Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

teeder wrote:There must be a video of Chris playing with the switch in the bridge position. We should be able to tell unless his amp settings for that pu have the bass cut.

The only time I know Squire used the treble pickup soloed (and the tone control turned off or near off) was that section in CttE between "Total Mass Retain" and "I Get Up, I Get Down" where he and Howe are doubling a riff in F while Wakeman is playing an organ part. It starts near the 8:00 minute mark on the studio version.

Bassically, Michael

Has anyone noticed the dark line accross the bottom of the front edge of the tailpiece on this photo?
At first I thought it must be the reflection of his coat in the chrome but it stops before the
edge below the thumbrest screw so its not that.
Has the tail been replaced as a temporary repair or something like that revealing the space beneath it?

Or is it my eyes?

Hmmm interesting, never noticed it. One of my favorite pics also. Maybe its a strip of leftover wallpaper.

Speculation time!

I remember seeing that space back in the 70s, but haven't noticed it in recent years. There was a time when some techs couldn't get the intonation set correctly, so they would rout out a small section under the bridge and move the tail piece back (sometimes exposing the mute rout), usually even with the end of the body. I'm guessing that during some repairs (perhaps at RIC) or maybe another refin, the bridge was moved back to it original location. I remember Circus magazine had some good closeups of the RM where you could see it clearly, but I don't have any of those now.

Bassically, Michael

Simply it was moved back to get better intonation on the "E"
The aluminium bridge is narrower than the later ones...

Eden.

pag wrote:Has anyone noticed the dark line accross the bottom of the front edge of the tailpiece on this photo?
At first I thought it must be the reflection of his coat in the chrome but it stops before the
edge below the thumbrest screw so its not that.
Has the tail been replaced as a temporary repair or something like that revealing the space beneath it?

Or is it my eyes?

That pic dates back to when the RM had low action. It doesn't anymore.....

Concerning the color of Chris Squire's bass, the story as I heard it goes, fireglo, flower stickers, sanding and refin, reflective wallpaper, intense sanding and refin to current cream color, with instruction from luthier to not stick anymore stuff to it that needs to be sanded off, because the bass couldn't afford to lose any more wood. It was apparently so thin after all was said and done the the jack plate stuck out a bit. As to Lake's RM, I never heard of him owning one, but Peter Giles (brother to KC drummer Michael Giles) did, and played it on Crimson's second album In The Wake Of Poseidon. Greg may have for a time borrowed Peter's, though I doubt it. I seem to remember some interview in which Greg says the first Ric he played was the modded jetglo from the Trilogy tour and he wasn't fond of the neck, which led him back to the J-Bass.

Has anyone here actually held Chris's RM in their own hands?

Surely someone has right?

Being the Rickenbacker nuts that we are, I would think if one of us had the chance to actually pick up his bass, we would know almost immediately if the "shaving" legend was indeed true, and to what extent.

I don't think the shave job is legend at all, but fact. Chris has said it many times himself. Funny how we have analyzed this one bass to death!

I love that picture too!

cheyenne wrote:Has anyone here actually held Chris's RM in their own hands?

Surely someone has right?

Yes there was but he has left the building due to a sloppy spill-over from another forum.

I know a bass player that got to play it last year. He said that it was very light with a high action.

Bassically, Michael

I was trying to get the money together for an RM that was quoted as "ex Gregg Lake" back in 1981 shortly after losing my
beloved ex Gibb bass DH 163.
This "Lake" bass was in a shop in Oldham called Rock island which was a sister shop of the Guitar Player shop in Rochdale.
(This is lancashire England by the way.)
Anyway the money I needed was £750 and I was deperate to get the bass and was hoping our manager might
sub me (which we had a blazing row over) and meantime the bass was sold to someone else.
It was still Fireglo all original with its case and apart from a slightly deep nut slot on the G string it was a gem.

The guys at Rock Island/Guitar Player were really on the ball and would never have mentioned Lake if there was no connection.
All I can summise is that the RM was possibly Peter Giles bass and if King Crimson was mentioned when they aquired it they might have simply
assumed it was Lakes.

£750....oh the humanity!

pag wrote:I was trying to get the money together for an RM that was quoted as "ex Gregg Lake" back in 1981 shortly after losing my
beloved ex Gibb bass DH 163.
This "Lake" bass was in a shop in Oldham called Rock island which was a sister shop of the Guitar Player shop in Rochdale.
(This is lancashire England by the way.)
Anyway the money I needed was £750 and I was deperate to get the bass and was hoping our manager might
sub me (which we had a blazing row over) and meantime the bass was sold to someone else.
It was still Fireglo all original with its case and apart from a slightly deep nut slot on the G string it was a gem.

The guys at Rock Island/Guitar Player were really on the ball and would never have mentioned Lake if there was no connection.
All I can summise is that the RM was possibly Peter Giles bass and if King Crimson was mentioned when they aquired it they might have simply
assumed it was Lakes.

£750....oh the humanity!

Very interesting, and a very plausible theory. Shame you missed it, that would have been a cool one to own. Even if it wasn't Lake's and had actually been Giles', it still would have been the only Rickenbacker to grace a Crimson record.

SquireFan91 wrote:
Very interesting, and a very plausible theory. Shame you missed it, that would have been a cool one to own. Even if it wasn't Lake's and had actually been Giles', it still would have been the only Rickenbacker to grace a Crimson record.

Except that Giles didn't play a Rick on a Crimson record. The only album he plays bass on that is of course "In The Wake Of Poseidon" is most certainly played on a Jazz Bass. He used the Rick for the "Giles, Giles & Fripp" album pre-KC and also for the "McDonald&Giles" album Ian McDonald and Mike Giles recorded after splitting from KC in late 1969.

A pic from the "ITWOP" sessions:


He had the RM1999 when they mimed "Cat Food" on TOTP.

Seans wrote:With info from Jim and thinking on the sound, Chris's bass came mono as standard ( no cap), then self wired for stereo, perhaps a cap was not added (we know he loved the sound but needed the stereo, why change the bridge pup sound ). With his extreme amp settings, I'm not sure he needed the cap, listening, the sound has a warm sound but aggressive, yet as an example Geddy's sound is aggressive too, ( Geddy bought a 4001 to try and get Chris's sound, but he's said he never could) and yet it's really quite bright, .0047 bright, yet Geddy fingers and Chris picks. Forgive me I'm just rambling.

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't all two pickup Ricks stereo or mono have the cap until the mid '80s (1984?)? Mono without the cap would make more sense but sense=Rickenbacker