Dillema!

Next semester, I had the plan to buy a Rickenbacker, but I'm not sure at all because I never tried one and don't know if I'd like the neck(Wich is the most important part for me).

But also, I had the plan of buying a fretless. Because I'll live 2 km away of the college and I want to have 2 bass always at college. A fretless and a fretted. And one at my home, my epiphone Viola.

But, this had me thinking. Because I know M&M(Mike and Martin) are always talking about Kramers and Charvels and Jacksons that they have a freakin' fast neck, well I said why not!

But I wanted to know if the neck was really thin(front to back and nut wise too) on Charvels because that's what attract me the most.

Also, regarding the fretless, since I don't know hell about fretless, I'm not sure I want to jump in that boat and waste too much money.


Another point I'd want to hear, did someone on this board ever putted flats on a C/J or Kramer to get a vintage/jazz/blues sound?

I don't kmow about the Jackson style Kramers that you're talking about, but my DMZ6000 has an insanely thin neck both in width and depth

MAybe I didn't formulate it very well,But I was talking about kramer in general.

fastest neck i ever played was on an ibanez ergodyne. played fast and super nice but sounded like poo. this is why mine is apart and in storage. i gotta rebuild it. ibanez parts are tuff to come by and it needs a refret. i'll get to it eventually.

look ... if you can buy a rick, i suggest you get it before you go messing around with any charvel or kramer. i'de take a rick over any fretless ... unless its a rick fretless. rick has been making instruments a long time and theres a reason that their basses are so prized ... because they are extremely well made, high quality, professional instruments. they have a specific sound and feel, but i dont think theres many bassists out there, who have had one or not, who would tell you they arent into it. they have a few different models now and offer different configurations for different needs. i love how the older ones look ... but i'm not about the metal over the strings ... they have a classic model with classic and new high end pickups both on board, with and without the metal over the strings and the bridge options.

a rick is an investment and a real cool instrument.

$.02

was just telling someone i was cheking out a g&l tribute last night ... real nice bass for $600.

My son has a newer RIC 4003 and it has a cunkier neck, not fast at all. I think they made them thicker due to 4001 neck issues?

Probably so, BD. The early Rics did have a habit of getting a little wonky after years of heavy usage.

Just in case anyone is thinking about this, I have yet to hear of a trem working well on a Ric. The added stress that a tremolo adds can further tweak the neck on older models. The newer ones might fare better, but you would probably by limited to using a Kahler since the body of a Ric is so thin. I doubt very seriously that you could get a Hipshot into a Ric body. Then there's the issue of string angles on the headstock. Other than that, I absolutely LOVE ric basses, and I do want to own one someday.

I remember hearing a story about when Chris Squire of Yes started using Rotosound strings on his Rics to get his signature sound. Apparently, A lot of other players followed suit, and the Rickenbacker company complained to him that they started getting back a lot of repairs due to the necks warping, and the roundwound strings chewing up the frets! I'm not sure if this is a true story, but that's what I heard.

Fretless Ric....


Haha I find the necks thickish (maybe pbassish) but they make up for the slim (horizontally) profile.

Love the tone. Check out some copies tho, McHaven (on TB) has a EL delgo (something or another) ric copy, that he got for $500. It's so close to a ric its not even funny. I do have to say though, the Chris Squire Ric model is better than others IMO. Lighter, sounds better and sounds better

the kramer necks aren't as flat on the back as the charvels therefore it forces you to cup your hand around the back and I can notice it on the thumb and first finger pressure where they touch the neck. If I didn't have all these charvels, I'd have a few of the old Ibanez pointies around here cause to me the neck is very similar just like mike said.... these are extremely good for fast fingered playing with low action without buzzing...blah,blah,blah

with the price of 1 ric, you could buy 4 of these things and mod the crap out of any of them, then BEAT the crap out of them and not worry about it.

my point?

they are a dime a dozen 20 year old nothing basses ( ya should have told me you were looking for a cheap bass and bought my 87 model2, it just sold on ebay )

I think I'll start by building my bass, after that I'll mod my viola to put a set of 35's and then I'll check for another bass. Because I just can't get that thunderous sound of my head at the moment.

Anyway Mike, you will always have 1 or 2 Charvies to sell ain't ya?

But what I'd really want would be a P bass body, an *** thin neck(like my Viola) and 2 Emg 35 dc.

NoobOnRoad wrote:

MAybe I didn't formulate it very well,But I was talking about kramer in general.

I never thought to take 10 pictures of the necks, but here's the kramer compared to the charvel. it's hard to see, but the kramer neck is more round on the back.

The Charvel model series necks are SO nice...I can't stress that enough. I've played Kramers. They're OK. But ever time I pick up my 3B, I can do stuff that I didn't think I could do, just because I'm comfortable about how it feels and how it sounds. It's thick in the right places, thin in the right places, and has a comfortable, flat fingerboard with amazing fretwork. I can get the action lower than I want it and still have almost no buzzing, even on the highest bends. If you need to access high frets, it's a cinch, if you need to stay on the low end for a long time, your left hand won't get tired, even when you have lots of jumping and stretching and hammer-ons and stuff to do. You can try to build your own instrument, but the fit and finish won't be as tight as on one of the Charvels. They must have had gnarly QC back then. Plus, they look so cool! You can't go wrong with a Charvel. I recommend it wholeheartedly. And if you don't like it, guess--I WANT IT!

You're looking for a thunderous tone? Give one a try...when I imagine what a bass guitar should feel like, it's exactly what Charvels feel like. And the sound of the preamped models is just as close to what I imagine as the feel is.

I apologize if I run off at the mouth, but I just came out of a short jam sesh with a drummer friend and I was playing my Charvel. Every time I play it, it gives me a...feeling of elation that sticks around for a while.