Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have been trying to get this bass sound. At the moment I have rotosound black nylon flats on my modified 4003 (vintage pup, moved to the 1/2 inch spacing from the neck). I am playing with a felt pick, and I am using an Eden Metro amp.

With these strings I get pretty close to the tone on a lot of "abbey road" which is pretty cool.

Would pyramid flats get me closer to the "sls" or WOA tone?

I was also listening to a partridge family cd the other day and noticed that joe Osbourne's tone on those records is really close to "SLS".

FWIW McCartney used the black Rotos on his Hofner. If it helps any, Joe Osborn used a Fender Jazz.

Yeah, I know Osborn had a jazz (there is a lakland sig model that is pretty much a jazz), but that tone he got is remarkably similar to McCartney's rick tone.

The black nylons on the rick sound pretty cool, but I am finding them a bit on the "woooofy" side, if that description makes any sense.

I know I need some sort of flatwound, but was kjust wondering what to get.

Would having the cap in the bridge pup help?

I was also wondering, did Mccartney have high action on his ric? In "silly love songs" there is almost no fret buzzing at all.

I remember seeing quite a few pictures from the Beatles era where Paul is playing the Ric using only the Horseshoe pickup. That would give you a less "woooofy" sound for sure.

It's playing on my "live 365" right now!!

John, I once read an interview with the guy from 10cc who said he loved recording with Ricks (hence he always had one) and also mentioned that he once got to play Macca's Rickenbacker. He stated the action was so high he didn't know how he (McCartney) ever played it. I believe he described it as "horrible" (and this from a guy who loves Rick basses!). So yes, I reckon he has a pretty high action....

I would also think he probably had the cap in. I know Rickenbacker took his horseshoe off and replaced it with a high gain (although I have seen more recent - ? - pics with it back on)in the Wings era (I'm no McCartney expert so please correct me if I'm wrong), but I would imagine that they would've left the cap in at that time; it was an important part of that 60s/70s Rick sound. Also bear in mind the thinner necks on the older Ricks had some bearing on the sound, as would the finish of his bass, which had I believe been stripped down to bare wood and then lightly sealed only.

Graham Gouldman is "the guy from 10cc". Great Ric bass tone on "I'm not in Love". He also wrote a "few" good songs in his day, "For Your Love", "Heart Full Of Soul" and "Evil Hearted You" for The Yardbirds. "Look Through Any Window", and "Bus Stop" for The Hollies. "No Milk Today" for Herman's Hermits.

Yep, that's him!

to get that sound take a 60's ric bass put a modern high gain in the bridge position without the capaciter and a toaster in the neck and flat wound strings and play through an acoustic 360 bass amp ... and play with a pick ... and strip the finish off of your bass ...

or what I do is take my 4003s5 and play with a pick and palm mute

Paul with his wings bass ...

SLS's bass sounds to me like very old flatwounds with the bridge pickup louder than the neck played with a pick, possibly using the mute. Most players back then very rarely changed their flatwound strings as they believed they sounded better as they got older. I once read a story about Harold Melvin and The Bluenotes bassist and he said that a lot of those guys used to buy new flats and put them in a closet on an old bass with vasoline on the strings so they wouldn't rust, they would leave them in there a year or more to get that proper sound (dead) which was considered great bass sound back then. I still consider it great sound as you can crank up the treble and get a cutting sound and you still sound like a bass player, you get a very thick clear sound like SLS's, it's all mids and lows. I believe that's why Mac got that sound, Joe Osbourne actually had a very trebly tone for back then.

When I first started playing in the 60's flats were all the music stores stocked ...

When John Entwhistle recorded My Generation he bought a Danelectro bass that had round wound strings ... when he broke a string he had to get another bass ... nobody stocked sets of round wound strings back then ...

But with palm muting and boosting mids you can get that Silly love songs/brown eyed girl/all right now sound ...

Also if you let your round wound strings get old enough they start to sound like flats ... flats are cool and smooth ... but a little one dimensional for my taste ... I like fresh nickle round wound strings ...

"... he said that a lot of those guys used to buy new flats and put them in a closet on an old bass with vasoline on the strings so they wouldn't rust, they would leave them in there a year or more to get that proper sound..."

James Jamerson is known to have done it, only in the version I've heard, he covered the strings with margarine.

Donald "Duck" Dunn once told Guitar Player that he used the same set of LaBella flats for 13 years until one broke; another set lasted 7 or 8 years.

and Jaco used fried chicken grease?