Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello!

My name is André and I am new to this forum. I have played the guitar for quite some time but switched to electric only about a year ago. It's Christmas time and I would really like to buy myself a new electric guitar. I have considered and tried many different guitars and the Rickenbacker 330 feels just right for me. My only concern is its versatility.

So I wanted to ask the forum people here - will a Rickenbacker 330 equipped with "Rickenbacker hi-gain pickups" be able to give me some thick, fuzzed out sound if used with proper set-up? And will a Rickenbacker 330 equipped with humbuckers be able to give me clarity/jangle?

All answers/opinions are appreciated!

Hey Andre, welcome to the forum! Check out the player's reacordings & videos and you'll get an idea just how versatile a Rick can be...

greyash wrote:So I wanted to ask the forum people here - will a Rickenbacker 330 equipped with "Rickenbacker hi-gain pickups" be able to give me some thick, fuzzed out sound if used with proper set-up? And will a Rickenbacker 330 equipped with humbuckers be able to give me clarity/jangle?

In my experience, toasters = jangly and crisp, hi-gains = ballsy but fuzzy, and humbuckers = mud city.

But YMMV.

The High Gains are very versatile. I can get great cleans and great fuzz out of my 620, especially with a Big Muff or CMOS fuzzes (Fat Sandwich/Red Llama types). I do notice a drop off from my PAF-pickup guitar when using vintage (germanium transistor) style fuzz boxes.

That's very good to hear!
Going to pick up my Rick on Saturday and test the c**p out of it with my USA-made and Russian Big Muffs!

I think that Rickenbackers in general are MUCH more versatile than most people realize. My wife's 330 with hi-gains sounds absolutely incredible. In my experience, at least, it's important to make sure you're playing through a decent amp. Ricks (to me at least) seem to sound best through tube amps with plenty of oomph.

I have recently gotten a tc electronic MOJOMOJO which may work work with my 330/toasters. I need to spend with them in GarageBand and find out.

I use some fuzzes with my 330:
D*A*M (Drag'n'Fly & Superbee), a Hudson "Stroll on" (Tonebender MKII clone) and a Bajatech Custom Bone Bender (Vox tonebender clone) and they sound good to my ears with the Ric.
I've done a shoot out of them with my 330 plugged in my little Vox DA5.

The sound 's not bad even if it sounds really better with my tube amps. But i don't use them much at home.

I have a new 620/6 with the Hi Gains and it does all manner of overdrive/distortion very well. I presently am playing through a low wattage tube combo w/ 12" speaker. I can get great overdriven tones w/o pedals by cranking the amp but typically get my OD and distortion tones through pedals. For mild to moderate OD or crunch I use a Digitech Hardwire CM-2 Tube Overdrive; for heavier crunch to full on distortion I use a Digitech Hardwire SC-2 Valve Distortion pedal. Ric's have their own unique distortion and overdrive tones. The beauty of the Hi Gains is that they never mush out and maintain note clarity even at full on distortion levels. The Ric humbuckers are different animal entirely than Gibson type 'buckers and have much more chime and jangle than a typical humbucker which also translates to overdrive and distortion tones. The buckers will also drive an amp harder. As far as Toasters, I actually prefer them on 12 strings for crystal clear jangly cleans. Toasters do sound good with a little overdrive, but IMO can be a little too thin and strident sounding when driven at higher overdrive or distortion levels.

I took my 610 out for a gig we did on Sunday night, and I have to report that it sounded amazing through the various filth pedals I was using- a Fuzz Face clone, Tonebender clone, Boss FZ2 Hyperfuzz, Boss SD1, Nobels ODR1+ and variations thereof.
Nice controllable feedback too!

I'm not really a fan of vintage fuzz these days (I did have a period between '08 and '09 where it was all I loved), but I do love to put some OD on my Ric. Rics have a certain characteristic with a little dirt on them that you just can't get from another guitar. My main OD pedal for the past year has been this:

I hear that it sounds and works best as a boost, though.

I don't really have much experience with flatout distortion in general, but I've always wanted to try one of these:


And for fuzz, I used one of these for that period I was fuzz-heavy (still have it):


But heard these were superior:

hell yeah! you can even play the blues with hi-gains and the neck pickup!

I use a blender pedal to blend my Fuzz and OD's with my clean...sounds awesome with my 360's!

http://www.effectsdatabase.com/model/on ... l/mosquite

I ended up buying a Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face mini and it sounds great with a 15-watt Fender tube amp!

Just to add: My 620/6 gets really super long sustain with a distortion pedal and more than decent sustain at higher volume clean amp settings......something those less enlightened do not believe is possible with a Rickenbacker guitar.