Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Revolutionary sound of the Tonika!

(click photo to listen)

I want one.

Looks pretty interesting, be cool to check out and have.

Looks like everything I love to hate in one package. Bizarre factor 10. The article says they weigh a ton, too. And I bet they play like a zip-gun. They're so bad that they're good again.

Not my cup of tea I am afraid. They remind me of the very cheap and nasty almost unplayable guitars produced in Japan in the very early 60's.

Yeah, but they look so funky Brian

whojamfan wrote:Yeah, but they look so funky Brian

Yep, and I bet they have their own "unique" sound unlike most other guitars. Don't go looking to play some violin-like sustaining blues on these guys.


Plus, I bet they are very well made and sturdy---function over form, my Proletariat comrades! (They're made of pure iron curtains)


Edit: I just gave the MP3 a listen, and they sound pretty cool. Kinda "plunky" with little sustain, but hey.....they have the cool and different factor!

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Oh, I wish I could forget those creatures from beyond hell . You couldn't play them, you had to fight them for every single note. Average action was about 3-4 cm (not mm!) above 12th fret, so there was no way anyone could tune them or play somewhere above 5th fret.
But sturdy they were, you could easily use them as a weapon, I can imagine if anyone hit an amp with this guitar (Townsend-style), it's not the guitar that ends up broken to pieces, but an amp.
Sound was just a lot of mud, no highs at all, and when you played live chords you played just didn't matter at all. Around 1990 there were a lot of these, but only real punks would play them, anybody else (including me) tried to find an imported guitar from Eastern Europe.

With such purity of character; that makes me want it all the more

kiramdear wrote:With such purity of character; that makes me want it all the more

Kira- Look away , resist going into the dark side

Damn, great sound. How come i've never had one? Oh well, i did own "Leningradka" way back in the 90s anyway. As my friend Andy used to say, "best thing for beginners if they like challenge — after you've learned to play this one, you'll be able to play anything".

sowhat wrote:Damn, great sound. How come i've never had one? Oh well, i did own "Leningradka" way back in the 90s anyway. As my friend Andy used to say, "best thing for beginners if they like challenge — after you've learned to play this one, you'll be able to play anything".

Was your "Leningradka" anything like this Ural 650? If The Tonika was the Telecaster of the USSR then the Ural 650 was the Stratotcaster(or so I have read).

Fun Fact:Naomi Watts's russian emigre character in the film "Eastern Promises" owned a Ural 650(the electric guitar,not the motorcycle).



By the way I found this other video on youtube that that the poster said his guitar is a Ural but it looks more like a Tonika to me.

octagon wrote:Was your "Leningradka" anything like this Ural 650?

Leningradka is actually an acoustic guitar. I've never really had an electric before i got my Ric (a 650, heh-heh). Ural sounds cool. Oh well, something to consider.
And since Kira has mentioned Soviet cars...

Loving it, Sheena. You guys are having too much fun over there!