Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have a chance to buy my friend's '57 AV Precision Bass set up with Fender 9050M flats. It has a nice sound for Motown and early 60s rock, etc., but I can't get used to the neck. I've gotten spoiled with the feel of a Rickenbacker bass. Anyway, I had the brilliant of maybe setting up a Ric for old school. If I want to go that route and not spend a fortune, what would be a good starting point? I'm thinking maybe a 4003 with a toaster in the neck and maybe Pyramid Golds or Fender flats.

Anyone else have any ideas?

My 4003 has a toaster in the neck and Pyramid flats. With the neck pickup soloed it sounds close enough to a P bass. The average person is not going to tell the differance.IMO

Cole

My 75 4001 has Fender 9050 ML's on it...

Tons of bass, and if I dig in and open the tone pots up it still has that Ric bite.

Although some will disagree, a 4001/3 with flats is NOT a dead, old fashioned sound.

One thing I did notice before putting a new set on the 4001, when I played alone (with or without an amp), the old flats sounded HORRIBLE. But with the band there was no problem. Still haven't figured out what exactly was going on.

When I put a fresh set of strings on it, the first week or two I had a very twangy sound-especially the E string-that was definitely the Rick "piano" like sustain and tone.

I would think old school Ric sound is Chris Squire, Geddy Lee 70's stuff ...

REEEEAAAALLLLLY old school sound would be flats ...

90's and up 4003 with Pyramids or Fender flats should do it. I use both pickups with the bass pickup slightly lower in volume (maybe 80-90%) than the treble pickup and still get a nice punchy sound, An ampeg tube amp wouldn't hurt either. I don't think you need the toaster either. I would go with the high gains in both position you would want as much volume as you could get I would think. I get the P bass sound with the correct bridge to neck mix which I mentioned earlier. Neck only they are very mellow and can be muddy. A 4001 was originally a 4000 with an extra neck pickup put on it to augment the main pickup to give it a little more bottom, you get the articulation out of the bridge PU, if you think like that you'll always get a good sound out of them, this is especially so with flats on them, you don't get the huge difference in sound between the pickups with flats that you do with rounds, one is more bassy and the other is more middy (punchy) with flats there is not the pronounced twang out of the bridge PU you get with rounds. If you mix them right you'll get a nice punchy sound that has a lot of bottom but cuts right through the mix better than a P bass.
I think I get a better sound than a P bass, more punchy and cuts through the mix better but stilll sounds old school if I want it too.
Fender flats are bright for the first month or so. I recommend med lights (I've never tried the lights). I like the Pyramids better. I think flats need to break in especially the Fenders, Pyramids actually sound as good to me after a couple of years as they did when new, their sound hardly changes at all.

I put a set of TI flats on my 80 /4001 the day I got her home and then did the cap bypass. The TI's have a very low tension.

....old school thump with nice definition. I tend to use the neck pickup a lot and sometimes use the mid position on the toggle switch. On rare occasions I will solo the bridge pickup. I have been getting a lot of comments from other bassists saying that they did not realize that a Ric could thump so nicely.

I do a blues open mic jam every Sunday and have been letting other bassists play my Ric.Everyone so far has fallen in love with the feel and the sound...there are not many Rics around these parts. Many of the converts have been old school Pbass players ( like myself )

If you like thump try Fenders or Pyramids, they are the king of thump.

I had used 9050's for years untill I discovered TI flats. I like the lesser tension. I have them on three basses.

I keep hearing about TI's...worried that the tension is too low for my tastes.

Not sure what I'm going to do, as the stock RW's on my Laredo are getting near the end of their lives. I suspect I'd be happier with flats on that bass, then maybe put some light guage RW's on the 4001 to have a different sounding beast.

Was thinking of maybe using the 9050 L's on the Laredo, and going to GHS lights (forgot the number-3045's?) on the 4001. Going to have to decide soon...but the 4001's strings are pretty fresh. So I might put some new RW's on the Laredo until it seems like I've gotten enough use out of the newish 9050 ML's on the 4001.

But I agree with Bob, the Fender flats have a nice "thump" in them!

I mispoke ... old school Ric sound would be Cliff Burton from the 80's ... Really old school would be Geddy and Squire from the 70's ... neolithic stone age would be flats ...

I like both.....but prefer flats.....the right ones are not dead sounding. Just depends on the music your playing at the time ...

Opinions are like elbows and , well ,you know.... (insert smiley here)

Old school Ric: McCartney, Maurice Gibb and Peter Quaife.
I have TI's on one of my basses, they are a really good sounding string but don't really have the thump for me, they are kind of middy to me and they are very light. They are really good for British invasion stuff for me, poppy sorts of things. Nice for playing busy sorts of lines, you can kind of throw your fingers all around the neck with them.

This guy loves flats ...



THUD!!!

THUD!!!

THUD!!!

disclaimer ... this is meant to be funny and not insult anyone ...

Wow, McCartney is really showing his age...

"I mispoke ... old school Ric sound would be Cliff Burton from the 80's ... Really old school would be Geddy and Squire from the 70's ... neolithic stone age would be flats ..."

So true Rath. Good pic!