Bass Porn

Speaking of porn, I went to the Chicago music exchange for the first time yesterday to sell them my old cabs. If you have a chance ever, check them out. pretty impressive. They had the honey burst bongo, beautiful.

But what really grabbed my attention was a 77 mapleglo Ricky. I have never paid any attention to the mapleglo, because honestly you see them in pix all the time and they look boring. Including this one. But seeing it in person, well I think my eyes got a little misty :heart_eyes:. Itā€™s not helpful that the price is actually kind of reasonable either.

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I like that Rickenbacker . . . :+1:

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Amazing. And hanging next to a big poster of Macca playing one didnā€™t hurt.

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Love the Ric @itsratso,
It looks awesome,
Cheers Brian

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this is the bass used by the All Them Witches bassist. this is a butchered old Rickenbacker with the upper horn cut of. I kinda like this weird shape :

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Ha, itā€™s very SBV :slight_smile:

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oh yeah, I didnā€™t realize that !

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You know I love Bongos but gonna be a heretic here and dislike the look of this one. Bongos should be flat black, dayglo, pastel, or sparkly.

I donā€™t want to see woodgrain on a Bongo, I want to see a bass from Blade Runner. :slight_smile:

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NicešŸ‘ @terb,
Cheers Brian

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Brian @TNKA36, how do you think the Rickenbacker neck feels compared to the Fender Jazz? (I know the Rickā€™s neck is just mm wider, flatter, and shorter). :thinking:

Iā€™m reluctant to buy one without trying it in person, but thereā€™s none around here. :frowning:

Cheers
Joe

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Hi @Jazzbass19,
The neck on the Ricky is really nice, I have a J bass, and personally I like the neck on the Ricky over the J bass.
The only thing I think is a bit quirky on the Ricky is where you rest your right thumb, the pick up surround is bigger than a normal pick up on a J bass or a P bass, they are recessed with the chrome surround, that takes a bit of getting used to.
They are a beautiful bass with a completely different tone to anything else, I would want to play one before I bought itšŸ‘
They IMO are more of a pick players bass, Chris Squire style.
I hope my opinion doesnā€™t sound negative as it always comes down to an individual choice, if it was on looks alone the Ricky is the best looking bass in the world and Iā€™d say they are used by a couple of the top 10 bassistā€™s to ever hold a bass in their hands.
Cheers Brian

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Hey Joe @Jazzbass19,
I was just thinkingšŸ¤”you can always come to Melbourne and try mine or Macā€™s outšŸ˜‚, ps: mine is nicer than hisšŸ‘Itā€™s the colour
Cheers Brian

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Yes, I know you have quite a collection, Brian @TNKA36 . . . :slight_smile:

Since you do, I thought it would be easy for you to compare them side by side, and thatā€™s why I asked. Been thinking about a Rick for some time now but am only able to look at Internet pictures so far (itā€™s a real hassle for me to return items where I live) . . . :frowning:

I really, really like the neck on my J-bass and was hoping the Rickā€™s neck wasnā€™t too wide or thick at the top 3 frets. Looks like much better higher fret access than the J has, too!

I know I need to try one in person, but thanks for your input . . . I appreciate it.

Cheers
Joe

P.S. a trip to Melbourne might be easier than waiting for a Rick at the Guitar Center :rofl:

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Hi Joe @Jazzbass19,
You could forget the bit about returning it, if you get one itā€™s never leaving you again :heart: I was reluctant to part with the black one, the only reason I let it go was I had 2, even though the black one was older ā€œ76ā€ I like the ā€œ79ā€ burgundy colour better, and it is like new, the black one was a players bass, and itā€™s gone to a good homeā€‹:+1:
Cheers Brian

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Now that sounds encouraging, Brian!

I donā€™t use a pick, so I could remove the pickup cover if I ever get a Rick . . . :thinking:

(hmmm . . . thatā€™s one obstacle down :wink: )

Cheers
Joe

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No itā€™s not ! :joy:
Itā€™s Harleys , the black ones always go faster

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I was about to ask WTF a red harley was and then I remembered Buell.

Sorry, but Buellā€™s are faster :slight_smile:

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I recall footage of Cliff Burton playing the shit out of his rick, and he was not a pick player, or at least not always a pick player. And I donā€™t remember for sure, and i donā€™t want to miss speak here, but I thought Geddy Lee was more of a finger player if not all finger style (I should be shot for not knowing right off the top of my head), and I have seen him play his rick a lot.

