Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I own one of the newer Gretsch's (Japanese made) and it is just one of the greatest guitars i've ever picked up. Also, MIJ Fenders often outshine even the best MIA ones!

Japanese quality is definitley top-notch.

What's the the PRS slagging? I think they're a terrific company who make great guitars to boot.

A friend of mine has three Jap. Gretsches, a White Falcon included & I get to play them quite a lot in the studio. The quality is superb & they sound great. I wouldn't swap two of them for one Ric though!
Sorry John, I know we're all different, but PRS leaves me cold. Beautifully made, but soulless....

I very nearly purchased a new G6128T-1962 Duo Jet reissue (double cutaway model) but as soon as I saw the Ricks I became 16 again (JUST HAD TO HAVE ONE!!).

The Gretsch was nice (very heavy) but needed setting up so it played poorly (and so did I!!). It also had a lot of marks on it from tyre-kickers having a bash (sleeve button swirls and buckle scratches). Considering it was going to cost me $3500 AUD, I passed. Apart from a minor flaw in the lacquer in one spot though, it was a beautifully constructed instrument. The Bigsby is another attraction.

I may still get one later in the year (after I get a Ric 12 string) but it won't be the one I looked at and played.

Never touched a PRS so can't comment.

Cheers

Not slagging on PRS, just, as Anthony sez, they leave me cold, too. Just don't get them. They have beautiful wood, nice construction, good quality parts, but for all that, they're belly button guitars. Sorta the fourth "gotta have it" cutout doll, after St***. Te**, LesP***.

And they are spreading out and what happens then? Quality suffers, they become too common, etc.

You should try a McCarty. Probably more like what a Gibson used to be.
It was a drag to see PRS introduce an offshore line.

Exactly my sentiments, Ken. An offshore line is understandable for a guitar manufacturer who has ideas of playing with the big boys, but PRS's guitars all look so similar that the offshores are stealing thunder from the American-made ones.

Plus, they are living off their earlier reputation, hiring job shops and outside proprietary manufacturers to build their guitars. The famous inlays are now machine done. The Asian manufacturers do have their finishes down pat, but they don't have to contend with air quality regs that American manufacturers do. They can use materials and methods that are now illegal in the USA, plain and simple.

(American manufacturers? How few are left! And Rickenbacker, being in California, are fighting a constant battle with the regulators on VOCs...)

"Plus, they are living off their earlier reputation ... " --- I know you're talking about PRS, but that's kind of been my take after my last two dances with a Gibson. I had a wonderful old Les Paul (that I bought new in 1975), that got totaled about 12 years ago in an accident. Gibson was still in Kalamazoo, Michigan, back when I bought the thing, and this LP was not made in Tennessee (Memphis?) as they are now. That was a real guitar. I've had a 335 and a another Les Paul in more recent years, and ditched them both after trying a bunch of different things, returning them for set ups and so on. They sounded good, but I could not keep the things in tune, and played like **** compared to the old baby from '75. Quality definitely was not there like it used to be. I think alot of Gibson's (overpriced) business is based on reputation and little else. They sho' ain't what they used to be. Buying my first Ric last year (something I should have done 40 years ago) was a real eye-opener. It's what Gibson used to be and a whole lot more.

I tried out a new bottom of the line SG a few months ago and thought it was worth about $200.00 at best.

My '63 SG was a gorgeous, flawless, excellent-playing guitar, even though I paid less than $250.00 for it new back then.

Every new Gibson I pick up now has the same "what are they thinking?" feel about it.

Conclusion: Cashing in on tradition is a whole lot less desirable than keeping it up. Still, I wonder: Would a new $4K "Lucille" feel and sound like one of my $250.00 Chinese jazzboxes? Scary to contemplate. I don't want to know.

I'm still in the market for a Rickenbacker
but I also have a Gretsch 6128TBEE Duo Jet
and its one of the best guitars that I have
ever played. In the past I have played PRS
Custom 24, Steinberger, Vox Teardrop, Parker
Fly, Fender Custom shop Tele and I've had about
five Ric's. The guitar that I always go back to
seems to be Rickenbacker they have a sound that
is just different. I know there are different
guitars for different people it seems that PRS
is getting into a heavier type of music today
by the adds in the mags. I don't think that one
guitar can do everything unless you are going
for that one sound. I also think that your amp
has a lot to do with that sound. Here something
that I wanted to ask for a long time I love the
music of the Byrds so how do I get that sound
out of a six string Rickenbacker just going from
the guitar to the amp without effects?

A client was in the studio this week & I was producing a 60's song, but in a dance orientated contemporary style. I was very pleased with all the synth work, but decided that I wanted that Linkin Park sort of grunge gtr sound. I looked at my six Rics & for the first time, wondered if my neglecting to buy a humbucker equipped Ric was a serious oversight. I reasoned that my 1997 with hi-gains would come closest, as the wider p/up spacing with hi-gains gives a 'warmer' sound. The Marshall 100 valve was turned to 10 & the 1997 delivered the goods.....a great 'grunge' sound. You would never believe it was a Ric.
I have always preached that Rics are far, far more adaptable than they are given credit for, but one guitar does it all?.....maybe a Ric does!

Linkin Park to Limp Biskit, AC/DC to ZZ Top - I think you're right, Tony. Whilst there is an intrinsic 'Ric' sound (you can't visit this forum and be convinced otherwise), you can make it whatever you want it to be.

I've recorded some massive, heavy tones with my Rics. The right amp, setting, and/or pedals... I love the sound of my 360V64 through the Dallas Arbiter Fuzzface.
Semi-hollow Rics have a different sort of resonance than 335/Gib-style semis. More grind and snap. Of coure, they decimate F***ers.
It all comes down to taste and preference in the end. In a few days, I'll have a new Traynor YC20 15 Watt class A valve amp.

Christian, were you trying to say "Fockers"?

Funny movie.

tsk
You know I was referring to a sort of bolted together plank-style instrument*.

NCR

*I do love my F***er Aerodyne Telecaster