Dave Ricard's CIS405 Hub Page

My CIS 405 Assignment Hub Page

A Little Information About Myself

My name is Dave Ricard, and I am in my third year here at UNHM. I am pursuing an Associate's Degree in Business, and with the completion of this semester's studies will have earned my Associate's degree. I then plan on rolling my credits forward into the Bachelor's Degree program offered here at UNHM. The first three years have moved by rapidly, and now I face the next 5 years at or near the mid way point.

I started my night school career at the urging of one of my former managers at BAE Systems, South Nashua, NH. As my father also works at the facility, and as he knew my father, this manager made a promise that he would make sure I started night school, and after much urging, I finally did start. Being out of school for 13 years, the transition was not an easy one to make but now college is a part of me, it is in my blood and I am so glad I started, but moreso, ashamed I did not start sooner.

Here is an example of one of my favorite movie quotes:

"We have clearance, Clarence."

Kareem Abdul Jabaar, from the movie Airplane! 1981

I started my main hobby, playing bass guitar, around my 17th birthday. While I did not have a lot of money at the time, I did save up to buy a Fender Bass using several week's paychecks; sadly this Bass is now long gone, but I do still have the third bass I ever bought: my prize, a 1975 Rickenbacker 4001 stereo bass, all original. I purchased this particular instrument 9/14/94. Since then I have amassed 9ea bass guitars and a few amplifiers. I use a mixture of roundwound and flatwound strings from various manufacturers. I plan on making my web project based on my gear, musical tastes and such.

A listing of my current gear, in the order built or aquired can be found below:

A list of the Electric Basses I own:

  1. 1975 Rickenbacker 4001
  2. 1997 Rickenbacker 4003
  3. 1974 Fender Precision Bass
  4. 1991 Fender Precision Bass, 1951 Reissue Single Coil, refinished Fiesta Red, with matching headstock
  5. 2002 Fender Precision Bass 1954 Reissue Single Coil
  6. Part Bass Frankenstein Fender Precision Bass with a fretless Fender Jazz Bass neck
  7. 2000 Fender Precision Bass, made in Mexico; refinished to look like a 1959 Fender Precision Bass, matching headstock
  8. Custom made "Frickenbird" John Entwistle Tribute Bass, I built this in 2006
  9. Custom made "Frickensploiter" John Entwistle Tribute Bass, I built this in 2007

Here is a short list of the amplification equipment I possess:

Here is a basic list of definitions for terminology concerning electric basses:

Body
The main shape of the bass guitar, to which the neck, pickups, bridge and strings are attached. They can be made out of a variety of woods and materials depending on manufacturer.
Neck
Part of the bass that the strings are tuned against; can be made out of maple, mahogany, rosewood, or any number of synthetic materials.
Pickups
Magnetic electronics that sense vibration in adjacent strings and transform those vibrations into signals that an amplifier and speaker can then change into audible sound
Bridge
Usually metal, this is what the strings passes through or over and physically mounts to the bass body to transmit vibrations to the body. The bridge's placement relative to the neck is what determines the scale length of the instrument.
Roundwound Strings
Metal strings wrapped in round wire. These strings typically sound very bright when struck; they produce a "modern" sound.
Flatwound Strings
Metal strings wrapped with a flat metal tape. These sound mellow when struck and are associated with a more vintage, funky sound. Typically, they are very high tension and "stiff".

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You can contact me at ddd26 at cisunix dot unh dot edu

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