Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

On the Byrds 69 reissue and Dr Byrds, it sounds as
if Rodger is playing a 6 sring through the song
and solo of This Wheels on Fire.Could this be a 6 string converter?Or another guitar?

He did it on "Playboy After Dark" on his 370-12...which was about the same time as the Dr. Byrds and the Fillmore recordings. The lead work on that tune was pretty much all Clarence White on his stringbender tele...Roger pretty much stuck to rhythm guitar on that tune...one of the few where he used the tremelo on the amp...

Thanks DON,You are right!I think the song I meant
was Bad Night at the Whiskey.Can you answer the
same question for that?Sorry for spelling Roger's
name wrong.That and a dumb question might get me
kicked off the Byrds Forum!

Without pulling the CDs and listening to the recordings I'd say that it was the same for "Bad Night"...Clarence on lead, Roger on Rhythm and maybe some fills...and I bet Roger was playing his 370-12 again...the "dentist drill" fuzz was clearly Clarence White...I think in the liner notes to the Fillmore recording, Roger talks about how when Clarence White joined, he was such an incredible guitarist that Roger shifted pretty much to rhythm guitar

if they bounced folks for poor speeling and dumb questions I'da been history long ago...the only dumb one is the one you dont ask...and theres spellcheck for the self consious..

A little late on this one, but I heard Roger with the Sweetheart Byrds at Fillmore East about six months before the Live at the Fillmore tracks(Boy when I heard the title did I ever think that someone had truly found the Holy Grail-- say anyone know if there are any tapes of those shows or even the Grand Ole Opry performances-- I swear I'd sell my Gretsch for these!!!)
Anyway, Roger used the Country Gentleman for many of the songs, and if you listen to Monterey, you'll hear him using it too (Have You Seen Her Face) volume up and overdriven possibly with that fabled Vox Treble Boost. Even though Roger doesn't take the credit, that is definitely him. If you listen carefully you can hear Clarence doing his thing, and not a Ric to be heard! It's his style and sound from that transitional period.
This is one of those special little sub-divisions of McGuinn's playing-- six string performances-- beside the above mentioned tracks and It's No Use has anyone else found any tracks where Roger is playing six string guitar?

I just listened to the Monterey version of "Have you seen her face"...found it on Napster...and dang...youre right...aint no Ricky on that one...Id like to see a pic of Roger playing a CG...I dont think Clarence White was with them on that gig...His first appearence with the Byrds was sometime later..I have a photo of Clarence with Roger, Chris Hillman and Kevin Kelly(?) at what is supposed to be his first show as a Byrd....wasnt Monterey David Crosby's last show with the Byrds tho???

Thymecube wrote:
. . . anyone else found any tracks where Roger is playing six string guitar?

"Psychodrama City" and the Monterey version of "Hey Joe" come to mind. I'm sure there are others in the Byrds canon somewhere, aside from those already mentioned. And according to Roger, his Gretsch got the Vox Treble Booster treatment, too.

Quote:GP: Roger, how do you get the extremely sharp tone?

Roger: I built a treble booster into my Rickenbacker and Gretsch using the insides of a Vox booster. Occasionally, I pick up a local radio station on it.

Guitar Player, August 1967, page 25
Don Miller wrote:
. . . I'd like to see a pic of Roger playing a CG

Click here to see one.

I have a photo of Clarence with Roger, Chris Hillman and Kevin Kelley at what is supposed to be his first show as a Byrd.

Click here to see photo of Roger at that same 1968 festival.

Say, any ops on the lead on "Tribal Gathering"--
Roger or Clarence?
How about "Change Is Now", sounds like Roger on maybe a six(lead) as well as the twelve and then obviously, Clarance on the country break.
BTW when I saw the Sweetheart Byrds at the Fillmore East, Roger did a pretty convincing job playing country leads on the CG. Of course he had support from Doug Dillard on (Ric?) banjo off in the shadows. And Damn, Gram actually did play Fender Rhodes, which sounded cool on the super fast "8MH" and "Rock'n'roll Star"!