Quick update on this. My colleague got his Rickenbacker properly set up … and I still didn’t like it, to me, it just felt ‘clunky’.
We did back to back with my Dingwall Combustion. Both are 4-srings, both are set up with a low action, both in the same price range. The Dingwall is just far easier to play, far more “fluid”, if I can use that word to describe a bass. Even my colleague, and remember within the last month or so, he has dropped €$£ on the Rick, was forced to concede that the Dingwall was better to play, “Ooh, this is nice.”
I’m not saying the Dingwall is the be all and end all, nor am I saying you have to spend fortune - I love playing my Steinberger, which is a far cheaper bass, and I’m pondering a £200 / £250 semi acoustic (if I can get this past my CEO/CFO/Ops Director/conscience, aka, my wife)…
when I was a kid I had a Ricky that I later sold. not too long ago I played one again for the first time in decades. and I hated it. the necks are really old school, wide and flat. if I wanted to get one, I would look really hard at a baum nidhogg instead. similarly I would look at a droc or similar instead of a t-bird.
I’ve been drooling over the Kubicki Factor basses lately. I saw sBL review one, then my YouTube feed was awash with similar, and I have to say that I think I love the engineering/technical side of it more than the sound. I’ve looked at prices and they are definitely out of my league, but I’m making a mental note about the capo arrangement on the head, for use on a future project build.
Not sure if anybody has shared one in this group, but this is what it can look like.
I think I posted about these basses three or four months ago on this thread. They look freakin’ amazing and I love the approach to the drop D. Along with the Steinberger, I think these were one of the iconic basses of the 80s. Played by many, including John Taylor of Duran2.
Indeed. I probably felt they were a bit gimmicky, but they serve a purpose and deliver a sound. It’s just not the sound I want from my bass. I’m still more of a thump than a twang sort of guy.
I really shouldn’t be looking, but this popped up while I was looking for images of Kubicki. This is a rabbit hole that I (fortunately) don’t have the money to go down.