Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmDnncc4s0M

This is the tone that I love. Raw. Rickenbacker.

Not fair. When I saw him in NY, h was playing a Les Paul

Great sound!
Does the bassist know how much lighter, more comfortable, & better sounding a 4001/4003 would be?

Hmm.. I've had a couple Jazzes that were lighter and more comfortable than a 4001/4003, and sounded pretty good too.

Anyway, I'm a big Let's Active fan from way back. Got to see them a few times, glad their albums are finally available on CD.

Marc, can you shed some light on Mitch's tone? Pedals, amps, etc..., and perhaps what he might be using on this live version of Waters Part? I notice he adjusts the blend knob a bit in the beginning, too.

I might also add that this video puts the debate of Rick's being good for lead guitar to rest.

Honestly, I don't remember them playing that song when I saw them .They played a brief set opening for the DB's, and really weren't that sharp. I would imagine now they are a little tighter.

Also I'm not really that technical when I see a band like that, so I don't know enough about the pedals and amps to know what's making the difference.

Personally, I always felt that Mitch should put together a band with better musicians.

I have a 1984-era magazine with REM and Mitch Easter features/interviews...offhand, I do remember saying he used a Scholz Rockman for several guitar parts on the album (i'm pretty sure he ran the Rick thru it). He went into detail about his studio set-up...(The Driveway, in his parent's garage), as well as recording the first albums with REM. Mitch also had an interview in Guitar Player around the same time, and in that he said that "the rickenbacker's bridge pickup is real weak and twangy, and the neck pickup is totally dead, so you have to use the mix knob to get a good tone out of it". BTW, the bass player DID use a 4001 when the band started, I remember her saying so on "The Cutting Edge" MTV show from that era. Back then, if I knew the bass player from a group used a 4001, I'd get the album based strictly on that. (I was too naive at the time to realize that some bands used instruments in their videos they really didn't use in the studio/live.)

Easter plays a great bass part on "Still Dark Out" off the album "Big Plans For Everybody". A 4001 played through a tremolo ("Starship Trooper" anybody?), I recall reading somewhere he played it through a Fender Vibrolux combo.

I've always heard he records bass thru Fender guitar amps, usually a Twin.

I'm new to lists like this, so please pardon me if I'm confusing information with hot air! Please let me say that I am flattered that anybody is paying attention to any of this! Here are a few bits: You can tell the bass player she needs a 4001/3 @[email protected]. On that recent version of Waters Part, the pedals are a Korg PME-40X; the compression pedal in the verses, the overdrive in the next part. I used these same pedals in the 80s. The amp was a Carr Vincent. I used to use an Ampeg Gemini II w/1 x 15" with that guitar. On the record, it was a Rockman! (It was just the scratch track, but we just kept it since it was OK.) The Bowery Ballroom show was a lot worse than the night before at Magnetic Field! Having the bass die between soundcheck and the show had a certain disconcerting effect (it was a broken wire inside- weird)... I do really like to record bass through guitar amps. I still often use the 1980s high-power Fender Twin for this- with the EV speakers these amps are real beasts. And, it's true that Faye Hunter used to play a very attractive '72 (?) 4001. Unfortunately the low E was sort of foggy compared to a Fender. I don't know why that was. Starship Trooper- absolutely!

Welcome to the forum, Mitch!

Same here, Mitch, welcome! It is awesome to learn from someone like you how it was done.

Here's looking forward to your posting here often!

Same here, too -- since I really believe that you personally played a major part in re-defining the sound of the Rickenbacker guitar, beginning with "afoot". As the influence that George Harrison had in the '60s with the tone of his 12 string Rick, your tone started up a whole new era of Rickenbacker tone.

Can you comment on how you came to find your first Rickenbacker and what made it so appealing to you? Thanks! -- Jeff

Yeah, I'd like to add my voice to the welcoming chorus.

Big fan of your stuff; from early R.E.M. to the Cypress album right through to Monuments Galore...you did produce those Winnipeg guys, didn't you?

Confused...gotta go lay down.