Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Kevin wrote

"I'd rather sound somewhat unique"

This point is central to my overly simplistic comments about the guitar making the guitarist.

Roger McGuinn had a nice picking and playing style but without the Rickenbacker 12 string he may not have been recognized to the extent he was. Sometimes musicians have a very short window of opportunity to make an impression.

Would a full scale Hofner Club 40 been adequate for Lennon to capture the attention of promoters and fans?

Would a Burns' 12 string guitar have allowed Harrison to shine through in any event? Based on the sound and look of the "big horned" Burns' Bison, would McGuinn be beating a path to the door looking for one?

Clearly talented musicians will shine through regardless of the instrument, but borrowing from Kevin's point, isn't it the uniqueness of sound and appearance that highlights the guitarist as well.

Would Wille Nelson have done better without the hole in his guitar? Yes as long as the sum of the parts is greater than the hole. Otherwise he would have nothing with which to play.

Peter,

With respect to my amplifier I mostly use a Peavey Model 212 Stereo Chorus. As the name implies it has a built in chorus effect. That effect is used but sparingly at all times. It also has built in reverb which I also use sparingly. I plug my 350, my LP or any of my Strats into the lead channel and add just a little front end boost from the built in pre-amp.

I Play my guitars basically raw in this fashion. With the 350 I leave the selector switch in the middle position and use the 5th knob to dial in the now famous woman tone produced mostly by LP's. Normally I don't use effects unless the song requires an effect. Here is a list of the effects that I have at my disposal:

They are all Boss pedals by Roland. I have a Boss PSM-5 power supply that will allow me to daisy chain all of the pedals and have them all on at once if I so wish.

The pedals on my board currently are a CH-1 Super Chorus, DD-3 Digital Delay, HM-2 Heavy Metal, OC-2 Octave, HR-2 Harmonist. I also have a Honey Crier Wah.

When I record I use the onboard effects inherent in the software (Cakewalk,
Sony Soundforge etc.)

I hope that helps.

Peter I should also add that the 350 also sounds good through my Sunn Model T c/w 610 cabinet.

However, to get a fair representation of my "signature sound" I do have to use outboard effects if I play through that amp. Mostly chorus and just a minute touch of echo

Sum of the parts is greater than the hole!

And then your great line gets stepped on--twice!!

Allow me to acknowledge a good one.

Which reminds me of a riddle:

Q. What has 300 legs and seven teeth?

A. The front row at a Willie Nelson concert.

I've played a strat since I was 17. First a '64, second, my current '94. I find the sound very versatile, though I prefer the twang of the bridge pu, except on solos, I'll go to neck. I like the very early Beck/Page tone, which I think they got on teles. I recently got a JL Casino, but don't like the Humbucker sound, so want to get rid of it and finally get a Rick 6 string. A recent review of a tune of ours put it in the "jingle-jangle" category. The strat and my 660/12 were used on that tune, but mixed about equally. I always go through a fender amp, which has caused us to be accused of a "surf" sound. If I can stop buying basses, my next will be a Rick 6 with toasters. I like a cleaner sound.

"...Everyone has their own sound, and if you're heard enough, folks will come to recognize it.

Style however, is a different thing. Try to express your own ideas. It's much more difficult to do, but the rewards are there if you're good enough to pull it off ..." - Chet Atkins