Weirdly another musician equipment anxiety dream last night once again starring Skyrocket! In the dream we were playing in an HEB. We got to the song “Der Kommissar” and I realized I hadn’t hooked up my guitar stuff yet so I frantically hooked it up as fast as I could but missed most of the song. Then it was time for “99 Luftballoons” and I started scrolling through keyboard sounds and couldn’t find it. I then realized that though I had recently upgraded, I had brought the old keyboard which didn’t have my sounds (they were both almost identical looking Nords). At break I was very apologetic and feared they would never hire me again. I made plans to just try and do the best with what I had and find sounds that worked.
I’ve been playing bass for 40+ years. A Ric was never particularly on my “wish list” or anything though I knew they were great basses. Over the decades, the more I played and learned about various basses, I started to think a Ric might just be a good fit for me. I finally decided to take the plunge and I am completely sold. I could go on for days about all the things I love. I chose the 4003S because it has a more rounded and comfortable body since it has no binding. The models with binding I find uncomfortable on the right forearm. And also the dot inlays are what McCartney had and we all know I love me some McCartney.
First let’s talk sound. Anyone who says a Ric is a “one-trick pony” must not have ever spent any time with one. Between the 2 pickups, the pickup selector, the 2 volumes allowing any mix of the 2 pickups, the 2 tone controls, and the “Vintage/Modern” push/pull pot for the treble pickup there’s not a sound I can imagine that this bass wouldn’t cover. I found myself really liking the “vintage” voicing which makes the treble pickup have less bass in it so that you almost use the two pickups as EQ. You get you trebly bite from the bridge, and your meaty bass from the neck. In the “Modern” voicing the bridge pickup has a lot more bass, kind of equivalent to running both pickups in the Vintage voicing. So many tonal options.
It played great right out of the box. The newer ones now have only a single truss rod, as opposed to older Rics having a dual truss rod system that I had seen a lot of complaints about. The neck was wider, but thinner and flatter than I was used to, but I adapt easily and enjoy playing it. I found the neck pickup was way too low so I raised that and liked it much more. There are also roller saddles on the V2 bridge, which overall is a big upgrade addressing many of the problems I had read people complaining about on older Ric bridges such as ease of intonation. The rollers adjust side to side spacing so be careful when stringing as pulling a string across the roller can make it roll and end up adjusted to one side. I found my 2 outside strings to be adjusted too far outside and not quite over the pole pieces. An easy and quick fix to simply loosen the string and roll the saddle roller more toward the center.
My one tiny complaint is the built in mute, a signature of Ric basses. Firstly I find it pretty useless in a live situation as it is far too cumbersome to raise and lower with the thumbscrews to be able to use it live unless you just want to leave it on. The bigger problem for me is that even when mine is fully raised, it does not mute the low E at all and barely mutes the G, while REALLY muting the A and D. I’ve read ways to try and fix this but since I don’t see myself ever using it, I doubt I’ll bother. It’s just a little disappointing on a $2000+ bass. Beware also that the design of the bridge pretty much prevents palm muting and when I’ve tried to use other mutes like a piece of foam, since they have to be placed so far forward in front off the built in mute, they often end up making unpleasant pinging harmonics. I don’t do a lot of muting like that so I don’t see it being much of an issue for me personally.
HOWEVER, I do still think this bass is worth the price for it’s iconic sound, great quality, versatility, and feel. I watched a whole video on how they are made and it really gave me an appreciation for how every worker at every step is just a true artist with microscopic attention to detail.
Another thing that I didn’t see mentioned ANYWHERE is that the strap buttons on Rics are Schaller straplock buttons! That’s why they are so small and kind of non-standard. So they won’t hold a standard strap very well, but if you put some Schaller straplocks on your strap, you’re already set on the bass! I’ve always used the Dunlop Straploks (which are smaller than these Schallers so you would have to re-fill and re-drill the hole if you wanted to use those) but since these were already on the bass I bought some Schallers, threw them on a strap and now I’m set.
Also be aware that if you like Hipshot Xtenders to easily go to Drop D and back, they don’t have a direct replacement that works on Rics. They DO have one that WILL work but it requires drilling some new holes and two of your old holes will be showing as it is a completely different form factor than the default tuners.
I can totally understand how this bass wouldn’t be for everyone, but it has definitely become my personal #1 bass of choice now. I just find a certain effortlessness in playing it. I find I can play lighter but still get the sound I like to get, and then I can always dig in as well for some real growl. I can use a much easier right hand on this bass than I usually do on other basses. I also like that the tone controls go further than I would ever want. I can’t imagine ever turning the tone all the way down, but I’d always rather have it go too far than not far enough. I don’t imagine I’d ever go much below about 50% on the tone controls. I’ve also found myself just really digging the Fireglo and the overall look of the bass. None of the available colors are anything I would have normally chosen, but I liked the Fireglo best and also as a nod to McCartney. But every time I glance over at it on the rack I find myself thinking “That is a GOOD-looking bass!”
