Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Did anybody besides me notice that the Rickenbacker Basses section is the most posted section of the Rickenbacker Forum by a ratio of over 2:1 to the next nearest section? Is anybody really surprised? Also, I noticed that in actual Rickenbacker sightings I have had over the years, the number of basses exceed the number of guitars I have actually seen in the flesh. I don't think Rickenbacker makes more basses than guitars, it just seems that the basses actually make more working appearances. The first Rickenbacker I ever saw was a 4001 bass. I'll bet I have heard Rickenbacker basses more often on recordings as well. Guitars supposedly outsell basses 5:1 or more, so this perceived popularity of Rickenbacker basses over Rickenbacker guitars seems a bit strange. Really though, in popular music only two brands really dominated in basses during the first two decades: Fender and Rickenbacker. Guitar brands were much more varied it seems.

However, one dealer told me that when he gets an order for a Rickenbacker, it is usually for a bass. The basses are almost never seen hanging around for long in a music store. In fact, they are almost never seen in a store from my personal experience. The guitars can sometimes hang around for a while.

I know at least twice as many guitarists than bassists who use Rickenbackers, but that's just from my personal circle of musician friends. I do remember reading, probably somewhere here, that the 4003 and 330 are the two most popular models, and I can certainly believe it.

I've never known a guitarist that had a Ric (except myself, and I'm really a bassist) and have known a half dozen or so bassists that had a Ric. Does this mean anything? I don't think so.

I often see Ric guitars on music clips on TV, but never a Ric bass

I'm not talking about TV appearances. RIC does not do artist endorsements and that makes them rather rare in front of cameras with big name acts these days. I'll bet a lot of players that use other brands on stage have a Rickenbacker or two stuck away at home or in the studio. Adam Clayton of U2 is supposed to own a 4001, but I have NEVER seen him with it on any of my videos. In front of a camera, he plays what pays (Fender mostly). Also, most bassists own(ed) guitars, because that is where they usually started. The majority of guitarists own no basses in my personal experience. Perhaps they are afraid if they go fat, they will never go back. My guitarist father never owned a bass, but he did own a fiddle or two in the past. Also, it seems that guitarists are more likely to turn collector and own lots of guitars, but serious bassists are more likely to own fewer basses of higher quality.

Of course, somebody like John Entwistle will come along that buys high quality in quantity, but he is an exception.

I'm talking about local bar bands, church musicians, bedroom thumpers, and such, the people who actually buy most of the guitars and basses that are made. Famous musicians are a tiny minority of all musical equipment users. If you go to a lot of the small venues where band members spend their own hard earned money on economical equipment that has to work reliably, you also see a ubiquitous brand that rarely used to show up in front of TV cameras, and that is Peavey. They have been improving to where some of their equipment is really built and sounds great, and some of it is getting pricey as well. $599 MSRP for a 2x10 bass cab is not cheap, and it's not built from cheap particle board like my Marshall amp cabinet is. My father has an old Peavey Solo Series solid state amp that is heavier than most any tube amp its size. You can read Harmony Central reviews about it and the owners heap tons of praise on it. Everything that gets in front of cameras a lot is not necessarily what Joe Six-Pack uses in real life. Which point is proved by the fact that RIC basses rarely show up on TV or video, but they comprise the biggest single category (in number of posts) in this Forum which is mostly populated with everyday players. The basses must be getting used a lot more than the guitars, on average.

I think it's because when most people think of guitar, the first thing that comes to mind are Fenders and Gibsons, because of much more famous users.
As for Ric basses, they have been seen more by famous bass players than their guitar counterparts.
Plus, that famous Rickenbacker twang is much more noticeable, IMHO, in the bass department. I feel that is why Ric basses are more often sought after than the guitars. There is a wide variety in various types of music that can benefit from the infamous twang: Heavy metal, classic rock, funk...etc. When is the last time you saw a 330, 360, or 325 at an Ozzy Osbourne concert? The guitars weren't made for that music, but a 4001/4003 can.

I use a 620 sometimes on heavy rock tunes. It provides a nice texture to music that generally employs strat-type metal machines.

But I feel that Rickenbacker needs to devote more time to developing new bass models since the basses are apparently more sought after by the younger crowd.

I would like to see Rickenbacker do endorsements.(I would be among the many bassists happy to do an endorsement with them). But I can see why they don't. They don't need to. The demand for their products outweigh their ability to produce them. That's a happy position for JH and RIC to be in. Regardless, I'll play Rickenbacker basses simply because they are excellent basses and have that great sound that only they have. My first good bass was a Rickenbacker, and I would not feel right without one.

The day Rickenbacker feels compelled to start paying endorsements will be the day we can begin planning that company's funeral. I fear that day like the plague. Not that I think it will ever happen, but I hope I'm not around if it does.

Philco,
Thanks for using one of my favorite words, ubiquitous.
I still think the guitars suffer from the British Invasion syndrome, whereas the basses were picked up by a few high profile virtuosos. I do, however, see more new bands playing ric guitars in videos. BTW, IMHO the bass forum is the most entertaining. And the pictures of your ric bass has to have set some sort of record! (Mine'r there)!

Jerry, I never posted a photo of my RIC bass. It is just a standard early model 4004L in "ubiquitous" Jetglo with maple fingerboard.

When Buddy Holly (who was more famous in England than America while he was alive) toured England with the Stratocaster, which most English fans had never seen before, it started a stampede there for Fender's guitars. If he had slung a Rickenbacker, the same would have probably happened for Rickenbacker. Buddy Holly looked like Joe Average Fan, even if he was a pioneering musical genius, and the average English fan could fantasize about getting a Stratocaster like his and going on to become something great. Fender never could have gotten a better endorsement in England than the one Buddy gave them, and it probably was the best solid body guitar of that day.

I think the word ubiquitous is ubiquitous these days.

I don't know if ubiquitous is ubiquitous, but it's getting to be tautological. And redundant.

It is an ubiquitous, tautologically redundant word that you see everywhere, is used too often, and is repeated unnecessarily all the time, it borders on perseveration, perseveration, perseveration.

Not to repeat myself, as I mentioned before, it's a repetitive redundancy once again.