"Rickenbackers are only good for playing clean"
Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:27 am
Thought that would get your attention! And it is just this perpetuated myth that provoked me to conduct a little experiment ...
It's been discussed over and over on these boards, and all Rickenbacker owners know what a great all-round rock guitar his/her guitar is; whether it be equipped with Hi-Gains, Toasters or Humbuckers. Yet for outsiders, the Rickenbacker will always be that strange jingly-jangly niche guitar.
I recently recorded a quick demo of a song of mine and used my Rick 330/6 for both guitar tracks, both of which were quite heavily driven.
I posted the track at a forum to which I regularly contribute and, as well as inviting the usual comments on the song, I asked the members to listen carefully and try and identify the guitar.
They then had to register their vote for one of the following of my electric guitars ...
Rickenbacker 330 (Hi-Gains)
Gibson SG Classic (P90s)
Gibson SG Standard (Bare Knuckle Riff Raffs)
Gibson ES-347 (Bare Knuckle Stormy Mondays)
Now, the forum is a very small community and after two days, I only had a total of 5 votes but, predictably, not one single member thought the guitar was my Rick 330.
These are all major gear freaks and reasonably knowledgeable guitar enthusiasts. Maybe the most astonishing thing is that a couple of these people have seen me play live and know that my first choice guitar for gigging is my 330, and that I play very few songs with a clean sound.
Amazing! It seems the mechanism that determines that most non-Rick-owners, when hearing a dirty/driven guitar sound, will immediately rule out the possibility that it is a Rickenbacker is very much alive. After all: "Rickenbackers are only good for playing clean" (insert 'roll eyes' smiley here)
It's been discussed over and over on these boards, and all Rickenbacker owners know what a great all-round rock guitar his/her guitar is; whether it be equipped with Hi-Gains, Toasters or Humbuckers. Yet for outsiders, the Rickenbacker will always be that strange jingly-jangly niche guitar.
I recently recorded a quick demo of a song of mine and used my Rick 330/6 for both guitar tracks, both of which were quite heavily driven.
I posted the track at a forum to which I regularly contribute and, as well as inviting the usual comments on the song, I asked the members to listen carefully and try and identify the guitar.
They then had to register their vote for one of the following of my electric guitars ...
Rickenbacker 330 (Hi-Gains)
Gibson SG Classic (P90s)
Gibson SG Standard (Bare Knuckle Riff Raffs)
Gibson ES-347 (Bare Knuckle Stormy Mondays)
Now, the forum is a very small community and after two days, I only had a total of 5 votes but, predictably, not one single member thought the guitar was my Rick 330.
These are all major gear freaks and reasonably knowledgeable guitar enthusiasts. Maybe the most astonishing thing is that a couple of these people have seen me play live and know that my first choice guitar for gigging is my 330, and that I play very few songs with a clean sound.
Amazing! It seems the mechanism that determines that most non-Rick-owners, when hearing a dirty/driven guitar sound, will immediately rule out the possibility that it is a Rickenbacker is very much alive. After all: "Rickenbackers are only good for playing clean" (insert 'roll eyes' smiley here)