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Well, now I've got a brand spankin' new Janglebox headed my way. Any other advice for a new Ric user?

PatrickBateman wrote:Well, now I've got a brand spankin' new Janglebox headed my way. Any other advice for a new Ric user?

Start saving up money for your next Rick... You'll be wanting another before you know it...

I have both the original JB (the black box, bought before the overseas model was brought out), and the JB2. Both are great boxes, and deserve all the acclaim they get here on the Forum. You'll be quite happy, I'm certain.
JimK

PatrickBateman wrote:Robert,

Thankfully, I did my research and when I got home with my new Ric, I had a nice set of TI flats from Pick Of The Ricks waiting on me. Now, restringing was a heck of a job. But the flats certainly improved the feel, in my personal opinion. I normally use .63 Clayton Triangle picks, but I might be tempted to try some thinner ones here pretty soon.

Thanks,

Toby

Toby,

Yes, restringing a Rickenbacker 12-string can be a trial, at least the first few times. I believe Roger McGuinn said on his DVD that it still takes him an hour to restring. That's great that the flats improved the feel of your guitar, but the reason I recommended them was that they really do change the tone of a Ric 12-string. As our forumite Todd Bradshaw once put it, the flats dull the sound of the low courses and accentuate the sound of the octave strings. The result is a much brighter, more jangly sound. Also keep in mind that George Harrison and many other players in the 60's used flatwound strings. So I hope you notice some extra sparkle and chime from those TI's.

That's wonderful news that you have a new Janglebox coming your way. I've auditioned just about every compressor out there, and the Janglebox trumps them all. There isn't a compressor on the market that nails the classic Beatles/Byrds tones as well as my JB2.

As for the picks you use, stick with whatever is comfortable for you. The Dunlops I use are near paper-thin, but they seem to be one in a list of many factors that increase the jangle quotient. For the record, I now use them with my 12-string acoustic, too.

It sounds like you're well on your way to getting the best possible sound out of your new 360/12. Please do keep all of us posted on your tone quest!

Robert

cjj wrote: Start saving up money for your next Rick... You'll be wanting another before you know it...

That's the spirit !!

PatrickBateman wrote:Any other advice for a new Ric user?

Buy one of these truss rod tools to keep in your case.

That tool makes it rather easy to work on your Ric. I've used sockets and ratchets (scary) and then I got the right tool and I now feel so much better (safer) about doing my set ups on my Rics.



And while you are shopping for the tool, get yourself a vintage Rickenbacker strap. They work great, come in an assortment of colors, and they sure look cool with a Ric.

Yet again, I appreciate all the help.

To Robert, the flats have certainly jangled it up a good bit. I'm pretty excited to throw it through the Janglebox once it gets here.

Where might one find one of those Rickenbacker straps?

Toby

PatrickBateman wrote:
Where might one find one of those Rickenbacker straps?

Toby

Boutique on the ric corp website

Yeah, the Boutique on the Rickenbacker web site is as good a place as any. Their prices are fair and in line with what you might find elsewhere.

You have a maple Ric so the obvious choice would be the natural color strap. Cool thing about those straps is you can buy the natural and dye them any color you want with some Fiebings leather dye. I love those straps.

So, the Janglebox came in a few days ago. It's great, but I've got one question. It seems to cut my volume a little bit when I engage it. Is that normal? I've never played around with a compressor, so I'm not well knowledgeable about them. Also, I got a nice Rickenbacker brown strap for my 360. Just like y'all said, it's great.

Now, as far as messing with my Ric a little bit cosmetically, I'm really digging the look of the vintage tuners, as opposed to the ones on mine. Any way to change that? Would I just buy two 6 string sets of tuners from Pick Of The Ricks, or the boutique?

Also, I'm still leaning on putting toasters in mine. Any preference as to where to buy them? Are the new ones just as good as the older ones?

Appreciate all the help fellas.

Toby

PatrickBateman wrote:So, the Janglebox came in a few days ago. It's great, but I've got one question. It seems to cut my volume a little bit when I engage it. Is that normal? I've never played around with a compressor, so I'm not well knowledgeable about them.
Appreciate all the help fellas.

Toby

I have only played around with one, briefly, at the first GilFest®, but I would think, like most compressors, the Gain control is a gain make-up control to match the compressed signal level with the bypassed signal.

Toby,

I agree with Jeff. I would turn up the Gain or the Jangleboost Level on your pedal.

As for Toasters, I ordered the current 7.4k ones from POTR and have been very happy with them.

Robert