Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi guys, I'm new, but very glad to be here amonst such a knowledgeable bunch. I hope I've put this question in the right place.
I've wondered for a while about how the sound of a 4004 cheyenne compares with the sound of a 4004 Laredo.
I love the sound of my 2008 4004cii, but I recently saw for sale a Laredo in fireglo, and was very curious because I have never had the chance to play a laredo. And also, is there much of a difference between the feel or weight, or are they pretty much the same?
Thanks guys, Mella.

I have a 2006 Laredo and a 2009 Cheyenne Cii. I find that for some reason the Cii seems to have a brighter tone, although this goes against what most others say. Anyway I guess the main differences are the woods (Hardwood vs. Hardrock Maple/Walnut), the necks (finished Bubinga vs. unfinished Bubinga), and hardware (metallic vs. gold). That said, they're both very indispensable basses from my playing perspective. I usually bring both of them to my gigs, although sometimes I like to have my 4003 along in tow as well.

I think the differences in tone are going to be fairly minimal,more or less like the subtle differences you would hear comparing 4001's,4003's,etc. It's mostly down to the characteristics of the individual bass. I think my Cii sounds pretty bright and lively,and I do hope to be able to make a direct comparison between a laredo and a Cii at home in the near future,. (and I can say no more!)

I believe the differences in "tone woods" are really overplayed. They're there but I defy you to identify them clearly in a performance setting or a professionally recorded band mix. In the case of maple versus maple/walnut/maple, I can barely perceive a difference, if any at all. And the lamination may have as much to do with it as the wood. I have play-tested six or seven Ciis at this point and they all sound quite similar to a 4003 with HB-1s installed. The differences are mostly related to pickup location and impedance loading.

There was an awesome thread on TalkBass (don't link it if you find it, it's against the rules here) that tried to get people to identify the difference between common woods on Fenders like ash and alder, and most people failed miserably when it came to the body wood. Myself included. Fingerboard wood was easier to identify by sound alone. This was all isolated stuff mostly, and when it was finally put in a mix in one test the previously obvious difference in tone from two different fingerboard woods also seemed to diminish. Some people were really offended by this result--that the differences weren't so obvious--and countered with a lot of anecdotal evidence or accusations that the majority of listeners have poorly trained ears but never produced anything substantive to prove their cases. A couple kept saying, "There ARE differences, but they are totally random and unpredictable." Okay so... if we compare the parameters of your two sample sets with such high variance... they would turn out not to be significantly different. Another way of saying that is they would be indistinguishable from each other.

Mella, welcome to the Forum.

You may find that the "Solution" to your dilemma is to get both a Cheyenne and a Laredo.

Welcome to the forum, Mella. If there are tonal differences between the Cheyenne and the Laredo, it would be minimal and something that eq would settle the differece of. I'm a big fan of the Cii Cheyenne.

And to complicate matters, some Laredos are constructed with the maple/walnut/maple sandwich in the body wings, so if the wood structure has any effect on tone, you really can't rely on all Laredos sounding that different from all Cheyenne IIs.

Thanks for your replies guys, I really didn't think that they could be that much different, I love the cheyenne I have at the moment. It's a trans blue that I will be selling soon because I don't really think that the colour is very me, as fussy as that sounds.
But I've also heard that the neck of the Laredo is thicker, is this true?

8mileshigher wrote:Mella, welcome to the Forum.

You may find that the "Solution" to your dilemma is to get both a Cheyenne and a Laredo.

My master plan has been discovered. I'm thinking jetglo Laredo and trans red Cheyenne? (Manical laughter)

As in the tonal differences,neck differences are going to be minimal,as these basses are CNC-milled,although the fact they are then individually hand-sanded will probably result in minor variations. (my Cii neck "seems" a tad thinner feeling than the rather limited number of other 4004's I've been able to check out,but that could be purely subjective.)

Hmm, interesting. They're such a beautiful instrument, I'm going to have to keep saving my cash if I want another one soon tho. I'm so looking forward to it.