Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Inquiring minds want to know...

Prompted by a session tonight to go over new material which I do, usually 2-3 songs at a time; arranged, with a polyrhythmic approach to the basic rhythm section- Drums, Guitar, Keys, Lead Vocal- Added to mix later- Sax, b/u Vocals, sometimes percussion. Keyboard player & I do the arrangements both formal (written) and informal (feel...)
Even the 2 back-up vocals are considered "instruments" to the arrangement- when added, and with the proper interplay, even a basic small rhythm section can sound amazingly full...and tight.
I learned a lot of this from a project I toured with, I'd like to pay props to for a sec..
www.henryturnerjr.com Great player/singer, not the easiest guy to work for...
He'sb een around for a long time outta Baton Rouge, and the most important thing I learned is to be SERIOUS- They are down South- and the food is KILL-
Now- lessee- did I forget an instrument-
Oh yeah, yeah, of course ---
THE BASS-
That's what we're here for isn't it?? That and the free buffet-
Tonight- I chose a number from a group I was only vaguely familiar with before I spent time in Louisiana-
Frankie Beverly & Maze- The song entitled "Before I Let Go"- Very nice pocket, and you need to imagine it (if you listen to it) as performed by a Female Vocalist with some soul- Stripped down version tonight, just the rhythm section and Brianna singing.
The reason I'm prompted to write this and my subsequent ? to those who may want to reply-
Concerns the BASS-

I used the 4003. and I gotta say- I almost feel Guilty, because it's such an amazingly good instrument.
I can't express it that well- But do you realize how awesome these basses are?????
Well, you must because you do this stuff- Jeesh, that instrument just frickin' nailed the tone(S) I wanted- and guess what-
I got it finalized in my mind how all the eq interacts- ANd yes, the "Vintage Tone" makes a difference, subtle but BIG, as it removes enough of the low-end overtone to bite where you need to bite.
ANd when one hits the sweet-spot, slap-as-accent, not a lifestyle- O Mi God.
SO enough, I'll get overkill here, what a AMAZingly good instrument, it's actually scary- gets me more fascile than I thougt I was (and I think highly of me as player), the bass pushes me to new frontiers, kinda.

OK THEN-
If you wouldn't mind-
I'm REALLY intersted, since apparently y'all been digging these RIcs for some time now---

WHAT do you play (type of music, ensemble, professionally, for laughs and giggles, etc???
HOW has the RIc Bass affected your playing; it must have because you are here.

So- I don't care if your a Wanna-be-Lemmy or Metallica, all I've heard is stuff like "Well, I got my new (insert color here)"
or Well, I put a new tone knob on my -------

What is it that you do?
Post a link to your Project if there is one....
How does your Rickenbacker effect this?
Do you like your Bass? I'll bet you do?
WHY?
C'mon I told you my story--and a little bit about what I'm doing with MINE (it's new btw)

Thank you


INSERT YOUR STORY HERE:

MY RICKENBACKER BASS STORY

My beautiful walnut 4001 was bought for a very nice price (for my end) from a forum member who shall NOT remain nameless because his generosity deserves to be celebrated (thanks, Gary you know WHO you are, doctor ).

It was not the first nor the last of the kindnesses I've gained from forum members But the rest will have to wait till my autobiography comes out, there's too many of you!

Since then I used my bass to make some demos in my home studio that constitute my first serious attempt to assemble a portfolio of my original work. If anyone clicks on my signature (long, shiny ones) down below, they will be taken to my music site where they can explore, listen to, and download all manner of homespun frivolity. A spendid time is guaranteed for all!

I plan to take her into rehearsals as Spring approaches and make some gawd-awful noise with her. I've been cooped up too long in the studio.

Forgive me if you've seen this one. I know I'm shameless:

Sure, I'll play...

I had barely touched my trusty '80 4001 for nearly 10 years until summer of 2007. We have an annual block party on my street and we just happen to have enough folks, with the exception of a lead guitar (imagine that, they're usually coming out of the cracks in the walls!) to put together a band. We scrounged up an axe player, did the party and had fun.

Did it again in '08, but this time managed to talk the Elvis impersonator on the street to do a few tunes with us. He was an amazing performer and we decided to continue on as an all Elvis act. Worked up a whole schtick as "Elvis Live '73." That lasted about 6 weeks before he realized that we couldn't overnight learn 40 songs we had never played. His weird mom/girlfriend also told him he wouldn't be making as much money. LOL.

We're continuing as a 4 piece called the Ambar Dukes (our street is Ambar Ave and our kids go to the same school). All covers for now - garage rocky stuff (Sonics, Who, Small Faces, etc.), but the original will come with time.

The sounds that come out of my 4001 fit right in with the stuff we're playing and my fingers seem to move better on it than they did when I was a youngster, despite the long layoff. It's a joy to be playing music and to be playing my bass again after so many years.

