Who actually makes Rickenbacker strings?
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
Jean: This depends on your definition of jangle, and to a great extent on your pickups and amplifier. I have had very good results with Gibson Sonomatic strings using the wound G. I also like the RIC strings. There is nothing like toasters, a little reverb and a tube amplifier to accentuate the jangle.
Life, as with music, often requires one to let go of the melody and listen to the rhythm
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rickengrowl
- Veteran RRF member
- Posts: 328
- Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2001 4:51 pm
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Thanks Peter. As I am mainly a bass player and never play guitar on stage but only in studio, I have no amp. I use a Johnson J-Station modeling box. Sure it's not perfect, but for me it is the ideal intermediate solution between an overpriced Vox AC30 and... nothing. Vox AC30 on the J-Station is "decent", and even the best high-tech modeling gear cannot replace the natural vibration of a cabinet.
Bass player for Next (FR)
I realize that my comments that follow may be heresy to some, but here goes anyway.
I have found I get a much better "jingle-jangle" from my various Rickenbacker 6- and 12-string guitars when they are played through my 1968 Fender Twin Reverb (factory JBL D-120Fs) or my 1969 Fender Dual Showman Reverb (factory D-130Fs) than that from my 1995 Vox AC30TBX Limited Edition (purple Tolex, Blue 'dogs), or from the 1968 Fender Bandmaster (early 1968, AB763 circuit) I sold earlier this year (played through the DSR JBL cabinet or a Marshall Model 1936 with 2 x 12" Celestions).
The main difference appears to me to be in the Middle control on the TR and the DSR (the BM lacked a Middle control, and the Vox doesn't seem to have a comparable control); this control really adds a lot of 'color' (harmonics?) to the mid-range and makes all the difference in the world. This is especially noticable with the 12-string guitars. In fact, a friend thought that my 660/12 TP running through the TR sounded better than his 370/12 RM with the compressor kicked in on his amp (can't remember offhand what amp he was using at the time, but it wasn't a Vox or Fender).
Because the only 1960s Vox I have played through has been a 1965 AC-4 I sold a while back, I can't say how the sound would compare to that from an AC-30 of that era.
In a side note, I can adjust the settings on my Crate GX-40C (solid state, 2 x 8" Crate speakers) to give a nearly identical sound to that coming from the TR, the main difference being in the low-end punch (logical that 8" speakers can't match 12s). I used the dual mono output of my 370/12v64 to do this. This amp is probably one of the most under-rated amps made!
I have found I get a much better "jingle-jangle" from my various Rickenbacker 6- and 12-string guitars when they are played through my 1968 Fender Twin Reverb (factory JBL D-120Fs) or my 1969 Fender Dual Showman Reverb (factory D-130Fs) than that from my 1995 Vox AC30TBX Limited Edition (purple Tolex, Blue 'dogs), or from the 1968 Fender Bandmaster (early 1968, AB763 circuit) I sold earlier this year (played through the DSR JBL cabinet or a Marshall Model 1936 with 2 x 12" Celestions).
The main difference appears to me to be in the Middle control on the TR and the DSR (the BM lacked a Middle control, and the Vox doesn't seem to have a comparable control); this control really adds a lot of 'color' (harmonics?) to the mid-range and makes all the difference in the world. This is especially noticable with the 12-string guitars. In fact, a friend thought that my 660/12 TP running through the TR sounded better than his 370/12 RM with the compressor kicked in on his amp (can't remember offhand what amp he was using at the time, but it wasn't a Vox or Fender).
Because the only 1960s Vox I have played through has been a 1965 AC-4 I sold a while back, I can't say how the sound would compare to that from an AC-30 of that era.
In a side note, I can adjust the settings on my Crate GX-40C (solid state, 2 x 8" Crate speakers) to give a nearly identical sound to that coming from the TR, the main difference being in the low-end punch (logical that 8" speakers can't match 12s). I used the dual mono output of my 370/12v64 to do this. This amp is probably one of the most under-rated amps made!
It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing. - Seneca
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mark_telfer
- Veteran RRF member
- Posts: 89
- Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2001 3:48 am
I agree about the importance of the Fender Middle control to the Rick 12-string sound. I have a 370/12RM with unwound pickups and Pyramid flatwounds and nothing can beat the tone that I get through a D130F-equipped Blackface '67 Dual Showmans at any volume, but particularly at V=6, T=8, M=7 and B=4.
Like Gary, I also have a Silverface '69 Dual Showman Reverb and although the tone controls seem to fight against each other a bit more than the Blackface amps, the Middle control and the JBL speakers seem to bring everything out in the open, while the AC-30 and blue speakers conspire to make it sound as if you're stuck down a tunnel. (Now there's real heresy for you).
I also have two AC-50 Super Twins and an AC-100 Super Deluxe and none of them does justice to the 370/12RM compared to a Fender Twin or Dual Showman.
Like Gary, I also have a Silverface '69 Dual Showman Reverb and although the tone controls seem to fight against each other a bit more than the Blackface amps, the Middle control and the JBL speakers seem to bring everything out in the open, while the AC-30 and blue speakers conspire to make it sound as if you're stuck down a tunnel. (Now there's real heresy for you).
I also have two AC-50 Super Twins and an AC-100 Super Deluxe and none of them does justice to the 370/12RM compared to a Fender Twin or Dual Showman.
"But the man has a 47-string guitar." (Grace Slick on Paul Kantner's attempt to tune his 366/12 during a Winterland show of October 31 1969).