JangleBox Thread - What Happened To It??

alecstar · Post by **alecstar** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 8:46 am

Todd, Thank you for the re-posting of your sound clips. And to Peter, I understand completely what you are saying even if I do not agree with it... and I don't. The post from Rickenbacker (John Hall) and the response from JangleBox were the only two out of near thirty that were "heated" if you can even call them that and frankly I do not think they were. You didn't have to kill the patient to kill the disease. When I started the post it was to get opinions on the JangleBox sound. Was it as good as it says it was, what about others etc. I did not ask about it's origins or how it got started but that doesn't mean they are not relevant. If John Hall thinks there be be some "reverse engineering" and he does go after JangleBox then alot more people than those on this forum are going to hear about it. It will be in every guitar magazine on the planet. You won't be able to delete that. I don't think it was heated at all. Rickenbacker stated their side and so did the JangleBox people and I read nothing that you could consider sniping, nasty, vicious, rude etc. It was part of a discussion that left it's original mark but that's what discussions do and that is what makes them that much more interesting and informative. Yes sometimes they go off on tangents that go nowhere but that is the exception and not the rule in most cases. But so what. Now as far as the JangleBox and the RM compressor goes.. There is some "copywriting" infringement that goes on all the time. How many Stratocaster and Les Paul clones are out there??? An idea starts somewhere and then somebody else takes it and does something different with it. If they didn't we would have one guitar manufacturer or one car maker or one COMPRESSOR maker!! The list is ENDLESS! And so are the similarities. And I believe that is the JangleBox position. While it may be similar it is different. I'm fairly certain compressors didn't start in RM's guitar. I think you are over compensating on the subject Peter and should let it come to it's logical conclusion.

alecstar · Post by **alecstar** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 9:03 am

Here is a suggestion for Rickenbacker. If you are concerned about the JangleBox being a clone of the RM circuit then why don't you make a unit (or commission somebody) and sell it yourself? If it's got the Rickenbacker name on it and it's the RM circuit inside then would that not be a winner for you?

lawton · Post by **lawton** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 9:30 am

Well, mine has been delivered and it's really outstanding. I can't handle the bright setting, though (even running my AC50 on the normal channel, which is pretty dark to start with). Great stuff!

admin · Post by **admin** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 9:48 am

Mitch: The second time through you have managed to create the same atmosphere in this thread as the last. If you have advice for Rickenbacker or JangleBox then I would ask you to contact them directly rather that using the this forum to highlight any differences. I ask again, what is it about the JangleBox that enriches your Rickenbacker experience?

teb · Post by **teb** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:01 am

...but doesn't this type of policy enforcement create a scenario where certain members who clearly tend to be more equal than the rest of us (and there obviously are some) can simply drop a couple of inappropriate comments into any thread about a product that they don't like and watch that thread and all references to the product just vanish? We might as well have some computer gizmo hooked up that changes certain words to nonsense... If I want objective answers and varied points of view about Rics I look for them on this forum because I will find viewpoints that will never make it on the corporate forum and I get to choose which ones I want to listen to. It would be a shame to lose that aspect of this forum.

Maybe I'm out of line. On the other hand, this thread is about what happened to the JB thread, not about the box itself, so perhaps I'm still on topic. Maybe my posts including this one will vanish or maybe I'll get the boot, but I don't believe dumping entire threads because of a couple inappropriate comments by certain members is good for the forum.

admin · Post by **admin** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:02 am

Todd: Very nice work. Thanks for posting these links which are most helpful.

I appreciate your points which are well stated.

