Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Probably loads of info but I did a search and got tired after about the 5th page without seeing anything.

Anyway.....playing mostly classic rock to modern..... but really all styles including some prog and country.

Currently have TI Jazz Flats on my '74 4001 and Chromes on my '09 4001S C64 and the factory strings on the 4004cii.

Are most of you running rounds on the 4004 or do you find that flats give a more preferred sound for the type of music I am doing?
Hate to have ALL my basses with flats (my P-Bass is running TI Jazz but my Jazz, Stingray and Dingwall have rounds).

Thoughts, comments, suggestions?

I've used D'Addario Chromes on my 4004 and liked the results. If you don't like the sound, it's only $25-50 investment to have tried it out.

I had DR sunbeams on my cii for several years and really like the way they sounded. I recently exchanged my maxima flatwounds from my 4000 to the cii,and that combination seems better than when they were on the 4000, which now has DR fatbeams,super grindy. the cii pickups really bring out the thick fundamental more. I guess it just depends on what sound or feel you want,i sort of miss hearing the grind of the rw's on the cii,but i have a laredo strung with rw circle K strings,so i have some real nice variations with my 3 Rics.
The cii is gonna sound good with whatever string set you choose.

I have TI JFs on my Laredo and they give me most of what i need for the various rock/pop songs i do with TKK. Only thing missing is a B string. I do have TI JRs on both my '73 4001 and '98 4001V63 when I need even more grind, but the 4004 sounds great.

blueflamerick wrote:I've used D'Addario Chromes on my 4004 and liked the results. If you don't like the sound, it's only $25-50 investment to have tried it out.

+1
I have a D'Addario Chromes ECB84 set .040 - .100 on one of my Cii's. It sounds great for classic rock, blues and R&B. Palm mute and a pick with the right eq and you'll have a convincing MCCartney sound. Palm mute and your thumb and you'll get a cool double bass-like sound. More than half the price of the TI JF334 set, at least in the USA. My other Cii's have D'Addario XL-170 sets for brighter tone.

D'Addario Chromes on my 4004LK for primarily metal noodling. Also used 'em on my (all ex) Laredo, Ci, Cii and Cii/5 with similar success.

Thanks for the input and suggestions........

I had been hesitant to put flats on the 4004 since both my 4001 have flats and lets face it....rounds on a ric have that sound to die for.

Maybe I will pull the Chromes off of my C64 and swap them with the Ric strings on the 4004.

Never really swapped out strings before as I usually just replace them but both sets are fairly new (less than 3 months)

Do you lose anything by swapping strings between basses?

T28 wrote:Do you lose anything by swapping strings between basses?

Only a few minutes of time.

Just be careful as you pull the curled end of the strings through the tailpiece/bridges to avoid scratching anything, otherwise you are good to go.

jps wrote:

T28 wrote:Do you lose anything by swapping strings between basses?

Only a few minutes of time.

Just be careful as you pull the curled end of the strings through the tailpiece/bridges to avoid scratching anything, otherwise you are good to go.

What Jeff said. Especially the scratching part.

thanks guys......I just swapped strings out with the C64 and gigged with it last night.
Sounded great....no issues other than I had to touch up the tuning a bit more than usual.

I just put some F****r black nylon tapewounds on my fretless, I really like 'em. Has anyone tried these on a Cheyenne?

Tech tip here.

When I change strings I put a strip of painters tape (light adhesive), just behind the bridge where the strings pull out. That way if the curled end of the string gets away from you, it will hit the tape and not the finish.

When your done, remove the tape, I've done this for alot of years with no damage.

Everybody is missing the best set of flats in the last 30 years: Fender 9050CL steel flats in 45-60-80-105. They have more character than chromes. They growl when you want them to, mellow when you need them to. They're absolutely consistent string-to-string and up the neck. They don't clank or thud out. They last forever. These are the strings that converted me to flats after playing rounds after over 35 years of playing and trying everything out there. They're also really economical, both in price and longetivity. I use them for everything from Friday night to Sunday morning.

Are the 9050CLs a better fit for the Rics than the 9050Ls?

Or do you just personally prefer the 105 vs the 100?

The 105 has similar tension to the 45, 60, 80 strings whereas the 100 is more in line with tradition by being a bit more slack. It's up to you but lots of us prefer even tension across the strings. Some don't mind it a bit; the famous TI JF344 set has quite a bit of variance in tension, for example. So do lots of string sets by D'Addario, which is one of my favorite string makers for rounds. But I think in general more players are turning on to the idea of tensional balance.

My recommendation for flats is either the 9050CL set as Scott said or my new favorite, the LaBella 760FX (Deep Talkin' Flats). The Fender CLs are a bit mellower and have a bit more tension than the LaBella FX set. I prefer the LaBellas nowadays because they feel great under my fingers due to the lower tension; somewhere between the Fender 9050CLs and the TI JF344, but equally as balanced as the Fenders. On the other hand I haven't gotten to take the LaBellas in the studio yet; some here will know that I once had great success using the Fenders to get a big, fat tone in the studio so those are tried-and-true for me.