Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

from funk

to disco;

to Rock out like Motorhead;


flexible enough.

sorry-don't have Sir Paul's pic.

And don't forget Roger Glover, Glenn Hughes and Mike Mesaros.

Just because hordes of studio players use Fender style basses more doesn't mean anything as far as versatility...

...Fender basses may be better suited for most situations for session bassists (for whatever reason) but that has nothing to do with versatillity.

I can't think of any other tangible reason...

Roger Glover switched to Vigier in disdain of his Ric, now matter how many times he modded it.

Glenn Hughes switched to Fenders/Warwicks long ago

Geddy dropped back to his Jazz, as we all know.

Why? I'm not sturring malicious debate here - I genuinely want to know why.

"Nothing like being a sheep I suppose....."

hey, sticking up for fender on a ric forum is pretty "punk rock" to me. Aside, but I think it is wrong to try and say which is better/more versitile... different beasts.

I really didn't mean to start a heated argument here guys, i just needed some advice.
Going back to the last page on examples of tone, look at Geddy's 4001 for a minute..

Fly by night,
A Caress of Steel
2112
All three are records have a distinct different tone.
AFTK's (my Favorite)
Hemispheres
Permanent Waves
Signals
While they are similar in tone, they do differ. (same thing only different)

I hope i didn't start any tempers to flair here, it was not my intention..

BTW how do you use the Quote feature?

hey, sticking up for fender on a ric forum is pretty "punk rock" to me

Which means?

I have a Fender, an Ibanez, and a RIC. What ever bass I am playing, I sound like me. Tonal diferences between the basses are far and away overshadowed by my playing style. But thats just me Oh, and BTW I prefer my RIC.

.....my reply "Nothing like being a sheep I suppose..." was in reference to the "everyone else is using Fenders" mentality. I have no problem with Fenders or with those who play them.....it just so happens that Rics fill my needs nicely.

And I agree completely. Different animals entirely but it gets annoying to repeatedly see the "one trick pony" comments applied to Rics over and over. Rics sound like Rics (with a range of tones available = versatile), Jazz basses sound like Jazz basses (with a range of tones available = versatile), P-basses sound like P-basses (with a range of tones available = versatile) etc., etc., etc., etc. It is simply preference. Geddy, Hughes, Glover, etc. likely just switched because their idea of "perfect tone" changed or they found a bass that captured their idea better. It is not necessarily a strike against the Ric.....just that something else came closer to the mark.....back to the "preference" thing.

You are correct, Brian. I use a 4003 a good bit of the time, but there are just some songs that sound better with my Modulus or my '62 RI J-Bass with its TI flats. That's no slam on my Ric, because it can do wonderful tones the others can't and it suits me well ergonomically.

... That and every bass having Music Man or Jazz style pickups. Don't get me started with that one!

I'm not referring to copies/clones/fakers... they are not Jazz Basses! - I'm talking about a MIA Fender Jazz - I wouldn't compare anything less.

I don't find anything special about Jazz basses. I'd rather have a P bass.

I have a pretty versatile bass, but what's versatile?

Adaptability, Flexibility and Popularity. Surely it's not coincidence that countless whordes of session players over the years have used the Fender Precision/Jazz over Rics/Everything else?

I was partly being partly rhetorical, but then you also took that out of context. My point is you can be versatile without using the same Fender tone as everyone else. My main bass (which isn't a Rick) is versatile, and doesn't necessarily sound like a Fender, although I can get those types of sounds if I choose to, which I rarely do.

So Ricks have a palette of tones, and those should be usable for many types of music..

Can you give me examples, except Sgt. Pepper, Chris Squire's growl and the jangle of Suzannah Hoffs?

That's a pretty versatile mix to me!

I was going to name a few other examples, but I see Jared beat me to it! But let's see... people who play Ricks... Graham Gouldman of 10cc, Wendy Melvoin with Prince, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Rembrandts, Guadalcanal Diary, MC5, John Taylor of Duran Duran, Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine, Tevor Bolder, Golden Earring, The Cure... (some of this is from http://www.rickresource.com/rrp/history.html)

...Royston Langdon of Spacehog, Kira from Black Flag, ...

"Which means?"

Punk rock means "against the grain" in this context. I'm suggesting it takes balls to stick up for fender on a ric forum. I personally think each has it's strengths.

I remember someone saying that John marrying Yoko as very "punk rock" because many people disliked Yoko. It is now part of my vocabulary.

I think i'm sorry for starting this thread, again it wasn't ment to start a heated argument.

Although i am getting some insight here.....

Mike.....doesn't seem very heated to me. Just some opinions getting voiced!