Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Do you still have that Tele, Paul? What a sweet guitar.

I learned guitar with surf music. There is a soft place in my heart for that music. I still like to play it once and a while but none of my friends do. Turn that reverb to 10 and turn everything else off!

Wish I did, Mike. It would be worth about 1/2 of my entire collection now! Gone since '68...

Something about surf music. One minute it's all adrenaline, the next it's neat ballads...

I fell in love with Rics when I was 12.

...and I still don't bash Jazz basses...

I was 17 when I bought my first Rickenbacker.

They are just as relevant today as they were yesterday. In my case "yesterday" was 40+ years ago.

Oh and btw I play lead guitar and let me see... yep they do just fine.

I'm a member over there as well, and a pretty big Fender fan (couple Strats and Teles, and a '62RI JM. Most of the folks there appear to be pretty congenial and open-minded--you always get a few who will make these sweeping generalizations that have no basis; I think it's just a symptom of the safety of hiding behind the internet, sort of like firing for effect.

Bill

Yeah, it was the "old people guitar" that I was most referring to.
As I said, I like the FDP and have not had any problems there.

There were a lot of positive comments, as well as ignorance. A pretty civil tone to the discourse.

It's obvious that it's guitar-centered though, as bass players don't usually have that "old man's guitar" mentality about Ricks.

Well, it's been a couple of days and no password. Serves me right for applying under my real name, LOL.

Their webmaster obviously is holding a grudge. He was such a rigid, self-important character last time I attempted to communicate, a couple of years ago, when my password didn't work.

I sent him a genial e-mail, asking whether I'd misread it or something, and was blindsided by a nasty note from him, that said, in part, "we don't tolerate spammers". My reaction was, "huh?", so I asked him for details. He would give none, nor would he re-admit me, though I did tell him I thought he was mistaken and ask to be readmitted several times.

I was itching to post back then, because there was some nonsense being circulated at that time regarding Fender finishes. I couldn't post, the nonsense stayed put, and eventually the thread died. I stopped visiting.

Ironically, a few months back, there was a finishing question asked on FDP that no one seemed to be able to tackle. Somebody (one of our own members?) referred the poster to my own column on this very Forum...

When I play guitar I skip Fenders and Rickenbackers and go for Gibson designs ... when I play bass I like Rickenbackers ...

I'm fascinated by how people behave on forums, and I equate it with driving. Road rage occurs because we are all separated from each other and make snap judgements that affect us emotionally and create instant aggression---unless we exercise control, guided by ethics. It's easy to forget that there is a person with a backstory in that other car, or behind that post. We lose nuance and facial expression, and it is replaced by the grill of an SUV or a spattering of ill-considered text...and we are all alone with our feelings. And what happens next is often more reptilian than human.

Knowing this, I am again impressed by the general behavior and intelligence displayed on this forum. This very morning I almost got sideways because I thought one of my posts had been taken out. To quote a great lyric, I should have known better.

My son just joined the Fender club.

Duo Sonics rule for younger folk!

He's loving it. Just a little nudge from Dad into the wonderful world of guitars. He's going to need a good job!

Congrats to your son Kevin.

I own a number of Fender instruments, amplifiers etc. However, I have never contemplated joining the Fender forum. It sounds as if I am not missing anything either.

(Shhhhhhh.....don't tell Paul, I'm glad they dropped the ball with his membership. Means we get his attention)

Thanks F. F. from all the old guys!