My new baby

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 6:28 pm

Just picked up my Comstock over the weekend (for the whole story see my posts under the "Rickenbacker Registration Page" section of this forum, under the "Contributors to the Ric registry" heading...). Anyway, what a cool acoustic! I can't believe how low the action is, almost like playing my electric Rics, and the neck has that same Ric feel that I love--it is the perfect acoustic for the hand that has been spoiled rotten playing Ric electrics! And the sound.... It's totally different from my Takamine acoustic, which is very Martinish.... The Comstock has a lighter, brighter crisp kind of sound, with booming bass notes that have an almost percussive quality....and when played near the bridge it does indeed have a truly Ricky sounding jangle! This will be an awesome guitar for those times when I don't want to drag a heavy amp around.... And I almost forgot, in looks it is drop-dead gorgeous. The fireglo finish and double checkerboard binding (around the soundhole, too) just scream "RICKENBACKER!", and the gold nameplate and tuners are so classy-looking.... It really is a dream come true! And what Ric collection would be complete without a Ric acoustic? Now if I can just get my husband to stop buying me Rics before we have to build another wing on our home to house them all....LOL!

ricnvolved · Post by **ricnvolved** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 6:52 pm

Melissa-- Congratulations on the new acquisition! I remember seeing it over at eBay before your husband bought it and it really is a very nice looking guitar. It may be a ways down the road, but hopefully a 700 Comstock 12-string with a natural Maple finish will be in my future at some point.

Is it possible to have too many Rics?! I used to think it was, but now I'm not so sure! ~LOL~

longhouse · Post by **longhouse** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 7:01 pm

Oh Melissa, you are blessed.
I am still awaiting delivery of my Comstock (6 string, Fireglo).
I played every Gibson, Martin, Guild (heavy as engine blocks), Taylor, and Tak in the shop at Dave's Guitars in LaCrosse, Wis., and none of them held a candle to the Comstock. It eclipsed them all. I ordered mine with the L.R. Baggs electronics.
Congratulations to you.
Cheers, Noel

mike_smith · Post by **mike_smith** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 1:39 am

Noel, When you get your 700C with the LR Baggs Electronics make sure you let use know how the electrics sound please. Expect to hear from you.. in a few months..
Mike

mike_smith · Post by **mike_smith** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 1:40 am

Noel, When you get your 700C with the LR Baggs Electronics make sure you let us know how the electrics sound please. Expect to hear from you.. in a few months..
Mike

ojobob2 · Post by **ojobob2** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 2:42 am

If the rick acoustic are checkerbound? why cant the basses etc be?

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 10:06 am

I thought I would wait a couple of weeks to see if what is happening is "for real".... and to my amazement the Comstock is the guitar that has been getting the most play since I got it.... This is so unlike me! I guess I've never played an acoustic that was so much fun to play before--that low action is really something, and I still can't get enough of the sound.... I only wish that it had the electronics now; I may have to get them installed at a future date.

philco · Post by **philco** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 3:47 am

Congratulations, Melissa! You have a BEAUTIFUL acoustic guitar in the Comstock, and it seems you hit the "motherlode" of tone. Wish I could afford one..........but it's really too much for me, and I am mainly bass oriented anyway. I MIGHT pay that much for a bass guitar some day......maybe. I settled for a Tacoma C1C Chief acoustic, which are easily found and very affordable. The good part is I kept nice tone quality and craftsmanship in the tradeoff, but only lost the fancy inlays, bindings, and glossy paintjob (and traditional styling). The Chief actually matches my RIC 650D better in the style department, being a natural matte finish with no bindings or fancy inlays and having slightly offbeat looks. The action is incredibly low without buzz (as low as my 650D) and the sound is bright, crisp, woody, twangy. Forget the booming bass notes; the low E string sounds better when picked near the bridge to get a bright twangy sound. I checked the intonation up and down the neck with my Peterson VS-1, and it was near perfect everywhere. The neck is bolt-on and very thin, but the sustain is great and the beautiful cedar top has more midrange harmonics than spruce. It's called The Acoustic Telecaster for good reason. It has an anti-Martin sound even though it was designed by ex-Martin employees. Tacoma is mainly a tonewood company, and they definitely "cherry pick" for their own guitars. They didn't become #3 in sales of domestic guitars in only 6 years by building overpriced beaterboxes. Lean your ear down to the soundhole in the upper bout, play the notes softly to moderately loud, and listen to the notes sing and sustain. It's addictive sounding, and unlike most other acoustics. It's unbelievably light. I think it is a good alternative for those who cannot afford a Rickenbacker acoustic (which would be most players), want an anti-Martin/anti-Gibson sound with low action, or want a much less costly backup for their Rickenbacker acoustic without sacrificing tone quality. The wood, workmanship, tone and playing action are fabulous considering the low price. Nobody would gladly trade their Comstock for it, but far more people can afford to buy it.........including me. RIC needs to build an acoustic bass that is competitive with the Tacoma Thunderchief. Seems strange, considering that their electric basses generate even more demand (by professionals at least) than their electric guitars.

