The Book is alive!

[myrtbass]

Good Day,Paul. Just got my copy in the mail yesterday. Couldn't put it down! I'm very impressed with the effort.For someone like me (mostly Fender guy)I find your book very informative and helpful. Lots of good info and detail about the various models and variants of same.I find I can look back 40 years and realize what these basses were back then. I'm learning!. So thanks again for a very good resource of info on Rickenbacker Basses, and good luck with sales of your book. Roger.

[bassduke49]

Got mine as an anniversary gift from my wife via Amazon.....Love it!

Great job! Thanks Paul

Steve! Haven't seen you around here in a while. Thanks, and I'm glad you are enjoying it. Say "hi" to the Mrs.!

[iamthebassman]

Thats too bad.. your book is great and please dont take this as any insult... but to me its incomplete without him. Aside from Squire, the second biggest influence on my decision to play RIC's.. and at one time he might have been 1st!

Actually, I feel Paul explained the situation quite well.

[iamthebassman]

Thats too bad.. your book is great and please dont take this as any insult... but to me its incomplete without him. Aside from Squire, the second biggest influence on my decision to play RIC's.. and at one time he might have been 1st!

I was going to mention this too, but didn't want to sound like a d ick.

It is a fine book and I look forward to reading it cover to cover, but I am also disappointed that there is no Geddy, my main bass influence.

--jack

What's the chances Wyman played a Ric bass on "You Can't Always Get What You Want"?

[JakeK]

Thats too bad.. your book is great and please dont take this as any insult... but to me its incomplete without him. Aside from Squire, the second biggest influence on my decision to play RIC's.. and at one time he might have been 1st!

I was going to mention this too, but didn't want to sound like a d ick.

It is a fine book and I look forward to reading it cover to cover, but I am also disappointed that there is no Geddy, my main bass influence.

--jack

What's the chances Wyman played a Ric bass on "You Can't Always Get What You Want"?

Slim to none. Wyman mostly played short scale basses, and was never photographed or recorded a genuine Ric bass. He had trouble on Fender Jazz and Precision basses, so I imagine that he'd have trouble on a standard Ric bass of 1968-69.

On the book, Paul, I can't wait to get a copy, but the Barnes and Noble and Books a Million stores I've visited did not appear to have any in stock when I checked. This was before yesterday, though, so maybe it's changed?

If I end up ordering from Amazon, I'm buying it alongside Tony Bacon's Ric 12-string book. It seems like the two will go hand in hand

[Oz_Greg]

.
Mine arrived today.

You've done a truly amazing job on it Paul, congratulations.
I am very, very impressed!

I haven't had time to sit down and start reading it all from cover to cover yet, but skimming through it looks incredible!

Well done!

Greg

[sys700]

Enjoyed the book, but felt it was lacking in quite a few areas. Guess I was spoiled by the comprehensive Elyea VOX book that came out a couple years back. Here's a few things I'd like to see in a future edition of the book:

