Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

aceonbass wrote:I'm pretty sure RIC's strings were made by D'Addario in the past, while new basses are being shipped with what looks like D'Addario EXL170's. I like these strings for everything. I would tend to think that going to a lighter string would be the wrong direction to go in for funk, particularly if you don't want clank.

Exactly! Bigger strings don't clank as much because of the extra tension, compared to smaller strings of the same construction. I also think the extra tension gives you more room to be subtle... with super-light strings I found myself always over-muscling them. They're too delicate for me.

cassius987 wrote:

aceonbass wrote:I'm pretty sure RIC's strings were made by D'Addario in the past, while new basses are being shipped with what looks like D'Addario EXL170's. I like these strings for everything. I would tend to think that going to a lighter string would be the wrong direction to go in for funk, particularly if you don't want clank.

Exactly! Bigger strings don't clank as much because of the extra tension, compared to smaller strings of the same construction. I also think the extra tension gives you more room to be subtle... with super-light strings I found myself always over-muscling them. They're too delicate for me.

Larger gauge strings don't 'clank' as much because they have less of the overtone series available. As to muscling, it is just a matter of retraining yourself to appreciate what a lower tension set of strings can offer, for example, greater subtly, IMHO.

cassius987 wrote:Ironic, I have actually switched to 45-65-85-105 D'A ProSteels recently

I've been using the D'Addario Pro Steels ever since they've been available. Right now, I have them on my '73 4001 and '81 4001S. Though I use the EPS-170 set .100 - .45 which makes less work to re-setup if I want to switch to the D'Addario nickel EXL-170 set.

jps wrote:As to muscling, it is just a matter of retraining yourself to appreciate what a lower tension set of strings can offer, for example, greater subtly, IMHO.

I hear ya, Jeff.

Thanks for the advice guys... but I'm actually really happy with the sound now.

How about these 45-65-85-105 "Bootzillas" signature strings from the funk master himself for your Inner Planetary Funkmanship? They are stainless steel strings that chew up your frets faster than nickel-wounds though.

Does this guy count?

What actually surprises me is that Rick James rarely seemed to play bass live and relied on his band instead. His bassist usually has a StringRay of sorts. He was such a cool artist and I love his music.

In a slight detour off topic, I was watching The A-Team episode that stars Rick James and Isaac Hayes, think it's from Season 4. My thoughts are - Rick isn't playing the bass lines because he's just slapping strings randomly, plus he is dancing when he is supposed to be singing. It's rather a cheap episode but Issac Hayes is just so cool. Another hero gone.

That looks like SRV in bizarro world.

Try "Spaceball" (Arista, 1976) by Larry Young's Fuel for some great funky bass lines Rickenbacker-style.

So what about another kind of funk? Check out "chameleon2" at this page: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... dID=816857

You'll notice my "melody" part has a lot of extra noise, and if any of you have any advice about clearing it or EQing it better (I find it kind of hard to do most melody lines on a fretless with flats and get the right tone), let me know. Or I'll just dub over it with my 4003 with rounds.

Very tasty Joshua! What effect is on the "bass" line?

That is a phaser built in to GarageBand 5, set on medium intensity.

Very nice! I love the sound of the fretless - I've gotta get me one of those...