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Re: Ric 330, Vox AC30, and TS808

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2020 7:46 pm
by Tommy
Folks, you mentioned this Kevin Parker as though his name was John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Bono. Everybody on Earth knows the bands that come with those names, yet you assumed Kevin Parker leads us all to Tame Impala.

I have heard of Tame Impala. I knew that a Rickenbacker is used by a band member. But, sorry, Kevin Parker is not exactly a household name. You say, "Kevin Parker uses a Rickenbacker" and the response will be, "Who?"

And I do doubt that Mr. Parker is moving guitars in nice numbers for Rickenbacker. Tame Impala's music isn't exactly guitar-centric. I can't imagine many people hearing a song of theirs and running out to buy a Rickenbacker. Believe it, The Beatles, Byrds, Petty, REM did. Heck, even the band Let's Active was capable of selling Rics. That guitar-centric band utilized a blue 330. Guess what I bought myself? A blue 330 because I heard and saw Mitch Easter of Let's Active play one.

Guitar players - a lot of them - used to move Rickenbacker sales numbers. No way is that going on as it once did. That's obvious. And no way do I see any change in future years. Guitar-centric popular music may be gone for good.

Re: Ric 330, Vox AC30, and TS808

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2020 8:16 pm
by scott_s
I don't know what to say, Tommy. This kind of information has never been easier to find in human history. 2 seconds of effort here:
kev.png
In other news, guitar sales are through the roof this year, and guitar-based music is flourishing all over the world. Live concerts have given way to livestreamed shows for now, and many people are picking up instruments for the first and figuring out how to collaborate on music over the Internet.

Guitar-based rock and roll isn't dead, it's just that TV and newspapers aren't the way you'll find out about it anymore. Lots of great stuff out there if you're willing to look!

Re: Ric 330, Vox AC30, and TS808

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2020 8:42 pm
by Tommy
scott_s wrote:
Guitar-based rock and roll isn't dead, it's just that TV and newspapers aren't the way you'll find out about it anymore. Lots of great stuff out there if you're willing to look!
Oh, it is out there. I still buy music that is rock and roll via the guitar. It's just that if you owned a guitar making company, would you want to own it in an era when guitar-centric music is not the most popular?

You post a link to information that states guitar buying is through the roof right now due to the pandemic. I'm not suggesting you are, but, man, that's really nothing to crow about or hope for. A pandemic? It takes a pandemic - deaths worldwide - to revive guitar buying? Ouch. I'd rather see not another guitar sold.

Re: Ric 330, Vox AC30, and TS808

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2020 9:11 pm
by scott_s
Tommy wrote:
scott_s wrote:Guitar-based rock and roll isn't dead, it's just that TV and newspapers aren't the way you'll find out about it anymore. Lots of great stuff out there if you're willing to look!
Oh, it is out there. I still buy music that is rock and roll via the guitar. It's just that if you owned a guitar making company, would you want to own it in an era when guitar-centric music is not the most popular?
If I sold every guitar I made, you bet! :)
You post a link to information that states guitar buying is through the roof right now due to the pandemic. I'm not suggesting you are, but, man, that's really nothing to crow about or hope for. A pandemic? It takes a pandemic - deaths worldwide - to revive guitar buying? Ouch. I'd rather see not another guitar sold.
Once again, you're taking a simple thing I posted and running all over the place with it. I'm not happy about the pandemic, it's just a fact that lots of people have turned to music as something to do in the meantime. People do have that tendency: https://www.wqxr.org/story/weird-classi ... c-parties/

Re: Ric 330, Vox AC30, and TS808

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2020 9:56 pm
by Tommy
scott_s wrote:...it's just a fact that lots of people have turned to music as something to do in the meantime.
Oh, I agree with that. I have been playing my gear far more than I ever have. I have also been waxing my gear more than ever. My guitars have an inch thick layer of wax on them because of these shutdown times.

The thing is, even though I have been playing...I have not been playing with the other guys I play with. I have no idea if music studios have re-opened. Even if they did, they sure wouldn't be the safest of places to be.

Re: Ric 330, Vox AC30, and TS808

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2020 11:41 pm
by scott_s
Tommy wrote:
scott_s wrote:...it's just a fact that lots of people have turned to music as something to do in the meantime.
Oh, I agree with that. I have been playing my gear far more than I ever have. I have also been waxing my gear more than ever. My guitars have an inch thick layer of wax on them because of these shutdown times.

The thing is, even though I have been playing...I have not been playing with the other guys I play with. I have no idea if music studios have re-opened. Even if they did, they sure wouldn't be the safest of places to be.
I can't wait to jam with people again. It had been years since I tried to make music with other people, but I got out my guitars a few months ago and I don't even care if I suck, I'm ready to make some noise! :D

Re: Ric 330, Vox AC30, and TS808

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 1:16 am
by Clifton
Love the Let's Active mention! I would love to find an Azure-Glo 330, too, in honor of Mitch Easter's wonderful playing and songwriting.