@howard. I am not even a bongo fan, so I am not gonna beat you up about it. I have never played one, and that might change my mind, after-all, I did start thinking I liked Ibanez and LTD and Schecters best (from what I had) until I started playing the first Ray4 I bought, which quickly became and remains my go to bass, and I did not see that coming at first
But,
BUt
BUT, a big but. (true story time)
it was in Jan of last year when I was taking a friend up to LA to get some stuff from his familyā€™s house in the Hollywood hills. I had just started toying with the idea to play music again, and I just decided I wanted to play bass instead of go back to guitar, and while we were up in Hollywood (last January) on a Saturday afternoon, I decided I wanted to go into the Hollywood GC. Like THE GC. The one that was on the airwaves daily on FM hair metal radio stations talking about the sale of the century (every friday and every saturday and every sunday and basically every day of the week. lol. They used to be joked about so much around souther cal in the 80ā€™s thru 90ā€™s. Anytime somebody would talk about something being on sale or a special or a discount, somebody else would imitate the GC commercials Live, this weekend only, on Friday, on Sat, on Sun, this week only prices slashed etcā€¦)
Ok, so yes, THE GC, on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. We walked in, and I was walking around looking at the basses, started around the used section, which wraps into the guitar wall and back to the bass corner used section, and back front to the cheap bass wall, I made my way around the whole thing, and all the stingrays caught my eyes, like yeah baby.
But I was just thinking and I was just trying to see if they had any $99 specials I could just pick up to start playing, so when I was walking around and finally found the Ibanez Gio and Squire and Mitchell basic model wall, I remember thinking to myself, walking past the stingrays, ok that is the big boy section, I need the kiddy section.
So, they did draw my eye immediatly.
And this was before I got back to the stage of recalling every bass model that every bassist played, I had not paid attention in years, I was just walking into the GC, after 20 years not playing, and not following music video or being stuck in Orange County Punk mode, etcā€¦ so when I first walked in, I was not like Oh yeah Stingray, yeah, that was the bass Fender made after selling Fender, and bla bla bla. but it caught my eye as a bass among basses, so it is not surprising to myself that I am a stingray guy.
It just never happened with the bongo for me

But I will tell you Joe @Jazzbass19, an funny thing, the one bass that I was looking for on the wall that I thought of as the king of all basses, that day in the GC in Hollywood, was Rickenbacker and I was looking around for those while I was in the store that day. bummer they didnā€™t have any, and I still have not had a chance to play one, but they look a little wider at the neck then the Jazz nut, which is the same size as my Ray4 and my Stingray Slo Special, 38mm, and is my preferred Nut width, the rick looks a a bit wider, do you know what it is, or I can look it up
but
That is why I bought the Stingray SLO Special, for the neck. white is not my preferred color, but I found this 2014 SLO with the right neck, ,in impeccable shape, plays and sounds amazing, and found it for $1050, I could not pass it up.
you see, I got my Ray34, and got it plecked, and I was happy to have it back, and when I started playing it compared to my Ray4, I realized the neck was way bigger, something I didnā€™t notice when I bought it out of the pawn shop. I would have bought it any way, but it made me question if I would want a real EBMM stingray, which typically is the ame size as the Ray34, so I got the SLO, knowing I would play it more and it will be like one with my Ray 4 and any ray4 or ray 24CA I may ever get, or if I get another EBMM Ray, chances are I will get one with a slo neck or with 1.625 max nut width, cuz the 1.69 is just a little too big.
And that is why I am selling the Ray23 and the stingray4, and keeping the Ray4 and the SLO Special
it just feels better for me to play.

of course, I have other basses, but they all have pretty narrow nut width.
I donā€™t have much problem buying something an then selling it if I donā€™t like it, but most things are pretty readily available where i live, always for sale and easily accessible, so for me it is easy, buy it, play it for a while, and decide if it is a keeper or not, but for many, I know it is not so much an option, due to location, availability, cost, etcā€¦ so if you canā€™t buy one and stomach that you might end up selling it due to not liking it, then I would definatly wait until you get a chance to get a good test on one.

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Yes, thanks Toby @T_dub . . . :slight_smile: Iā€™ve been researching the Ricks for some time, and know the numbers. They are a few mm wider at the nut, and slightly shorter in scale length than the Jazz. The neck radius is slightly flatter than the Jazz also.

I suppose I could rephrase by saying the tapered neck on the Jazz is what appeals to me, and Iā€™m wondering if the neck on the Rickā€™s first 3-4 frets is too ā€œchunkyā€ for me to play comfortably.

Agreed . . . I learned my lesson from the last time.

Cheers
Joe

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You could, but donā€™t need to for me, I understand exactly what you are getting at. :+1:

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