Ruby Red Essence 4

[jetbass79]

I'm going to have to agree with the non Ricky fans in the room...even though that one looks really cool.  I would drop the Ricky for an Alembic in a heartbeat.  Who can play them without a pick?  I always found myself not being able to find a comfortable spot for my right hand.  I would rest my thumb right against the bridge pickup itself only to find a lot of black goo on my thumb from the pickup.  Most annoying.  I didn't own that one very long.
   
     Yesterday I played an old Peavey T-40 that sounded much like a 4001 but a little fatter.  I found myself playing 2112 stuff on it and it was pretty Ricky-like. And I could put my right hand somewhere on it!  I wouldn't ever show up to a gig with one of those but it's more playable than any Ricky I have played, setup or not.

[bigbadbill]

John, you'd be amazed how many people continually discuss the pick/fingerstyle on a Rick issue on the Rick Forum. I personally play my Ricks about 90% with a pick, but many people on the Forum play fingerstyle and have no problems whatsoever. And Geddy Lee seemed to manage ok....The problems usually arise if you're used to playing another, possibly very dissimilar make(Fender springs to mind) before you try a Rick. They are a completely different animal and require a different approach. I learnt to play on a Rick, and so tend to find basses like Fender/Musicman etc extremely awkward to play, as their feel, sound and response are quite different. Ironically though, one of the things I like about Alembic is that they feel not dissimilar to my Ricks; I find them probably the 2 most comfortable types of bass to play. Note that I prefer the classic neck taper though, not the wider taper as on a Rogue.

[rogertvr]

I've just got to throw my ten pen'oth in here.
 
Firstly, welcome to Henny  :-)  You'll find all sorts of helpful and intelligent people in this Club if you stick around more than a few seconds!
 
Secondly, I own a 1980 Rick 4001 in Azureglo. It was my first name bass (as opposed to copies). I learnt to play on a copy Fender Jazz, but I found I could never get my right hand in the correct place to get my fingers fully comfortable when playing it. I also had that trouble with a Musicman, so in these respects, I have to agree with BigBadBill.
 
I have to fully disagree with JetBass79 though - I'm completely the opposite - I can't play mine comfortably with a pick, only with my fingers.
 
Something else I have to say is that I own the 4001, Alembic Dragon's Wing, Status Stealth and Status Buzzard - none of them can sound like my 4001.  It just doesn't seem to be possible.
 
When I saw that picture of your 4004, my first reaction was 'Ooooo - nice!' and my second one was 'Ooooo - very nice!'. I've shown it to my other half, who's reaction was 'That's lovely'. I wouldn't be parting with it if it were mine - if it's a financial issue, I'd wait until I could afford an Alembic if that is what you want. In fact - that is exactly what I did!
 
Incidentally, I had the neck profile of my 4001 copied by Alembic, who made a spot-on on job of replicating the drawings that RockAndRoller generated for me - the neck profiles are pretty much identical.
 
I hope this helps!
 
Cheers,
 
Rog

[bassdr]

Mark- I hope you get that Essence!  I bought my Flame Koa Essence 93K7816 last fall and love it.  I have played Ricks since 1971 and still have my '79 Fireglow 4001 and I won't part with it for love nor money even though I haven't played it hardly at all since I got Flame Koa.  If you havn't tried Rotosound swing bass 66 strings on your Rick, do try them.  I have always loved the sound of them on my Ricks. Michael

[southpaw]

Mark:
I too have a red translucent CheyenneII, the lefty one from Mike Parks website and I have an lefty Orion, my lefty Cheyenne has been seen on the Rickresource.com site.  Do not get rid of the Cheyenne. As Rami stated you will regret it. The Alembic is the superior bass hands down, no competition! But as you know, Rick-o-philes are a fanatical bunch and your red Cheyenne is climbing in value everyday, especially if it has the flame maple top (mine is from 2000, looks just like Scott Doseck's). Rick-o-philes will pay big $$ for old, out of production basses, so think of it as a retirement package (i.e. V63, Chris Squire, 4002, Tom Petty signatures....)
 Two different basses, two different sounds totally; save your cash and get the Alembic without parting with the Rick... Also Steve at Superbass is a great guy to work with.

[richbass939]

I would like to address the how to hold the instrument comfortably and where your picking hand fits question.  First off, I would like to say that most of you will not like it at all.  But some of you may really like it.  I had to do it for medical/injury reasons and after 30+ years I can't imagine doing it any other way.
You can see a picture of how I strap on the axe on the Alembic bass and guitars Spring break in SLC thread (the bottom picture).  It's not entirely clear from the picture.  I have both ends of the strap attached at one point near the neck.  The front of the strap goes up and over my right shoulder, around my neck and back, and comes out under my left armpit.  In the picture it is hard to see it coming out under the left arm.  I wear it pretty high on the chest.  This puts my right forearm holding the body against my chest.  Sometimes I swing the body around under my right armpit.  This way has the neck kind of sticking out in front rather than to the side, but it is really stable against the body.  Anchoring it against the chest leaves the left hand free to play rather than support the neck.  It also puts my right thumb comfortably anchored against the top of the neck.  Having the right hand picking that far away from the bridge does make the tone a little bassier.  
All of my basses seem to balance pretty well on the pivot point where the ends of the strap meet.  My Epics 4 and 5 balance really well there.
I know that most people who have been strapping on a guitar the conventional way could not get used to this.  But it works very well for me.
Rich