If John, George, and Paul Didn't Play A Ric, Would You?

[weemac]

Yep, I blame Chris Squire.

I think Chris played one because Paul did so the correct answer could possibly still be "No".....

Eden.

[Tommy]

if George hadn't played a Rick in "A Hard Day's Night" it's doubtful that McGuinn would have bought one. In fact, I doubt that the Byrds would have been as successful and influential as they were had George stuck to his Gretsch.

That last half is a very interesting point. I'd have to say it is true.

If George in a movie wasn't shown with a 12 string Rickenbacker, McGuinn would not have bought one. That's fact.
More than any other band I can think of, The Byrds are defined by the sound of a particular guitar. Without that particular guitar The Byrds would not have been as successful and influential. Now that's suppostition but it does follow logic.

It really is funny to think that a scene or two in a movie enormously affected the life and career of Roger McGuinn. George plays his Futurama in that movie and it is possible today we are saying "Who were The Byrds?"

[Clint]

Still, this is the one thing that bugs me about playing Rickenbackers. When I play my Strat, no one assumes I'm really into Buddy Holly or Jimi Hendrix. But whenever I strap on one of my Rics, people assume I'm going to play "She Loves You" or "Eight Miles High". It wears on me after awhile. Now, it's super cool that the Beatles played them too, but that's not the only or even primary reason, that I do.

[jdawe]

Interesting question. I bought my first Rickenbacker (a 430) from a friend in high school. I'd played in a band with him for a while and liked the way it played and sounded, so when he offered to sell it to me at a good price (he had bought a car and needed insurance money) I jumped at the chance. I was a Beatles fan and knew that John and George had played Rickenbackers, but this didn't directly influence my purchase. However, it might have influenced my friend's decision to buy the guitar new a few years earlier.

When I bought my next Rickenbacker almost 30 years later (a 620-6, later joined by a 620-12), the Beatles weren't a major factor at all -- much less so than Buck, Marr and Townshend. More importantly, I had played other guitars and come to realize none of them felt right to me in the way my old 430 did, and that what I really wanted was a guitar that had the same qualities but was a bit better. I came across and ad for a used 620 in my city and fell in love. The 12-stringer followed a few months later. Of all my Rickenbacker purchases this was the most Beatle-influenced, but even so it was a secondary factor -- I was much more influenced by the REM and Smiths sound than by George's 12, and went with a 620-12 because I liked the playability of my 620-6 so much (although the fact that Buck had taken to playing a 620-12 didn't hurt, either).

[bitzerguy]

Yep. For me it was tone and feel, not the Beatles.

[cassius987]

This question can be looked at two ways, do I play Rics today because I know those people did back then?, and is the reason I learned to love Rics somehow a result of those people playing them? The first question for many will be "no" but far more will answer "yes" to the second question.

As a person who was rather ambivalent about the Beatles even several years into knowing their music and playing Rics I have to say the answer to the first question is definitely no. (I am beginning to enjoy their music more however.)

Personally I do not know the answer to the second question because I found out about Rics because of this guy, and I'm guessing he was influenced by Squire who claims he was influenced by Entwistle:

[s4001]

Heck, if Geddy and Chris didn't play bass, I never would have even played in the first place.

[myrtbass]

Hi fellow forumites. I thought I would reply to this question because none of these people really influenced me to play a RIC.My Musical influences were all R&B, Soul and Allman Bros. Jamerson,Duck Dunn,Rocco Prestia, etc were my musical influences and they all played Fenders. My first initiation to a Rickenbacker was a friend who ordered a 71 or72 4001.After a long wait it came in. I remember when he first opened the case. It was the prettiest thing you ever saw.It was Red with checkerboard binding and all the chrome.Then we plugged her in. That thing had the sweetest treble and the lowest lows ever. The only problem was it had no serious midrange punch ,like a Fender bass. So on stage the bass got lost in the mix, unless you had a gazillion watt amp. Anyway, that bass stuck in my mind and in 2011 I got my JG4003.The midrange issues have been solved by the New HG pickups and the cap bypass.I still think the Rickenbacker bass is the prettiest, very well made bass going ,for the money. I still like my Fenders, too! This is just my story.

[paologregorio]

Oh yeah; I knew the Beatles and their music as a kid because I had older siblings, but I had no clue what brand of instruments they played; the first band I noticed playing Rickenbackers was the Jam. Even then, I bought my first Rick bass in high school because I heard they were really good, and I saw Bruce Foxton playing one. After that, it was the "when you own a certain brand of something, you start noticing that brand when you see it" phenomenon. After I bought a Rick, I noticed retroactively that bands like the Beatles, Byrds, and the Who played them, and noticed Tom Petty had a few, and noticed R.E.M., Mitch Easter, Geddy Lee, and Steppenwolf playing them in MTV videos, and found out that Chris Squire from Yes played one as well.

[jch]

Yes

Much the same as Paul above said,it was The Jam that first turned me on to Rickenbackers.
Of course when i saw George's 360 in the movie, i knew which model i really wanted!

[beatlefan]

Great question!

I'm gonna say probably not.....I was a big WINGS fan in high school, not Beatles....that came MUCH later in my life. Kind of ironic that the one bass that influenced me most, I've never owned! .... must be that reversed headstock?

[artisan4]

Yes, I discovered Rics via Pete Quaife, Paul Weller and Bruce Foxton.

[aceonbass]

Yes....But then, I play a RIC because Chris Squire plays a RIC. Then again, if Squire played a RIC because Paul played a RIC, maybe I do!

[JakeK]

That's is a really good question that has been posed.

I think the Beatles are the reasons all our favorite players play Rics and that's why we do. As it has been stated, McGuinn bought his first Ric because of George, and Pete Townshend did, too:

How did you happen to choose a Rickenbacker?

PT: I liked the look of it, I think because The Beatles were using them. They picked theirs up in Germany, they were real German ones. I stayed with Rickenbackers for a long time and then I started to use Fenders.

http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/guitar/rick.html

My answer: Probably not, and it would've been my loss.

Here's another question: If John hadn't found his V81 325 so cheap, what would he have played on his rise to fame?

[hjarnett]

It was the Beatles I call your name. That did it for me