Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Along the same lines as the other thread, but slightly different...

I've always had a perplexing and odd musical taste that touches the sublime and generally enters into the more hard core but I've always loved a good sounding tone in the bass line.

I've been quite surprised over the years to see that several of the groups I've enjoyed over the years have been hammered down solid with Rick basses.

Just to name a few...

Geezer Butler



Kira Roessler



Sean Yseult



Simon Gallup

Direct link






Obviously Cliff Burton


And I couldn't find any on youtube, but there's obviously Jerry Only's early work in the Misfits.

So, what bassists / basslines were you surprised were Rickenbackers?

I won't even get into Rickenbacker guitars like the Bee Gees. That's for another forum.

Roger Glovers Tone on Smoke on the water in 73 came from a Ric with Jazz P/U's





Before he Butchered it




John Entwistle used a Ric from time to time also



But John used everything he could get his hands on. That dude couldnt find the sound he wanted so he designed his own! I would love to try one of these some day

Tarrbot wrote:So, what bassists / basslines were you surprised were Rickenbackers?

Well, the Cure, as well... and I must be showing my age, but... Bob Hardy/Franz Ferdinand!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY6jMeySygs

W...

How are you showing your age, Werner? Franz Ferdinand isn't that old of a band. And I didn't know they used Ricks.

John Entwistle using a Ric at one point doesn't surprise me.

And Simon Gallup changed up his basses from time to time as well but it looked like in the early to late 80s, he was using a Ric. Not sure what he used in the 90s.

The Machine head album which Smoke on the Water is from has many stock Rick pictures inside and the bass on the album also sounds like a stock Rick.

Wasn't "surprised" but was in the dark for literally years--Paul d'Amour!!!

I think the thing that surprises me most about Entwistle in particular is the tunes that you would swear are a Ric but aren't. That could be a separate thread in itself.

ricnbacker wrote:Roger Glovers Tone on Smoke on the water in 73 came from a Ric with Jazz P/U's

Chris, I have a video released just before machine head came out. I believe his Ric was stock then & modified later. Either way, Glover had the tone!

Tarrbot wrote:How are you showing your age, Werner? Franz Ferdinand isn't that old of a band. And I didn't know they used Ricks.

At age 32 I'm definitely one of the older people attending FF gigs - most fans are teenagers or twentysomethings!

Does anybody know if Mike Mills of R.E.M. used his 4001 bass on the early studio material? He's been using a Fender for ages now - I'd like to know if Peter Buck now owns it (see YouTube video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLSqLYq2me8



W...

Wildberry wrote:

Tarrbot wrote:How are you showing your age, Werner? Franz Ferdinand isn't that old of a band. And I didn't know they used Ricks.

At age 32 I'm definitely one of the older people attending FF gigs - most fans are teenagers or twentysomethings!

Does anybody know if Mike Mills of R.E.M. used his 4001 bass on the early studio material? He's been using a Fender for ages now - I'd like to know if Peter Buck now owns it (see YouTube video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLSqLYq2me8



W...

Not 100% sure of course but he was known as a Rick player during the Radio Free Europe days and it certainly sounds like a Ric bass. He also did an interview some time later in which he said he "went home" to P basses. I also started out on P basses and feel that familiarity when I pick mine up.

MattB wrote:I think the thing that surprises me most about Entwistle in particular is the tunes that you would swear are a Ric but aren't. That could be a separate thread in itself.

I think a lot of you guys confuse the Rotosound string sound with the Rickenbacker sound. Maurice Gibb also always played a Rickenbacker and his sound is dramatically different from say Chris Squire's. I think it's safe to say that Gibb probably used flatwounds as opposed to Rotosound's.

rictified wrote:

MattB wrote:I think the thing that surprises me most about Entwistle in particular is the tunes that you would swear are a Ric but aren't. That could be a separate thread in itself.

I think a lot of you guys confuse the Rotosound string sound with the Rickenbacker sound. Maurice Gibb also always played a Rickenbacker and his sound is dramatically different from say Chris Squire's. I think it's safe to say that Gibb probably used flatwounds as opposed to Rotosound's.

What can I say other than I'm easily confused?

rictified wrote:

Wildberry wrote:Does anybody know if Mike Mills of R.E.M. used his 4001 bass on the early studio material?

Not 100% sure of course but he was known as a Rick player during the Radio Free Europe days and it certainly sounds like a Ric bass. He also did an interview some time later in which he said he "went home" to P basses. I also started out on P basses and feel that familiarity when I pick mine up.

Not being a bass player I don't exactly know what a Rick bass is supposed to sound like. As a long time R.E.M. fan I've read quite a few interviews, articles and books on them, but can't remember ever having come across which instruments he played in the early years - except for pictures. Therefore I'm not sure, either.



W...

Does anyone know what kind of bass was used on Lennon's "Nobody Told Me"? There is a certain Rick-like quality to the tone.

rickfan60 wrote:Does anyone know what kind of bass was used on Lennon's "Nobody Told Me"? There is a certain Rick-like quality to the tone.

If it was Tony Levin that played bass on that track, it's possibly a Musicman StingRay.