Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Grey wrote:

jdogric12 wrote:I can't believe no one has posited this yet:

If the Beatles hadn't played them, the company probably would have gone under long ago. There, I said it. Stone me.

Speculating on what may or may not have happened is a fruitless debate. I see you revised your statement a bit, but the only real question is wether or not all of the other musicians who got on stage with a Rickenbacker did so because of the Beatles. If not, it stands to reason they would have played one all the same, having decided to do so for different reasons.

Disagree. Name me some people who played Ricks whose influences can NOT be traced back to the Beatles.

A typical chain reaction. - But why not!? It is not a shame!

Look how couples came together and so on. The best stories are those that are full of coincidences - so much that You would leave the cinema when somebody tries to make a Hollywood movie of it.

Already the circumstances how Lennons first 325 came to him is unbelievable...


The main difference to all this modern branding nonsense is: nobody payed Mr. Lennon for using that particular guitar! (Even Lennon didn't pay for that, too. )
So it was not advertising, marketing or whatever to use it. Just one musician trusted (and copied a bit) the other when looking what he is playing. And BTW Lennon choose Rickenbacker because one of his favourites, Toots Thielemans, played one.



One more thing: we have so much Lennons, Maccas and Harrisons here. But only a few would to recognise that they bought a Rickenbacker because they want to feel and look a bit more like their idols. Just a secondary aspect, but not a small one!

jdogric12 wrote:Disagree. Name me some people who played Ricks whose influences can NOT be traced back to the Beatles.

Ed O' Brien & Johnny Greenwood?

Grey wrote:

jdogric12 wrote:Disagree. Name me some people who played Ricks whose influences can NOT be traced back to the Beatles.

Ed O' Brien & Johnny Greenwood?

You can trace their use back to Marr, back to Townshend, and back to JP&G.

sloop_john_b wrote:You can trace their use back to Marr, back to Townshend, and back to JP&G.

Okay, but not to The Beatles. Unless you're implying that the only reason those artists used Rickenbacker guitars was due to The Beatles.

jdogric12 wrote:Name me some people who played Ricks whose influences can NOT be traced back to the Beatles.

Toots!

jps wrote:

jdogric12 wrote:Name me some people who played Ricks whose influences can NOT be traced back to the Beatles.

Toots!

I don't believe I would like to ride in a tour bus with someone named 'Toots'.

jdogric12 wrote: Disagree. Name me some people who played Ricks whose influences can NOT be traced back to the Beatles.

Joe Edwards!! He even had his own signature model!

Grey wrote:

sloop_john_b wrote:You can trace their use back to Marr, back to Townshend, and back to JP&G.

Okay, but not to The Beatles. Unless you're implying that the only reason those artists used Rickenbacker guitars was due to The Beatles.

Yes that was what I was getting at.

Sure Beatles had an influence on getting my first Ric .... but philosophically, it was the influences of several Forum members and attending Confluences and Mini Cons with so many outstanding members of this Forum, that was the epiphany for pursuing this Rickenbacker hobby seriously ! and from attending a couple of Confluences and Mini Cons, the outcome led to scoring good deals on more models "I had to get" and became the justification for the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth Rics and before you know it, there are thousands of postings on the Forum under one's signature. and trading Ric parts with other Forum members and so on.

According to Wikipedia - An epiphany (from the ancient Greek ἐπιφάνεια, epiphaneia, "manifestation, striking appearance") is an experience of sudden and striking realization. Generally the term is used to describe breakthrough scientific, religious or philosophical discoveries but it can apply in any situation in which an enlightening realization allows a problem or situation to be understood from a new and deeper perspective. Epiphanies are relatively rare occurrences and generally following a process of significant thought about a problem. i would add to this definition that whenever two or more Rics affianados play music together, that the enlightening realizaiton allows that Ric acquisition feeling to be understood from that deeper prespective.

I probably wouldn't even play bass or guitar at all, let alone a Rickenbacker, without the fab four....

You nailed it for me!

bartyclue wrote:

jdogric12 wrote:I can't believe no one has posited this yet:

If the Beatles hadn't played them, the company probably would have gone under long ago. There, I said it. Stone me.

To answer the OP: No. If the Beatles hadn't, then I'd likely have never seen Mike Rutherford use a 360/12v64 in the early 90's (recapturing his own early 70's sound).

Toots -> JL -> GH/PMcC -> prog -> me

The company had been viable for 30 years prior to the Beatles. While they may not have become the company they are today, I'm pretty sure they would not have gone under. The instruments are too good for that to have happened.

It's impossible to know what would have..
Still, pre or post F.C. HAll takeover isn't really comparable I think.
The new line of instruments designed in cooperation with Rossmeisl were a totally different thing.
But I've never read they were a huge succes from the start on.
For example, the 320 is maybe a cute guitar, but it probably still exists only through the Lennon connection.

As for the reason why I play them, I was sold on the design the moment I saw one.
The sound appealed to me too apparently, because most of the bands I liked at the time later proved to use Rics (REM-The Jam-Smiths-Smithereens etc..)
So to answer the question; no. Because I probably would have never seen or heard one.

How big the Beatles' influence is You can see here:

- What is exactly is the 325C64? - Yes, the second Lennon guitar.
- What is the 325V59? - More or less a copy of Lennon's first guitar!
- What is the B-series in the 80's? And why "B"? - "B" like Beatles...

Now we can talk about about some limited editions or basses with an (even today advertised) connection to the Beatles.

To be honest: I wanted to play a "Beatles guitar" and not a Rickenbacker (even in German this name sound very strange!) when I bought my first one about 15 years ago.

Actually I play a very good made, reliable, nice looking and perfect sounding guitar: a Rickenbacker. And sometimes I think while playing of the fab four. And this inspires me again and again. Perfect!