Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I’ve thought of bringing this subject up myself in the past but have hesitated to. Glad some others have.

Especially in light of recent discussions here and over on the corporate site about compressors and one particular brand (JB) versus another (B) and whether or not Roger uses one or the other or endorses one or the other, and potential reverse engineering and so on and so on …

I wanted to say Roger doesn’t sound like that any more. At least not live in concert. There are no chiming ringing tones. There is no jangle. There is a little during the intro to My Back Pages. But that’s it. On MrTMan, Turn, etc. his 360/12 sounds, well, just like a “normal” guitar played with a plectrum and metal fingerpicks.

Anyone know what’s going on?

Although Roger's playing and sound are generally very distinctive, he's altered and experimented with both throughout his career, and not just on 8MH. The 12-string on Notorious sounds nothing like it does on MTM. The opening to Lover of the Bayou is practically overdriven, while Chestnut Mare and Just a Season recall the early chime. From 68-73, and even his early solo years, there was virtually none of the original Byrds jangle. In fact, I've always thought that Back From Rio had more jangle than anything he's played since MTM and TTT.

Roger mentioned in one interview that he no longer wants to play an entire evening of solo electric 12-string because it can sound grating after a while--maybe that's influenced his approach to the Ric. There's no doubt that he's been playing more acoustic than electric in recent years.

But all these variations are what make Roger such a compelling artist and performer, imo. It'll be interesting to hear what he sounds like at Wolf Trap. I'm really looking forward to it.

I agree with you, Steve.

The show I caught of him a couple of years was just about the same time he had recently acquired his 7 string. He didn't bring out the Rick at all through the entire show. Regretful, but...

That is odd and a shame Stan.
Each time I've seen him, he opens w/ the Ric (My Back Pages), plays one or two songs in the middle of the show and ends the show (except for the last song that he and his wife wrote) with the RIC (R&R Star, Feel Whole Lot Better etc.).

The rest of the show is acoustic seven or 12 and banjo.

I am hoping that he at least plays the Ric on a few songs at his upcoming concert in Fairfield, OH. He certainly played it on a number of tracks on his latest release, "Limited Edition."