Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

What drew me in?



Ged.


Period.

The Beatles! Loved the look & sound.

Glenn

I thought the instruments looked cool, and like nothing else.

Peter Buck, first. Then Geezer Butler, Geddy Lee, Lemmy, Cliff Burton, and Mike Mills; ironically, because I'm not a bassist.

Ironically, I'm not drawn to the early Beatles sound (As in their gear - I like the albums!), and never cared for early Who, either.

And not to forget: the shape, the "slash" and the one and only TRC!

It was a black 360/6 at live concert of a local band in the end... - that was the final spark.

...Combined with the aura of the music of John Lennon.

Initially, for me, it was the look. Plain and simple. It was 1982 ish and had only owned Fender P basses. I wanted a Rickenbacker because they looked oh so cool and no one that I knew owned one. I traded in my late 70's blonde Fender P with rosewood fret board and some cash to acquire a used and slightly abused Rick 4001 in Jetglo.

While I came for the look, I stayed for the playability and sound. I loved that bass but either the bass was more abused than it looked or my set up tech was a moron since he told me the truss rods were maxed out and that I should throw a set of light weight stings on it and un load it at first chance. With a heavy heart I did what he said, brought it to Manny's in NYC traded it with more cash for a new 1981 Fender P in black with a white pick guard. it was the closest I could come to my Jetglow since there was no way I could afford a New Rick.

I never forgot how it sounded or how comfortable it was to play.

Fast forward nearly 30 years later. I've gotten married, have two kids, and a great job in law enforcement. I'd given up playing rock and roll and clubbing while I was taking police exams and was enrolled in two testing phases with the NJSP. I gave up on late nights and smoky gigs around Northern New Jersey because I knew my future employers would not approve. My fondest memory was playing CBGB's so I had to be comfortable with that. I sold all my gear except my Fender and one DoD overdrive.

Through all those years, whenever I saw a bass player using a Rickenbacker I'd say, I use to own one of those. Well, recently I got the desire to start playing and the first thing I did was buy a brand new 4003. It was like being reunited with a long lost friend!! I recently added a 1973 Autumglo 4001 to the mix and I love the sound of that one the most!!

My Fender P? Well, that has not seen the light of day since the 4003 arrived. it just can't match the feel, the look and the sound of the Rick. My Fender is made in the USA in 1981 but it cant hold a candle the fit and finish of either one of my Rickenbacker's. That's no lie!!

Sepp

It was Peter Buck. I had just started learning to play guitar, been playing about two weeks and I went to see him at Kings Cross in January 2006 when he was on an early tour with Robyn Hitchcock. I was standing almost in front of him and was craning my neck to see what he was playing, knowing nothing about guitars at all. I saw the make and when I got home I immediately looked it up in my Tony Bacon Ultimate guitar book....Rickenbacker!!

I tried to be sensible as I was so new to guitars and bought a very nice little Mexican 60s Strat which I still have, then about 6 weeks later ended up buying a 360/12 in BB which was in my local music shop. I didn't realise it then but it was an absolute bargain. This was my first Rick.

I still wanted a 6 string so I was lucky enough to get my 1974 360 in MG from a guitar show in N Carolina in August 2006, thanks to very good friends.

After Peter Buck, I have to be honest and say it was the Rickenbackers themselves that made me want more of them. I just love them. The rest is history.

This forum.

The ringing bell like chime and apart from that the look that is a piece of art by itself.

Some guy called Peter Buck. I knew about the 360 in the early nineties when I became a fan. That guitar looked so cool.

Still, my first Rickie could've been a 90s 330 MG - nearly bought in for 800 GBP, but then my 360 JG appeared for a rather decent price.
All more than a decade later, when I could actually afford one!

Wildberry wrote:Some guy called Peter Buck. I knew about the 360 in the early nineties when I became a fan. That guitar looked so cool.

Still, my first Rickie could've been a 90s 330 MG - nearly bought in for 800 GBP, but then my 360 JG appeared for a rather decent price.
All more than a decade later, when I could actually afford one!

With Peter Buck, the deciding factor for me was the Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite video. He looked like the worlds coolest guy with that black guitar, which I had no idea who made. I believe it was my guitar instructor who finally told me it was a Ric, and then I proceeded to stare at them in my Guitar World catalog.

In 1982, I got to spend about half an hour playing a pair of 330’s (a 6 and a 12) at Bobby’s Music on Broadway in Denver. Something just “clicked”. I’d been playing a ’64 Fender Jaguar up to that point. I immediately vowed to myself “one day, I WILL own a Rickenbacker”. Within 2 years, I had joined the Air Force, gotten married, become a father, and set guitar aside for what would become a 28 year “hiatus”.
4 years ago, while in Afghanistan (out of the Air Force, contracting with the Army), I thought I’d try to pick it back up. Got myself a Fender Stratocaster (MIM), but it and I never really “clicked”. Last year, while in Iraq, I stumbled across a Squier Telecaster. We “clicked”, but it still wasn’t quite what I was looking for. During this whole time, the memory of that brief moment in Denver remained—to this day I can still feel them in my hands. I can still remember the quiver that ran down my back with the first chord.
My time in Iraq is drawing down—I should be home by the end of September, after a combined total of 5 years contracting in the war zones. About a month ago, my wife asked me what I would like as my “reward” for 5+ years of 12-hour days and lousy food.

