Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I was playing my '91 660/12TP today, and I was wondering, how can I get a good chime from that guitar? I heard the fact that the solid body and the 12-saddle bridge give it a different tone, but are there any amps or effects that I can do to get the McGuinn chime or the Harrison tone?

My friend was telling me a tube amp would really help, but I don't have the money for one at the moment. And if you are all wondering what amps I've got, I've got a Fender Frontman 15R, as well as my first amp, a Squier by Fender practice amp.

Compressor. Flats helped on mine too but the compressor was the major contributor.

tmossman wrote:Compressor. Flats helped on mine too but the compressor was the major contributor.

+1. I recently went back to flats and it seems, to me anyway, that the flats really bring out the chime in the octave strings. Tubes and compression definitely help. Maybe even a little chorus, but not too much, will also make it sparkle nicely. Then again, I only have experience with 360/12s and 330/12s. I haven't yet had the pleasure of trying a 620/12 or 660/12, so I can't say for sure.

Not just any compressor, though. I have a Menatone JAC (or something) that is really more of a clean boost. It's a compression circuit, but it's so transparent that it doesn't really boost the treble. The Keeley compressor is the consensus choice around here but it's expensive. The Janglebox is another unit that actually features a treble booster and it sounds very cool. Again, it's a little pricey. Folks around here have reported good results with the Boss compressor (CS-1, I believe). For chime, I'd give the Menatone and the T-Rex a miss. They're both good pedals, they just don't "add chime". Then there was that pedal that Peter linked to the title page a couple months ago. The Saturn-something-or-other? I've never tried it, but Peter sure knows what he's talking about when it comes to Rickenbacker tone, so I'd accept his recommendation about it nailing that vintage sound.

I dunno about flats. I think the increased "chime" you get from flats is actually a deadening of the primary strings. I've yet to find a set that didn't make my guitars (6 or 12 string) sound like mud. Chime is, to my ears, a brightness that sustains beyond what one would normally expect. Rounds are as good for that as anything, and they don't stress the neck of your guitar nearly as much.

janglebox is one approach, another one would be some nice 18 watt class a amp @ clean setting with bass at 9am mids somewhere around 11am and treble at 2-3 o'clock i have good experience with aiken invader and 660/12 but that is not the loudest amp so for life playing i use gain chanel of o'brien blacface supereverb clone in rather clean mode and run 660/12 gently through rockman accoustic simulator. it sound just right to me. any old style high gain or cathode biased amp in clean/slightly dirty mode will be good. i used to have old 1966 accordeon cathode biased sano vrt30 and that was great amp for it. your tp results may be bit different because of the pickups that are perhaps not modern 7.4k. so some experimentation will help. accidently i have 92 660/12tp coming in about a week so i can test it soon if you'd like.

Having owned two 360/12's a 330/12 and a 660/12, these are some differences in tone, but they aren't huge. Everybody has their own opinion of what "chime" or "vintage jangle" actually sound like, but you should be able to get it with any Rickenbacker twelve. The best instant help is a JangleBox. It's not cheap, but it was designed specifically to do exactly what you want and it does it well. Step #2 is really making it sparkle and in my opinion, the amp and speakers you use are what do that. The higher the clean frequency response of your amp system, the better the chime will be and many guitar amps aren't built to do that very well. Imagine if amp manufacturers spent as much energy on clean with lots of highs as they do on their overdrive tone. Unfortunately, they don't - so the next time you go amp shopping take your twelve and your JangleBox with you because you're going to find that a few amps sound drastically better than the others.

Strings certainly make a difference, but again, it's not huge if you stay with good ones. The RIC compressed rounds do a great job and quite a few of us are currently using Thomastic-Infeld Jazz Flatwounds. Yes, the flats do have somewhat deader tone (less ring) on the primary strings, but that is what brings out the octave strings. If they sound like mud on a twelve, it's most likely some other part of your system causing it. I think I might really hate them on a Rickenbacker six-string, because of the deadness, but I really like them on a twelve. I'm using a set with the following - 39/25, 33/20, 25/13, 20/10, 13/13, 10/10.

Five short samples stuck together into one clip, most of which to my ears have pretty decent chime. The first three are using TI flats and a JangleBox. #1 is recorded with a mic in front of my amp, #2 and #3 are recorded with a line out of the head and no mic (I added a bunch of overdrive junk on #3 while fooling around one night, so it's not particularly typical). Numbers 4 and 5 are RIC roundwounds and the JangleBox using a mic in front of my amp. These are my 360/12, but could just as easily have been played on my 660/12 and wouldn't sound much different. It's actually harder to get a Ric twelve to sound like something else than it is to generate the typical chimy jangle sound.

http://webpages.charter.net/tbradshaw/M ... es%20A.mp3

Jake, something else to consider is that your TP has some really hot toasters, not ideal for "jangling" like the post-2000 (or vintage) 7.4k scatterwound toasters.

yep those hotter 90s toasters are more like kerrang than chime and the jangle box gain knob will have to be turned down and treble booster switch in the middle instead - but better way is really to get right amp for it or find good (emphasis on word *good*)amp tech and have your amp revoiced if it is possible.

I've used a 370-12 RM since it was new, and recently switched to a 660-12 MB with a Janglebox.It is the perfect replacement,and the JB is a bit more versatile than the RM's onboard effect.A good amp with plenty of clean headroom will help too, but my rig even sounds good thru a Vox Pathfinder 15.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone!

I must admit, I've been looking for a Janglebox, and for anyone who visits the "For Sale" section, you'll notice I've been after a 360/12CW. And from what I've read, the more recent toasters can surely help!

If I don't get a Ric with the 7.5k toasters, I'll look into a janglebox!