Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I played and owned a number of Rics, but out of all of them, my Jetglow (2009) has been the best one out of the lot.

Can't explain it....it just plays and feels so right. The others I have enjoyed, but this one is the one I always dreamed of playing.

I read a while back about Lou Barlow from Dinosaur Jr. - when his 4001 was stolen, he tried out some others, but nothing came close. He now plays a Mike Dirnt sig bass....!

So is there such a thing as 'the one' - where every other bass, even of the same marque, never quite matches up? I am in the process of selling my other 4003, because it never gets any use because it just doesn't feel so right.

I must add - my JG may be my 'one', but it's also the bass I've had the most trouble with - pickups being re-wired, knobs falling off at gigs.....but I can't shake it off!

Yes. My 4002.

Yeah. It's true. Guitars made out of wood all have the characteristics of the actual wood that goes into making them. No matter how carefully the factory tries to make them all the same, the differences in the actual pieces of wood will cause differences in the instrument. Some will just "speak" to you. Others can come close, but there are those that just have that extra something that makes them special...

I believe in the concept of "The One", and I believe that it is different for every player. Yes, we all have our favorite neck profiles, our best sounding basses, and so on, but (for me) it usually boils down to intangibles.

Example; my 4004Cii. For me, it is "The One".
The best feeling neck? No, that belongs to my 4001C64.
Best-sounding bass? No, that would be 4001C64 again.
Most comfortable bass? No, that would be my 4003.
Most versatile? No, that would be my 4003 again.

So why is my 4004Cii so special to me? I don't know, it just is.

iiipopes wrote:Yes. My 4002.

That bass is definitely one of "The Ones" out there for sure... an amazing specimen. I was lucky enough, i.e. Scott was gracious enough, to let me use it on a coffeehouse jazz gig for a few songs.

I have a couple of "The Ones" ("the Two"?). My 4003FL--obviously. It has had the most setup work needed out of all of my basses yet it has always felt special to me. It probably has the most gig hours on it out of all of my basses, although my 2007 4003 would be neck-and-neck with it possibly. When this bass has not been good to me it the past it really sucked, but whenever it was good, it seemed to outshine all the annoying stuff. It's now been through lots of setup and work, including fingerboard planing, such that it's basically been "polished" to perfection. Our relationship had a rough start but there was always so much passion there it pretty much had to work.

The other "One" is my 2010 4003, which is a bit of a fluke story. My 2009 had a thick neck that didn't respond to truss rods so RIC replaced it, around mid-2010, with a new bass. Thin two-piece neck and the new finish this time. This bass shouldn't hold much sentimental value to me, being so new, but it does; it plays and feels so well, it's kind of like meeting someone perfect without even trying.

Really, I'd be a liar to say the other two (4003 and 4001FL) don't mean a lot to me as well. The 2007 4003 was my first full-time Ric and was my only bass for the better part of a year. The 4001FL is a very unique spirit, quite exotic and very dependable. I've had better luck "bonding" with each of my Rics than I have any of my previous basses. I guess in the grand scheme of things I'd say there is such a thing as "The One" but in my case it might even be "The Four".

Absolutely there's "THE ONE",of the six guitars I own and my 71 4001 feels so different than all the others.Paul McCartney started off playing a Hofner then went to a Ric , then a Yamaha and breifly a Wal and went back to his Hofner,we bass players seem to always go back to "THE ONE"

I'm still searching for the "One". That's why I've been going through a bunch of basses over the past few years, though I think I'm close.

i've gone thru about ten 4000 series basses in various eras of manufacture, and in my opinion and others who have handled it...my RM1999/4001s DK-581is "the one" !

That seems to be a pretty common feeling with guys that have tried RM's.
Unfortunately (or fortunately for my bank account) I haven't had the pleasure of playing one yet.

if you're ever in buffalo, drop me a line and you can play mine.

YEP...

Unfortunately, it wasn't my bass.

Andy's '64 RM.

My V63 is a close second.

LOVED my 71, but not as much as that RM.

iiipopes wrote:Yes. My 4002.

Yep, mine too!

For me: no, 'The One' does not exist. However, it should be a 360 and it should have higains (in JG, FG, MG, BG or AutumGlo, but please no turquoise nor midnightblue and NO BLACK TRIM).

Kees

Yep - my '74 4001 is 'the one' for me....

I'm glad it's not just me then!