Rick-o-Sound, or alternatives to "the grey box"

green_us90 · Post by **green_us90** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 3:33 pm

Hi guys,

Just experimenting here- I used to have the rick-o-sound kit but have since lost it- I have 2 amps and would like to run my 4003 in stereo mode. Without using a rick o sound kit, wat would be the best way to do this? Does Radio Shack or some electronics outlet sell a 1/4 in splitter, that will be in stereo?

Thanks

jps · Post by **jps** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 5:20 pm

Yes they do, that will work. Eventually I may make myself a splitter, but at the moment I don't have a need for one.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 6:44 pm

If you make one use good wire or it will pick up all sorts of noise, lights, especially neon, lots of line buzz too.

greg_mitchell · Post by **greg_mitchell** » Sat Jan 29, 2005 7:38 pm

I'm contemplating getting a ROS kit. I play a 4003 as well and wondered is it worth it to buy a Rick-O-Sound kit? Would I do as well to try and build one?

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Jan 29, 2005 8:02 pm

the problem with ric-o-sound is you have to use a non-standard stereo jack ... then it splits the signal by pickup ... for me it would be a lot better just to split or double the mono signal coming out of the bass ...

thx1955 · Post by **thx1955** » Sat Jan 29, 2005 8:15 pm

The dual mono approach means both signals are the same, that's great if you decide to route one to effects, or a DI box.

The ROS box (or stereo to twin mono cable) allows you to take each pickup individually and then route that to an input tailored to that particular pickup.

Both are good !!!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sat Jan 29, 2005 8:40 pm

I had one and the stereo jack was a normal jack, the ric-o-sound stereo jack on the basses uses regular stereo jacks also. I don't understand what you mean by that Jeff.
I think it's worth it to buy one if you're into it, is a lot less hassle than a Y cord and would likely be less noisy, and they look cool also.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Jan 29, 2005 9:02 pm

what I mean by a non standard stereo jack is that if you go to your local music store you will see a whole bunch of guitar cables ... none of them will have a stereo jack ... the stereo jack on a guitar or bass is non standard ...

greg_mitchell · Post by **greg_mitchell** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 7:21 am

Yes, but if your guitar is equipped to play stereo, like mine, would it be worthwhile to pay the $75.00 for the R-O-S kit? Or is it a frivolous waste of money better spent elsewhere?

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 8:09 am

that is your choice ... for me the answer is no but for someone else it could be yes ...

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 8:57 am

I would buy the kit, you're going to spend at least 50 bucks or more on good cable anyway, and then you're going to have to buy good jacks, then you're going to have to soldier it all together and it's not going to look as good as a ric-o-sound kit. So you're not really saving much money, you're doing a lot of work and it will most likely look amatuerish when you are done. The kit does not come with the mono cable however, you'll have to buy those. Also with the ric-o-sound kit you can buy any length mono cables you want to, if you make a Y cord you're stuck with the length of the two mono ends.

greg_mitchell · Post by **greg_mitchell** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 10:27 am

First of all, apologies to Dave for hijacking his thread. That was not my intention.
Secondly: Does it make THAT much difference in sound that would justify actually ordering it?

thx1955 · Post by **thx1955** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 11:02 am

Hi Greg, if you mean difference between the Ric-O-Sound box and a good custom cable, sonically there's absoultley none.

The box has a distinct advantage if you're running two heads, since you can position the box where suits and then run individual mono cables to each head wiith the appropriate lengths..

If like me you've a head with two seperate channels, then I find a custom cable a neater and easier way to go. In my case I'd say for sure running in ROS is a huge difference over running summed out via the normal jack.

Each tail goes into one channel and I've only one cable going to my head. I don't have to worry about the box and where to put it.

As for the overall sound, I love how my setup sounds and I really like driving both channels on my head concurrently.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 11:14 am

In my very humble opinion based on my experiments, there's a BIG difference in sound between using the Rick-O-Sound and splitting the summed up mono signal into 2 amps. Let's suppose the song calls for a little distortion for the bass:

With the mono-split-to-dual-mono setup, both your bass and treble pickup go to both the clean and distorted amps. The bass pickup in the mono signal makes the distorted amp muddier and less defined while the treble pickup makes the clean amp not so clean and not so transparent. The resulting sound is thicker, punchier but muddier.

With the Rick-O-Sound, you route your treble pickup to the distorted amp and route the bass pickup to a clean amp. In such a setup, the distortion is clearer and has more definition because the less boomy treble pickup signal works well with distortion or overdrive. The bass pickup routed to a clean amp gives you good transparent low end that doesn't interfere with the guiars. The bass sound produced by such a setup has a well defined and fat low end with clear mid-rangey distortion on top. This is more to my liking.

I'm not saying one is superior to the other though. It's all up to the player's taste and preference. So, experiment with both and see/hear which suits you better.

French cuisine or Chinese? You decide.

Bob is right on. The cost of a good DIY stereo-to-dual-mono cable is about the same as an ROS which looks pretty cool. How much does a good mono-to-dual-mono spliter cost anyway?

thx1955 · Post by **thx1955** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 12:13 pm

Paul, Bob
Not sure where you guys buy your cable and jacks, but it's not going to cost $75 to make a good cable.

Lets say 25ft of a good quality stereo cable, Mogami, or Canare, we'll be real generous and call it $1.50 a foot. Pair of Nuetric right angle 1/4 male mono's are $3 each. and the right angle Stereo $4.50

Total for a 25 foot cable, approximatley $45. I had mine custom made and it was less than $40, including shipping, and was made using Mogami and Neutric.

A good Mono to dual Mono splitter oh, maybe $10.

Paul,
Good example for using ROS !!!