Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Didn't want to be like everyone else with a Gibson or Fender, so I ordered my first Rick without even playing one. I guess it turned out okay, because now I own four!

I loved the Beatles sound & the visual appeal of Georges ric . I was bemused by Johns jetglo and could never understand why it had the bottom horn cut off to a pear shape.. It was along time before I realised the white part was the pick guard and the bottom horn had merged into the background shadows...
I always wanted a ric bass after I saw Paul and heard Sting on .. Walking onthe moon , " I think.. I love the ringing sustain esp using roundwounds

Ever since I first saw John Lennon playing that jetglo of his, I knew Rickenbackers were for me.

_THE_ bass player who incited me to play bass is named Chris Squire. Need more details ?

All the best,

Jean Lançon
http://www.jeanlancon.com

My influences for getting a RIC were for these reasons, they all happened in roughly the same time period, namely, when I started playing music (guitar and bass):

Pete Townshend's famous "Maximum R&B" poster with the windmill swing.

Geddy Lee, his famous RIC tone on all those great old Rush songs.

John Entwistle's beautiful 4005 he was playing in "Tommy can you hear me" from the movie "The Kids are Alright"

Paul's basslines and tone on the Sgt Pepper album, most notably "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".

And laugh if you want, but that great tone/look of Prescott Niles's Jetglo RIC from that first Knack album "Get the Knack". Killer tone!

The Beatles and the Beachboys!!!

I've always liked the sound of a thinline, hollow-body guitar with single coil pickups, and for most of the '70s I had a Gibson ES330 in my guitar battery. Regretfully, I sold it when I needed some cash to relocate.
A few years ago I planned to get another ES330, and while I was cruising guitar shops I kept looking at the Ricks and thinking that they were so much more stylish than the Gibsons. Especially the Fireglo. And I remembered that I'd almost bought one in 1969, and that stuck with me. And then I started talking about it at work and at home and one day when I mentioned it, my wife said that she'd buy me one for my 50th birthday, which was a few months away. Well, I wasn't sure if she was serious or what, but a couple of weeks after my birthday, we were together in a music store to buy strings and picks (she plays too,) and there was a '99 Rick 360/6 FG hanging there and I asked to play it and after I'd played it for a few minutes I offered the guitar to her to try and she very cooly said to me, "I'll try it when we get home." How about that?
A few months later I saw another Ricky that I thought looked very unique. A '99 turquoise 325V59 with gold guards and nameplate. I'd always wanted a 325 since 1964, and this one looked to cool to pass up so I bought it! My wife thinks turquoise is a weird color for a guitar but she was OK with me getting another one. And that's how I came to have two new Rickenbacker guitars within a year. Best regards to all.

I started out with a Univox - Moserite copy in 1972. Shortly after, I started noticing the looks and tone of the Rickenbackers that McCartney,Chris Squire and Geddy Lee were using. I really liked the way the necks looked sooooo long. Being a kid of 16 and not knowing any better, I called the local music store to see if I could buy just the neck to put on my Univox. (I'm sure I made the salesman's day with that one) It wasn't until I actually owned one that I realized why he laughed as he said "no".
I had gone to Swallen's Audio in 1975 and put a '75 Fireglo 4001 in lay-away. When I went to get it out, they could not find the case. They had a new shipment in that day so the salesman said he would just "steal" the case from one of those. He opened the case and there was this beautiful ruby-glo. Without hesitation I told him to put the fireglo back on the wall, this one's going home with me. I sold that one 3 years later,,,swore I'd never do that again. I now own three - 4000,4001 and a 4003.

I bought my 360/12CW in Fireglo becuase I was come upon with a great deal at a time when I was weak in spirit! I loved the 325's, but splurged for a CW because I thought the price was right, especially for a SE model. Hopefully, I can purcahse a 325 sometime and have a pair of beauitful guitars!

Because I had to. I had to have it. I saw it, drooled for a few months, and then bought it.

Why? It was, dare I say it, lust..

I had been aware of the 4001 for a couple of years when I began to be an aspiring bass player but simply could not afford it and lefties were more expensive and harder to come by as it was.

Then I saw Rush on their "Moving Pictures" tour and that was it. The LOOK, the SOUND! I had to have it!! I would never be happy playing until I had one.

That was over 20 years ago.

For a very brief period of time I did own a really beaten 4003 that I had converted to lefty. I had "the sound", but that still didn't satisfy, the occasional accidental flip of the switch or turn of the knob as my forearm moved across the front of the bass. And for you lefties, we all know a righty strung backwards just doesn't "feel", hang or balance the same way.

FINALLY, I was VERY lucky recently to pick up a 1979 4001LH MG in almost brand-new condition. Yes!!

I should note that I do not play professionaly, the only audience I have other than myself is, however unwillingly, the neighbor on the side of the yard where the garage is. And maybe the guy across the street. (giggle) But I still HAD to have it. Obsessive? Maybe, but I haven't been this jazzed about playing in years.

And that sound...Heaven

The body style and tone of the 4000 series bass and 300 series guitar are THE BEST!!! These models are as beautiful to look at as they are to listen to. I've never gotten tired of them in any way.

I'm gonna stop now before I reach a new "hygh" in hyperbole.........

Jeffrey: Please do continue. The lavish look and the scintilating sound have had many of us spellbound for decades. I can hardly wait for the next big wave of enthusiasm to come on the "C Series high tide". I feel like the lighthouse at Rickenbacker Point!

BEATLES, BEATLES, BEATLES, B E A T L E S!!!! AL A.

In June of 1981 I saw a Rickenbacker catalog at the music shop where I was taking guitar lesson.
The pictures of the 4001 basses floored me. They were the most incredible looking musical instruments I ever saw.

I begged the shop owner for one picture of the bass & he was kind enough to give me the catalog. Although tattered beyond recognition, I still have the catalog to this day.

Later I found out that the Beatles & Chris Squire played RICs. This only served to reinforce my adoration for these beautiful instruments.