Music Man Purchase

[ricplayer]

Well If you don't know the difference then it really doesn't matter. Electric or not any instrument has a ring too it, some are better then others, so too me if it rings very well unplugged then plugged in will sound awesome in 99.9% of cases.

One thing i will give too the boutique bass builders is this. If you ever noticed their finishes. High end Bass builders will use an oil or very thin laquer and they do that for a reason.

The less finish the better the wood breathe's and it allows the wood to vibrate better.
But the down fall is with Laquer is some states can't use it and second the finish isn't as durable as a Poly finish is.

Poly finishes is a no brainer, spray it 2 feet thick throw it on the buffing wheel go get lunch come back and you have a great looking instrument.

Does it choke the wood you ask, absolutely. But it's just the way the times have changed and 95% of all companies do it this way now. DJ

Not RIC. Now BEFORE any of you start telling me to go to the RIC forum, I like BOTH basses and am preparing to buy a new M/M ion the next 2-3 weeks. Have the funds, just waiting for my particular options combo.

 

[Mr Light]

Wood and Finish

Guys,

I must admit that the concept of a "dead spot" is relatively new to me, as I have never owned an instrument where I had one. Thankfully my main axe doesn't have one and I trust that EBMM won't let me down on my axe on order.

Does anyone practice chromatic scales? I usually do in order to warm up my fingers before I start practicing. I guess if I had a dead spot, that would be the "dead giveaway."

Anyhow,

As far as finish, I think that because we have more options to choose from color-wise, we've become kind of "fashion-conscience" or so-to-speak. What colors where available back in the day? Natural, White, Black, Sunburst and maybe a couple of variations of the ones mentioned. (Limited room for distinguishing your axe from another one's.) But now, we have enough colors to create separate catalogs just for color options. And with these new options comes the wanting to preserve that factory-new luster, yet at the same time be able to play the instrument. But, with everything in life,where there's a pro there's a con.

Any thoughts?

 

[ricplayer]

Guys,

I must admit that the concept of a "dead spot" is relatively new to me, as I have never owned an instrument where I had one. Thankfully my main axe doesn't have one and I trust that EBMM won't let me down on my axe on order.

Does anyone practice chromatic scales? I usually do in order to warm up my fingers before I start practicing. I guess if I had a dead spot, that would be the "dead giveaway."

Anyhow,

As far as finish, I think that because we have more options to choose from color-wise, we've become kind of "fashion-conscience" or so-to-speak. What colors where available back in the day? Natural, White, Black, Sunburst and maybe a couple of variations of the ones mentioned. (Limited room for distinguishing your axe from another one's.) But now, we have enough colors to create separate catalogs just for color options. And with these new options comes the wanting to preserve that factory-new luster, yet at the same time be able to play the instrument. But, with everything in life,where there's a pro there's a con.

Any thoughts?

All basses made from wood with wood necks have dead spots. Yours has them also, but they may be very slight as you do not notice them. Check your d or g string...around your 6th through 12th frets...you will notice a note or two does not "sustain" as well as some others....this is commonly known as dead spots.

 

[Mr Light]

Dead Spots

...Hmmm...

 

[prickly_pete]

troll?

 

[strummer]

Now wait a minute. I have owned M/M and Rickenbacker. Both are quality basses, but i'd put the edge to Ric. Never had a Ric with a chip in the finish (at the neck to body) as I did with my last M/M. Never had any serious "dead spots" with the Ric's either.

Are you intentionally trying to be offensive

 

[Jazzbassman23]

Now wait a minute. I have owned M/M and Rickenbacker. Both are quality basses, but i'd put the edge to Ric. Never had a Ric with a chip in the finish (at the neck to body) as I did with my last M/M. Never had any serious "dead spots" with the Ric's either.

I don't know how many of each you've owned in the past, but I've owned two SR5's, two SR4's, a Sterling, a Bongo 4HH, and have a Sterling HH on order. And I've owned a Ric 4001. As far as Music Man bass ownership on this forum, I'm probably at the low end numberswise, but the only "flaw" I've had in any of them was a very slight finish scratch (heck, it wasn't really even a scratch, but I don't know what else to call it) on my Bongo. I contacted EB, sent it to Jon, and had it back in a couple of weeks perfect. The only Ric I owned gave me nothing but grief as the neck would just not stay in alignment. No matter how many times my tech set it up, it would continue to bow. According to the company, it wasn't their fault. Now I don't know where you bought your Ernie Ball bass with a chip in the finish, but if that's true, my guess is you bought it at a shop like Guitar Center where it had likely been subjected to all manner of abuse before it reached your hands. Which begs the question, if it did, in fact, have a finish chip, why'd you purchase it in the first place?

