Things to look out for when buying on Ebay

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Thu May 01, 2003 3:15 pm

I have owned Rics from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's all of them have great necks and all of them had round wound strings ... I have no use for flat wound strings ...

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Fri May 02, 2003 8:44 am

I have never had any problems using Standard gauge Rotosound roundwounds, but have had problems with the Fender roundwounds, much more tension than Rotos, I used roundwounds for almost thirty years on all my basses( Rotos usually and Blue Steel), but I have always loved the 60's bass sound, McCartney, Duck Dunn, the Motown player (forgot his name) etc. I put flats on my Rics and voila! there was THE sound, I guess each to his own. When I started playing, roundwounds were unheard of here, even Entwhistle was using flats. I do have standard Ric roundwounds on a 4001 though and it sounds and plays great. I put Fender Stainless flats on a V63 with an old SVT for rock a billy music and got many compliments on the sound, many people compared it to an upright (which is what I was looking for). One of the reasons I like Rics so much is the variety of sound you can get with them, depending on the strings, amps and touch you use, they are much more versatile than most bass players think, they have become synonymous with a certain sound now for many years, but are capable of so much more. I can get Jazz bass and P Bass sounds if I want out of my Rics (only better). I play blues with them and old rock 'n roll.(among other things)
I always replace strings one at a time. When I store a bass, I will detune it to maybe E flat or D. They are usually shipped tuned to E flat.

mortivan · Post by **mortivan** » Fri May 02, 2003 9:02 am

Bob,

Did you have a problem with fret wear with the stainless-steel Roto's? I'm looking at trying a set of light nickel-wound Roto's (.40-.100) to see if they still have the brightness while saving the frets.

ojobob2 · Post by **ojobob2** » Fri May 02, 2003 9:11 am

my experience is that stainless rounds aint that much more abrasive than nickels

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Fri May 02, 2003 9:22 am

John,I killed an old Jazz neck with them, but had no trouble on a 4001. I like the original equipment Ric roundwounds myself, they are sweeter sounding than rotos (Rotos sound harsh to this ear) and just as bright (and last longer) They are also a lighter gauge than rotos (the A and D strings) they are: 105, 75, 55, and 45. I've never tried the Rotosound nickle roundwounds, but have tried the Fenders, they weren't as bright as the stainless Fenders. I don't know if the Rotos are the same or not.

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Fri May 02, 2003 11:06 am

My personal theory on fret wear is that it is mainly due to build-up of oxidation on the strings and the frets; it is these metal oxides, not the bare metals themselves, that act as abrasives and erode the fret surfaces.

The only corroborative evidence I have is that I rigorously clean the frets of any guitar I buy (by 'rigorously' I mean that I take the strings off, replacing them if they are too old, mask around the frets, and use metal polish to clean and polish the frets until a wiping cloth doesn't rub off any more of the black oxide coating) and I don't see any further wear in the frets (however, I don't play every guitar every day, either, and don't play professionally, so all of my guitars see light usage).

robj · Post by **robj** » Fri May 02, 2003 11:41 am

I have used the Rotosound nickle rounds on my 4004C-ii and they sounded great, less brittle sounding than the SS rounds but not as bright either in my opinion. I also liked the way they felt, softer and more supple. I also really liked the RIC strings that came on this bass.

Regarding fret wear from using SS rounds, I can look at my frets and see the winding imprints on them. I haven't used nickel long enough to know if there is a difference in fret wear.

ojobob2 · Post by **ojobob2** » Fri May 02, 2003 12:54 pm

my rick bass is 13yrs old, and has seen a lot of use from its previous owner (S) . I string it with Ernie Ball stainless and it sounds great, although for about the first week, new string sound horrid.

The best part is that the frets are spotless, and this bass is 13yrs old and very played

mortivan · Post by **mortivan** » Fri May 02, 2003 12:54 pm

Thanks all,

I know that RIC uses (according to Mr. Hall) a decent hard alloy for the fret wire, but if nickel is softer than SS, and delivers a decent, similar sound, why not try it, eh? At least, that's what I thought.

For about a year after I received my first (and only, so far) factory new RIC, I "religiously" wiped everything down with the cloth after use. Body, strings, frets, tuners etc. It became a ritual that actually resulted in a profound state of peace for me! (Not unlike the result of a religious ritual for the ritualistically religious adherent [from what I'm told, anyway.])

But, of course, reality dictates something different than what we plan, and the apparent time for this minor maintenance seemed to shrink away.

docbass · Post by **docbass** » Sat May 03, 2003 12:56 am

Gary, good point on the oxidation. I use Simichrome to dress old frets, as you described, and it really puts new life into them.

A fourth variable besides fret hardness, round wound and oxidation wear is force. I did buy a used bass once that had little valleys worn in it and the edges of the frets were actully flared out from the force applied by the previous owner. I was able to file and dress them, but it was weird to see for sure!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sat May 03, 2003 11:06 am

Yeah, I mentioned killing a jazz bass neck, and I played with a vengence in those days, very hard on the frets, I think that the force I applied had more to do with the bad frets than the strings I used. It makes sense that the lighter you play the longer the frets will last, I am still not a light player but I no longer have lead fingers. I like to bend the strings like a guitar player and that takes a certain amount of force, I love a little vibrato on a bass. Check out Ron Wood on Beckola, he was a great bass player, it is not a Ric though, it's an old Tele bass, but what a sound and touch he had, it's a shame he switched to guitar. But he used the old Ric amps, the triangular ones, I saw Zeppelin in Boston in 1969 on their second American tour and they had those big Ric amps, sounded great.

dave4004 · Post by **dave4004** » Sun May 04, 2003 1:30 pm

Metal oxides may possibly play a part, but I've seen pretty heavily oxidized examples with flatwounds that show little or no wear. That includes a Fender Tele Bass I once owned.

Fact is, when two metals are rubbed together, eventually the harder one will win. AFAIK stainless and nickel-plated steels will be harder than any fretwire in common use (I don't know about pure nickel wraps). But the chief factor must be how abrasive is the finish of the string surface. Stainless is harder than NPS but I've seen serious fretwear from rough-finished NPS strings yet I've also seen smooth-finished stainless flats causing very little wear.

flashbackphil · Post by **flashbackphil** » Wed May 07, 2003 10:20 am

Owen, you're absolutely right about the cost of Ricks here in the UK. I reckon they cost twice as much as they do in the states. And nobody stocks them! I've got a 72 4001 which is now a beauty, but it cost me well over £300 to put it right (refinish, new frets and neck binding and goodness knows what else) and that's after an £800 initial cost. It's well worth buying from the states (if you're careful) on Ebay despite the the shipping cost, import duty and vat. The price ends up about the same as you'd pay in England, the difference is that you've got a choice! I've been looking for a 4004L for months. The UK importers told me that they hadn't imported any for 4 years. I think I'll stick to Ebay.
By the way Jeff, how are you liking your new Laredo?