Enjoy your Comstock. Most players can never have the privilege of owning one, because they are rare and necessarily rather pricey. For the rest of us, thank goodness Tacoma stepped into the arena and gave Martin, Gibson, Takamine, and Taylor some well deserved competition. RIC will never produce enough acoustics to put a dent in their sales figures (and probably has no intention of doing so), but Tacoma now outsells Gibson at least and puts some sanity into pricing of high quality American acoustics. Order a Rickenbacker acoustic if you can afford it, and play a Tacoma while you wait.

longhouse · Post by **longhouse** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 3:55 am

Well-said Phil.
I love my Tacoma Chief. I never liked smaller-than-dreadnaught guitars before I saw the Chief. I can't imagine I'll ever get rid of mine, even after my Comstock arrives. It's a great recording guitar, ergonomically perfect, and quite striking in appearance. I've never heard it called 'the acoustic telecaster'. Mine has been fairly moody with humidity issues, but has never let me down.
Cheers, Noel

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 10:31 am

Nice review on the Tacoma, Phil.... and what you say about the rarity of the Comstock is quite true.... We got mine on eBay; it was being sold by Schmitt Music (a Minnesota music store chain) in Brooklyn Center, MN--it was their store's demo model, so they couldn't advertise it as brand-new, although I still got the warranty card with it--if you look hard enough you can see some slight signs of previous play on it. Anyway, we had them ship the guitar to their Duluth store, which is quite a bit closer to me, and I was able to get my parents to pick it up for me. My husband answered the phone when the Duluth store called to let us know that the guitar arrived, and he told me that the guy on the line said, in a real hushed and reverent tone, "I opened the case just to see what it was, and it's.... a RICKENBACKER!....I didn't even know they made acoustics." And my husband said, "yeah, they're pretty hard to find..." And the kid said, "Don't worry, I won't touch it!" And my husband (ever generous to the core!) told him, "Go ahead and play a few songs on it!" And the response was, "Really? AWESOME!!" I think he made that guy's day.... Then when my dad went to pick it up he said all the employees were looking at it and the one that seemed to be in charge said, "okay everybody, take one last look, because you probably won't see another one of these for a really long time!" Evidently the Comstock generated quite a bit of interest! I still can't believe it's mine; it's like a dream. And now we really can't afford any more guitars for a very long time, as we have already gone way over budget in the instrument department this year! ....But I'm still holding out for an MCC signature 620 or 650 in blueburst, if John Hall ever decides to make that dream a reality!

philco · Post by **philco** » Sat Aug 09, 2003 2:18 am

Noel, my Chief is also moody with humidity issues, but at least Tacoma is nice enough to give you the combo tool for adjusting the truss rod and removing the truss rod cover. The action is so low that I could probably just give it more relief than normal in order to be right when the humidity is highest and let the neck bow more in dry winter weather. My 650D also has this neck problem as it seems the natural oiled finish lets the wood breathe more. I guess a person could get the rosewood/spruce Chief with the glossy finish and alleviate the problem, but that model would have set me back $300-$500 more and that mahogany/cedar midrange twang I like would have probably disappeared. I have discovered that intonation only stays right at a certain string height and neck relief, as acoustics have a non-adjustable bridge that does not allow for intonation adjustments. I suppose changing to different strings would also affect the intonation all over the neck (Martin strings are said to sound nice on Chiefs). I was amazed how close the Chief was to perfect intonation when I first checked it, when every electric I ever owned was noticeably off in spite of having intonation adjustment available. I also think the two shades of red from the cedar and mahogany wood look funky cool. It makes the Chief seem 'organic' as if it grew from nature rather than being built in a factory.

Melissa, you don't need a lot of guitars for a very long time when you have a Comstock!

It's nice to find an instrument so good that you rarely want to play anything else. My father has a Gretsch solidbody electric with toaster pickups that he hangs on to. I've searched Gretsch websites and never seen another one like it. He goes to local music stores and plays what they have, but he says none of them exceed the Gretsch. My 650D is just as good by his admission, but brighter sounding and he prefers the mellower Gretsch. He recently got a copy of a Gibson ES335, and says he likes it OK. He says the Gretsch just has an easy playing neck that only about one out of a thousand guitars has. A Dutch college student that had a professional music teacher mother said the Gretsch was worth $2500 in Europe (that was 15 years ago) if it weren't for the finish dents and scrapes. My brother rescued the Gretsch from a home where a little kid was dragging it across the floor and he bought it for a peanuts price. He remembered my dad telling him that certain Gretsch guitars were some of the best. Gold is where you find it, as they say.

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Sat Aug 09, 2003 4:46 am

Phil, would love to see pictures both of your Chief and your dad's Gretsch....they sound like cool guitars! Cool story, too.

longhouse · Post by **longhouse** » Sat Aug 09, 2003 8:24 am

Here's a Chief, Melissa:
http://home.bellsouth.net/coDataImages/p/Groups/33/33903/pages/199258/acoustics.jpg

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Sat Aug 09, 2003 8:41 am

Very nice, Noel. I like the offset soundhole. Are they both yours?

longhouse · Post by **longhouse** » Sat Aug 09, 2003 9:40 am

Yes, along with these:
http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=87&subpageid=51116&ck=

It was the offset, paisley-shaped soundhole which sold me on the Tacoma.

I'm still waiting on my Comstock. Hopefully by Christmas...