For the past handful of years, basically ever since my dad went out and bought himself a brand new bass guitar, I've been wanting more and more to go out and find myself a new one as well. You see I've been playing bass since grade seven, and the one that I own is just as old. It was an extremely entry level Ibanez, practically the cheapest on the block. It's been good to me though, and I've been able to tone it and get it to sound the way I want it to, but it's limited. I first became aware of these limitations when my dad went out and bought a rather expensive Warwick with a neck-through design. Playing this bass opened my ears to gigantic realm of sound where the level of quality FAR surpasses that of my trusty old Ibanez.
So here's the rub, I don't play as often as I used to (much to my sadness), so I can't justify spending $3000 on a killer bass guitar. I really want one with a neck-through design as well, due to the amazing amount of sustain and sound quality that comes from having that. A neck is typically bolted on to the body of a guitar, or possibly glued in certain brands and models. A neck-through design means that instead, the neck is one solid length that carries straight through to the end of the body. The strings, fretboard, pickups and bridge are all mounted on this piece. So-called "ears" or "wings" (i.e. side parts of the body) are glued or laminated to the central "stick". Usually once you've played one, it's hard to go back to the typical designs. Anyways, these neck-through designs tend to be a trademark of the upper-class bass guitars, and thus are very expensive to find.
Now as much as I love playing bass, I'll admit, I don't really know alot about the different bass guitar brands and their trademark qualities. I'm familiar with Fender Jazz and Precision basses, as well as Warwick basses and some Ibanez. I've heard the names Godin, and RKS before and hear that they're quite nice. So I clearly needed to do some research, and that I did. I went on to the biggest single source of information that I think has ever existed, also known as Wikipedia. Through a lengthy journey of bass guitars, their origin and trademarks, I found what I consider at this moment to be my dream guitar.
Through the hard rock of the 60's, 70's, and 80's, one guitar appears to have been the main choice of many historic bands and their bass players. This series of guitar has been immortalized by artists like the Beatles' Paul McCartney, John Entwistle of The Who, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, Geddy Lee of Rush, Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols, and Cliff Burton of Metallica, among many others. The guitar is famous for its ringing sustain, treble punch and solid underlying bass. The guitar is none other than the Rickenbacker 4003.
This is it, and the beauty of this guitar is that not only does it have a great history, they retail for around $1500. This is still alot of money, clearly, but at least it presents a much more reasonable goal to save up for and one day own. They're available at most Long & McQuade stores, so I have to track one down to play to see how it feels and if it's really "the one" for me. If it's as good as it is described as being, then I'm sure I won't be disappointed.
UPDATE: I was chatting with my dad last night and he was amazed that I chose this bass to pursue, as he dreamed all through out his youth of owning the same guitar! How cool is that? Also as an update, I've contacted Long and McQuade's to see if they have any of these guitars in stock, and apparently they do not. However, they have a shipment on order, which they expect will arrive in the next month or so. I've put my name down on one of the guitars, which assures me a look at the guitar, so I'll just have to wait now. Steve's Music store also carries Rickenbacker, however they don't order the guitars unless someone buys it, so you have to basically know what you're getting or else you're screwed if you don't like it.
So here's the rub, I don't play as often as I used to (much to my sadness), so I can't justify spending $3000 on a killer bass guitar. I really want one with a neck-through design as well, due to the amazing amount of sustain and sound quality that comes from having that. A neck is typically bolted on to the body of a guitar, or possibly glued in certain brands and models. A neck-through design means that instead, the neck is one solid length that carries straight through to the end of the body. The strings, fretboard, pickups and bridge are all mounted on this piece. So-called "ears" or "wings" (i.e. side parts of the body) are glued or laminated to the central "stick". Usually once you've played one, it's hard to go back to the typical designs. Anyways, these neck-through designs tend to be a trademark of the upper-class bass guitars, and thus are very expensive to find.
Now as much as I love playing bass, I'll admit, I don't really know alot about the different bass guitar brands and their trademark qualities. I'm familiar with Fender Jazz and Precision basses, as well as Warwick basses and some Ibanez. I've heard the names Godin, and RKS before and hear that they're quite nice. So I clearly needed to do some research, and that I did. I went on to the biggest single source of information that I think has ever existed, also known as Wikipedia. Through a lengthy journey of bass guitars, their origin and trademarks, I found what I consider at this moment to be my dream guitar.
Through the hard rock of the 60's, 70's, and 80's, one guitar appears to have been the main choice of many historic bands and their bass players. This series of guitar has been immortalized by artists like the Beatles' Paul McCartney, John Entwistle of The Who, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, Geddy Lee of Rush, Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols, and Cliff Burton of Metallica, among many others. The guitar is famous for its ringing sustain, treble punch and solid underlying bass. The guitar is none other than the Rickenbacker 4003.
This is it, and the beauty of this guitar is that not only does it have a great history, they retail for around $1500. This is still alot of money, clearly, but at least it presents a much more reasonable goal to save up for and one day own. They're available at most Long & McQuade stores, so I have to track one down to play to see how it feels and if it's really "the one" for me. If it's as good as it is described as being, then I'm sure I won't be disappointed.
UPDATE: I was chatting with my dad last night and he was amazed that I chose this bass to pursue, as he dreamed all through out his youth of owning the same guitar! How cool is that? Also as an update, I've contacted Long and McQuade's to see if they have any of these guitars in stock, and apparently they do not. However, they have a shipment on order, which they expect will arrive in the next month or so. I've put my name down on one of the guitars, which assures me a look at the guitar, so I'll just have to wait now. Steve's Music store also carries Rickenbacker, however they don't order the guitars unless someone buys it, so you have to basically know what you're getting or else you're screwed if you don't like it.
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