Is it bad to leave the mutes up all the time on a Rickenbacker 4003s?

#27
Ostie said:
Flatwounds I get, but upright? From a 4003?
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Yes. That was/is the purpose of the mute. Remember, the original purpose of electric bass in the '50's, with Fender in 1951 and Rickenbacker in 1957, was to emulate the tone of an upright double bass. It is integral to, among others, Sir Macca's tone, like on Sgt. Pepper. The Fender factory mute is/was a strip of weather stripping glued underneath the bridge cover.
 
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#32
dbsfgyd1 said:
Do that, and play some Rush or Yes while you’re at it.

Now that you mention it, what makes you so sure St. Paul always has his Ric muted? I’ve been played Beatle songs for over 30 years on a Ric with no mute. Zero difference.
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I never said always. I said that tone is on the Sgt. Pepper album.
 
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#33
iiipopes said:
I never said always. I said that tone is on the Sgt. Pepper album.
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I can’t really say he didn’t or just how muted it was, that’s for sure, but having covered a good many songs from that LP over a long time, with technique and the right EQ settings, you can get pretty close if not dead on.

One other thing I’d add, I’m not saying don’t do it. If you like it, I’m happy for you.

Being honest, the theme song Sgt Peppers and the reprise could have been muted, the rest, I’m not so sure. Who really knows what goes on in a studio anyway? A lot of that magic happens in sound production.
 
#35
One of the cool things about your bass is the built in mutes. If that's your sound, I have met others who keep them on permanently, so I doubt it's a problem.

Hey, Silly Love Songs was a great sound - super strong mute setting.... whatever works for everyone!
 
#37
In my experience, if you leave them engaged too long, they get stuck and don't want to get out of the way when you want them off. Plus, getting the mute to apply uniformly to all strings is daunting. Yet another quality feature of those bridges. Love the bass but not a fan of that component. A piece of foam under the strings is much easier and pretty much fool-proof.
 
#38
Greetings from the North,

Mute on or off is a matter of personal taste. Some players believe that the notes should ring out for the longest possible time all the time. I don't. When McCaw is bouncing along with muted tapes or flats on 'Me and My Monkey' or 'Penny Lane' it simply sounds awesome. Rics are not one trick ponies.

Rezdog
 
#40
Agree that the built-in mute can be a PITB. Mine always somehow would get stuck in the crevices and I'd have to poke it with pencils and keys and unwrapped paper clips and stuff when I wanted to drop it back down.

But it works very well once you turn it "on". It does give a very DB kind of tone especially if you run the neck PU. Just always keep a tool on hand if you want to screw it back down again.... :)

L
 
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