Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I always seem to get a few folks asking for a sample recording or video of my 4001FL. So I've recorded this on youtube.
My playing is ok I suppose but I'm really posting to showcase the bass. I'm surprised you don't see more Rickenbacker fretless basses around.

Welcome back, William! Good job! I love the 4001FL tone. Beautiful 4001FL!
I watched your "Hallowed Be Thy Name" vid as well. Enjoyed that too!

pringlw wrote:I'm surprised you don't see more Rickenbacker fretless basses around.

In '83, when I was looking for my first fretless bass guitar, I really wanted a Rick fretless. It was amazing to hear all the stupid things that music store salesmen would say about them. When I finally got a 4001FL, I wondered if these people ever actually played one!

Great job on the fretless. Very enjoyable!

Thanks William and WELCOME!

Great song with a KILLER RIC.

I love my RIC FL, I too am so surprised that they aren't more prevalent.

You do see some Ric fretless work occasionally. Here I am on my '81 4001S/FL last month w/The Michael Riser Band. The mix isn't that great for hearing the tone but what the heck.
See more here and at michaelriser.com

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That's a nice-looking bass with a really good sound. It's good to see other people actively using the fretless Ric bass. I made a post like this a few weeks ago with some clips of me and my jazz buddies, although my bass is a 4003, not a 4001. The song I list here is "Spain" by Chick Corea with some Jaco-y intro from myself per the sax players request. It's also good for the transition because I play a bit of the melody on "Spain".



Fretless Rics have some really wonderful tones available to the player... I hope I don't sound elitist but I have tried many fretlesses out and few have had the same kind of warmth and fullness and my 4003FL does. I think a fretless Ric is a great choice.

EDIT: I just listened to the OP on headphones. Man, and I thought that tone was good before. Very nice!

Nice to hear, William, Bill and Joshua. I'm also a member of the Rick FL Club. I'm having some trouble with clipping because the 4003 P/Us are so hot, but I'm slowly getting it. I don't play live nearly so much as I did 5 or even 10 years ago, and back then it was mostly upright.

But great to hear the FLs getting some time. Very good stuff all around.

FretlessOnly wrote:Nice to hear, William, Bill and Joshua. I'm also a member of the Rick FL Club. I'm having some trouble with clipping because the 4003 P/Us are so hot, but I'm slowly getting it.

I find working with Hi-Gains kind've difficult for that reason too... that's part of why I went over to "double Toasters". However, there are tons of great examples--including those here--of Hi-Gains working brilliantly in the right hands. I think part of it comes with being able to really control your attack.

Good tone, I liked it. Still I'm not selling my '73 fretless Fender P but I like this type of non-Jaco fretless sound.

pringlw wrote:I always seem to get a few folks asking for a sample recording or video of my 4001FL. So I've recorded this on youtube.
My playing is ok I suppose but I'm really posting to showcase the bass. I'm surprised you don't see more Rickenbacker fretless basses around.

Great sound !!

Your 4001FL has a great sounding E string, what kind of strings/brand/gauge are you using ?

Thank you

cangaroo wrote:

pringlw wrote:I always seem to get a few folks asking for a sample recording or video of my 4001FL. So I've recorded this on youtube.
My playing is ok I suppose but I'm really posting to showcase the bass. I'm surprised you don't see more Rickenbacker fretless basses around.

Great sound !!

Your 4001FL has a great sounding E string, what kind of strings/brand/gauge are you using ?

Thank you

They're Pyramids - flats of course. I can't remember the exact gauge but I think there may be only one gauge of them. They're ridiculously expensive (~$60) but they have an incredible tone. I'm told that they generally do strings for orchestra string instruments which kind of makes sense given how they sound.

cassius987 wrote:That's a nice-looking bass with a really good sound. It's good to see other people actively using the fretless Ric bass. I made a post like this a few weeks ago with some clips of me and my jazz buddies, although my bass is a 4003, not a 4001. The song I list here is "Spain" by Chick Corea with some Jaco-y intro from myself per the sax players request. It's also good for the transition because I play a bit of the melody on "Spain".

Nice clip. Its good to see a few other Rick FLs in action!

cassius987 wrote:Fretless Rics have some really wonderful tones available to the player... I hope I don't sound elitist but I have tried many fretlesses out and few have had the same kind of warmth and fullness and my 4003FL does. I think a fretless Ric is a great choice.

Yeah the Rick web site claims that Rick fretless basses have an almost "upright bass" sound to them. I actually find that to be true. But at the same time it's still clearly a Rick.

pringlw wrote:Yeah the Rick web site claims that Rick fretless basses have an almost "upright bass" sound to them. I actually find that to be true. But at the same time it's still clearly a Rick.

I remember reading that a few years ago and going, "Psh, yeah, so do all fretlesses basically." But they're being very honest, you're right. Fretless Rics do sound quite a bit more like an upright than other fretless basses. iiipopes (corporate forum) suggests it has to do with the construction materials. I think pickup placement is also a factor.

Well, let's be honest. There are several distinct upright bass sounds. A few that come to mind:

Mingus's gut string monstrous attack and grind
Ray Brown's big round tone
Christian McBride's trebly/mid growl
Neils-Henning Orsted Pederson's speaking to you brrrrrrraww...

And there are so many more. No fretless electric bass (I don't mean electric uprights in any fashion here) has ever been able to come very close to any of these sounds. To me, the FL 4001/4003 doesn't pack that much of an upright sound. My Warwick Corvette is better at this (more growl than my 4003FL), but my Ken Smith FL six string comes the closest to the true upright sound (active EQ with Tomastick jazz flats allows big, fat and round all the way to snappy and growly).

But hey, the 4001/3 FL series does sound good. Just not tops to me. I much prefer the fretted 4001/3 sound.

Just wondering...

Just HOW MANY 4000, 4001, 4002 (1 I think) and 4003FL Players there are here?

I'd love to have a little sub section or something dedicated to FRETLESS if there seems to be enough input.

I SURE could use some advice from you more experienced FL players!

ANDY, this includes you too!