Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

http://www.elderly.com/vintage/items/30U-16569.htm

Let's see...we'll borrow this from column "R", and this from column "M"...

Looks like something you get if you have a photo-editing programme come up with the average of two pictures... this is warped!

Took these at NAMM 2010.

In the never-ending search for "new", they crib from "old" sources and the result is inevitably "UGLY"!

Hmm....similar to the Kustom electrics of the late '60s/early '70s,


but the extra "Mosritesque" touches (German carve, pickup placement) make it crass..

I have come to the conclusion that there are very few guitar shapes c/w control/pick guard/pickup configurations that are aesthetically pleasing to the human eye. That guitar in particular Paul looks like it was conceived in a house of horror at a carny.

winston wrote:I have come to the conclusion that there are very few guitar shapes c/w control/pick guard/pickup configurations that are aesthetically pleasing to the human eye. That guitar in particular Paul looks like it was conceived in a house of horror at a carny.

Not only that, but there's nothing that can be done anymore to make the electric guitar different. It has all been done. Or so it seems to me.
JimK

jimk wrote:

winston wrote:I have come to the conclusion that there are very few guitar shapes c/w control/pick guard/pickup configurations that are aesthetically pleasing to the human eye. That guitar in particular Paul looks like it was conceived in a house of horror at a carny.

Not only that, but there's nothing that can be done anymore to make the electric guitar different. It has all been done. Or so it seems to me.
JimK

I think this is about as "different" as anyone is ever going to get - and it was conceived in the '70s:

jps wrote:Took these at NAMM 2010.

Do you think that pickguard has enough screws? I think it could use 4 or 5 more.

There's lots of "different" but a lot of it moves out of the musical instrument area, and into sound sculpture. The rest of "different" is at best forgettable.

The differences between the Kustom and this Richmond abomination are subtle, but the earlier design is tighter. The Kustom's horns are symmetrical, and the guard/control plate is a nice shape. Too bad about the nasty knob placement, though...

I tend to agree with Brian--but I wonder if it's because we were spoiled early on by Leo's gems and the early work of Rossmeisl and Paul Barth. Then there's the anonymous soul who penned the SG, too. And Semie Moseley's original Ventures model Mosrite.

How does one earn a nickname like "Semie", anyway?

antipodean wrote:

jimk wrote:

winston wrote:I have come to the conclusion that there are very few guitar shapes c/w control/pick guard/pickup configurations that are aesthetically pleasing to the human eye. That guitar in particular Paul looks like it was conceived in a house of horror at a carny.

Not only that, but there's nothing that can be done anymore to make the electric guitar different. It has all been done. Or so it seems to me.
JimK

I think this is about as "different" as anyone is ever going to get - and it was conceived in the '70s:

It was back in the day, yes. This impresses me more as an design novelty rather than a serious guitar.
JimK

jingle_jangle wrote:How does one earn a nickname like "Semie", anyway?

Possibly, because he only got it "right" half the time...

wints wrote:

jingle_jangle wrote:How does one earn a nickname like "Semie", anyway?

Possibly, because he only got it "right" half the time...

Is it a nickname?

Semie, apparently, was Moseley's real name. He was from Oklahoma, part Cherokee, and I've heard that he was named after his grandfather, maybe? who was named Semion, and I think Semion was an early governor of Oklahoma--not sure about that. Semie's brother, Andy, was named after a relative too, and their names were both Andy, not Andrew. My information comes from a book on the Ventures, called "Walk Don't Run"--I don't have it in front of me, which is why I'm not sure about all the details.
I've got to agree about that Richmond guitar--that thing's UGLY. Rickenbackers look great, so do Mosrites, but that Richmond looks like it was designed by someone with no aesthetic sense. Richmond's a division of Godin, and they usually turn out some nice-looking guitars, so what happened here? Design by committee? We saw how well that worked for Gretsch back in the late-'70's...