Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

...sorry for the mis-spelling Melissa B. Do you still have two V63 JG's in one praise band? That must be some kind of distinction. Heck there were 3 at the Milwaukee confluence, maybe they're not so uncommon as we think!

i got my new 4003 jg yesterday and tonight was the first time i played it in public. our pastor had me hold it up in front of the hole church. he knew i'ld been waiting for a long time. i think the church is as happy as i am. the ric really sounds great, and looks great too.

Congrats! Ain't it great! Now try and wipe that silly grin off your face or but the Rick down!!

You'd never imagine Rickenbackers being instruments of the cloth.

They sound so deliciously evil.

2 sides of the same coin!

I play my 4001v63 FG, 360/12 FG, and F***er 5-string Jazz Bass (Sunburst) in church fairly regularly. I used to keep flats on the v63 and rounds on the Jazz, and switch between them depending on what was more appropriate. Now I just put rounds on the Ric and use that Unfortunately, I've been playing drums there more than anything else as of late, so my Rics haven't gotten a good workout in a while

Back in '98 I was directing a local Methodist church's contemp service and was able to get away with playing Turn! Turn! Turn! on a 360/12v64 FG along with bass, drums, and acoustic guitar also. The words (as you all well know) are from The Book of Ecclesiastes.

I've thrown Turn! Turn! Turn! in on a couple of occasions as well, and made good use of the 360/12 My friend currently is leading music for a contemporary worship service and sometimes we throw in some instrumental Steely Dan for segue music

We play YES, SRV, ELP, CCR, Who, Lenny Kravitz, Earth Wind and Fire, Grand Funk, you name it. As long as it has a message of hope and redemption. In fact we just did a Billy Sherwood (YES) tune. Our director contacted Billy through his web site and the response was '...cool, I never thought of my stuff as spiritual.'

Remember - "You're a shinning star, no matter who you are. Shinning light to see. Hope for you and me.." see it's all good.

I play my 4003, V63 and C64 in my church's praise and worship band regularly. They do just fine.

When I began this thread I never thought there would be so much response. I'm not a very religious person but I have always enjoyed playing in church. It is very uplifting. I remember playing 'Earth Song' by Michael Jackson back when I was at school with my Spector copy and Octave pedal. (Guy Pratt apparently did the original). I always enjoyed the reaction from the congregation.

the cool part of church gigs is no smoke, no drunks, no dirty bathrooms, and nobody ever yells freebird ... the cool part about bar gigs is you can drink while you play, and the music has more edge and volume ...

@Jwr2: ...there is more edge and volume possible in church than you can think of. Just check out Orlando,FL First Baptist Church and their worship band "Metro" with Angelo Ballestero on the web!!! That is what I like: real spirituality and real praise, less show!

I don't mind getting thirsty during service for some beer after church...in Germany we have some tradition for that, specially in Bavaria! But I don't drink AND drive...ehm...play!

"and nobody ever yells freebird"

They do in Georgia churches . . .

In 1995, my 4001CS made its first appearance in church service. I switched back and forth with the CS and a Yamaha BBN5 five string bass. She was officially retired in 2000. Never once had a problem or complaint about that "RIC" sound. Even used it on my only studio gig in Manhattan on an all original Christian CD that never made it to pressing. DARN! The engineer kept asking me to play one of the three Music Man basses he had in the studio. YUCK, I just didn't like them! I played the RIC on all but 1 song!

When I played with my fingers, I was able to get a some of the sweetest sounds out of that bass. I rarely played with a pick (although it's my preferred playing style) because I'd be temped to break out into something a little too nutty! (I actually did once, but I'll save that for another post)...REALLY FUNNY....It was a Pink Floyd song, I'll leave it at that for now!

I've played in many different churches and of all the many "gigs" if you will, only 1 person has ever even commented on the bass. "Wow, what a nice old RIC". Old? HOW RUDE! She was only about a year old then!

I haven't used a RIC in services since 2000 until very recently. Being the CS is now a case queen, I mostly used one of my two Alembic basses.

We have two services that I play in. A "blended" service, with lots of slower mellow songs. Lots of OLDER people in that service and I'm plugged directly into the PA and the RIC just makes too much noise that I just can't use it. The other is a much larger service with some real rocking songs played in a different building where I can now use my amp. I usually use my V63 or my 4004C in this service. I even get to use the pick a lot! Lots of stares from the "younger" kids who ask me a LOT about the RIC basses! The kids LOVE 'EM!

Church is the only place I play these days. For a number of reasons. Funny, I thought when I first read this post, there would be a lot of negative comments about the church in general. Just goes to show (again) what a great forum this is and how all sides of the musical spectrum can be openly discussed. I'm not a Zealot, I never have been and never be. I'm glad we are all able to talk about what we have in common, other than what our differences are. Very cool indeed!