very tempermental, and the truss rods probably need a tweak, but with the flats I get a serious bottom end, and can get a very good bright sound opening up the tone pots and rolling off the neck PU.

The 4004 (with stock RW's) is very comfortable, but really lacked the bottom I want. But with the added output of the PU's it still cranks. The tonal variations are certainly less than the 4001 with the stock electrical configuration, but I'm not displeased with the 4004-I'm often a "set and forget" player regarding my tone.

If the 4001 strings weren't so fresh I think I'd try RW's on it again now. As it is I'm going to have to use it for a while and sacrifice a good set of flats (I know Jeff Rath thinks that's an oxymoron ) before their time.

I have a set of Fender 9050 ML's laying around, so I'm thinking I might use them on the 4004 so I can have a more direct comparison of the sounds of both basses, but it is nice to have variations, so maybe the 4001 is better off with some lighter rounds.

But I still like thud. And lots of it. Dino and I must be related somewhere down the line!

One final thought - if I were to dream up a "custom" 4004, it would have separate volume and tone pots for each PU, and ditch the PU selection switch. But as of now I'm not inclined to do any mods to my Laredo. I'll wait till I see how I feel about it with flats on it.

Hey Jeff, you'll find that "seven nation army" is a great song at first...and don't get me wrong, people always love it... but you'll get tired of it really fast because the bass riff is so boringly repetitive!!! So I started to add variations to it just to wake me up while I 'm playing it!!! Cheers

John-

Are you sure 7 Nation Army was recorded using a Digitech? I'd heard that Jack White was bent on using 100% analog equipment.

You can not get the same sound out of muted rounds as with flats, both strings are good at their respective sounds, but there are areas they won't overlap. I have a bass strung with RW's still, and I've had Fenders on this same bass, is like night and day, even palm muted it won't touch the flats for bottom.