Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Greetings to all.

I need some advice.

Some back ground info: My love is for Yes and Chris Squire's bass riffs. So much so that I bought 4001CS # 867 a couple of years ago.

Problem being I have never played bass before in my life! Whenever I would take the Squire bass out of the case to "practice" (unguided rubbish that lead nowhere, and no amp to hear what I was doing)I ended up feeling unworthy of even owning such a fine piece of Yes & Rick history.

So this year I decided that I was going to fix my head problems and I bought one of the cheap Ashdown Mag 300 15 inch combos and a 2004 4003 as my student bass. If I can learn, I fully intend to play Yes music on the Squire one of these days, but not until I have gained some competence!

So my question(s)are: I don't even know the string names yet, so if you could please bear with me...On my 4003, the lightest string has fret buzzing as soon as you hit the first fret and any aggressive noodling will buzz any of the strings; is this normal and ok to get the low action or should I seek out a good set up at a guitar shop?

2nd question is: I have seen the new Hipshot bridge and am wondering if it may be of value in my quest to have an easy playing instrument that doesn't buzz..I like the fact that it bolts right on without extra holes.

Any other tips as to self teaching techniques and bass set up are very welcome, from my personal reading here, this is likely the best place on
earth to find this kind of help and info.

Many thanks!

Send the bass to me and I will fix all your problems grasshopper

To check setup, fret a string at the first and last frets and look to see that as you fret them, the string JUST touches all along the fretboard. Make sure it is not hitting anywhere along the fretboard before any other. That is when the neck is flat (no relieve OR backbow), which is what you want. If not this, then the truss rods need to be adjusted. Once you have the neck flat, then set the bridge height where you want your action - retune before checking for buzz. Obviously lower strings will give buzz if too low or with more agressive playing. When that is set to your liking, then adjust each bridge to set intonation, remembering to retune with each adjustment. The manual that came with your 4003 goes over this in detail also.

You will not need the Hipshot to get rid of the buzzing.

Also, welcome. Your bass sounds like it needs a setup. Forget the hipshot... I doubt you would notice any difference if you had one anyway at this stage.

As far as practice... I started by playing bass to songs I liked (but were also easy). Eventually I got in a band and I have never turned back.

Welcome Ray,
You’ve taken on quite a challenge as a beginner but nothing different than most of us have gone through. All of us started playing for the love of music and the respect and admiration for a certain artist or artists.

At your stage technical adjustments are best left to a pro and hopefully you’re near a dealer or store that can make the necessary adjustments.

As for recommendations for self teaching, I think lessons are always a good thing, but if you must be self taught, a little help never hurts. Here are several resources for instant online gratification. While these articles reside on the Eden Web site, they are not promoting the equipment but rather the pursuit of better playing and musicianship.

Lessons with Professor Roy
Endorser Roy Vogt is a master educator. Each month he offers beginning and intermediate level lessons and an article on the Business of Music.
http://www.eden-electronics.com/info/lessons/roy/index.asp

Practice Tip of the Week
These are short tips to help you refine your practice time.
http://www.eden-electronics.com/info/articles/tips.asp

Articles
http://www.eden-electronics.com/info/som/index.asp

Hope this helps,
Bill

http://basslessons.com/pages/Instruction/Lessons/

There are numerous videos on playing bass, I'd bet some can be borrowed from your public library. If you know a guitarist, he can certainly help you with bass lines you can learn easily. Many old Cream songs come to mind. Good luck!

There are some generic setup instructions here:

http://www.weedhopper.org/Bass_Guitar_Setup.asp

From your description, it may be that the bridge needs to be raised (assuming that the neck does not need adjustment, of course).

WELCOME!

hang on to that CS!

No worries, I can't play the bass either.

Ray, I forgot to say "Welcome to the Forum"!

Don't feel bad about having a CS and not being able to play it (yet). I'm actually a rhythm guitarist and only a hack-bass-player/wannabee, yet I have these Rickenbacker basses:



And that's not all of them ...

Practice makes perfect. Just keep playing scales and arpeggios and jamming along to Chris and it will come. Takes time. I'm rooting for ya!

My advice, LEARN THE FRETBOARD. Learn where all the notes are, learn how to get from one place to another and soon it will logically start to work out for you. When I first started, I played by ear and somehow was able to get around pretty well just by hearing the note I was playing and the note the record was playing were the same.

Then later I was playing in a band and a guy hooked me up with a chart that showed every note on the fretboard, I learned them all and it was like another door opening. I make all of my students learn the fretboard first so they start to understand the many ways they can play the instrument.

Oh, the strings are E, A, D, G, (lowest note to highest note) and the "skinny one" is the G. Best of luck to you, Ray! Keep at it, and welcome to the Forum!

You might also enjoy watching some of these videos, after all, sometimes the easiest way to start to learn is to watch someone else do it

http://youtube.com/results?search=chris+squire&search_type=search_videos

Welcome!

I've found that the most important thing as a beginner bass player is to have a good quality, low priced instrument. Shoot me an email and we'll see if we can work out a trade - i've got this great Squier P-bass that would be perfect for you. You can send me the 4001CS and possibly a little cash as well?

John...he is obviously more of a Jazz guy, with his love of the Squire-esque tone. Did I mention I have a burgundy Jazz bass? Hmm....