The Last Bass Outpost

Gear Discussion Forums => Rickenbacker Basses => Topic started by: Barklessdog on December 15, 2009, 01:21:59 PM

Title: JB Ric
Post by: Barklessdog on December 15, 2009, 01:21:59 PM
Here-

http://forums.vintageguitars.org.uk/showthread.php?t=2051

Never saw one before.
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: OldManC on December 15, 2009, 01:54:25 PM
I like that!

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/onebassplayer/John%20Birch%20Ric/P8170179.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/onebassplayer/John%20Birch%20Ric/P8170168.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/onebassplayer/John%20Birch%20Ric/P8170166.jpg)
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: SKATE RAT on December 15, 2009, 07:10:01 PM
why so many knobs? it does look kool
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: OldManC on December 15, 2009, 07:58:04 PM
According to the owner: volume, tone in two banks on the neck end and then a master volume and a series/parallel knob and of course 3 way P/U selector.
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: godofthunder on December 15, 2009, 08:15:04 PM
Geezer Butler used one for a time. Let me tell you with those John Birch pups that bass will kick ass like no Ric ever could.
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: ilan on December 16, 2009, 12:42:36 AM
What do they sound like?
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: godofthunder on December 16, 2009, 04:58:39 AM
Those pups are high output, the bass is all maple so it shares the same properties as a ric, sustain and maple snap etc. It sounds like a high powered over driven ric. search Black Sab. on youtube you will find Geezer using a green burst one sometime before '80 maybe around '74-'78.
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: godofthunder on December 16, 2009, 02:57:00 PM
Tony is playing a John Birch not sure what geezer has though it is Ric shaped. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcSC0B6lbFg&feature=related
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: Highlander on December 16, 2009, 03:15:58 PM
Pretty certain that's a Ric
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: godofthunder on December 16, 2009, 03:34:10 PM
Yeah I watched it some more, it is a Ric, I have been looking for the past hour for footage of Geezer with it no luck yet but he does talk about the John Birch /John Diggens basses on his/Sabs website.
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: Highlander on December 16, 2009, 03:57:34 PM
I'm pretty certain he also played a JB EB3 style, too... I may have a couple of pics, albeit from the balcony of the Hammersmith Odeon... Technical Ecstasy tour... research required...
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: godofthunder on December 16, 2009, 05:01:41 PM
EB3 style ala Jimmy Lea  :o :o :o :o I had no Idea I thought Jimmy had the only one ! Well aside from mine ;)
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: SKATE RAT on December 16, 2009, 08:12:06 PM
yeah, i've seen a picture in one of those Bass Player mag. special issue "rock bass gods" or something. he's got a crazy leather suit too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4wBPbpSsiY
this is a different one than the pic i was talking about
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: SKATE RAT on December 16, 2009, 10:43:03 PM
ok, i've been doing some research and it turns out that Ric belongs to Glen Hughes. the airline lost Geezers gear and Glen loaned him his.
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: ilan on December 17, 2009, 12:33:56 AM
He still builds Ric clones. They look more like 4004's but he calls them 4001 (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/john.carling1/John_Birch_Guitars/Gallery.html#1).
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: uwe on December 22, 2009, 12:19:59 PM
ok, i've been doing some research and it turns out that Ric belongs to Glen Hughes. the airline lost Geezers gear and Glen loaned him his.

