A Rickenbacker Question

[Casiraghi22]

I need to ask this questions to all of you. Why do bass player artist Dont use Rickenbacker bass? they mostly use Fender jazz bass or P-bass. Why? isn't Rickenbacker is the World's superb sound around?

[beatlefreak]

Shhh! (It's a secret)

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

to each his/her own ! i had a fender p-bass before i found a rick. after ricks, i went to other basses due to the demands of the music i was playing. after retiring from that band, "twice" i might add, i play my ricks exclusively at home, mostly my '64, though i do have others as well. i'm sure most of the forum members have other basses in their collection they like just as much. but, we're here to discuss a much loved passion, the rickenbacker bass...whatever version or year it may be.

hope this helps !

[Casiraghi22]

to each his/her own ! i had a fender p-bass before i found a rick. after ricks, i went to other basses due to the demands of the music i was playing. after retiring from that band, "twice" i might add, i play my ricks exclusively at home, mostly my '64, though i do have others as well. i'm sure most of the forum members have other basses in their collection they like just as much. but, we're here to discuss a much loved passion, the rickenbacker bass...whatever version or year it may be.

hope this helps !

what do you mean on demand? so what kind of music is the rick is for?

[westaussie]

what do you mean on demand? so what kind of music is the rick is for?

Rick & Roll of course.

[cassius987]

Why do bass player artist Dont use Rickenbacker bass?

There are several who presently do and if you do a proportionality comparison between Fender's output and Rics output it basically matches up. Plus, Fender will often heavily support artists who use their equipment and RIC will not (officially). Truly, you could ask the same question of a ton of basses, like the Conklin Sidewinder series... I mean, Bill Conklin makes a sick bass and we all know several Fender players who will shell out upwards of $3,000 for a vintage reissue model, which puts them in Bill's price bracket. But I've never seen a Conklin bass anywhere other than back in my home town where Bill lives.

Quality is just one of many factors here, and I think that was what you were asking about. As for me, if I were famous or even semi-famous, I'd gladly stick with my 4003FL. It's never done me wrong--and I've definitely put it through some heavy gigging already.

[seyesbass]

Lots of reasons for Fender (Precision mostly) being the "standard" electric bass you see at gigs and on tv etc...
As an off the peg bass Fenders can be fairly consistent throughout their price range that is Squier all the way to the Standard American Series.
You can get a p bass for as little or as much as you want to spend.
For a guy who just wants to slot into a gig on bass and get a recognised "standard" bass guitar type of sound its easy to go in with a P bass.

I have gone to auditions with a Rickenbacker and before even playing a note some guy will say "and keep the treble down.. those Ricks are too twangy for me" and all that kind of rubbish.They didnt like the look of it and you knew you wouldnt fit in in that band.Lots of bands want a guy on bass that just blends into the background and a white,Fireglo or maple Rickenbacker never blends into the background!
Theres a preconcieved and totally misjudged idea that Ricks only do twang and thats got a lot to do with punk bands in the later part of the 70s grindng out the top end to cut through the power chord guitarist thrashing onstage and on record.
Lemmy put that style to good use in his sound but it all has left a bad image on the versatility that we know a 4000 series bass is capable of.
Fingerstyle isnt as comfortable with a 4001 so that often becomes a factor.

Then theres price and availability...if you are playing bass to blend in (as it were) why fork out so much money and have so much more hassle finding one?
There is also the way the 4000 series bass has changed over the years and as some of you know I have owned 60s Ricks and later re-issues and once you have tried that vintage sound really only the original hardware will do.
You can buy a pretty accurate re-make of a 1965 Fender Jazz or Precision via the Custom Shop with hardware as per the originals but a 1965 Rick re-make is not available so even if you want a vintage type Rick and have the money you might end up going with a Fender in the end.
I thought a Rickenbacker Custom Shop would satisfy a market that is hungry for basses such as the 60s Rose Morris exports with all the original attributes.
One day maybe...

Still theres been more Rickenbacker sightings on tv in the last five years and the styles of the players have been varied but in lots of minds the P bass is the standard and I doubt that will ever change.

[cassius987]

Fingerstyle isnt as comfortable with a 4001 so that often becomes a factor.

-1. That's pretty much all I ever do, and I've definitely done it on Fenders and other brands of bass as well. I don't get this complaint at all.

[cjj]

Fingerstyle isnt as comfortable with a 4001 so that often becomes a factor.

-1. That's pretty much all I ever do, and I've definitely done it on Fenders and other brands of bass as well. I don't get this complaint at all.

The only thing I could ever figure out with this was the bridge pickup cover sometimes being in the way, but that is easy to fix...

[rickaddict]

Fingerstyle isnt as comfortable with a 4001 so that often becomes a factor.

Yeah, that statement struck a chord (!) with me as well.

There is no better, more comfortable bass to play finger-style than an S model 4000 series with the pickup cover off. At least, I haven't found one in my 30 years of searching (and that includes the P and the Jazz, too).

The neck, the string spacing, the body size/shape, and the balance (both on the strap and on your lap) of an S make it the perfect bass for playing finger-style.

[cassius987]

The neck, the string spacing, the body size/shape, and the balance (both on the strap and on your lap) of an S make it the perfect bass for playing finger-style.

And that gets a +1. I concur...

[FretlessOnly]

I find the 4001/4003 to lack one simple feature: a thumb anchor between the two pickups would be perfect for me. I need my thumb to be a good inch away from the E string, so I use the upper edge of the pickguard just to the right of the neck pickup for a thumb anchor and play pizzicato just to the left of the bridge pickup. It's not an ideal setup for me, but that's where the strings respond best to my style (on all of my basses, BTW), so I make do.

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

i've never had trouble playing a 4000 series with pick or finger, cover on or off. that comes down to personal preference or the sacrifice willing to be made to adjust to it.

as far as music style, if the bass is tuned to a lower pitch, the strings will get floppy, then the action has to come up, which defeats the purpose of having a rick in the first place. a badarse bridge mod or other types will tighten this up a bit by not having too much unused length of string behind the saddles. playing heavy metal, you tend to hit a lot harder, so the tighter the string, the better. other types of music, there is no need to hit as hard, so the standard rick setup works well. instead of doing major surgery, i decided at that time to hang up the ricks and get a tighter bass fot the music style i was playing professionally.

[rickenbrother]

Why do bass player artist Dont use Rickenbacker bass? they mostly use Fender jazz bass or P-bass. Why?

Advertising and promotion through artist endorsement.

[seyesbass]

I play fingerstyle too and use a pick also and its no problem for me.
What I was saying is that the perception (because of the layout of the pickup cover and so on) leads players that havent had experience of a 4001 type bass into thinking its not a fingerstyle players bass to start with.
They have a problem with the Rick hardware on the front of the body as opposed to the more open layout of a P bass which they like because of the access to the strings all the way to the bridge saddles.
This isnt just an idea of mine its stuff I have been told by players who have tried my Ricks and quite a few didnt like the tailpiece either.
Basses are like cars in the way some guys wont even look at certain makes no matter how good they really are.
For instance our drummer has the cheek to call my Volvo V70 and then he buys a Renault that looks like its been hit by a bus and the electrics are always shorting out!
For build quality I say the Rick is a Volvo V70 estate and the Fender is a Renault Megane and basically you get what you pay for and quality like Rickenbacker costs.
Dont forget I am a Rickenbacker supporter and this is stuff other guys have a problem with in answer to the original question as to why players seem to avoid Ricks.
Its a real pity that Macca didnt use a Rick on his recent tours..that would have shown them what a 4001 can do.
If everyone wanted a 4001 what would the backlog be like though!