Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello,

After reading some of the interesting forum discussions as a non member for quite sometime, I decided to become a member. I have owned a 1961(?) Rickenbacker 425 for many years, it is serial # 4C 494. The decoder says it's a 1954 however, I believe that it is a 61' based on the body thickness 1" 5/8 and from pictures of other 425s. It does have the cresting wave body style in the fire glow finish.

As a musician, my main instrument is the harmonica. I play both diatonic and chromatic. Musically, my focus is on post war Chicago blues. With my 425, I get a lot of looks, especially from other blues musicians. The most common remark I receive is "you can't play blues on a Ric". Well I am trying to change that in my own way. Although I really like the 425, I have been looking for a semi hollow body and have been thinking about a 330 or a 360 WB. I would appreciate any feed back on this topic regarding playability and best years to look for.

Thank you for the opportunity to be a member of this fine forum.
Anthony

blueboy wrote:The most common remark I receive is "you can't play blues on a Ric".

Anyone who says you can't play -insert genre- on -insert guitar- dosen't know what they're talking about.

Anthony:

Sounds like neat guitar! It would be great to see some images of it...

Welcome to the RRF! Yes, please post some pictures! And as for not playing blues on a Rick? People who know how to play can play anything on anything...

Anthony, welcome to the Fourm. If you know what you are doing, I'll wager that you can play just about anything on any instrument.... the key is knowing what you are doing.

Welcome to the forum, Anthony.

Hi Anthony and welcome. Glad you found us. And yeah, you're going to hear that statement a lot hereabouts. "Of course you can play (insert favorite genre here) on a (insert favorite Rick model here)." Because it's all true. It's our little secret.
JimK

Welcome to the forum Andy. If a bluesman like Arthur Crudup can play blues on an old Silvertone or Kay guitar, then using a Rickenbacker for the genre is no big stretch in my mind.

Howlin' Wolf also used a Kay Archtop, a Guild G-212 12-string and a Harmony Sovereign flat-top among others. I would submit that Rickenbacker guitars are a cut above those instruments.

Personally I use my 360v64 for blues. It has a great Strat like quality. I also have a 330 equipped with two Rickenbacker HB-1 pickups that also works extremely well for my favourite genre.

Welcome
and yes, believe it or not, owning Rickenbackers does not confine you to only playing The Beatles and the Byrds

Whereabouts in Wisconsin? And welcome!

Thanks for the welcome, I will try to post some pictures of the 425 soon. I am from the Green Bay area.

Anthony