1) Differences between pickups - i.e. snot bobbin vs. black painted vs. black etc. Scatterwound vs. hi-gain button top vs. hi-gain with screws. Measurements for pickups from various eras.
2) Difference between different tuners - there's a big difference between the flat and wavy grovers, not only in bushing size (the flat grover bushings have a smaller diameter), but how smooth the flat grovers are vs. the wavies.
3) Differences between bridge pickup surrounds - some have the cutaway, some don't. I haven't read anything definitive about these and was hoping the book would clear that up - but I don't recall the cutaway even being mentioned. Modern basses have this honking tall bridge cover that looks ridiculous. Would be interesting to compare these various components from era to era to see the transition.
4) More focus on vintage basses. There seemed to be more space dedicated to more recent/modern Rick basses.
5) More historical factory, vintage photos from the Rick archives. Most of these old photos in this book we have already seen in other Rick books several times over.
6) Missing players like Geddy Lee and Mike Mills (my main influence for picking up a bass). I know they both play Fenders now, but their best work was done on a Rick.
7) Hardcover. Softcover is cheaper, I know, but I prefer books of this quality to have hard covers.
8 ) Cases. Show the differences in the cases from era to era.
9) Differences in the pickguard - show the 4003 split pickguard - differentiate between the modern (doesn't follow curve of bass) and vintage pickguards.
10) Show more internals - differences in electronics between basses of different eras. Schematics and wiring diagrams would be nice. How to bypass the cap, etc. Differences in tone when you do so. Include a CD (or website with MP3's) so we can hear the difference between basses from different eras with rounds vs. flats etc.
11) Show body routing - basses carved via CNC vs. drilled by hand. There's a big difference in the look of the two when you take the pickguard off. Easier to authenticate a vintage bass.
12) Knockoffs. Show some examples of knockoffs over the years and how to differentiate between those and the real deal.
13) Show the build process for these basses, step by step photos of them being constructed at the plant.
14) More information around finishes, how they are/were applied, pros and cons of old vs. new techniques.
15) Differences between old and new tailpieces shown side by side as well as bridge saddles, bridge saddle screws (flathead vs. phillips)
16) How to adjust intonation on these old basses. Step-by-step adjustment procedures for luthiers. There was info in the back of the book, but would be nice to see something more comprehensive.
17) Case candy from era to era including cables, tags, etc.

[glking14]

Got my copy from Amazon.ca Tuesday,great book, good job Paul.

[bassduke49]

Enjoyed the book, but felt it was lacking in quite a few areas. Guess I was spoiled by the comprehensive Elyea VOX book that came out a couple years back. Here's a few things I'd like to see in a future edition of the book:

Rod, most everything you mentioned was considered at one point or another as I developed the book. To properly research, document, illustrate, write, and arrange all that you mentioned would probably take me another five or ten years (and I'm not getting any younger). No, it was time to put out an attractive field guide to Rick basses, not an anatomical instruction manual.

But on a few points:

Historical photos: I asked for, but was not granted access to RIC archives. The folks at the factory eventually supplied a couple of dozen photos and I used almost every one I got.

Hardcover/softcover: Not my call. Publisher's decision; they know how to price and sell books better than you or I.

Hardware details: Being a small(ish) company, RIC made minor hardware changes and suppliers of components often, and it can't be easily determined when they used (for example) the flat Grovers vs. the wavy Grovers, or the variations of resistance values of the pickups. Add to that replacement/repair possibilities and it becomes a real clusterfudge trying to document what came when.

Wanted to have just the general circuit diagrams for the major models, but plans fell through at the last minute.

Anatomy in general: For a long time, I was planning on digesting Ted Staberow's fabulous "Anatomy" series posted here. Ted planned on finishing the series, but never did. When I started to "digest" what he had done, I realized that it was going to take up a lot of space (pages) and couldn't really be compacted without losing value. That's one of the beauties of information on the Internet: practically unlimited space.

Cases: Cases? Really? Snoozefest.

Knockoffs: Thought about it; thought better about it.

Adding a CD or website to hear differences between models: To many variables involved to make it useful to the reader/listener.

In short, a book with all that you suggest would be twice the size, at least twice the price, be limited in sales, but be more useful to a minority of enthusiasts. Seems like a great book for someone else to write. Enjoy the adventure!

[iamthebassman]

It is a fine book and I look forward to reading it cover to cover, but I am also disappointed that there is no Geddy, my main bass influence.

--jack

What's the chances Wyman played a Ric bass on "You Can't Always Get What You Want"?

Slim to none. Wyman mostly played short scale basses, and was never photographed or recorded a genuine Ric bass. He had trouble on Fender Jazz and Precision basses, so I imagine that he'd have trouble on a standard Ric bass of 1968-69.

Of course. I was making a joke/comment on the post I referenced.

[iamthebassman]

Knockoffs: Thought about it; thought better about it.

Thank God.

[jdogric12]

Enjoyed the book, but felt it was lacking in quite a few areas. Guess I was spoiled by the comprehensive Elyea VOX book that came out a couple years back. Here's a few things I'd like to see in a future edition of the book:

Rod, most everything you mentioned was considered at one point or another as I developed the book. To properly research, document, illustrate, write, and arrange all that you mentioned would probably take me another five or ten years (and I'm not getting any younger). No, it was time to put out an attractive field guide to Rick basses, not an anatomical instruction manual.