Again, on some occasions editing is more easily achieved than on others.

admin · Post by **admin** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:12 am

Mr. Phelps. Feel free to post your comments again.

sowhat · Post by **sowhat** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:17 am

Good point, Todd. I've seen a few web communities move in that direction & become a not so friendly place in the end, causing quite a few members to leave. Hope this won't happen here, anyway.

alecstar · Post by **alecstar** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:44 am

To Todd... AMEN! To Peter in regard to your question "What is it about the JangleBox that enriches your experience?" I don't have a JangleBox. That's how the post got started. I wanted to know what they sound like. It's not like I can go to my local Guitar Center and try one out. I bought a Rick 660/12 without ever having played or heard one (No Rickenbackers within 90 miles of me) because of the help of the people on this forum. This forum is great. I have learned alot about Rickenbacker guiutars and things about the Beatles I never knew. It is highly informative. Censorship is not and never will be a good thing. I see nothing wrong with suggesting that Rickenbacker develop their own compressor on this forum.

myfretless · Post by **myfretless** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:55 am

For those in the know, which guitar is most "jangled" (or rather, produces the most jangle) when using the JangleBox?

The 330, 340, 360, 370, 620, or 660?

I've got a 360VP and a 360-12 and I like what it does with the 360-12. I still use a combo of a reverb pedal (The Holy Grail) and a Boss Compressor for my 360VP.

I have a 660 on order and was wondering what other people thought would work best with it?

Any advise?

myfretless · Post by **myfretless** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:56 am

Sorry, typo... "advice."

Also, I don't use any compressor on my 730-12 as it just jangles naturally.

sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:59 am

My 660/12 gets some great jangle, with and without the box. But it's great with the box.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 3:18 pm

Quote Mitch: "There is some "copywriting" infringement that goes on all the time. How many Stratocaster and Les Paul clones are out there??? An idea starts somewhere and then somebody else takes it and does something different with it."

Mitch, you're relatively new here and so can be both excused and educated at this point. But, when you're done reading this post, why not go back and look at some of the threads dealing with Rickenbacker's stance on protection of their hard-earned and properly-registered intellectual property?

The equation of RIC's position vis á vis "copywrite" (I think you mean "copyright") infringement, and those of both Gibson and Fender, is meaningless, as neither Gibson nor Fender holds legitimate trade dress protection for design features of the Strat or Tele, or the Les Paul or the SG, for example. They either never sought protection or let their protection lapse.

THAT's why there are clones everywhere you look, and partially why both manufacturers have gone to manufacturing low-price-point clones of their own in Asia, to hold on to their own part of the market.

lawton · Post by **lawton** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 3:58 pm

But we're not talking about trade dress here. We're talking about inuendo and threats. THAT'S what was going on in the other thread. When a cheap Asian copy guitar has a Rickenbacker trussrod screwed onto a poorly shaped copy of Rickenbacker headstock that's a trade dress infringement. Does Rickenbacker have a registered "trade dress" identity that involves a black box with red and white lettering and chrome knobs? "Trade dress" and its defense have their limitations -- Is "tone" within those limitations?

And what does it do to all this that Roger McGuinn himself is a user and proponent of the Janglebox? Does the supposedly copied circuitry exist on any guitar other than those that also have HIS name on it?

teb · Post by **teb** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 4:49 pm

Just for fun, it's also worth trying the box on acoustics if you have any. In general, you'll probably like the guitar's normal sound better, but it has it's moments. If anybody remembers the thread on re-stringing a rhythm guitar "Nashville-style" with octave strings substituted for some of the primary ones and strummed to add a light fill to the mix, you can come pretty close with regular strings and just a little bit of JangleBox added. You're not really adding jangle, but it accentuates the highs, limits the lows and the compression helps even things out. I have a Takamine TAN16C six-string with the built-in tube preamp and a Takamine EN12C twelve-string with their regular preamp and it works quite well on both. You can hear the twelve-string set up this way and then run straight into the board on this track. It's in the background on the left side of the mix.

http://webpages.charter.net/tbradshaw/Queen%20Jane.wma

It's funny, but ever since I started messing around with recording all the tracks of a song myself, I've developed a deep appreciation for good rhythm guitar players. We always used to figure that you took the worst player in the band and made him the rhythm guitarist - but playing those parts really well is truly an art. I take back all the bad things I ever said about rhythm guitarists. Drummers, however, are another matter...