Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I usually use the E string to rest my thumb on. When playing on the E string, my thumb isn't resting on anything. Sometimes, my thumbnail rests against the pickguard, but not a lot.

Brian wrote the lines: Carol Kaye (and others)played them.

When I meant the pick style "Fenderbass" players I meant the musak type stuff of the 50's, and early 60's, you heard a lot of softly picked stuff. They kept the ashtrays in place and played pickstyle with the mutes intact with flatwounds. Some instrumental stuff, my father hated rock n roll, thought it was junk, so I heard the other side when I was a kid until The Beatles that is.
For example I remember Volare.. woo oh, Cansade... oh oh oh oh (sp?) when it was a big hit.
I guess I'm talking more 50's than 60's here for this particular style.

The topic of thumbrests is lost on me! I play with a flatpick 100% of the time. Even before id played one, i always thought that Rick basses looked like they should be played with a pick. The design is very guitar like i think.

Whilst my P Bass is comfortable to play with fingers if i chose to, i always find my 4003 a bit clumsy. Thats just me tho!

I felt that way when I got my first one after playing a P bass for 10 years, I got used to it and like the spacing now on them, I still can't see how people can get used to the 4003/5 though, but they do, probably the same way I did, just play and play. Did you get your new bass yet?

maybe next month if not the summer - i saw a local band last night, the bassist was called Owen and has a new Jetglo 4003. So i finally see another guy in London with a Rick and he has my name. weird......

I play with fingers, picks, thumbs, and anything else that I can get to hit the strings ...

The problem with Rics is the tailpiece and mechanical mute make hand muting more difficult ... with a flat pick and hand muting you can get that flatwound string sound or the Chris Squire sound if you don't mute ...

been wanting to bring this up in another thread, but speaking of picks and mutes...there's a song by a band called Bent called "Been So Long Without You" (CD called The Everlasting Blink)the song has the most awesome picked bass tone, shades of an earlier era, and really out front of the mix. Apart from that, the chick's voice is smokey, slightly Tammy Wynette-ish, it's got a samba, marimba, ch-cha kind of feel, but with a flurry of swirling pedal steels behind it. I feel the steels are kinda psychedelic, but the DJ said they were "ambient". Groovy song, groovy bass tone. Plectrum heaven.

one of the reasons I like the 4003s5 is because it is easy to hand mute ... the structure above the mute is gone ...

Now, someone tell me how to play chords with a bow without hitting the knobs (treble p/u controls especially)! Next Ric (outside of the elusive 4005) for me would most probably be a lefty strung righty - both for the Mosrite-look and ease of bow playing...

Anyone else use a bow on their Ric? I've found so far a good violin bow has more control than a double bass bow (haven't tried a cello bow yet) on round-wound strings (although the bow tension is a little floppy and needs a little more grace). Amazing killer tone, esp. when combined with a touch of distortion and chorus. People have wondered who's playing the "keyboard" or cello lines in my 3-piece outfit...

Model Citizen,
Last person I heard of who was using a bow on a guitar was Jimmy Page, he got rather famous partly because of that, I think you're on the right track.


Jerry, I loved Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline,I like a lot of those old female country singers and rock singers too. Brenda Lee.
I love the tic tac bass parts from that era, the sound of the combo I mean, of the upright and the electric. Can't have tic tac without an upright. I wonder if it could be approximated with a stereo Ric? One side very trebly, other side very bassy, play with the thumb and the pick, nah, need three hands.

"Can't have tic tac without an upright"

At the risk of mentioning Carol Kaye's name here on two consecutive days, I'll say that she believes her pick sound on recording from the 60's combined the two. Clicky bright attack with fat lows. Never tried it on a Ric, but if you play with a pick you'd better have the mute over the strings, and the Ric bridge mute is under the strings, better suited for playing fingerstyle.

I once tried using a bow on a cheapy Str*t copy - the rosin left on the strings was a fingertip killer. Couldn't play it again until I changed the strings.

And, the bow didn't improve my sound one bit

Just to clarify...i'm bowing my 4003, not a Ric guitar...

Hopefully I don't end up playing too many bowed songs so that it remains a bit of a "special".

Actually I don't think I've tried the mute with a pick. You can bet I will tomorrow, why don't you thibnk it would be effective? I like the tic tac were the upright plays the basic line and stays very simple and the electric does all the little extra diddles,(Crazy, Patsy Cline, or some of The Everyly Bros. stuff) the climbs and passing notes. That's why I thought it couldn't be done with out an upright.