Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I've played one, finally. Bloomin gorgeous to handle, perfect body contour. I didn't try any slap on it, though! Duh!

My group's starting to venture into some real funk territory. A vintage 4001 or a 4003 doesn't handle slap too well in my experience.

A friend of mine who owns a 4004, (albeit a Cii) claims his is a real funk machine. Anybody care to give me a an insight into how good they are?

Any 4000, 4001, 4002, 4003, 4004, will work good for slap ... the 4004 maybe a little better ... a 4001/4003 has the pickup cover that gets in the way ... also the the pickup height has to be correct or else the strings will hit the pole pieces ... I use a pick, fingers, thumb, ... I slap, pluck, whack, etc on all of my Rics ...

the 4004L is brighter than the 4004C because the body wings are made of maple and the 4004C is warmer sounding because the body wings are made of walnut ...

I prefer to rewire the 4004 basses like a jazz bass ... volume, volume, tone ... this enhances their growl by allowing pickup blending ...

Well, Jeff - I'd want it to have the 4-2-5 treatment. Would you be up for doing it, all expenses paid, etc?

It'd be around April time. It's going to have a Dolan refinish, too. I also want all the hardware Gold.

You say L's are brighter sounding, that's good to hear, otherwise I'd have been tempted by a 4004C-5.

I think Jeff was refering to the original C. The CII uses a maple/walnut/maple sandwich for the wings. You may just want to get a CII5 and be done with it, due to the extra cost of changing hardware and getting the bass modded.

And wait a year for delivery...

I don't think the wait will be any less for a Laredo, unless you can find one used, which is pretty rare. The CIIs seem to be in better supply.

It has taken more than a year to get my 360/12 (with no word on its eventual arrival), and that is a pretty popular guitar. Unless dealers have stock of what you want, you have to be prepared to wait for a Ric.

Mark ... If you want gold trim then get a 4004CI or 4004CII ... the 4004CII5 is a different animal ... it has a wider neck and different pickups ... my 4004L makes a good five string bass ... http://www.3dentourage.com/4004L5.htm ... it is an easy mod ... one new tuner a new nut and a new bridge ... I also wire it Volume, Volume, Tone ... the tricky part is getting the right bridge ... most 5 string bridges are 2 1/2" to 2 3/4" to 3" wide ... the bridge that I like to use is 2 3/8" wide ... I don't know who makes them but I find them on Epiphone 5 string basses, Guild pilot 5 string basses, and on Dillion 5 string basses ... so I either find one on ebay or I buy a bass and remove it ... so right now I only have one spare bridge and it is going into a bass ... perhaps I could get a machinist to make some for me ...

but if anybody ever sees ones of these tell me because I want it ...

if you are really into slap bass then you will like the wider spacing of the 4004CII5

You know... I think you're right in many respects, (all of you).

4004Cii5 is probably the best way to go. I've always liked the 4004L, never played a C/Cii/Cii5.

I like the no-frills appearance of the Laredo, reminds me of a modern 'S' bass.

I'll have a go of my friend's Cii5, see how it plays.

that's a good idea ... play both and see what you like ... I started doing 4 2 5 conversions in the time period when there were no 5 string basses produced by Ric ... my favorite 2 basses are these 2 converted basses ... but the Laredo ia a cool bass also ... It has a little bit of a Squire vibe ...

re: slap
I use a set of DR HiBeams that are something like 0.040 to 0.095. They slap great and aren't as rattly as rotosounds.

Ah, cool!

Cheers James for the tip.

Henny said: "I'll have a go of my friend's Cii5, see how it plays".

As a Cii5 owner, I'm anxious to know your comments on the bass.

I would think that the Cii5 would be a great slapper because of the spacing.

Tried it. Loved it.

A world apart from any Ric I've ever played, I couldn't put it down.

Got to steal a Laredo for 15 minutes, and I spent a good 30-45 minutes on the Cii5. Both excellent basses. I totally get what you mean when you describe the Laredo as brighter, Jeff. It had a real aggressive rasp to it, whilst the Cheyenne had a definite thunder to it.

If Zeus played bass, he'd play a Cii5.

Love the beefy neck of the Cii5, and for a 4-string, the Laredo's felt rigid and tough - something to really grip onto especially when attacking E and A at the 4,5 and 6th frets.