NRR3 (New Rics Report Number 3)
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 6:12 pm
Here comes the third installment of me proclaiming "Hey guys, there some cool basses at Wildwood Guitars!!", basically. Why do I even write these? It's primarily to educate new people on rarer Ric basses, because for several years I would wonder what all kinds of different Rics were like before I finally got to play one. When I go learn about it firsthand I am happy to share. Secondly I am really grateful to RIC for making the instruments, and to Wildwood Guitars for being a great dealer that keeps them in stock, so I figure I am in some small way supporting both businesses by putting this honest ground-level information out there so people know where to look if they are in the market for a new instrument.
This time around I played three basses, basically to blow off some steam after I finished my last preliminary exam. I drove to Louisville in record time and asked to try out all the Ric basses they had (don't worry, I called on my way up to make sure this would be alright), which included a 4004 Cii TransBlue, a 4004 Cii TransRed, and a 4001C64S Matte Jetglo.
First the 4004 Cii TransBlue. This bass was really exciting to see hanging on the wall for two reasons, one being its two-piece neck (although it is a 2008 serial number), and secondly because IT WAS PURPLE. Did anyone else know about this? At the headstock the finish is deep blue, but as you progress to the tailpiece shades of lavender and violet appear until it is pure purple at the butt end. I took some pics on my phone and will try to upload them later. As for playability, the two-piece neck was 1/16'' (my estimate) narrower and a noticeably shallower than the one-piece of the other 4004 I played (reviewed below), so this bass was a bit easier wank around on if necessary but not drastically so. Unfortunately the tone was not really doing it for me--the string balance was good but the tone seemed flat and uninteresting across the board. I honestly think it was the strings because the basic character of the tone was no different from the other 4004, and yet this one just lacked a certain amount of luster (there's probably a word for that). It wasn't bad, it just wasn't grinning ear-to-ear good like I expected after play testing three other 4004s. Also, the action was high, about 5-6 mm off of the end of the fingerboard to the string (whereas I'm used to no more than 3 mm distance). I believe it was the RIC factory setup; there was room for the strings to drop quite a bit.
Secondly, the 4004 Cii TransRed. This one truly was red, not like Fireglo with its smokey border. It was a one-piece neck, and the neck felt much more like a 4004 to me than the two-piece TransBlue bass had--the right width and the right thickness, which was relatively thick. Also, I confirmed what others have said: the fingerboards on these do indeed spread out wider than on a 4003 contrary to the specs listed, but honestly, you do not "feel" this whatsoever. You have to look hard to even notice it. This bass felt a quarter of a pound heavier than the TransBlue (more mass in the neck portion I'm sure) but it was difficult to really know. As for the tone, it was superb. Zingy and crunchy, with a real clarity coming from the neck pickup especially. Ironically I preferred playing with the neck pickup rather than the bridge pickup when I plucked the strings closest to the bridge--the bridge pickup sounded good but it had more mid-range growl compared to the neck pickup's wide-open tone. The action was nearly identical to the TransBlue 4004 but I feel as though the strings were in better shape because the tone was so much nicer with this bass. I mentioned it to the salesman who was helping me.
Finally, the 4001C64S in Matte Jetglo. I didn't know what to expect really, because with a price tag like these have I have never really even given them a serious look. However this was truly a fine bass, and I was especially impressed with the way the matte finish seemed not to show any marks or hand oils as well as the fact that it was a very smooth finish with absolutely no "grab" (although I should note that I didn't notice any grab on the glossy 4004s either). Also, the zero fret was great--the action at the nut was very low and everything played nicely. The neck was a two-piece (based on this being a NAMM 2010 bass) and was very thin, perhaps the thinnest I've felt besides my 4001FL. The tone of this bass was clearer and more open than the 4004s were, especially as far as the 1/2''-spaced Toaster went. I found myself coming back to the Toaster over and over because I found it a lot more useable than the RI Horseshoe. The Horseshoe was nice, don't get me wrong, but it's tone was very mid-rangey and aggressive. I really had to work on taming it more than I wanted to. My favorite tone from the 4001C64S ultimately resulted by turning the Horseshoe down quite a bit more than I'm used to attenuating any pickup, and then letting the Toaster do the majority of the talking. Still, I can see why people like the Horseshoe, as it's certainly got a tone of its own--I'm glad I got to hear one, but I won't be buying any to retrofit. But what was even more fun for me was hearing the slight boost of openness and punch the Toaster picked up at the 1/2'' spacing. In my case the difference isn't so great that it would be worth routing the neck pickup cavity to accommodate it, but I can still see the appeal of it--it's an open and solid tone that's clean and has a splendid attack-release profile. I can see why they say Chris Squire favored this pickup. If I had to have a Ric bass with only one pickup, I would probably go for something like the 1/2'' spaced Toaster, because it's just so darned "useable". Finally, this bass had the same action of the 4004s with 6 mm of clearance at the end of the fingerboard, but there was a lot of room to come down. The stock bridge was not doing any amount of tail lift whatsoever--I was sure to check because I'd heard these models are notorious for it, but this one was fine.
