Mitch has THE tone I love!

marc61 · Post by **marc61** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:34 pm

Hey Mitch, how did you sneak in here without me noticing?

Welcome.

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 8:23 am

WAYCOOL!
Welcome, Mitch!
Please feel free to share anything you like about pretty much anything at all! We all love to hear more about Ricks, & many other subjects for that matter.

I'd like to pass along an invite to Ms. Hunter to check this place out. I'll send an email, but I know I don't open, much less respond to emails from people I don't know, so I won't expect a response.
My guess would be the old cap in the bass being responsible for the fuzzy low end.
There's an easy fix for that on those basses that have it.

jwilli · Post by **jwilli** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:01 pm

Mitch, didn't you own a vintage 360 OS in a special factory finish? Shaded Blue or something? If so, could you tell us more about it?

chronictown · Post by **chronictown** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:49 am

Welcome, Mitch. Thanks for the gear info - very useful for people like me who came of age during the early- / mid-'80s, THE era of great indie rock!

blue330 · Post by **blue330** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 7:19 am

Wow! Thanks for everybody's comments, and here are some answers to the questions: It was Richard Barone, of the Bongos, who led me to getting my 1st Rickenbacker. I had played a MapleGlo 360 at Reliable Music in Charlotte, NC when I was first in bands and I vividly recall how lovely and classy it was, but the times being what they were, and my bandmates' tastes being what they were, I wound up with an SG which can be seen in a funny picture which I think is on my MySpace site! I never forgot that sound, though, and when I worked with Richard and saw his guitar up close, I knew that was what I needed! What I got was a new AzureGlo 330, from Guitar Trader in NJ. It seems like it cost about $550.
I did work with Monuments Galore! They were great. The singer actually owned a copy of the Slade in Flame film!
The funny low end on Faye's 4001 seemed to be lots of confusing overtones, so that the fundamental was there but surrounded by too much other stuff. Maybe it was electronic. There was plenty of bottom, but when I borrowed a friend's ratty old 70s Jazz, it was so much clearer. It seems like 4001/3 basses do vary a bit. Jon Heames, who was in Let's Active awhile, had a really good one, a 4003, I guess.

That 360 OS belonged to Angie Carlson, and it was unbelievable. I wonder whatever happened to it. It was a '66, and was a sort of light translucent powder blue-turquoise burst, over lovely bird's eye maple. Actually, it was a 365 OS. I played it quite a bit on the Someloves record, which is a great sort of ultra powerpop record from Australia. Yeah, I wish I had that one. I've always wondered if it's the "other" finish guitar cited in the production totals in The Rickenbacker Book. It is surely a one-of-a-kind. There was a tag on the case that said Quigley Music Center, I think. We got it in Hollywood at Guitars-R-Us, maybe? The guy at the store said it had been bought new by somebody who was child actor on TV. So there's maybe a bit of a story on this guitar, although the pieces are mostly missing...

lyle_from_minneapolis · Tue Jul 03, 2007 7:34 am

Why does Billy Mumy's name suddenly leap to mind...?

sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 7:24 am

Hey Mitch, how about posting a photo of your Azureglo 330?

janglerocker · Post by **janglerocker** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 3:36 pm

Mitch, great reading your post on creating "the sound". Let's Active were/is awesome, plus groups like The DB's, Guadalcanal Diary. Such great music. Also great to have my memory jogged..The Bongo's were awesome. White Leather(down at the Zebra Club)!!

blue330 · Post by **blue330** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:31 am

Hi John-
I've tried, but by the time I get the attachment small enough, it's just a blue blob...

sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:32 am

Mitch, go ahead and email it to me, i'll resize and post for you. Address is in my profile.

rkbsound · Post by **rkbsound** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 3:52 am

Thanks for trying to post the photos, Mitch. I'd be very interested in not only that Rick, but other Ricks that have been important to you.

marc61 · Post by **marc61** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 3:35 pm

Mitch, that's funny that Richard Barone convinced you to get your first Ric, because bassist Rob Norris convinced me to get rid of my 4001 and get a Fender.

blue330 · Post by **blue330** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 6:31 pm

Hi Marc-
But you returned to a 4001, eh? I think Richard's effect on me was more of a soft sell- he just sounded so great, and the guitar looked so great. He didn't have to say anything about it! Hey, are you in touch with Donna, Frank, et al? If you are please give them my best regards!

About other important Rickenbackers, well, there are some tracks on my recent disk which feature a 650 Atlantis to good effect, if I do say so. Two tracks are really fuzzy, so probably nobody would associate these sounds with Rickenbackers. I sold the 650 awhile back because I couldn't quite figure out how to use it in a band situation, but of course now I see this is a failure of imagination! Oh well. If anybody has this disk, the songs are "I Want a New Scene" and "To Be, Cool Thing". I think it's the clean tremolo guitar on "Love Slaves to Paradise Lost". Another important one to me is a '68 365JG, which has that dainty neck and the classic "toaster" sound. This one has seen a lot of action in the past 8 years or so. Probably the 1st recording I did with that one was my epic cover of Crazy Elephant's "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'" on this bubblegum/pop compilation called Teenster. OK, kidding about the "epic" part. The guitar did great, though. It was so fun to have a vibrato bar on a Rickenbacker!

sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 7:16 pm

Mitch's Ricks:

The second picture is all my Rickenbackers, for your amusement. L-R: '68 365JG, '82 330AG, '06 330DCM, '06 330-12AFG.

rkbsound · Post by **rkbsound** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 3:04 am

Those are some great looking Ricks. Thanks for posting them. What is the sticker on the '82?