Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Strictly my opinion regarding the black trim hardware that was once offered as an option-- I was GLAD to see it go. In fact, it's still somewhat of an irritation that it was even offered in the first place. I still cringe when I see a pic of any Ric with black trim; the visual equivalent of hearing chalk scraping on a blackboard.

When I ordered my 4003MG in November, 1992, I made DAMN sure to specify white trim/chrome hardware. I was scared to death that there would be a mix up in the paperwork for the order and that the bass would arrive with the black trim. It didn't (thank you Jesus!) and my sense of relief was enormous.

Yep, the sun was shining all around the world the day Rickenbacker discontinued the black trim option. No personal slam to those Ric owners who like it. As a small consolation, rest easy that I will never covet any Ric you have with black trim.

Wow, that cat has a real Phobia regarding the hated black trim. I had a black-on-black 330 that was pretty cool - a mix of modern and classic. Another example I liked, but never acted on, was a Mapleglo anything with black. That, especially in a 360, had an industrial look that created a tension between the harsh black trim and the delicate-looking maple. It had a tremendous negative capability. (nods to Woody Allen's Manhattan).

I am not a fan of the black trim either.

Kudos to Mark for referencing a Woody Allen film with my fave, Meryl Streep in it.

didn't little rock god in training John Lennon alter his perfect Rickenbacker and cater to his own silly whim by putting a Bigsby on? Not to mention some reasonable looking knobs? Perhaps if he hadn't made it into something he liked, he'd have stopped playing it and switched to something else and today there'd be no Rickenbacker forum.

I've a black trim 4002, and if nothing else, it's unique.

A 1983 360-12BT in Mapleglo, now no one's going to say this one doesn't look great!!

Your right, no one can say that thats not a sweet axe, but I still think the tailpiece looks best in chrome, and once you've got chrome in one place you generally need to put it everywhere to make it pretty!

Mike: There are a number of instruments that I consider look very nice with black trim. These would include the silver, white and black finish instruments. The Blackstar and the Tuxedo models immediately come to mind. The Mapleglo in black trim is also an interesting look. While not my favourite by any means your photo of the 1983 360/12BT is unique and I do like the bound sound hole in black. One of my least favourite combinations is the red finish with black trim.
BT may not be a crowd pleaser, but just let someone famous consistently use such a trim/finish combination and the demand for it would change accordingly.

There wouldn't (perhaps) be a Rickenbacker forum here today if John Lennon hadn't altered his 325?!
C'mon!! That's giving Lennon WAY too much credit! It's possible the 325 model might've been discontinued, but the legacy George Harrison & Paul McCartney have created by THEIR use of Rickenbackers far overshadows any contribution Lennon made. Bigsby, knobs, or otherwise.

Peter, I have to agree, the white and black finished instruments look great with the BT option. The photo of the 360-12BT may not show the maple's richness, this helps I'm sure, I have a 360-6 MG with white trim and the maple is so light the BT option would look awful. The Red finish with BT, again I agree, awful, and I dislike the mid-blue with the BT option.

Mike Smith-- Regarding the 1983 360/12MG in black trim: Nope, I won't *say* it........... I'll just quietly cringe instead.

Jeffery...thank you for not *saying* it....again.
Like the man said....'that cat has a phobia'. Please continue to quietly cringe....but I still like Autuum Glow 360's with black trim and gold pick guard and truss cover.

David-- You're quite welcome, I'm sure. Glad to be of service.

My theory is: Lennon had a ric, so George wanted one too. Maybe not though, had John not played one. And they became de riguer for all the invasion bands that followed for a short time. I think Lennon started the trend (being the first major star to play one), and a simple twist of fate could've changed that. And people, including famous ones, might have followed his other choice. He might have bought a Strat like his hero, Buddy Holly. If he had not been playing a ric, would Mr. Hall have approached them and offered them guitars?

Jerry-- Your interest & opinions on this subject are heartily welcome, but a bit puzzling. The reason I say this is because The Shamustwins' website indicates that your gear consists totally of Fender. Nothing wrong with this, of course; I'm a big Fender fan myself, though I don't much trust the newer stuff. But to be playing in a power pop band and not have a single Ric guitar? Hmmmmm, I must be missing something. To be fair though, I'm sure there are plenty of other power pop guitarists that don't use a Ric. Oh well, their loss. Wait a minute! Maybe they're having a tough time finding a Ric guitar?! OR maybe they're having a tough time finding a Ric in, uhhhhmmm......... Oh Yeah!-- Lake Placid Blue? Or Burgundy Mist Metallic? Or perhaps a Les Paul Goldtop finish with lace sensor pick-ups? Let's add a Floyd Rose and a locking nut while we're at it.