I must say I can completely identify with the original post to this thread. I found it literally eye-opening (and ear-opening) when I found a really good "crunch" sound with my 620 through a Vox AC15. I think I was using a Real Tube overdrive through it. I think I just wasn't prepared for such a heart-stoppingly wonderful sound I was able to dial in. And I don't think it was so much the pedal, because as others have mentioned, these pedals are pretty transparent. It was, now that I think about it, the ability to dial in the tone at a sound level that wasn't ear splitting. I'm pretty sure you could get the same amount of gentle breakup driving an amp loud, but the sound level might get you put in the doghouse!

Re: Ric 330, Vox AC30, and TS808

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 9:02 pm
by rkbsound
I always wanted an Azureglo Rick like Mitch Easters, so I did a great refin of a beat up ‘66 330. I did wind up selling it, but if I found the real deal like his I’d be tempted! I had no idea when I first heard R.E.M. and then Let’s Active, around the time of Murmur, that Mitch was such a huge part of the R.E.M. sound. Then I saw the video for Waters Part and it further cemented my quest for a Rickenbacker. I got my first in 1985 at 17. Then I got into college radio and all of the pieces of the puzzle began to come together...and Mr. Easter has added so many great contributions here, as well.

Also in the Waters Part video you can see Mitch briefly strumming a Danelectro Pro guitar - a short scale cool thing. I finally got one of those, too, when it was reissued. Mitch once said in an interview that he could get a good sound out of a guitar if it looked cool, or something to that effect. I haven’t had that kind of luck (or skill), but the Dano Pro hangs on my wall because it does look cool! I really do wish Mitch would write a book.

Finally, I always play my Ricks with some degree of dirt. The AC30 is dialed in with a little first, then a Luxury Drive for R.E.M.-ish stuff, add the RAT for Ramones, and I just picked up an MXR 108 fuzz that I layer on top if I need more (Husker Du). They all seem to play well together. The RAT and 108 are new additions, but I’ve had the Luxury Drive for a long time and I almost always have it on. I also have a Keeley compressor but I’m using it less with the 330 because of feedback issues. But the 610 loves it.

Re: Ric 330, Vox AC30, and TS808

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 11:33 pm
by Tommy
Mitch Easter's blue Rickenbacker? Wow, I never would have thought that others fell for Mitch Easter's blue Ric 330. Very funny to see that others here saw him playing it and wanted one just like it.

See, kids, you don't have to be The Beatles on 'Ed Sullivan' in order to inspire people to want Rickenbacker guitars. You could be a tiny trio from North Carolina. I saw a Let's Active video on MTV and saw the band open for Echo And The Bunnymen....those were my Beatles on Sullivan moments. I needed a blue Rickenbacker 330 -- the coolest guitar on Earth.

Took me a while, but I got one:

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Re: Ric 330, Vox AC30, and TS808

Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 5:03 pm
by scott_s
Love those dark colors that almost look black until you see them under a good light. I bought my Jetglo 330 because I thought I saw Peter Buck with one in really early R.E.M. pictures. Turns out it was actually Burgundyglo. D'oh! :lol:

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Re: Ric 330, Vox AC30, and TS808

Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 9:18 am
by chronictown
I thought he had a jetglo 330 as well! Maybe he had both? :?

Re: Ric 330, Vox AC30, and TS808

Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:43 am
by Tommy
scott_s wrote:Love those dark colors that almost look black until you see them under a good light.
That's true.

The Midnight Blue is aptly named -- it sure looks like Midnight at times, but the thing is really a fantastic blue. I guess I like the dark blue because my favorite team is the Giants...my Midnight Blue 330 is the same blue as the Giants helmet. Heck, the guitar with the blue and white combo actually looks like the Giants helmet.

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Re: Ric 330, Vox AC30, and TS808

Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:27 pm
by scott_s
chronictown wrote:I thought he had a jetglo 330 as well! Maybe he had both? :?
It's possible! But this was so early in their career, I don't know if he could afford that much duplication. I think it's just so dark, that it looks black a lot of the time (and a lot of the pictures were printed in B&W.)

The 330 BG was the guitar he kept in dropped-high-D tuning for "Gardening at Night/9-9/Windout" live.

Re: Ric 330, Vox AC30, and TS808

Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:03 pm
by chronictown
That is very cool...ya learn something every day! I was definitely basing the jetglo assumption on those old B&W pics :oops:

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Re: Ric 330, Vox AC30, and TS808

Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 12:27 am
by scott_s
chronictown wrote:That is very cool...ya learn something every day! I was definitely basing the jetglo assumption on those old B&W pics :oops:

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If it makes you feel any better, I had assumed it was JG for close to 25 years! :lol: I didn't have any reason to question that until I started seeing more of these high-quality color pictures, and watched the 1984 Passaic show on YouTube. Even on a high-quality, well-lit video, it looks black much of the time.

Call me crazy, but if you zoom in on that picture, I'm pretty sure you can see the walnut center strip and wings on the headstock, appearing darker so you can tell it's not a solid black guitar. (Hey, we do this with pictures of the Beatles, right? :wink: )
rem-rat-zoom.jpg
^- click to see full size

(Slightly higher-res picture from https://rickouellettereelandrock.com/20 ... unk-venue/ )