"Dirty" Sounding Ric

mayhem · Post by **mayhem** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 4:21 am

Everyone seems to prefer their Strats and Les Pauls for crunch and drive, why? My Ric 620 does it sweet! Last night I was jamming with a buddy using his Les Paul and his PRS (neat trick, two guitars at once

). He wasn't convinced that he was going to like the Ric. When I called him up and said "You gotta come see my new guitar, its a Ricenbacker!" he tried to tell me that for "my style" of guitar playing I should have gone with a "more traditional" lead instrument.

Once he got his hands on it he sang a different tune.

In the end his opinion was "I've played guitars as good as this, but I don't think I've ever played one that I'd consider better." And this guys a riff-rock, blues, metal lead player all the way!

Rics really can do it all.

The more I play my Ric the more I think I don't need the Strat I've been considering.

I overdrive my little 2x8 cab just a touch, I get sweet singing clean sound until I drive the pick just a little harder into the strings and get such clear, harmonic distortion, I can't think that a "more traditional" lead guitar could do what my Ric does.

Then there's the other side of the equation. I think its fairly unusual that I play a Ric almost contstantly overdriven. Everyone always says Rics are the greatest clean-sound/rhythm guitars. Does anyone else use it for harder stuff, or am I some kind of anomaly?

longhouse · Post by **longhouse** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 6:17 am

There are the run-of-the-mill McTones, then there are TONES. The tones that make your hair stand on end. The tones that make you stop to think 'do I sound that good'. The tones that make you wonder where you stop and the guitar starts.
It's a pleasure zone that I find on my Rics and no other guitars. The guitars that feel like home. I love my Danelectros, Epiphones, and other guitars, but they are side dishes! (I don't love my Fender yet -'72 Tele Custom).
I play clean, dirty, and completely distorted on my Rics. Rhythm, lead, greasy double-stop chord slides, E-bow, acoustic-y strums, reverbed to surfy proportions, and all places in between (except hair metal, nu metal, etc.).
I've never listened to a word of those who would cast aspersions on the role of a Rickenbacker guitar. So we're a bit of a secret society.
I'm glad to see your friend got a bit of an ear opener.
What am I doing here? I have an hour before leaving for work; I need to plug in and play.
Cheers, Noel

corey · Post by **corey** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 10:38 am

I'm glad someone else on here is using an e-bow!

I love the dirty tones I can get just from my Vox and messing around with some reverb and delay.

Peter Buck likes his overdrive on his Rics, as well

wormdiet · Post by **wormdiet** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 1:48 pm

Although their lyrics may not be your taste,
you should check out Sleater-Kinney for the guitar work. . . One of the guitarists, Carrie Brownstein, uses a gritty/slightly crunchy 330 for a lot of tracks. If I hear things correctly, she gets a really neat, snarly-inyour-face, non-jangly lead sound, too. The other player uses a danelectro frequently. . . pretty cool combo

What rick/crunch thread would be complete without acknowledging Paul Weller of the Jam?

admin · Post by **admin** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 2:31 am

Here is a sample of what my Model 450/12 can sound like with a little added distortion.

eatswodo · Post by **eatswodo** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 3:38 am

That's a 'little' added distortion?

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 4:50 am

that's a 12 string?

admin · Post by **admin** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 5:31 am

Yes it is a 1966 Rickenbacker 450/12 and my comment on distortion an hyperbole, I confess.

mayhem · Post by **mayhem** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 6:26 am

Well, I'm a man of few words...

Oh wait, no I'm not...

Sweet, I'm glad to hear I'm not some kind of weird-tone freak.

Peter - very nice - whats the amp being used? Amps distortion or a pedal?

E-bow... mmmmm... hadn't even thought about it....

kennyhowes · Post by **kennyhowes** » Thu Jun 05, 2003 7:47 am

While I'm sort of anti-distortion-pedal (whenever possible), I do enjoy and prefer the sound of any guitar with a bit of tube-amp growl, the Ric 300 series being at the top of my list.

Typically I use an AC30 turned up to about 3 or 4; if the room's too small or the audience are holding their ears then I have an old DOD FET Preamp pedal with no switch that I put between the guitar and the amp to control the volume, and then an old MXR micro amp for solos.

The natural reaction of a loud amp and a semi-hollow guitar makes for some interesting sustain too.