Gee whiz. Maybe we really don't want a true Rickenbacker after all. Maybe we just want to acquire musical instrument alchemy and turn a Rickenbacker apple into a Fender orange.

Yes, I'm being facetious, but my point/opinion is serious. Those of us who are true Ric diehards love the instruments for what they are. Naturally we're not all going to agree on every single detail. Many of us (myself included) would love to see some *minor* changes we would consider commonsense improvements, but even then we're not all going to agree on what those are. And there are some Ric fanatics who are totally opposed to any changes whatsoever. For example, those people who send nasty e-mails & phone calls to Mr. Hall whenever has talked about dropping the Ric-O-Sound confound me to no end.

The unanswerable question comes down to this: How many permanent changes, or even factory options, do you institute til it's no longer a Rickenbacker instrument? Rickenbacker OBVIOUSLY is a small company and NOT a cookie-cutter operation like Fender, Gibson, and the true mass-produced flunky companies whose names I won't even bother to mention. As I said in another thread, if Rickenbacker ever decided to go that route, I'd just as soon they shut down operations and close the doors forever. Personally, I would gladly forego the few changes I'd like to see Rickenbacker make than to see them sell-out and become just another "me too" parody. Far better to keep the basic Ric traits intact than trying to be all things to all people. As for Rickenbacker giving, or not giving, people what they want: if any particular person doesn't like anything Ric offers, then don't buy it. The principle applies equally to any product offered in the public marketplace.

As for little rock god in training John Lennon and his influence on the popularity of Rics: Yes, I readily concede the excellent points you make in your post. And the alterations he made to his 325 obviously prompted Rickenbacker to make those features permanently available as options. However, I would guess he was content to make those alterations on his own and complained little, if any, about Rickenbacker not having those features already available. Others here who want to make changes to their own personal instruments are certainly free to do so. However, when a radically modified Ric comes up for sale on eBay, one has only to read the contemptuous & scornful posts that sprout up like mushrooms here at the forum. Perhaps the radical mods were done by another little rock god in training who didn't have a clue what he wanted, and had even less of a clue what it would do to the value of his instrument when he finally realized the mods didn't work out the way he intended.

As always, these are merely my opinions, and YMMV.

Jeffery- I usually play my strats on the trebly pu-I like the twang (I dare not say jangle). We're recording now, and I will rent a ric 12 string for overdubs. I expect to buy a ric someday, but I really feel I'll need to try before I buy. That postpones the purchasing process indefinately. I prefer new, not too picky on color (but not that lite blue color. We're not a J-Pop band).

I was (and am first and foremost) a bassist, and actually used my '67 4005 exclusively onstage in the '80's. I will use it or my 4002 for overdubs on said current recording. My bassist prefers my Alembic. Dunno why.

I would love to play a ric onstage, and know I will someday, it's the beatle fan in me. I've tried the 3 series, and the necks are too small and bodies too big for me, so I want to try the 6 series. Never seen one in person, only read about em. But for now, the strat is a "fluid", versatile guitar, and I always get amazed comments how, on the odd occasion we do a cover (Usually "She Said, She Said", "Feel A Whole Lot Better", "Ticket To Ride" or "Let Me Roll It") my tone sounds like the record. We're also a three piece, and until we find a fourth, I gotta cover leads and rythms. I don't wanna play lead. But now I need the versatlilty of a strat.

When I formed this band I went on a buying frenzy, and bought the Alembic along with an Eden rig, three fender amps, two fender cabs and two strats. Gibson's didn't have that fluidity of tone for me that strats have from yes, I'll say it, the jingle jangle to the warm "woman" tones. Also, the strats (IMO) react to HOW you play them more than other guitars. And, most importantly, there was not a ric in sight when I was flush with cash. And I shopped from the South Bay to Santa Monica to Sherman Oaks to the Inland Empire (I didn't know about ebay). And, my freind was a GC manager. Six months was his ric mantra. Availability, baby!

Power pop is a term our web designer put on our site, and ok, we let him. As I said in another post we describe our music as garage rockin, power poppin, psychedelic, hellbilly rock and roll. We think we're a rock and roll band. But so do the Heavy Metal bands with whom we sometimes share the bill. So the term rock and roll covers a lot of ground. We try to do a lot of vocal harmony, so we're pigeon-holed.

Yeah, I'd like a ric to share duties with my strats, not because of some power pop requirement, but because (primarily) of the sound. I can approximate it, but not attain it without one.

And, I couldn't modify a guitar if my life depended on it. I always pay to have periodic re-setting-ups.

I appreciate the differences of opinions on this site. I have linked Rickenbacker from our mp3 site.