Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

So I have this alt-rock band. My other guitarist plays gibson copies through a marshall valve state half-stack. I play my Ric 360/6 through a 410 Fender Hot Rod Deville(60 watts, all tube). I've been using mostly the bridge pickup to get clear, punchy tones, but I confess that I have not been taking advantage of the Ric's stereo outputs. What does the ric-o-sound device do? Does it require a seperate amplifier(If so, I've been thinking of a smaller tube amp (15-30 watts) to either expand the lows and saturate with ambient effects or use it with a decent overdrive (ie. tubescreamer or the big muff) for punch and use the deville for the lows(kind of like two VERY different channels)? I guess it depends on what the ric-o-sound actually does. Any suggestions? Remember that I'm playing for a kind of heavy alt-rock sort of band (maybe the term is indie-core, but a little more artistic). No one that I know plays a Ric around here, so I have no guru. Help me!

Justin, welcome to the forum.
It sends each pickup to a different amp or amp input. It requires a stereo cord.

I've just gotten into Ric-o-sound after about 7 or 8 years of Ricoholism. I'm using a 620/6 and a 330/12 wired for r.o.s. through a Fender Cyber Twin and Fender Princeton Chorus. I'm running the bass pickup into the CT and the treble pickup through the PC and it really sounds like two guitars are playing together, especially with chorus turned on both.

I was a pedal-oholic until finalizing this setup a few weeks ago and have based my new band directly on this sound. No effects pedals. Stereo guitar, bass pedals (like from the 70s), and a drummer. So just the two of us sounds like we're covering five parts (2 guitars, bass, voice, drums).

If you're slick, you can setup a distorted sound on one amp, clean on the other, and switch between the two with your guitar's pickup selector. No stomping necessary! Or use the fifth knob to get a mix just right between the two.
-J

Why not just use a "Y" stereo cable instead of the Ric-O-Sound box? Surely the box must do something else. Anybody know what?

No, it just splits the sound. It's a "nice to have" since a stereo y cord might not have the durability/strain relief that the metal box has.

It's just a splitter with good parts in it, & the stereo cord is hard wired to the box.

Someone (perhaps someone affiliated with RIC)said that you should not put two separate 1/4" plugs into the output jack. Perhaps they just say that so that you buy ric-o-sound for fifty bucks instead of a Y-adapter for ten. Dunno. I really like the idea of being able to toggle with the pickup selector instead of stomping. Any suggestions of amp selection and application (which to make fat, thin, clean, dirty, etc.)? I have an idea of what I want to do, but I'm curious to know what other Ric players think. As I said, it's not often that I get the opportunity to talk specifically about Rics with people who know more about them than I do, so I value all of your input. Thanks.

I have bought several stereo Y splitters and they did not work (they would only output the treble pickup).

I bought the Ric-O-Sound box splitter and it's AMAZING. You plug the ROS cable into the ROS plug only. The ROX box then has two jacks; one for treble and one for bass. What happens is one line is for the treble pickup and the other line is for the bass pickup. I rig all my deluxe RIC models with this get up. The pickup selector then controls whether I have any output from the Bass amp or the Treble amp etc. Makes for a great live set up with great control.

Really, I can't love it enough.

John Hall seems to discount the actual ROS box that RIC recently discontinued, voicing the opinion that any old stereo splitter cable will do. Maybe I just have bad luck, but none of my stereo splitters worked until I actually went out and bought the Rick-O-Sound kit.

He also said that a lot of the problems people have are due to the ues of non-standard spec plugs. The ROS box & the RIC jacks are US made Switchcraft. Apparently the cheaper ones (and some that aren't cheap) are not made to the same specs, or to lower tolerances, so they don't make proper contact.

It is so easy to make a splitter box with one tip, ring sleeve input jack, and two tip, sleeve output jacks, then all you would need is a mic cable with tip ring, sleeve jacks on both ends of the cable, plugged into the ros out of the gtr.

Welcome to the forum Justin,

For those who wish to experiment with the ROS jack and two amplifiers, try a Hosa YPP-117 cable. They are inexpensive(roughly $7.00) and most music shops carry them. There was a thread on the forum a while back on this very subject.

Welcome, Justin. I've only ever used the ROS box, so I can't offer any opinions on alternatives.

Just thought I'd chime in and say "G'day", though!

Back in the 'Prog' days of hauling a million pounds of gear around, I played through two amps...I made a series of stereo 'splitter' cords that worked fine, except they would go bad fairly quickly and have to be repaired/replaced...I think it was the extra weight of two cords hanging from the stereo plug without added strain relief that kept doing them in.

I still have a pile of them in a box in the garage...between not needing the extra 'push over the cliff' that two amps used to provide, and the reduced efficiency of my aging back, one amp and a good stout mono chord are all I require these days...

That, and a few stiff drinks, my glaucoma meds, and the love of a good female drummer...

Thanks for your input, every one. I really can't wait to save up the scratch for a second amp. New stuff is so much fun to mess with.

Isn't that the truth!!