But on a few points:

Historical photos: I asked for, but was not granted access to RIC archives. The folks at the factory eventually supplied a couple of dozen photos and I used almost every one I got.

Hardcover/softcover: Not my call. Publisher's decision; they know how to price and sell books better than you or I.

Hardware details: Being a small(ish) company, RIC made minor hardware changes and suppliers of components often, and it can't be easily determined when they used (for example) the flat Grovers vs. the wavy Grovers, or the variations of resistance values of the pickups. Add to that replacement/repair possibilities and it becomes a real clusterfudge trying to document what came when.

Wanted to have just the general circuit diagrams for the major models, but plans fell through at the last minute.

Anatomy in general: For a long time, I was planning on digesting Ted Staberow's fabulous "Anatomy" series posted here. Ted planned on finishing the series, but never did. When I started to "digest" what he had done, I realized that it was going to take up a lot of space (pages) and couldn't really be compacted without losing value. That's one of the beauties of information on the Internet: practically unlimited space.

Cases: Cases? Really? Snoozefest.

Knockoffs: Thought about it; thought better about it.

Adding a CD or website to hear differences between models: To many variables involved to make it useful to the reader/listener.

In short, a book with all that you suggest would be twice the size, at least twice the price, be limited in sales, but be more useful to a minority of enthusiasts. Seems like a great book for someone else to write. Enjoy the adventure!

Classy response, Paul. You were much nicer than I would have been.

btw, Rod... TL;DR!!!!!!!!!!!! Want the house moved a little to the left too?

[Ashgray]

At last some good news from Amazon UK - they have brought forward the book's release date over here by one month, to 25 July!

Ash

[coolingitdown]

Enjoyed the book, but felt it was lacking in quite a few areas. Guess I was spoiled by the comprehensive Elyea VOX book that came out a couple years back. Here's a few things I'd like to see in a future edition of the book:

Rod, most everything you mentioned was considered at one point or another as I developed the book. To properly research, document, illustrate, write, and arrange all that you mentioned would probably take me another five or ten years (and I'm not getting any younger). No, it was time to put out an attractive field guide to Rick basses, not an anatomical instruction manual.

But on a few points:

Historical photos: I asked for, but was not granted access to RIC archives. The folks at the factory eventually supplied a couple of dozen photos and I used almost every one I got.

Hardcover/softcover: Not my call. Publisher's decision; they know how to price and sell books better than you or I.

Hardware details: Being a small(ish) company, RIC made minor hardware changes and suppliers of components often, and it can't be easily determined when they used (for example) the flat Grovers vs. the wavy Grovers, or the variations of resistance values of the pickups. Add to that replacement/repair possibilities and it becomes a real clusterfudge trying to document what came when.

Wanted to have just the general circuit diagrams for the major models, but plans fell through at the last minute.

Anatomy in general: For a long time, I was planning on digesting Ted Staberow's fabulous "Anatomy" series posted here. Ted planned on finishing the series, but never did. When I started to "digest" what he had done, I realized that it was going to take up a lot of space (pages) and couldn't really be compacted without losing value. That's one of the beauties of information on the Internet: practically unlimited space.

Cases: Cases? Really? Snoozefest.

Knockoffs: Thought about it; thought better about it.

Adding a CD or website to hear differences between models: To many variables involved to make it useful to the reader/listener.

In short, a book with all that you suggest would be twice the size, at least twice the price, be limited in sales, but be more useful to a minority of enthusiasts. Seems like a great book for someone else to write. Enjoy the adventure!

Classy response, Paul. You were much nicer than I would have been.

btw, Rod... TL;DR!!!!!!!!!!!! Want the house moved a little to the left too?

Knockoffs: Thought about it; thought better about it.

Thank God.

+1 on both points.

[jai_the_bass]

Having read all the positive comments I can't wait to get mine.
Amazon UK reckon delivery by the end of August