Matt B.

Thank you, Kira and Matt.

See, that wasn't hard now was it?

And the rest of you?? Come on, don't be shy! This way, I can get a feel, well, we all can, for what the other posters are about musically, so share your back-story- Tell me about where you live, what you do, what you're all about...

That way, I can turn you in to Homeland Security should you post something that rankles me.

Thanks Matt, sounds like fun!
Kira, that Walnut bass is pretty damn cool. See, I thought you were from Victoria BC or someplace. But I see you're in the Bay Area- Same thing. That explains a lot!

And you shouldn't make that tiny little signature that links your stuff so OBVIOUS, ya know.

Well, is anybody else gonna come outta their shell and talk about the music as related to their Ric bass?
Anybody??

Or---perhaps you'd like me to continue posting here- I got another session tonight- Gonna work in a cover by Chaka Khan, "Every Little Thing You Do" I have the arrangement, it's very bass driven...

Better post something- OR ELSE!

Hmm, well, I think most know my (boring)story but here's my Rics and what I do with them:


4001SLH
I play it on the appropriate tunes in my Beatles trib band The Eggmen. It's an '82 and was originally MG. After the band had been together for about 5 years we got a new drummer, David Fore from Bubble Puppy, and our original drummer moved to keyboards, his real instrument. This allowed us to do later Beatles tunes, we'd up to that point only done the '62-'66 stuff. So..one night after a 6-pack of Shiners I went to the garage and got out the paints. I had to give it a FG finish first and then put on the "MMT" paintjob. I strayed from the original a bit by replacing the silver/grey with teal which I preferred.
The bass has travelled from one end of the country to the other many, many times, sometimes in planes, and (unfortunately)sometimes in a van. Strung with Chromes.
http://www.eggmen.com

4003LH
I play it on the appropriate tunes in my Rutles trib band OUCH! as it looks just like Dirk McQuickly's 4001LH. It's an '80 and has gotta be a pretty early example of a lefty 4003. The FG is the best I've ever seen. I got it in the early 80s and it was my main bass in "Austin Underground" band Napoleon Blownapart. It's in great shape considering. Strung with Chromes.
http://www.myspace.com/ouchrutles

4001CSLH
I use it in my home studio for my "band" Shaped Sound; psychedelic originals inspired by The Small Faces, The Moody Blues, and The Pink Floyd.
it's a '91. It was my main bass in my band in the early 2000s, The Daylight Titans, and can be heard on our single "Dangle" which was featured in an episode of TV show "Veronica Mars". Strung with Rotosound rounds.
http://www.myspace.com/shapedsound

340LH
Being a huge Who fan and absolutely loving The Jam in the 80s, I always wanted a Pete/Paul-ish Ric guitar. Bought it for myself as a birthday present in 2003. It's a 2003. It's beautiful and sounds awesome. I use it for Shaped Sound.

Thank you; that paint job is awesome!

PBS special that was replayed several times recently-
"RAIN"-
Blew me away.

i currently have 74 4000,93 v63,and a 04 4004cii. mostly these days what i am doing with them is just playing,appreciating,and enjoying them on my own. i haven't played out or recorded with anyone for about 2 years now,other than an occasional jam/get together with friends. this past thanksgiving,i did take the v63 to a jam with about 30 or so friends and so got to hear it in an mostly acoustic setting-it sounded great! when i was playing last,it was an acoustice 3 peice,with 2 singer/guitarists,and the cii sounded really nice in that setting. i have used the 4000 in a 4 peice electric band (2 guitars,bass,drums) and got a real nice nasty sound on the bluesier numbers.....oh the singer songwriter types i played with were pretty eclectic with their influences as well,so the songs tended to run from folkie to blues,esoteric rock,to pop. i would love to be more active again,but most of my friends are dealing with health issues of the semi-aged....

After playing inferior brands for a few years, I got my first Rick bass in 1982. It was a new White 1980 4001 that had been sitting at my local music shop unsold for a couple years. Eventually, it (Whitey) turned yellow and the varnish flaked off (See photo of Whitey and I below in 1985). Ugly as it was, Whitey was still a great playing, great sounding bass and my first Rick, so (25 years later!) I hired Paul Wilczynski to give it a face lift. Now Whitey looks like this: http://rickresource.com/register/viewit ... ine%3Dtrue

During high school and for a couple years after, I played in a (mostly) cover band with some very talented musicians...but we didn't really go anywhere and eventually went our separate ways.

Then I went away to college and decided to study something completely unrelated to music (Economics) since I already knew how to play Rock and Roll bass well enough for me (or so I thought)! I went to a big school (U of I in Champaign, IL) hoping to get back into a good band and have a decent potential audience. Almost went to UT in Austin (I really wanted to, Ron R. because of the music scene!), but it would have taken an extra year and been much more expensive 'cuz it was out of state for me. Any who, studying and having a social life consumed all of my time and the band thing never happened for me in Champaign.

