Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello all!

I'm picking up my first Rickenbacker next week, a 330/12 in Mapleglo, and I couldn't be more excited! In my excited, I'm sure I'll be putting a bunch of videos on youtube checking out the guitar playing a bunch of songs.

Now, the problem now is that 98% of the videos in youtube with 12 strings Rickenbackers are the same old tired rehashed covers of the same 4 songs. No disrespect to Turn Turn Turn and Hard Days Night, but if I hear either of them ever again I might just blow a fuse!

So my question to you is, what kind of thing would you rather see on youtube, if you were curious about Rickenbacker 12 strings? Song suggestions, style suggestions, riffs and licks, whatever!

btw, I am a new/old member. I was a fairly active member years ago, but couldn't for the life of me remember what my login name was so... here I am!

"The Song Remains The Same"

sloop_john_b wrote:"The Song Remains The Same"

Dammit John...

EDIT: Seriously though, that's a great suggestion! Just not sure my fingers are up to it, but I'll give it a shot!

My favorite 12 string song is Billy Bragg's A NEW ENGLAND... (Mostly from the Kristy McColl version)..



You could try that one! Lots of jangle there!

Welcome back, Nick. We missed you congrats on the new purchase.

I'd like to hear some one who can actually sing and play guitar rather than somebody who just knows the signature riff and outro, or just strums arhythmically through the chord sequence.
JimK

If you've got a MapleGlo 330/12, here's what The Church did with one back in the very early '80s:





But you have to play the best Ric 12 string riff of all -- "The Bells Of Rhymney." Yeah, The Byrds did it in the '60s, but it sounds better when Robin Hitchcock did it in the '80s. I do believe this is the riff that inspired George's "If I Needed Someone."

jimk wrote:I'd like to hear some one who can actually sing and play guitar rather than somebody who just knows the signature riff and outro, or just strums arhythmically through the chord sequence.
JimK

You know, that's a good point.. There's a fair amount of videos on youtube from people who probably should've put in more time practicing. But hey, what can ya do, there's no audition process before you buy a guitar!

Cream - "Dance The Night Away"

Dreamworld,by Midnite Oil.

Tommy wrote:But you have to play the best Ric 12 string riff of all -- "The Bells Of Rhymney." Yeah, The Byrds did it in the '60s, but it sounds better when Robin Hitchcock did it in the '80s. I do believe this is the riff that inspired George's "If I Needed Someone."

Great suggestion, I can totally support it. Robyn's version I like way more than the original

Also Robyn's own Queen of Eyes would be nice (had the privilege to see him record it live for BBC Radio on a 360/12 with Peter Buck on his 360/12RM

The Troggs - Love Is All Around or something like that would be nice as well

How about The Beatles' "Anytime at All," The Byrds' "The World Turns All Around Her," and R.E.M.'s "Good Advices"?

I think it's a toss-up between Robyn Hitchcock's version & the Byrds' version of "Bells of Rhymney." Only difference is in the drumming, far as I can hear. Other than that, the difference is not really appreciable, IMHO.
JimK

jimk wrote:I think it's a toss-up between Robyn Hitchcock's version & the Byrds' version of "Bells of Rhymney."

Well, might as well put The Byrds version up to make it easier to compare.




I prefer the Hitchcock version. Definitely the drumming is an improvemnet and the one guitar approach works better. The song is more compact -- drums, bass, vocals, and that one guitar that your ears key on. A separate rhythm guitar is unnecessary on this tune. We want to hear that great riff, the second guitar used on The Byrds version clutters things up.

I much prefer the original Byrds version to the Robyn Hitchcock one, precisely because of the heavily-compressed (and double-tracked) guitar sound, which evokes the chiming of bells, and which cannot be replicated with just one guitar track. I would have thought that a cover version of such a famous song would be more than a carbon copy of the original (minus much of the jangle). It's one thing to say you like a cover song, but to argue that the cover is better than the original is to enter dangerous territory, especially since this one was intended to be so close to the original.

I think the Robyn Hitchcock version is a faithful tribute, which, like Husker Du's version of "Eight Miles High," probably turned more than one indie-rock fan onto McGuinn, Crosby, Hillman, and company. But I prefer other songs in the Robyn Hitchcock catalog, like "Madonna of the Wasps," which respectfully emulate the folk-rock guitar sound of The Byrds without directly copying them. No offense to all you Robyn Hitchcock fans out there!