Country Music & Rickenbacker

[jimk]

I gather after almost a year and a half of membership on this forum that most forumites are rockers, if not in fact, at least after the heart. I was wondering if there are any country guitarists generally, and if there are any finger pickers like Merle Travis or Chet Atkins specifically who are members. Travis seemed to have favored Gibsons, and Atkins at one point in his career as we all know favored Gresches.

If you find yourself playing country finger style, which Rickenbacker model do you favor? I don't think I've ever seen a video of anyone playing a Rick in a true finger picking style; lots of hybrid pickers, though.

True confession: I thought just to be different, I might for my second Rick get one of the six strings and go merrily on my country way and surprise the heck out of everyone. But I'll save the model I might favor for a later post.


JimK

[winston]

Chet was a master of his craft. Would you perhaps favor a 360v64 Jim?

[blueflamerick]

I wouldn't consider myself a county guitarist, but I do finger pick the guitar a lot. As a finger-style bass player, doing the same thing on guitar is just easier for me. I hate picks. I play a 650C and find it easy to finger pick because of the wider neck and string spacing than a 300 series guitar.

[jimk]

Chet was a master of his craft. Would you perhaps favor a 360v64 Jim?

Answer at 11.

JimK

[charlyg]

I thought Country and Music were a contradiction in terms...... RELAX, I'm kidding!!

[jimk]

I thought Country and Music were a contradiction in terms...... RELAX, I'm kidding!!

JimK

[wittyair]

I've played country most of my life.....played ( and still do play ) pedal steel. I'm more of a flat picker when it comes to 6 strings, though. My 340 can hang with the best of 'em

[sloop_john_b]

My own guitar style is countrified more than anything else, but I can only wish to be able to play like Chet! Travis picking is more within my means and is something I love to do.

I've found that all my Ricks have been great for my style, but when I fingerpick, I usually just go with my acoustic. That's not to say that the Ricks can't do it, of course.

[jimk]

Well John, if you can Travis pick, say play Nine Pound Hammer, or Saturday Night Shuffle, you could probably pick several of Chet's pieces.

The Answer: The 360v64 was a good guess, and pretty close. I think my first choice might be a 360 straight up. Something about the idea of picking a stereo guitar just really winds me up. Second choice might be a 330.

JimK

[winston]

Not a bad guess for a Canadian eh?

The 360v64 is pretty special Jim. Try it. I'll bet you would like it. There's something about double bound bodies that...............Oh never mind.

[paologregorio]

A lot of country players in the 50s and early 60s were apparently Rick players.

[ozover50]

There's something about double bound bodies that...............

Mmmmmm........... double bound........

homerdrooling.gif (10.09 KiB) Viewed 1917 times

[jch]

I play alot of Rockabilly and i do some Chet and Merle stuff,
i find my 360V64 is great for that style, I guess that would be Rickabilly!
But the Gretsches for me anyway,have the edge with the bigger necks an'all.

Would love to try one of those 360F geets though

[wmthor]

The 1997 and 730S works for me.

[jimk]

I almost editied one of my earlier posts to mention a 360F. Especially after reading about Paul W's restoration of a 360F. That might be some kind of fun to play one of those.

JimK