When I got out of school, I got a job in the financial commodities markets and moved to the big city (Chicago). The plan was always to have the evenings and weekends free for playing in a band, but the band thing has really just sputtered along for me . Between my social life, my work life, and my other hobbies (skiing, mountain biking, etc.) I didn't give music as much time as I had originally intended.

These days I play a lot on my own, I collect a little (mainly to try out different models), and I do still play in a band. I'm currently playing with this guy (Josh ): http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu ... =217047507 and 5 others. We play all originals; he wrote and sings them all. We play the first three songs on that website and about 10 others. Unfortunately, I'm not on those recordings (If I were, they would be better! ). Josh recorded all of them with one of his multi-instrumentalist friends that has a home studio. We've actually got 5 gigs booked over the next 2 months and a couple more possibilities, so things are happening little by little.

So there you go, Larry...Jeff's bass playing career in a (big) nutshell!

Maybe someday I'll get my 15 minutes, but if I don't...it's been a fun ride anyway and I'm quite happy with and thankful for what I did get.

Chicago-my home town. Used to sneak in to see paul Butterfield in Old Town. Looong time ago.

15 minutes of fame, I haven't even come close, but I'm grateful for what I've been able to do and what I'm doing now-
It's ALL about playing music. End of Story. I'll be playing (my Rickenbackers) when I'm 90+, thumping away.
Weired huh?
Kinda like those, what, 20-something girls with the tats on the arms and the top of their ummmderrieres;
Gonna be a lotta weird GrandMommas someday....

Hey, I appreciate your stories it's very cool to hear-Rmember I've been here less than a month- Ric Bass Virgin and all that-

ANd I hope some more of you post what you're doing/have done.

One small request, If I may...

If it's not too much trouble, would you mind giving me, with your story and background, of course, the following:

1) Major Credit Card- Visa, Mastercard preferred, Discover, well..I guess.

2) Social Security #

3) Date of Birth

4) Any relevant Passwords, Cookies etc.

Hey thanks! I REALLY want to get a feel for my fellow Rickenbacker enthusiasts, and there's a White Vintage 4001 I think it is, that I've been kinda jonesing for, so... ya know.

Elnjaybass wrote:


One small request, If I may...

If it's not too much trouble, would you mind giving me, with your story and background, of course, the following:

1) Major Credit Card- Visa, Mastercard preferred, Discover, well..I guess.

2) Social Security #

3) Date of Birth

4) Any relevant Passwords, Cookies etc.

Yer fulla WHAT???
JimK

For Security Reasons-
Don't you think I have to VALIDATE that the poster has done/is doing what they say??

Well-
Don't you??

Unfortunately, I don't HAVE a Rickenbacker bass right now, so I guess I am doing nothing with it
BUT, in the past.....I have owned / played quite a few....





Mostly rock cover stuff, with a band CD of orignals (which I produced / engineered), and 3 albums of original material which I wrote.
From top, 82 AzureGlo 4003S, 1998 4003s5 MG, 4003BBR, 1973 4001, 1975 4001 AzureGlo, and me playing my 4003s5.

I am playing the ()*&%$ out of mine...

Next month sees me playing and owning Ric basses for my 37th year, got my first at 18 and never wanted to play anything else but a Ric bass since.

With the exception of my DCM-4003, like Jaymi, I'm playing the arse off of all mine, and I'm working with my recently restored B-15S exploring all the lovely tonal combination's available through it, and my SVT-Pro-II

I'm working through my various Blues playlists and hoping to be playing out again soon.

Holy Moly those are some awesome looking basses.
Steve, where are they now!
You owned all those at times and now don't have a single Ric?
Fascinating.
The only bass I ever owned that I do not now is my first Sterling, sunburst, white p/g around 90-something.Tragically, it got a major dent, nothing un-refinishable, but I traded it for a Tobias Renegade built by Gibson in Nashville, which is one helluva bass, lemme tell ya.

Oh yeah, and a 70's something Black P-Bass that some one who is now rotting away (I hope!) Stole!
You cannot do that. You may steal my heart, but it is against all Universal Laws to steal either a Bass or a (quality) fishing rod. This should need no explanation.



I missed the Sterling and it's great MM pup and pre so much I bought another, this time natural ahs, tort p/g wwith the new compensated nut- Ahhhhhh! (Except for the **&^% DARN weaker-response G-String which EB/MM fans are in denial about.
It was (well can still be) my go-to know it's gonna nail it bass.

Now...
Now my friends, it is a different story-
Rickenbacker.

After you drive a top-level Bentley, it is somewhat unreasonable to climb into the driver's seat of a, well, other car.
I luvs my other basses, but I do have to say-
These here Rics, past and present, they have some SAUCE, don't they??

Now- Where the He** are the rest of you, and your CC #'s PLEASE!?