So I personally am 95% happy, and the 5% I find a little lacking luckily doesn’t really come into play for me much, if at all. I also was lucky enough to snag an “open box” model that had a “small discoloration” for $200 off. The tiny spot is barely perceptible if I’m looking for it from inches away. Any further and you can’t tell at all (picture included with a sticker pointing to the “defect”). So my long forming suspicions were right. It is indeed the bass for me.
A sticker points to the “discoloration” that got me $200 off.
I had a dream last night that I was part of a group of musician friends who had signed on for a short run of shows on a cruise ship. Once we were on the ship and out on the ocean, I realized I had left all my gear in my car back on land. I was trying to figure out how I could maybe get by using somebody else’s gear on the ship. Extra weirdly, my cabin mate was Jake Connelly, the actor who played “Dipshit Derek“ on Stranger Things and he was being a total jerk to me about it all so we had an argument and went our separate ways while I looked for the office where I was supposed to get my ID/Swipe card as it was hard to go anywhere or open any doors without it.
My birthday was on Sunday. Back in high school one of my best friends had a birthday the day after mine. We shall call him M. I still think of him often. When he went away to college we mostly lost touch, predominantly because I sucked at staying in touch for some reason. Over the years we reconnected a few times, but my memory is that he always thought I was reaching out with some ulterior motive, though I had none other than to reconnect with someone who was very important in my life, despite how it may have seemed from my actions. I have many formative memories with him, but tonight as his birthday drew to a close, this is the one that stood out.
I had a crush on a girl. I had this fear that she was going to start dating a mutual friend though I can’t remember exactly why. I seem to remember feeling like he ended up with anyone I developed feelings for but I can only recall that happening one other time than the one I’m about to recount, and I can’t remember if the other time happened before or after this one. Regardless, I had this fear. The object of my affections and the subject of my fear were among a group who went on a ski trip. After the group returned, I felt like my friends were acting weird any time I brought her up.
So finally one night I was on the phone with M and was telling him about this weirdness and he paused and said “Sit down.” He revealed to me that the other two had indeed got together on the ski trip and no one wanted to tell me because they knew I’d be hurt. He then came over and took me to a video game arcade in Culpepper Plaza near my house. We played video games and talked, and then he dropped me back at home, asking if I was going to be okay. I said, yeah I’d be fine and thanked him.
Then after he had left, I took my candy apple red Fender Stratocaster out in front of my house and smashed it into as many pieces as I could. I then collected them all and put them back in the guitar case, approximately where they would have gone when they were whole.
The next day I carried that case and walked the mile or so to the house of two of my other best friends, Dwight and Jay Barry. Their house was a gathering place where we would all often hang out all day and night. I walked into Dwight’s room, put the guitar case on his bed and opened it. I can still remember the utter shock on his face as he asked “What happened?” “I found out about (the girl),” I told him.
I would never repeat that incident, thankfully, but I think it might have been worth it just for the story and this whole memory. Happy birthday, M. I hope you are ridiculously happy in your life, as it seems pretty great from here and you deserve it. Sorry I wasn’t a better friend.
I dreamed last night that my friend and bandmate Chris Nine and I had been playing some shows with Sheryl Crow and on the last day, we played an earlier show and then several other bands played after us and Sheryl sat in with them too. We had stuck around because we thought there might be one big band bow at the end (and also because WHY WOULDN’T WE?) Then when Sheryl saw us after she said “Oh hey what are y’all still doing here?” I remember not wanting it to seem like we were just hanging around hoping to get called back on stage for a final bow and I said “Well we thought it was important to all celebrate together the great work we did” which was true and sincere, but also a bit of a cover. Chris actually took that sentiment to heart and cried a little.
In my second dream I was playing a gig with Skyrocket (who I sometime sub in with) and I had brought my Line 6 Catalyst combo amp. We had started playing and my sound just wasn’t quite right so I went to adjust some knobs. Then I realized that I was actually reaching in the back of the amp and adjusting a knob that on the inside of the front control panel that was facing the wall. Even stranger though was that the venue had a mic on the back of the amp and not the front that was facing the back wall. It was then that I realized this wasn’t my amp. I took a look and it a really small German amp called a “Hauber Gaus” or something like that. I could actually clearly read it, which I remembered when I woke up since I’d heard some people say you can’t read in dreams. Also I’m not sure if that was the actual name as it has faded since I woke up, but I definitely remembered it when I woke up. I also remember wondering where my amp was and hoping it was somewhere safe and not lost.
