Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello....will I damage my bass if I don't use a ric-o-sound device and wire it into 2 amps ? I have looked at various sites on the net and all give the same advice. What damage is likely to occur ?.... and if any is likely , how do I circumvent this problem.. I feel the need to plug into 2 amps for added sonic enhansements . a typical uk late night activity...

The Ric-o-sound is an obsolete feature where you can send the signal from each pickup into a seperate amp ....

I have been playing Rics since 1973 and have never used it once ... most of the used rics that I buy have a broken ric-o-sound ... So I usually rewire it as 2 mono outputs ...

You won't damage your bass by plugging a mono jack into the ric-o-sound ... you will just get a mono output ... you only get one pickup with the wrong jack ...

If you feel the need for 2 amps then simply split the mono signal ... Or use a sans amp like Geddy Lee does ... he runs a mono signal into a sans amp and the runs 3 signals out ... one regular, one with more bass, and one with distortion, he then mixes these signals ... I think these days he no longer has a bass amp ... he runs into 3 channels of the pa ...

Gents: This topic is currently being discussed on the guitar topic.

I had one a few years ago, I took it apart and there was nothing inside. just the stereo jack where the cord from the bass is plugged in, and two mono output jacks, one for each amp, or channel. I ran stereo without one and picked up a LOT of noise from lighting etc. I completely shielded my basses with copper shielding and that solved the problem. I never got to try the ric O sound box though, my ex girlfriend took it back! Rickenbacker says that it will eliminate hum and noise, I'll get another one again, if for nothing else than that they look cool, and maybe I won't have to shield my basses again.

Oh and by the way, you will not damage anything by not using a ric o sound box, I have done it before. with very old amps with ground switches and two prong plugs, (dangerous) plug the bass into both amps before you plug them into the wall and turn them on, if you get a lot of hum, one of the ground switches is backwards, any AC will go to ground through the other amp. If you have any amps like this you really should get then rewired though with a three prong plug. In the olden days we would turn on the amp with a cord plugged into it, and the way with the least amount of hum was correct.