Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

After many years in a jazzy, funky, fusion band I’m now in a blues and blues rock band. I’m using my Ric 4000, with a Sergio special , and my Fender P bass. For classic blues the Fender comes out and for more rocky blues the 4000 does the business.

I have never played, and don’t even think I have heard a Laredo, but my gut instinct is that it could be the perfect bass for my new band. I wondered how the neck, tone, balance of the instrument compared to other basses. I have played or owned most other makes in my time, except a Wal, so any comparisons would be really useful.

Thanks.

I have posted this many times ...

wire it V, V, T and it will work fine ... and try a 1000k ohm tone pot ...

http://www.3dentourage.com/425/93-4004L-5.htm

Jeff, thanks for that link. The bass sounds great but to be honest it is very close to a 4001/3, especially with that touch of chorus on it. I guess I was expecting it to sound a bit less like a 4001.

My 4000 with the tone rolled back quite a bit sounds less like a 4001 than the Laredo.

I've just done some searching on the forum and come up with loads of info. Thanks

Due to the wood composition of the Laredo being more similar to the 4001 than that of the Cheyennes (4004Ci/4004Cii )and also having two PUs, it might come a bit closer to the 4001 than your 4000. The really more different sound you can probaly expect only from a 4004Ci (early Cheyenne). It is also the lightest Rick-Bass I ever played!

bob_atherton wrote:Jeff, thanks for that link. The bass sounds great but to be honest it is very close to a 4001/3, especially with that touch of chorus on it. I guess I was expecting it to sound a bit less like a 4001.

My 4000 with the tone rolled back quite a bit sounds less like a 4001 than the Laredo.

bob-i have the cii,and it supposedly is less like the standard 4001/3 sound,but the main difference in my mind seems to be in the hb1 pickups-these are great for the type of music you mentioned. the cii to my ears sounds like the offspring of a rickenbacker and a 60's t-bird bass,not at all a bad combination! my bandmates seem only to tolerate my 4000,but actually love the sound of the cii,FWIW. what we play is definitely more rock/blues type music in a melodic vein....

bob_atherton wrote:Jeff, thanks for that link. The bass sounds great but to be honest it is very close to a 4001/3, especially with that touch of chorus on it. I guess I was expecting it to sound a bit less like a 4001.

My 4000 with the tone rolled back quite a bit sounds less like a 4001 than the Laredo.

Sorry ... no chorus there ... I had to modify the 4004 and really work to get a 4001 sound out of the 4004 ...

perhaps you might like the 4004 stock? it is darker and moodier sounding than a 4001/4003 ...

Bob, keep in mind that Jeff is mainly a round wound player so those strings are going to give you a growly 4001 type sound, flats can tone that down a lot, just think Macca's sound versus Squire's. The things I like about the Laredo are it's light weight and thicker beefier sound vs the 4001/3. My main dislike was the wider string spacing over the 4001/3 especially as you move up the neck. I fixed that by adding a fifth string .....now it's perfect.

This pic doesn't show it but I did the VVT mod on this one w/1000K tone pot and it's awesome!

woodyng wrote:bob-i have the cii,and it supposedly is less like the standard 4001/3 sound,but the main difference in my mind seems to be in the hb1 pickups-these are great for the type of music you mentioned. the cii to my ears sounds like the offspring of a rickenbacker and a 60's t-bird bass,not at all a bad combination! my bandmates seem only to tolerate my 4000,but actually love the sound of the cii,FWIW. what we play is definitely more rock/blues type music in a melodic vein....

Woody, my bandmates much prefer the 4000 to the Fender, they also think it looks more cool , but I just cant bring myself to play a deep slow blues on anything but a Fender, it's a feel thing that I just don't get from the 4000.

Jeff, I just played that track again. I think my brain was mixing in some of the chorus from the guitar. Really great bass sound.

Anyone know of any recordings with a stock 4004L?

"Woody, my bandmates much prefer the 4000 to the Fender, they also think it looks more cool , but I just cant bring myself to play a deep slow blues on anything but a Fender, it's a feel thing that I just don't get from the 4000."
4004 = wider deeper neck,widening string-to-string,humbucker....it is more fender-esque,than a typical 4000 series,you could say..... sell that p-bass,boy!

I am currently not a Laredo owner but a few have passed through my hands so i'll offer my opinion anyway.....

IMO the clip Jeff linked too above is not a very accurate representation of a Laredo tone.....it is if it's put through a Bass Pod but not if run relatively clean. To me you can run 10 basses through a Bass Pod and they will all sound just about the same....the Pod adds most of the character.

The best explanation of the tone that I can come up with is that it generally sounds like a traditional Ric with stronger low end and can get a VERY clear strong fundamental tone when using flats. Played aggressively with the tone cranked and some eq tweaking, even with flats, it can pull off a pretty good 4001/4003 imitation as well. IMO Laredos are Rics best kept secret but, if you can, you should test drive one to see for yourself.....maybe at one of the confluences that pop up now an then.

As far as balance it's about the same as a 4001/4003. I'm not very sensitive to neck sizes/shapes so my opinion on that issue is worthless. A Laredo is very comfortable/easy to play (IMO of course).

Since you mentioned never having had one, I'd recommend you try a Wal at some point as well. Simply an amazing range of useable. unique tones and great playability.

Thanks Brian, useful stuff.

I did play a Wal just once. It was a 6 string and I LOVED it. It wasn't for sale, it was at a jazz gig and after the show I got talking with the bassist and he let me have a go. I only play 4 string bass, hate nearly all 5's and had never played a 6 before, but that baby was like butter. I got great Jaco type tones from it, and that low B was .......

Part of my sound is the pod, part is my playing technique, part is the strings, part is the way I rewired that 4004 bass, part is the ampeg head, part is my custom made cabinets with Eminence 10 inch speakers. I was not happy with the 4004 stock.

When I play bass I need to get several tones out of that bass. My bass playing toolkit includes: 1 - The Chris Squire tone. 2 - John Wetton Tone. 3 - John Entwistle Tone. 4 - Paul McCartney Tone.

I was actually a little dissapointed with the wals that I played. They weren't bad but I expected more.

While in Phoenix I stopped at The Bass Place they had a Flea bass with a slim graphite neck and bart pickups and a nice quilted p-bass body ... that bass practilly played itself ... it was really sweet ...

I also picked up a j-retro preamp for my 4-2-5 jazz bass ... I will be testing it out at band practice today.

Jeff, J retro pre-amp