Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Prowl wrote:How do you keep them so clean?

Photoshop!

Prowl wrote:very sharp indeed! How do you keep them so clean? Also is it me or do the strap buttons look weird?

I might have cleaned the 4003 right before taking the outdoor pictures, I think the indoor pics of both are just lower resolution and less well lit.

I haven't played any 2000-era Rics, so I don't know about the strap pin, but this bass has so many unusual features it wouldn't surprise me if the strap pin is an oddball too...

Forgot about this picture - an angled shot showing the neck binding (or lack thereof):

I just realized - I'm using the MXR octave pedal on "Driving the Bus" too! I switch it off near then end when I start hammering on the low E. Such a nice fat sound - I'm hoping to record with these Rics again in August!

hieronymous wrote:I just realized - I'm using the MXR octave pedal on "Driving the Bus" too!

is this the new Bass Octave Deluxe? I have been eyeing one of those but no store has one around here to try.

jps wrote:

hieronymous wrote:I just realized - I'm using the MXR octave pedal on "Driving the Bus" too!

is this the new Bass Octave Deluxe? I have been eyeing one of those but no store has one around here to try.

Yessir, that's the one - the MXR M-288 Bass Octave Deluxe. I was very impressed with the tracking - it goes way lower than I expected! The last octave pedal I used was the Boss OC-2, where anything above the second E was iffy, the MXR tracks at least down to the open A string! Sounds great with distortion, unfortunately I don't have any soundclips of it clean, though I've got a few in the can. Maybe when I go back east I'll focus on recording some clean sounds...

I might spring for that pedal after recuperating from buying a pair of QSC K10 speakers along with stands and cases/covers for everything.

Went back east again and took a couple of pics of the 8-string. They didn't come out as well as I hoped, but here's one to compare with the '04 4003:



Also was able to do some recording, here's one of my favorites that we did:

willowmass

It's the 4003 into a Budda Phat Bass distortion, Alembic F-2B preamp, and an old tube compressor. Actually, the Rhodes parts were the exact same setup, but different EQ settings. The rhythm came from my drummer Greg DeGuglielmo, it's something that he's been playing at gigs for years and I never knew what the beat was, so he finally explained it to me and I improvised something and this is what came out!

Finally, here's a shot from the studio session - not sure what I'm doing in the pic, probably listening to a playback...

I posted this over in the act naturally section, but figured I'd put it here too for reference:

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greetings ! only time i ever played the rick 8-string was when we were recording our "method to the madness" cd in hollywood with producer andy johns,(cinderella) . it was his so i would walk around the hallways noodling "fish out of water" stuff when gene simmons bumped into me . (they were recording in the next studio while eric carr was in the hospital), i said doesn't this bass sound cool ? he replied " i prefer onlt 4 strings and that bass makes things too complicated !" i had met him earlier in the week and had him sign my 1st design grabber bass headstock, so the hallway meeting wasn't a surprise. i didn't use it on the cd, but i did use tom petersson's 12 string hamer on a few tracks painted white with "busted" on it. that was a "monster" ! the rick was very headstock heavy and had the octave first from the factory.

BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS wrote:greetings ! only time i ever played the rick 8-string was when we were recording our "method to the madness" cd in hollywood with producer andy johns,(cinderella) . it was his so i would walk around the hallways noodling "fish out of water" stuff when gene simmons bumped into me . (they were recording in the next studio while eric carr was in the hospital), i said doesn't this bass sound cool ? he replied " i prefer onlt 4 strings and that bass makes things too complicated !" i had met him earlier in the week and had him sign my 1st design grabber bass headstock, so the hallway meeting wasn't a surprise. i didn't use it on the cd, but i did use tom petersson's 12 string hamer on a few tracks painted white with "busted" on it. that was a "monster" ! the rick was very headstock heavy and had the octave first from the factory.

Wow, thanks for that! Do you remember the color of the 8-string? Given that it was factory-octave-first, it sounds like a 4008. The only one I have ever seen, let alone played, is my '82 Fireglo. It is also a bit headstock-heavy, but I think it is more due to the extremely-light-weight body. My black 4003S/8 in this thread feels very comfortable and balanced, but I am probably very forgiving because I play everything from Gibsons to Alembics so I am willing to accept the idiosyncrasies of a given instrument...

Good stuff, Harry! I enjoyed that, thanks for sharing!

rickenbrother wrote:Good stuff, Harry! I enjoyed that, thanks for sharing!

Thank you sir!

Threw something else together - it's not video, just audio, a segment of a much longer jam. Not my best playing by any means, but I like the sound - back to distortion, I must have switched over to the bridge pickup (played with a pick no less!) so there's lots of bite:

break free

It's the 4003 just in case you're wondering! There's a distorted 8-string jam somewhere too, maybe I'll work on that next. Plus, I think I have video of that...

I finally began setting up my music room since moving in January. So I've been able to engage with material recorded during the past year. I found the 8-string jam mentioned in my previous post - posted it in the Act Naturally section, but thought I would put it here too:

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My fingers definitely weren't in shape to wrestle with the 8-string - I can pretty much just pick up a regular bass and play even if I haven't played for a while, but the 8-string takes more work...

hieronymous wrote: but the 8-string takes more work...

It sure does, if you don't play it for a while. Try that on 12er and see what happens!
Sounding really nice there, Harry. Enjoyed that.