Interesting bit of info I found on Roger

[JakeK]

Here's a quote from someone who was working on the folk den with Roger. The link is to another forum, so I won't link it here, but I will say the quotes:

Does anyone know the story behind Roger McGuinn's first Rickenbacker guitar? As some of you may know I've been working with Roger on a "Folk Den" documentary. This past spring we went down to his house in Florida to do some filming and while he was showing us his music room I asked him if he still had any of his "Byrds" guitars because I had heard that his first Rickenbacker was stolen at a show in 1966. He told me that his '64 360/12 was indeed stolen and that he has made several attempts, all in vain, to find out how it came into the possession of the Experience Music Project museum in Seattle. They say that it legally belongs to them and John Hall of Rickenbacker refuses to comment specifically about it. The only "Byrds" Rickenbacker that he still owns is the 370/12 he bought in 1970 to replace his customized 1966 370/12, which by then was badly in need of repair. My guess is that Roger doesn't feel like it's worth the hassle to pursue a lawsuit and all of the costs that go along with it. When he was showing us around his house he told us that he didn't save very much in the way of Byrds memorabilia, so maybe he's just not that nostalgic about getting the guitar back. He does however still have his very first transistor radio and the Moog synthesizer that he used on his first solo album!

Wait there's more:
Some rock stars don't seem to place as much "importance" on their iconic instruments as their fans do. To the artist, it was just a tool. Roger had no problem selling his 1966 370/12 (the one used on every Byrds album from Fifth Dimension to Untitled) so it couldn't have held that much sentimental value for him. If he had actually sold the '64 Rick and then it later found its way to the EMP museum legally this probably wouldn't even be an issue.

The interesting thing about this particular 370/12 is that it is a one-of-a-kind custom guitar with easily identifiable modifications and any dealer who came across it would have known what it was. I read in one of the stories that Voltage Guitars may have played a part in this but the article was kind of vague, and for some reason the people involved aren't talking.

At one of Roger's shows I recently recorded, he was having trouble getting a good sound out of the Rickenbacker he now uses, which is a 1988 McGuinn signature model. Since Roger has mostly been doing storyteller-style solo shows based around his Folk Den project the Rickenbacker serves more as an iconic symbol than as his main guitar. He mostly plays acoustics and banjos during the show. For these shows he's been opting for the convenience of plugging directly into the console rather than going through an amp.

Now I noticed right off the bat that his guitar sounded very dark and muddy without much presence. He did have a Jangle Box for compression but there was a serious grounding problem so we couldn't use it. I EQed the guitar the best I could, added a little ambient reverb and it was "on with the show." Afterwards, we were talking about the sound problem and I asked him what pickups he had in his guitar and he told me they were the stock ones that originally came with it. I mentioned that the original toaster reissues were wound hotter (11k-12k) than the vintage pickups and they have a tendency to make a 12-string sound dark and muddy. I then told him that the current reissue toasters sound much better and that he should call Rickenbacker and have them hook him up, but he told me that they don't usually do that kind of stuff.

This explains so much.

If you're interested in finding out where I got this, PM me, and I'll provide you with the link.

To Jim or Brian, if I've infringed anything, please remove it.

[Folkie]

Thanks so much, Jake. Your excerpts taught me some new things about Roger's gear.

[johnhall]

Just to clarify one point here. Roger and I mutually agreed not to speak to others about his stolen guitars, or guitars represented as Roger's as any discussion we might have could possibly legitimize or increase the value of what is stolen property, or a guitar that was never his.

It's not that I'm holding back any info that could help Roger; it's been quite the opposite but there's only so much that can be done after a certain point in time.

Also, there's more than one guitar being discussed here, with elements of each mixed together a bit.

[JakeK]

Thanks for the clarification, John. I don't want to stir any pots. All I did was do copy and paste. Don't kill the messenger!

Also, I think that he's been using the '70 370/12 because those pickups might be wound less hot than the '88 signature model.

[stsang]

Also, I think that he's been using the '70 370/12 because those pickups might be wound less hot than the '88 signature model.

That seemed to be the guitar he was using when I saw him last month in NJ. His Ric sounded great.

[jimk]

I don't see the need for me to get involved in this discussion. Anyway, your intentions were good, Jake. Thanks for posting.
JimK

[paologregorio]

Interesting that the author mentions a "grounding" issue with the J Box; I think this is just a characteristic of the unit; a few forum members have mentioned the noisiness of the box with certain settings, and the noise has been the source of minor frustration at a couple of the local jams.

[JakeK]

You said the Dyna Comp I gave you was noisy at first, but you reduced it greatly.

[paologregorio]

You said the Dyna Comp I gave you was noisy at first, but you reduced it greatly.

The "output" and the "sensitivity" were both set really hight; I kept the output up in the 3 o'clock position but dialed back the sensitivity to about the 11 o'clock position, which took care of the problem.