That wraps it up... I will try to post pics of the purple TransBlue finish later on. Thanks for reading, and if you're interested in purchasing one of these basses and have questions you can PM me.
This time around I played three basses, basically to blow off some steam after I finished my last preliminary exam. I drove to Louisville in record time and asked to try out all the Ric basses they had (don't worry, I called on my way up to make sure this would be alright), which included a 4004 Cii TransBlue, a 4004 Cii TransRed, and a 4001C64S Matte Jetglo.
First the 4004 Cii TransBlue. This bass was really exciting to see hanging on the wall for two reasons, one being its two-piece neck (although it is a 2008 serial number), and secondly because IT WAS PURPLE. Did anyone else know about this? At the headstock the finish is deep blue, but as you progress to the tailpiece shades of lavender and violet appear until it is pure purple at the butt end. I took some pics on my phone and will try to upload them later. As for playability, the two-piece neck was 1/16'' (my estimate) narrower and a noticeably shallower than the one-piece of the other 4004 I played (reviewed below), so this bass was a bit easier wank around on if necessary but not drastically so. Unfortunately the tone was not really doing it for me--the string balance was good but the tone seemed flat and uninteresting across the board. I honestly think it was the strings because the basic character of the tone was no different from the other 4004, and yet this one just lacked a certain amount of luster (there's probably a word for that). It wasn't bad, it just wasn't grinning ear-to-ear good like I expected after play testing three other 4004s. Also, the action was high, about 5-6 mm off of the end of the fingerboard to the string (whereas I'm used to no more than 3 mm distance). I believe it was the RIC factory setup; there was room for the strings to drop quite a bit.
Secondly, the 4004 Cii TransRed. This one truly was red, not like Fireglo with its smokey border. It was a one-piece neck, and the neck felt much more like a 4004 to me than the two-piece TransBlue bass had--the right width and the right thickness, which was relatively thick. Also, I confirmed what others have said: the fingerboards on these do indeed spread out wider than on a 4003 contrary to the specs listed, but honestly, you do not "feel" this whatsoever. You have to look hard to even notice it. This bass felt a quarter of a pound heavier than the TransBlue (more mass in the neck portion I'm sure) but it was difficult to really know. As for the tone, it was superb. Zingy and crunchy, with a real clarity coming from the neck pickup especially. Ironically I preferred playing with the neck pickup rather than the bridge pickup when I plucked the strings closest to the bridge--the bridge pickup sounded good but it had more mid-range growl compared to the neck pickup's wide-open tone. The action was nearly identical to the TransBlue 4004 but I feel as though the strings were in better shape because the tone was so much nicer with this bass. I mentioned it to the salesman who was helping me.
Finally, the 4001C64S in Matte Jetglo. I didn't know what to expect really, because with a price tag like these have I have never really even given them a serious look. However this was truly a fine bass, and I was especially impressed with the way the matte finish seemed not to show any marks or hand oils as well as the fact that it was a very smooth finish with absolutely no "grab" (although I should note that I didn't notice any grab on the glossy 4004s either). Also, the zero fret was great--the action at the nut was very low and everything played nicely. The neck was a two-piece (based on this being a NAMM 2010 bass) and was very thin, perhaps the thinnest I've felt besides my 4001FL. The tone of this bass was clearer and more open than the 4004s were, especially as far as the 1/2''-spaced Toaster went. I found myself coming back to the Toaster over and over because I found it a lot more useable than the RI Horseshoe. The Horseshoe was nice, don't get me wrong, but it's tone was very mid-rangey and aggressive. I really had to work on taming it more than I wanted to. My favorite tone from the 4001C64S ultimately resulted by turning the Horseshoe down quite a bit more than I'm used to attenuating any pickup, and then letting the Toaster do the majority of the talking. Still, I can see why people like the Horseshoe, as it's certainly got a tone of its own--I'm glad I got to hear one, but I won't be buying any to retrofit. But what was even more fun for me was hearing the slight boost of openness and punch the Toaster picked up at the 1/2'' spacing. In my case the difference isn't so great that it would be worth routing the neck pickup cavity to accommodate it, but I can still see the appeal of it--it's an open and solid tone that's clean and has a splendid attack-release profile. I can see why they say Chris Squire favored this pickup. If I had to have a Ric bass with only one pickup, I would probably go for something like the 1/2'' spaced Toaster, because it's just so darned "useable". Finally, this bass had the same action of the 4004s with 6 mm of clearance at the end of the fingerboard, but there was a lot of room to come down. The stock bridge was not doing any amount of tail lift whatsoever--I was sure to check because I'd heard these models are notorious for it, but this one was fine.
That wraps it up... I will try to post pics of the purple TransBlue finish later on. Thanks for reading, and if you're interested in purchasing one of these basses and have questions you can PM me.
