Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I thought Brian's V63 sounded similar to mine, and I am sure it will get even better once he is done tweaking it. The neck felt a bit thicker than mine, but was still comfortable to play. I love that deep, sparkly blue finish on it, but I think Brian said he is going to refinish it in white.

Brian, congrats on that bass, it looks beautiful, enjoy it.
So much for you being a 4004 convert!

+1

What Joey said.

Thanks!

I'm still a convert....just not a "strict" convert. My blackened Laredo is my workhorse. Basically I missed my MID 4003 and the lack of binding on the V63 suckered me in. I'm weak, what can I say. Plus I'm still not 100% sure it's a keeper.....I'll know after my gig on Saturday.

Come on keeper.

"I think Brian said he is going to refinish it in white".

Hah- that's funny. I think we should start a pool for how long those single coils stay in that thing if he keeps it. Ever since I've been playing my Laredo and discovered how good those hb's perform with a good amp, they have totally won me over. I've got an hb on order for my Cii, it will be interesting to see how it blends with the neck toaster.

Well, I apparently am a "strict" 4004 convert. After using the V63 at a gig last night (Saturday) it seems that the 4004's are more suited to my needs.

I'll recant my earlier statement that it sounds like my blackened Laredo. The Laredo and the V63 sound similar but at my gig the stronger lows of the 4004 really shined through....along with the clarity. Another thing I noticed was the Laredo was more flexible. When I play gentle and pick cleanly the notes come through crisp and edgy and when I wail on it it screams. With the V63 it sounded relatively the same no matter how I played it. I'll fully admit to being ham-handed BTW.

Again, the V63 sounds nice.....it just appears, alas, that I must give up and totally embrace the fact that I am relegated to Ric's ******* stepchild....the 4004. Or I have a set of Barts that I could throw in the V63.......hmmmmmmm.........

See "For Sale" section if interested.

Well, it was worth a shot Brian. Best of luck with the sale, and I hope you buy something REALLY cool as a result - y'know, no lame car parts or anything.

Brian you have mail.

Yeah John, I'm actually kind of bummed. I was very hopeful that it would fit in.

Email replied to Scott.

Moe, Larry, cheese!

All is right with the world again!

Well, if it matters, IMO the 4004 is one of the most underrated basses of our era and I can't believe more popular bassists aren't using them.

My theory why - they are not stocked by the major players ie - Sam Ash etc so that when players start out they don't get the opportunity to grow in skill with them.

Well, I have to say I have two types of rick basses, my vintage ones and my modern ones. The vintage ones are cool, look and sound great for their time period, but are strictly for collecting and nostagia. My modern basses(4004's) are the ones I want to play every day, they have great ergonomics, are lightweight, and have powerful pickups that really shine when you mate them with the right amp and effects. The difference is night and day, the modern ones almost seem like they are active, except without all the drawbacks that an active bass has.

I don't know, I must have missed the boat with the 4004's.

I had an original 4004Ci, and it just left me cold. I mean, it FELT great, LOOKED great, but it just didn't have any punch. It didn't have much bottom end to it. I was constantly getting lost in the mix.

It's possible it had a problem, I bought it used with quite a bit of mileage on it, or possibly the VVT conversion might have made a difference, but I currently have no desire to own another.

Brian, are all your 4004's stock or did you perform any kind of mods like the VVT conversion?
Mark?

I like the fact that they are quiet, no single coil noise hum, but...I don't know. Not being able to test one out locally as Marc has pointed out is another issue in itself.

In my experience it's the amp that makes all the difference. When I first got my Laredo I was using an Eden that was setup for maximizing the sounds out of my single coil ricks, including a Cii that had two toasters. I wasn't blown away by the Laredo with this setup, I could tell it was louder, but I could also tell that there was something in those pickups that was trying to get out and my equipment wasn't letting it. When I got my Markbass amp and mated it with my sansamp RBI the true character of the hb pickups came out and I found tons of low end, punch, and clarity. The final piece of the puzzle was putting DR Hi Beams on, the natural growl that is in those hb1's came to the surface and gave the tone a three dimensional kind of sound. As a result of these findings, I'm putting a humbucker back in the bridge position of the Cii and may change the neck pickup, after I experiment some.