Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

The more I look at this photo, the more it appears to me that (from our vantage point) the low E course is beneath the octave (or else the picture is blurred enough near the pickups that it looks like the thicker string is in a more prominent place). Have a look at the neck of one of Tom Petty's Rics, and you'll see the same thing: the low courses really stand out.

It would be nice to look at some more photos from the period in question. Please send 'em along! But what we really need is a photographer to clean up the picture JimK posted. Paging jps: Is there anything that can be done to that photo to make the strings clearer?

That is blown up and sharpened. That is as clear as that shot gets. Needed is a higher resolution version of that image to do anything else.

Thanks, manta! I hadn't realized that. Do you think a higher resolution version of the image is out there?

From what I can see of the neck (particularly from the third fret upward), it also looks like the high octaves are in first place.

It is hard to tell. Perhaps you can Google something about Hi Resolution images of Jim McGuinn (before he turned into Roger) and see what pops up,

Here's a link to a photo of the 12-string McGuinn modded in 1966:

http://www.guitaraficionado.com/guitar- ... 60-12.html

Despite all the factual inaccuracies in the text, a closeup of the photo clearly shows that the guitar is strung Ric-style.

I'd still be curious to see more photos of the guitar from before 1966.

jimk wrote:As far as I know, his first Rick was stock with two toasters. What gave it that signature jangle was the use of two Fairchild compressors in the studio. These were tube driven compressors. IMHO, the best we can do today is the Jangle Box compressor.
JimK

Tubed Volume Expanders and Compressers
http://antiquesci.50webs.com/CompExp.htm

http://www.dutchforce.com/~eforum/index ... opic=41150

On the second page of the article here http://antiquesci.50webs.com/CompExp.htm
first column, third and fourth paragraphs it discusses a peculiar form of distortion caused by the control voltage in a single-ended variable-gain volume expander and the use of a push-pull version to eliminate the effect and permit use of a short time constant. This seems to be what Rein Norma is talking about in the interview here
http://www.knifaudio.com/pdf/InterviewFairchild.pdf
but applied to a compressor instead of an expander. Also, you can substitute a tube phase splitter stage for an interstage transformer like those used in the Fairchild 670, if you want to try building one yourself.

Is it possible to install an on-board compressor on RIck 12s today, with something similar or exactly like what the RM 370 came with? And if it is available, is it better than the Janglebox? I have one of the basic ones (not the new JB3 model) and I love it but I'm wondering if there is a way to make it even more crystalline...

Back in the late '90's when I was shopping for a RIC 12 string, I emailed Roger about the differences between 360's and 370's. He told me that he only used the bridge pickup and the other pickups were just for looks. I bought a 360-12. I have no idea what his email was then and haven't talked to him in years. I had Crosby's public email for a while, too. He used to reply in short bursts.

Roger does have a Facebook page.

I was looking around for some information about Robbie van Leeuwen's guitar (Danelectro Longhorn Coral) and found this.

Coral Longhorn (Danelectro) 12 String Guitar Demo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJhx9X0ZSTA

Its interesting to compare it to a Rick 12 string.

Very cool, John. Interesting guitar and one of the prettiest Dano 12s I've ever seen. I noticed that he plays a lot of McGuinn very similiarly but without using the banjo picks. Thanks for sharing that!

This looks interesting. It uses an opto isolator based circuit.

Teletronix LA2A, a legendary audio compressor from the 1960s
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/h ... 77733.html

http://www.recproaudio.com/diy_pro_audi ... a_1968.jpg

http://www.recproaudio.com/diy_pro_audi ... x_la2a.htm

Too bad there aren't any audio clips. I'd say the report is incomplete.
JimK