Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Nate, where is the peace ? Are you trying to start a war, my man ? Are you a victim of arrested development ? To call a Rickenbacker guitar wimpy, and hail the much-cliched Les Paul, is an abomination on this forum. Yeah, so what, many of us use Ric's for pop jangle, but your stance, that you want to stand next to a LP player, is quite loathsome !! And don't think you are the only rocker on this forum, my friend, I'd bet my song book that I have rocked it harder or as hard as anyone else that reads here ! The ringing in my ears is a constant reminder ...

Actually, Sheena, I do work as an architect, and one of my favorite parts of the job is the demolition
And, confession time...when I played guitar, my weapons of doom were a black Les Paul and an Explorer. And a full Marshall stack.
I've never played a Ric guitar. (ducking).

I can help you with that Steve.

Thanks, Ken! I might have to take you up on that...

Nate...good posting, as usual...not because I agree with everything you say, but because I like the fact that you're always confident in your opinions/choices, and you don't mind lettin' us have it with both barrels...ahh, the vitality of youth...

There is one thing you said that kind of rubs me the wrong way, though...Metallica is "older metal"???

Man, I gotta go shopping for a cane...

I have never owned a Ric guitar ... but I do like the newer 600 series with the walnut body and hb1 pickups ... I really like the gibson SG guitar for looks and sound ... but pretty quickly I get tired of playing 6 sting guitars ... no low B and the strings are so skinny and so close together ... I would probably love a 7 string guitar ... and I have thought about a baritone guitar as well ...

I currently own 21 instruments ... 1 keyboard, 1 electric guitar, 1 acoustic guitar ... and a whole bunch of 5 string basses ...

"...the strings are so skinny and so close together..."

I can relate, Jeff...if you routinely switch between bass and guitar, there's always a bizarre little moment of getting reacquainted with the 'other' axe...if I've been playing bass and switch to guitar, it always feels like playing a cheese slicer...if it's the other way around, it feels like playing high-voltage cables on a telephone pole...

Sorry about that, Dane. You know what I mean though, new metal is too stupid. Bassists rely on the low B too much (Sorry, Rath!)the guitars are all crunch and the singers are screaming and you can't understand what the hell they're saying. I mean older metal as when it was still music and not noise. And old Metallica when they were still good. Not the new ****... James (Jaymz) can't growl anymore...

Steve, does it matter that the Les Paul is cleched? Big deal. It may be the same with Rick guitars being wimpy, but I have yet to hear enough evidence to convince me otherwise. I am not in love with the Gibson company. I do want an SG guitar though, those are cool. But I leaned more about what they do here than what I knew before hand: they're mass produced and the quality control is iffy. I'm not going to buy one any time soon, so I don't care about that. I like what I hear, and I like what I see. I think the Rick 325, 350, and the 600 series are beautiful guitars. But the sound I think of with a Rick guitar is Lennon's 325 on 'You Can't Do That', one of my favorite Beatles songs. But I also think "blah.. wimpy". Is that a crime? When I think Les Paul I think of Snowy White playing the harmonizing guitar solo in 'Dogs' on Roger Waters 'In The Flesh' album. I also think Ace Frehley. I've never really see Ace with anything that wasn't a Les Paul.

Rick basses on the other hand may seem limited, but I've heard otherwise. You can do anything. I've heard that ballsy growl that I'm in love with, I've heard thumpy lows with flats, I've heard Blair's fretless 4002 that puts a fretless jazz bass to shame. I go flaminco finger flick a la Geddy Less on my bass. I flick the stings to get a strumming sound like one would with a pick. That helps me when I get tired. It's a bit tight, but it still works. You can even slap. I try it and I'm not that good, but look at Les!


I'm just going by what I know. The argument to me is a Rick bass can do most anything, but the guitars are limited, hence why the Rick Guitar gods were in the '60's, and the Rick bass gods were from the '60's, '70's and '80's.

"blah.. wimpy"

Not a crime at all, Nate. But I am somewhat surprised that many people "pigeon hole" Rickenbacker guitars - including many members here. Of course the reality is that many of the stars who play or have played Rickenbackers often "pigeon hole" themselves in terms of their music and sound preferences. You may be surprised to hear that there are quite a few 'younger' bands down here that feature Rick guitars - and not just 12 stringers!

In my opinion Rickenbacker guitars provide wide variations in sound and I'm not talking about the range of guitars. Let's take a 330/6 for example. Sure you can get those lovely jangly open chord sounds but you can also get some terrific tight, punchy stuff when you play barre chords above the 5th fret. And you can get some great jazz sounds using just the neck pickup.

And lead can sound really good too! Judicious use of all the controls provided can give you heaps of variety. I regularly play the solos from "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" on my 330/6, 1997 and 360V64. I may add a bit of delay, but no other effects. If I want to get closer to big Dave's sound I'll use my 620. I should add that this is in the home, but I wouldn't be at all daunted about doing it if I was gigging.

Quite frankly I'm a little disappointed that so many here appear to be critical of Rickenbacker guitars and their supposed 'stereotypical' sound. It makes me wonder how many have actually spent a decent amount of time exploring the possibilities.

It may be the same with Rick guitars being wimpy, but I have yet to hear enough evidence to convince me otherwise.

I'd be willing to make a recording of ANY style of music using a Rick guitar if you think it'd change your mind.

I'm very ham fisted on guitar but if I was to actually buy one I'd certainly get a nice hollowbodied Ric and use it for metal tunes. No reason why a nice original tone (or my version of nice tone) couldn't be gotten from it. I get frutrated that Ric basses constantly get referred to as "one trick ponies" (not on this Forum but just about everywhere else).

Howard.....as far as people being closed minded around here as far as guitar tone, it really should be no surprise. There is a strong traditional vibe around here....not that it is necessarily bad but it can be limiting. It's the same anytime someone alters a "perfect from the factory Ric"....they get chastised. So why should the attitudes towards guitar tone be any different.

Point taken, Brian.... and well put.

John, can you whip out a little "Creeping Death" on a 381? Thanks in advance.

I started on a Les Paul because when I started, my guitar heroes were Jimmy Page, Ace Frehley and Steve Jones. Say no more. All Les Paul players.
I loved Lennon/McCartney/Harrison as songwriters, singers, arrangers, but never really saw them as "wailing" on the guitar, for lack of a better term.

Steve, in all honesty, Metallica was the first band I was ever full-on obsessed with, when I was around 14 and 15. My band used to do Creeping Death! I would be happy to play it on any of my Rick guitars, though I was never able to play much of that solo - it's very Yngwie-esque, which is not really my style.

On the "wimpy" thing:

I've gigged with an Ibanez (in my youth), gigged with Teles (endlessly), gigged with a Firebird, and gigged with a Maton (humbucker), and I currently gig with a high-gained Ric. So I have the first-hand experience to make the following judgement without a shadow of a doubt... Hi-gained Rickenbackers are definitely not the least bit wimpy compared to those other guitars.