Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I need some expertise from the longtime Rick owners on this question.

Is there a history with Rick basses in where there's a lack of low end projection when the neck pup is used? My '06 C64 sounds great when you're right up on it, but from 10' away there's a noticable drop in projection. The toaster itself sound nice and warm and when used together with the 'shoe, the balance is everything that you could possibly want.

The bass is strung with TI JF344s and my rig is a GK 800RB with a JBL 2x12" cab. The same rig with the exact settings sounds huge when I use my 500/1V63 and projects like nobody's business. Thunderous when mated with the Hofner but lacking low end presence with the Rick....?????

I'm baffled. This is my first Rick bass so I'm still trying to figure 'em out. I'm also wondering if this is why a high powered amp such as an SVT or an old Traynor YBA-3 is such a good match. Any thoughts?

If you want low end projection get an old acoustic folded horn cabinet ...

actually a better way to get chest thumping lows is to run into a 1000 or 3000 watt pa with Cerwin vega folded horn cabs (2 or 4) ... with this setup you can rearrange the intestines of anyone within 50 yards of you ...

My theory is that a bass amp is for stage volume and the PA is for the audience ... and a good pa should have everything run into it ...

HA! Jeff you're after my own heart, man! I used to love the folded horn back in the '70s when I started playing. Nowadays, my old rebuilt lower back couldn't handle moving one of those things. What a sound though!

Would switching to a 2x15" set up or 1x18" possibly get me a little closer? One of the best amps I ever had was my old '60s blue check B-18N....only thing was that I played Ps back then. Don't have a reference point with a Rick.

I think 15 inch speakers and a tweak of the eq around 40 - 60 Hz should rattle the bowels quite nicely!! LOL!

Adding a 1x15 to you 2x12 cab should do nicely. Just be careful not to overide the PA. Soundmen I've known hate when that happens. If your doing your own sound from the stage though, it's not as big a deal. If you like it and the people like it, that's all that counts.

Most amps can not handle the low end of the neck pickup soloed, as it is all low end, especially a toaster with 1/2" spacing. The lows out of a Ric are actually much more pure and deep than from a Hofner which has a lot of low mid in it. Most of the low mid (presence) from a Rick comes from the bridge pickup unless it is capped. I use the neck pickup to augment the sound of the bridge pickup, which at least with my amp
(SVT) sounds good all by itself, I never solo the neck pickups on Rics, too bottomy.

"I never solo the neck pickups on Rics, too bottomy.'

I almost always solo the neck pickup (toaster, ½" spacing), to get the "Pictures of Home" (Glover) sound. I think of it more as "hollow" than "bottomy" but I guess it's subjective.

I use the neck pup for an upright sound.
Just roll of a little tone & play softly with more of an upright attack.
Sounds pretty close.

As to the projection problem, I used to have a Yamaha S215 cab & it kicked HARD starting at about 12-15 feet out. Up close it sounded good, but really boomed out front.

It is a ported cab, with the ports on the side when stood upright, but it was heavy at 125 lbs.
I had to sell it when the band split up, because I couldn't transport it myself.
I got more than I paid for it, though!

Thanks for all the input, guys! I'm going to try two things:

1) Get hold of a 1x15" or 2x15" for a test drive. I've been wanting to move to 15s anyway, so it's just a matter of making a choice on which manufacturer.

2) Bypass the .0047 cap in the treble pup. If I like it, then I'll leave it be; if not, then I'll just remove the shunt....of course I'll only use red insulated wire I've been debating this for at least 2 months and after reading a number of posts about the difference it's made in the tone, I think I'm gonna go for it.

Thanks again!

A simple trial would be to cut a short piece of solid core wire & tightly twist the bare ends around each cap lead.

If you like it, you'll know instantly.
I did this on my 4080 & it's still solidly in place, no need to solder or change anything permanently.

That's what I did too on all my 4001's, but I soldiered a wire over the cap and left them in.
I guess hollow is also a good description of the tone, the tone also varies from bass to bass, especially on older 4001's.