Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

You might recall that I have come pretty recently onto the scene with electrics. My 360 is the first electric I've owned though I've been playing and gigging for about 25 years now -lots of traditional folk with acoustic, mandolin, bouzouki - doing lots of stuff like Dylan, Clancy Bros, Pogues, CSN, Dubliners, Cockburn, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and similar based folk originals - I think you get the picture. I've always been all over the map musically but have stuck to acoustic based material. When buying my 360, I wasn't sure how I'd use it. I deliberately researched heavily to find an electric that I thought I could use in the style I play - lots of finger picking, stuff that's played by one guitar-coffeee house, small pub, University faculty lounge kind of stuff. I was a little worried and dubious that an electric would become part of the arsenal for the type of night I typically play. I've been growing into it but my 360 with the Vox AD30VT has been stellar. I'm using it much more than I thought I would. It sounds brilliant dropped D tuning and playing Robbie Burns tunes (e.g., Green Grow the Rashes-O) or the great Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers. I'm now doing a great bluesy, folk version of San Quentin Blues by Johnny Cash, with some crunch. I play The Proclaimers "Letter to America" and the guitar's chimey and jangly like the Proclaimers never did. My old version of Dylan's Chime of Freedom has grown into a hybrid with the Byrds' version. I guess I'm saying that I continue to be stunned by the versatility of these guitars. There aren't a lot of electric guitars (if any-but what do I know? Can anybody else enlighten me?)that you could finger pick in a sweet beautiful way, all alone, and then go to a dirty crunch the next tune - again, playing all alone. My needs are, I think, a little unique but this guitar never lets me down. Sometimes, I can't get the tone I want but invariably, if I mess with it a bit, there it is-either dripping, cloyingly sweet or raunchy and ballsy. It is a superb electric instrument to play solo with and, I think, one of the very few electric guitars that could carry such a show.

Bill, you should see Roger McGuinn live. His show is all solo-acoustic folk. He makes the RIC look like it's been around since the banjo was invented. They just belong in this style of music.

Cole

Bill -- I enjoyed your message. I just acquired a Vox AD50VT amp myself and am learning all about its multitude of sounds. I am curious about which models/settings you prefer to use, for your styles of music with the 360-12 ?
Regards - Rich

Hi Rich,

I don't have a 12, I have a 360/6. I tend to use 4 amp models on my Vox pretty heavily, depending on what general feel I want. I use the AC30TB model for crunchy sounds and the Boutique for nice clean, chorusy sounds. When I'm doing clean finger-style stuff that needs a bit of punch, I like the Tweed or Black 2X12 (with mids cranked on this last setting). Depends on the tune.

As for settings, I use the on-board compression a lot (especially with the AC30TB) and I also use the chorus/compression setting with some regularity (it can nail a gorgeous tone for fingerpicking with this on the Tweed setting, both pups on the Rick). The tremolo is nice too, if used judiciously. Lastly,I like the delay on this amp, mostly due to the tap feature. I have a Boss ME-10 stompbox that I goof around with but I hate trying to set delays on it. The tap on the Vox is so user friendly.

For the record, I don't like the pre-sets on this amp that much.

Bill - thanks for your input on the Vox Valvetronix settings you prefer. I will give your suggestions a try-out.
Regard - Rich