"The" RM 1999

[cheyenne]

Does anyone know if Chris's bass has been refinned in the last few years?

Maybe I'm dreaming, but when I saw YES in Dayton at the Fraze Pavillion a few years back, I remember his bass tech bringing his basses out and putting them on the stage, one of them being a re-issue 4001CS. When he brought out the RM,, he turned slightly and you could see the back of the body was very worn clear through the finish.?? I had great seats and was only about 5 rows back on Chris's side.

Pictures I've seen since that concert dont show the wear though.

When you see pics of other well used basses of the same vintage, it seems as though they all have visible wear marks (mojo), in the finish. As aggressive a player as Chris is, I would think his bass would have some serious visable wear on it.

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

he may be aggressive, but may have dry hands which would help keep the finish. some shots show it yellow, others cream, others like campbell's mushroom soup color. i can't comment on the backside wear...never seen a shot of the rear of his rick.

[johnallg]

The only time I think we'd have a chance to see the back would be on a video of the end of a show when he takes it off in that over-the-head movement he has.

[just_bassics]

I saw it last summer up close and didn't notice any wear on the back, but I wasn't looking too hard. I was mostly checking the color to see how close I got with my own "4001XOVS". The bass seemed to look a bit road worn but was solid. I did notice some cracking and discoloration in the guard. I asked him how it managed to survive through all the years of touring and he just said that he takes "very good care of it".

[teeder]

Jim,

In some photos and when I saw YES in Cleveland it looks like it has high action. Did you notice this at all?

[just_bassics]

I've always noticed that but never asked him about it. I've always assumed that with those big hands, he prefers the action a bit higher.

[teeder]

He seems to get by with it.

[jps]

He seems to get by with it.

Barely!

[johnallg]

He seems to get by with it.

There's an understatement if ever I've heard one.

[miguelbass]

I'm not a low-action fan either. I think for picking style strings can benefit of extra room to vibrate freely with a strong perpendicular component.

Miguel

[aceonbass]

Chris's bass has very high action, and years of steel Rotos along with the neck having been sanded and refinished at least a few times has made it (according to a reliable source) impossible to get any lower. If you like that kind of action, then fine, but the fact is that the higher your action, the more difficult it will be to get your guitar or bass to intonate properly. The main reason my 8 string 4003 conversions intonate so well with shared saddles is because the action is very low. Well, that and another trick I use when setting them up

[FretlessOnly]

Highlighting yet another advantage of fretless!

[aceonbass]

Except you'll never get Squire's tone out of a fretless.

[haw]

At the risk of sounding controversial, I think the RM's sound has changed a lot over the years, and I'm putting down to the higher action rather than amplification.

I'm no expert but to me, all the Yes stuff up to the early eighties has the classic low action sounding growly "clank", the last time you hear it (SFAICT) is "Hold On" on 90125.

Sometime after that though the tone changes - it doesn't have it in the Star Licks video, and in most recordings from Union onward it seems to be mostly gone.

In live recordings over the last twenty years (notwithstanding any changes in his amp rigs) the bass seems to have lost that string-on-fret grind it used to have in the seventies. Is this because the action has become so high now that it could have permanently altered the tone of the bass?

[cheyenne]

Very possible indeed, and a great observation. Thanks to video, when you see a closeup of Chris playing the RM, the action sure looks on the high side to me, especially down below the 12th fret.

Maybe thats why Chris seems to play a "variety" of basses these days.