"hmmm..... i dont think Chris squire is a very good bassist"
There is a good chance that if it weren't for his talent using a Rickenbacker the way he did you wouldn't have yours right now, or Bruce Foxton for that matter, way back when....
Owen wrote: "oh and im pretty sure that Bruce Foxton (and Paul Weller) had Ricks because of the who"
John's point is, that in the early 70's Rickenbacker was going through a tough time, and because of the "Fragile" album by Yes, and specifically Chris Squire's amazing bass sound, sales for the 4001 went through the roof, and throughout the 70's the basses kept Rickenbacker viable. So without Squire and Geddy, who knows where RIC would stand in the scheme of things. Perhaps Foxton and Weller would've ended up buying Fenders.
Rickenbacker's sales books, the number of employees on the payroll, and capital expenditure (such as the acquisition of the current headquarters and the amp factory) seem to be at odds with your statement that the early 70's were a tough time for the company.
Both guitar and bass sales were quite strong, especially in foreign markets. Both the factory and sales office were quite busy trying to keep up with orders from such major accounts as Wing Music, Musik Meyer, and Kurosawa.
The period from about 1979 to 1981 was much slower, closer to flat line growth, in an industry with many problems, as reflected by the actual or pending divestiture of other major guitar firms by conglomerate owners.
JH: Interesting...So the comapny's domestic sales were growing at a slower rate than markets overseas ca. 1970-71??
This is one period I tend to regard personally as a siginfcant one in the company's history, due to the manufacture of some of the rarest instruments made by Rickenbacker at this time---the shaded green/shaded blue guitars, lightshow instruments, slant-fret hollow bodies, the Banjolines and custom orders such as the Mando-Guitar.......was it simply a matter of the company having the time to make these rarities, or was it just standard procedure by your father during this time??
Mr. Hall - My apologies, of course you are the expert. I (of course) do not have any access to sales records and the like within the company, it was through previous threads that I formulated this point of view.
However, I still stand by my comment that Chris Squire and Geddy Lee influenced many a bass player to pickup a RIC.
I am playing with 2 bands ... I currently have 9 basses ... just sold 2 ... a '73 4001 and a 1999 jazzv .... I play 99% 5 strings these days ... I usually take a 4003s5 and a 5 string jazz bass ...
My coolest bass ... the '68 4001 fireglo usually stays home ... but when it goes out I usually a few ooos and aaahs ...
You'll hear no debate from me that Chris Squire and Geddy Lee were good for the company. But of course the product itself provided a means for them to get "that sound" that may have given them a distinctive edge that helped make them prominent.
After all, look what happened to the Smithereens meteoric rise the moment they started using other guitars!
With regard to the statement about that period producing some rarities, I'll take a tiny bit of the credit. Certainly the odd-ball colors were directly from my suggestion, but a zillion other ideas (many you never heard of) were tried because the company became more receptive to trying a wider field of ideas. This correlated mainly to a younger staff coming into the company and exposure to a wider range of ideas.
Given the time frame, you could also say that the company dropped acid in a figurative sense to expand the mind and brainstorm a little.
I play bass in a gigging band. I'm also one of the not-so-many who play a Ric bass *in spite of*, and not because of, Squire & Lee (especially the latter - I'm a skinny ugly guy with long hair & a big nose, and I also play keyboards & foot-controlled synthesizers - I have to tell the people who ask me to form a tribute band with them, "sorry, I can't screech when I open my mouth"). I'll readily admit to their talents - I just don't want to have to listen to their music. And while, again, I'll readily admit that the two of them certainly helped sell a lot of Rickenbacker basses, to give them exclusive credit for the popularity of the bass does a huge disservice to the many other great bassists who *also* helped popularize them in the 1970's, from Roger Glover to Glen Matlock, Lemmy to Jon Camp, etc. (And on the subject of the thread heading ... of course they are! That's why I'm here!)
My basses are Rickenbackers. My synthesizers and recording gear are analog.
Doug P - yeah i wanted a Rickenbacker because I associate the look and sound of them with The Jam, The Who, and the Kinks. I think Paul Simonon of the Clash played a rick at first too. Because im British, the Rickenbacker means 60's and 70's Britsh Rock and roll to me, particularly the Punk era. Im only 18, but my band and I look to the past to base our music on.
The email address shown is down, you can email me at [email protected]
John -- just making sure I understand (regarding your post to this thread), but are you implying that if the Smithereens had kept using Rics, they may have maintained a bit more success in the music biz?
I'm not debating your comment, I'm just curious. Thanks!