 

[barkatozz]

Now wait a minute. I have owned M/M and Rickenbacker. Both are quality basses, but i'd put the edge to Ric. Never had a Ric with a chip in the finish (at the neck to body) as I did with my last M/M. Never had any serious "dead spots" with the Ric's either.

And you ordered this directly from EBMM & it had a chip?

 

[ricplayer]

Are you intentionally trying to be offensive

Not at all. I am just telling you my experience. If you really need to know, one of my other M/M basses, arrived with the battery compartment wire broken off from the solder post. I repaired that myself. Brand new bass from internet. Other than that, the bass was great. I find it very confusing that I am on a M/M forum talking about my bass experiences and am questioned as being a troll and offensive? Offensive? About what? These are my experiences with some basses. Did I use bad launguage or insult you? Yet you are calling ME offensive?

 

[Big Poppa]

Jack is in Peru so I will step in....
\

Ricplayer first off it usally rankles all of us to start with the frowny face and it seems to have gone downhill here from there.

I love Ric basses, I love choices for artists. Maybe you have your nirvana in a Ric bass. No harm no foul.

IF you want advice there are plenty of knuckleheads here to gererously give it to you. If you want to critique our stuff there are plenty of people who will offer a rebuttal. If you unrealistically compare a Ric to an MM than you will get responses like the last several.

If there are any questions or anything anyone can do to help you feel free to ask. I think the the deadspot issue has run its course.

Its funny when people dont tell the whole story. Im sure customer service told you that they couldnt send you a neck. I am also sure that they offered to inspect your bass and make it right. We just dont send necks to people, we fix their bass. When something as subjective as dead spots comes up and you dont hear them on your ric....why bother with another bass?

 

[ricplayer]

And you ordered this directly from EBMM & it had a chip?

Nope...G.C. It was in the back....they said it just arrived. The chip was small where the neck meets the body. It was caused by the neck hitting the body when assembled, IMO. The chip fell off when I polished it when I got it home. Very small chip, size of the period on your keyboard.

 

[ricplayer]

Jack is in Peru so I will step in....
\

Ricplayer first off it usally rankles all of us to start with the frowny face and it seems to have gone downhill here from there.

I love Ric basses, I love choices for artists. Maybe you have your nirvana in a Ric bass. No harm no foul.

IF you want advice there are plenty of knuckleheads here to gererously give it to you. If you want to critique our stuff there are plenty of people who will offer a rebuttal. If you unrealistically compare a Ric to an MM than you will get responses like the last several.

If there are any questions or anything anyone can do to help you feel free to ask. I think the the deadspot issue has run its course.

Its funny when people dont tell the whole story. Im sure customer service told you that they couldnt send you a neck. I am also sure that they offered to inspect your bass and make it right. We just dont send necks to people, we fix their bass. When something as subjective as dead spots comes up and you dont hear them on your ric....why bother with another bass?

First off, I won't put "frowny faces" up anymore. Sorry about that.

Customer service DID say they could send me a new neck. They wanted mine sent first however, and they would not send a rosewood one to replace the maple because "the bass was originaly made with a maple neck". This, after I was told that the maple necks seem to have more "problems", by customer service.


I love the bottom of a M/M, and am ordering it with a rosewood neck. Your customer service said they had less dead spots.


I was comparing the finishes between two high quality basses. Nothing "unrealistic" about that.

I never said I could not hear dead spots on my Ric. They are just not as noticible as on the M/M.

 

[shamus63]

Out of 4 Rays, 1 Sterling, 1 '79 Sabre, and my current Bongo, the only one that had any 'dead spots' was the Sabre...it came to me fitted with a Modulus Graphite neck.

Just an observation.

 

[Big Poppa]

First off, I won't put "frowny faces" up anymore. Sorry about that.

Customer service DID say they could send me a new neck. They wanted mine sent first however, and they would not send a rosewood one to replace the maple because "the bass was originaly made with a maple neck". This, after I was told that the maple necks seem to have more "problems", by customer service.


I love the bottom of a M/M, and am ordering it with a rosewood neck. Your customer service said they had less dead spots.


I was comparing the finishes between two high quality basses. Nothing "unrealistic" about that.

I never said I could not hear dead spots on my Ric. They are just not as noticible as on the M/M.

When you buy an instrument from a mass retailer and it has a ding assume that they did it first instead of blaming us.......we dont ship damaged instruments.....

lets put this to bed now

 

[jongitarz]

There is no difference between rosewood or maple as far as dead spots are concerned. Big Poppa said lets put this to rest, so we will. Thread closed.