Exactly. And Geezer hated it. As Glenn Hughes had (reverting to Fender P on subsequent DP Mk III tours). In theory, an aggressive bass like the Ric and Glenn Hughes' upfront playing were a match made in heaven, in practice it didn't work. Glenn plays the Ric throughout the Burn album and unlike Roger Glover (a much less upfront player than Glenn) is hardly heard at all with it (whereas Glover's Ric sound on MH, MIJ and WDWTWA is to cream in your pants for). The Ric is - hard to believe - buried in the mix though the album was again engineered by Martin Birch who has a reputation of mixing bass sounds loud.
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: doombass on January 03, 2010, 02:17:54 PM
This 8-string looks like it might be a JB creation as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oLKCNbCCCY&feature=related

Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: godofthunder on January 04, 2010, 09:10:26 AM
That's a Birch for sure !
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: gearHed289 on January 04, 2010, 10:34:59 AM
Look at Iommi - dude's nose has GOT to be packed! LOL! Ozzy's havin a tough time..... Cool footage though.
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: Dave W on January 04, 2010, 11:14:09 AM
[img width= height= alt=ozzy and sharon osbourne" title="celebrity-pictures-ozzy-sharon-osbourne-smile-nod" class="mine_2986594816]http://roflrazzi.wordpress.com/files/2009/12/celebrity-pictures-ozzy-sharon-osbourne-smile-nod.jpg[/img] (http://roflrazzi.com/2009/12/31/celebrity-pictures-ozzy-sharon-osbourne-smile-nod/)
see more Lol Celebs (http://roflrazzi.com)
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: godofthunder on January 05, 2010, 11:12:31 AM
Dave that's not a Birch..........................that's a bitch  ;D
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: gearHed289 on January 05, 2010, 12:34:40 PM
Dave that's not a Birch..........................that's a bitch  ;D

 :rimshot: :D ;D
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: Highlander on January 07, 2010, 08:03:10 AM
Used to look after their "primary" home alarm system - nothing but good things to say...
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: godofthunder on January 07, 2010, 11:16:26 AM
I went for the cheap laugh, forgive me. If it wasn't for Sharon Ozzy would be dead by now.
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: exiledarchangel on January 07, 2010, 11:18:24 AM
Well, now he's a living dead, lol!
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: Pekka on June 13, 2010, 10:13:45 AM
Exactly. And Geezer hated it. As Glenn Hughes had (reverting to Fender P on subsequent DP Mk III tours). In theory, an aggressive bass like the Ric and Glenn Hughes' upfront playing were a match made in heaven, in practice it didn't work. Glenn plays the Ric throughout the Burn album and unlike Roger Glover (a much less upfront player than Glenn) is hardly heard at all with it (whereas Glover's Ric sound on MH, MIJ and WDWTWA is to cream in your pants for). The Ric is - hard to believe - buried in the mix though the album was again engineered by Martin Birch who has a reputation of mixing bass sounds loud.

And still some want to believe that Glenn played the 4001 on "Made In Europe".:)
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: Hornisse on June 13, 2010, 11:13:50 AM
You mean they lied!!  :o   ;)

(http://i48.tinypic.com/20u5t8o.jpg)

All these years I've always thought it sounded like a Ric.
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: Pekka on June 13, 2010, 11:47:13 AM


All these years I've always thought it sounded like a Ric.

Some of the pics (the front cover for example) are from "Burn" tour and the album was compiled from recordings made in the spring of '75.
Title: Re: JB Ric
Post by: Big_Stu on June 13, 2010, 01:06:46 PM
Here-

http://forums.vintageguitars.org.uk/showthread.php?t=2051

Never saw one before.

I'm getting that the link is no good. I followed it back to the site & I think they moved it (because it's not a Rick & he posted in Ricks is my guess???)
If it's the one in "Other names" I'm afraid he'll be disappointed. I saw two just like it on Ebay in the past two years, kept a pic of one of them somewhere. John was a bit of a rascal & would tell you what he thought you wanted to hear, he was also very old & had a bit of a foggy memory sometimes.
He died in Oct/Nov of 2000, just after building my bass, the ones online now are made by his buisness partner who's been OK'd to use John's name. £1400 your cash!

Magnum pups are incredible, at the time 70's/80s they were by far the loudest available, hence their use in Metal/rock guitars & basses. I've got two in my Birch bass & one in an SG Junior. It's impossible to get a clean tone out of the SG but it does cut oak trees down at 500 yards  :mrgreen: