Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Good Evening fellow Rickenbackers,

just joined this great forum and i am expecting my first RIC 4003 bass in Mapleglo soon, big upgrade from a Hofner and im afraid i will most likely hang the 500/1 for a while lol will put up pictures once i receive it.

one thing has anyone tried the DR Legends flats on a ric by any chance and can give me a heads up on how the sound is, thanks in advance.

Welcome, Rudolfo!

I have never tried the DR Legends flats, but have used D'Addario Chromes and TI Jazz Flats on various Rick over the years, all with excellent sound. What kind of tone are you seeking?

Welcome to the RRF!

I haven't heard of DR legends either. I've currently got LaBella Deep Talkin' Flats on my fretless 4003, had Chromes on it for a while. Not sure which I like best yet...

jps wrote:Welcome, Rudolfo!

I have never tried the DR Legends flats, but have used D'Addario Chromes and TI Jazz Flats on various Rick over the years, all with excellent sound. What kind of tone are you seeking?

Thanks Jeff,

I did use Chromes and TI's on my hofner and do love the tone on both, Chromes in my opinion felt more versatile, but any ways, in this video the dudes playing a 74' 4005 and i have a feeling that the strings on that 4005 are DR's flats because the winding is yellow and so are the DR's but i may be wrong, to be honest i got the DR flats brand new and at no cost from a friend who gets a lot of new packaged sets of different brands.

P.S: even though it's a hollow body that's the tone i am aiming for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw6pV9N28Ck

cjj wrote:Welcome to the RRF!

I haven't heard of DR legends either. I've currently got LaBella Deep Talkin' Flats on my fretless 4003, had Chromes on it for a while. Not sure which I like best yet...

Greeting CJ,

I did try La Bella's for a bit but they just weren't my cup of tea.

retrorodi77 wrote:

cjj wrote:Welcome to the RRF!

I haven't heard of DR legends either. I've currently got LaBella Deep Talkin' Flats on my fretless 4003, had Chromes on it for a while. Not sure which I like best yet...

Greeting CJ,

I did try La Bella's for a bit but they just weren't my cup of tea.

Yeah, I can understand that. 'Course, what I want is flats that sound just like Rotosound Swing Bass 66 stainless rounds...

Welcome to the forum, Rudolfo!
I've never heard of DR Legend strings either. The "Legendary" flatwound strings I'm most familiar with are D'Addario Chromes.

retrorodi77 wrote:...in this video the dudes playing a 74' 4005 and i have a feeling that the strings on that 4005 are DR's flats because the winding is yellow and so are the DR's but i may be wrong, to be honest i got the DR flats brand new and at no cost from a friend who gets a lot of new packaged sets of different brands.

P.S: even though it's a hollow body that's the tone i am aiming for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw6pV9N28Ck

4005??? Never heard of it!

I have tried the DR legends and prefer the TIs, myself. I have a set for sale in "Second Strum"

Another vote here for D'Addario Chromes flats. Sound and feel are just right for me.

kiramdear wrote:Another vote here for D'Addario Chromes flats. Sound and feel are just right for me.

Just don't clean them with anything once they broken in. Like a bonehead, I made that mistake for the second time last week. Will probably take a few more days to get them back to the tone I want.

Speaking of cleaning them, I have found that there is a black, oily residue left on the strings (mojo?) from the manufacturing process that will get on your hands and probably the bass, too. I wipe the strings down with either isopropyl alcohol or naphtha before putting them on my basses.

jps wrote:Speaking of cleaning them, I have found that there is a black, oily residue left on the strings (mojo?) from the manufacturing process that will get on your hands and probably the bass, too. I wipe the strings down with either isopropyl alcohol or naphtha before putting them on my basses.

+1 ..... pretty sure it's not "mojo" though

DR Ledgend Flats = DR Hi-Beam FL-45. I kind of liked those when I tried them. Myself I just don’t like steel strings, but if I was forced to use steel I would probably go with DR FL-45. Of all strings I’ve tried DR FL-45 are the steel flats closest to nickel flats – in my very subjective experience.
If you got a set for free then no reason not to try them.

I prefer growl in my flats instead of just thump, so I use the Fender 9050CL set. It has gauges that are closer to RIC gauges: 45-60-80-105. They are the strings that converted me from a 30+ year roundwound player. They have it all: mellow when you want it to be, growly when you need it to be, completely consistent up the neck and from string-to-string, last forever, and economical to purchase. The set was developed by Fender R&D after much input from guys over on TalkBass, including all of us who own Rick basses who bugged the distributor for single 105's to go with the 45-100 set until he gave in.