I said “I want a Rickenbacker”.

There is now a 2008 Rickenbacker 330 (Midnight Blue) waiting for me in South Dakota, and it only took me 28 years to feel worthy.

Can't wait to get home!

Prairie Hunter wrote:In 1982, I got to spend about half an hour playing a pair of 330’s (a 6 and a 12) at Bobby’s Music on Broadway in Denver. Something just “clicked”. I’d been playing a ’64 Fender Jaguar up to that point. I immediately vowed to myself “one day, I WILL own a Rickenbacker”. Within 2 years, I had joined the Air Force, gotten married, become a father, and set guitar aside for what would become a 28 year “hiatus”.
4 years ago, while in Afghanistan (out of the Air Force, contracting with the Army), I thought I’d try to pick it back up. Got myself a Fender Stratocaster (MIM), but it and I never really “clicked”. Last year, while in Iraq, I stumbled across a Squier Telecaster. We “clicked”, but it still wasn’t quite what I was looking for. During this whole time, the memory of that brief moment in Denver remained—to this day I can still feel them in my hands. I can still remember the quiver that ran down my back with the first chord.
My time in Iraq is drawing down—I should be home by the end of September, after a combined total of 5 years contracting in the war zones. About a month ago, my wife asked me what I would like as my “reward” for 5+ years of 12-hour days and lousy food.

I said “I want a Rickenbacker”.

There is now a 2008 Rickenbacker 330 (Midnight Blue) waiting for me in South Dakota, and it only took me 28 years to feel worthy.

Can't wait to get home!

Thanks for your service, sir!

Prairie Hunter wrote:In 1982, I got to spend about half an hour playing a pair of 330’s (a 6 and a 12) at Bobby’s Music on Broadway in Denver. Something just “clicked”. I’d been playing a ’64 Fender Jaguar up to that point. I immediately vowed to myself “one day, I WILL own a Rickenbacker”. Within 2 years, I had joined the Air Force, gotten married, become a father, and set guitar aside for what would become a 28 year “hiatus”.
4 years ago, while in Afghanistan (out of the Air Force, contracting with the Army), I thought I’d try to pick it back up. Got myself a Fender Stratocaster (MIM), but it and I never really “clicked”. Last year, while in Iraq, I stumbled across a Squier Telecaster. We “clicked”, but it still wasn’t quite what I was looking for. During this whole time, the memory of that brief moment in Denver remained—to this day I can still feel them in my hands. I can still remember the quiver that ran down my back with the first chord.
My time in Iraq is drawing down—I should be home by the end of September, after a combined total of 5 years contracting in the war zones. About a month ago, my wife asked me what I would like as my “reward” for 5+ years of 12-hour days and lousy food.

I said “I want a Rickenbacker”.

There is now a 2008 Rickenbacker 330 (Midnight Blue) waiting for me in South Dakota, and it only took me 28 years to feel worthy.

Can't wait to get home!

You're gonna love the color! And I too thank you for your years of service. Give your wife a hug from me for her years of service time too.

Oh and welcome aboard the RRF bus! What color will Rick #2 be?

johnallg wrote:

Prairie Hunter wrote:In 1982, I got to spend about half an hour playing a pair of 330’s (a 6 and a 12) at Bobby’s Music on Broadway in Denver. Something just “clicked”. I’d been playing a ’64 Fender Jaguar up to that point. I immediately vowed to myself “one day, I WILL own a Rickenbacker”. Within 2 years, I had joined the Air Force, gotten married, become a father, and set guitar aside for what would become a 28 year “hiatus”.
4 years ago, while in Afghanistan (out of the Air Force, contracting with the Army), I thought I’d try to pick it back up. Got myself a Fender Stratocaster (MIM), but it and I never really “clicked”. Last year, while in Iraq, I stumbled across a Squier Telecaster. We “clicked”, but it still wasn’t quite what I was looking for. During this whole time, the memory of that brief moment in Denver remained—to this day I can still feel them in my hands. I can still remember the quiver that ran down my back with the first chord.
My time in Iraq is drawing down—I should be home by the end of September, after a combined total of 5 years contracting in the war zones. About a month ago, my wife asked me what I would like as my “reward” for 5+ years of 12-hour days and lousy food.

I said “I want a Rickenbacker”.

There is now a 2008 Rickenbacker 330 (Midnight Blue) waiting for me in South Dakota, and it only took me 28 years to feel worthy.

Can't wait to get home!

You're gonna love the color! And I too thank you for your years of service. Give your wife a hug from me for her years of service time too.

Oh and welcome aboard the RRF bus! What color will Rick #2 be?

Not sure about the color of #2, but it WILL have 12 strings!
Not sure what I'll name it, either--the Strat is the "Afghanicaster", the Tele is the "Sandcaster" (ok, so no points for originality).

The Ric is simply "The Grail".