Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have always appreciated the manner in which the tonality of the Gretsch and the Rickenbacker complemented on another. I was first drawn to the combination of these two instruments based on an interest in The Beatles. Certainly other groups used the same instruments, The Byrds being another classic example.

Do these instruments go together only because of the fact it was central to The Beatles' early sound, or is their some resultant tonal quality in which the whole is greater than the some of its parts? For me, the golden sound combination of the Rickenbacker toaster and the Gretsch humbucker is related to alnico features.

I really have been taken by the clarity and treble nature of these Gretsch and Rickenbacker pickups. If the RIC pickup can be said to "jangle", certainly the Gretsch pickup "chimes." As always I am interested in the views of others.

They are a good match, the combined tones always spell magic. But, I would put the regular reissue 330 (with VPs and trapeze) that one of our guys is using up against a Tenny any day. I don't think I've ever come across a more versatile guitar.

Not to disagree with Nick, I played a '60's Tennesean live (in the late '70's) and I loved it's versatilty. Great on the clean rythmn and chunky chords, turn up the master volume and whoosh! overdrive those leads! I look forward to the day I play a 330 or 360 in a similar situation.

Nick,

Could you go a bit further on your thoughts about today's 330 in relation to a 360 ? All my rics are 360s and I have a Gretch Country Classic I. I totally agree about the great mix. For many reasons, including vibe, sound, quality/price, I prefer the rics. Not owning a 330 but interested in another ric (I have thought more a solid body or a 3 pu model)it would be great to have some comparative feedback regarding the 330.

My father has a bolt-on solid body Gretsch from the 70's with Filtertron pickups. It compares very favorably with my 650D after we strung it with Rickenbacker strings like I use on the 650D. The 650D can have a brighter sound but still has lots of bottom end on the neck pickup. I prefer the 650D slightly, and my father prefers the Gretsch slightly (mainly due to the neck size). The control setup on the 650D allows more tone versatility. Either guitar is suitable for hard rock, but my brother prefers the 650D for that (largely due to the wide neck like on the Eddie Van Halen guitar). So the Chordmeister prefers the Gretsch and the Leadmeister prefers the Rick 650D. In this case the Rick has humbuckers and the Gretsch has toaster pickups. Both have maple necks and fingerboards. The Gretsch was bought years ago for around $100 used; it's probably a late production model that was built just before the Arkansas plant closed down. These are real sleepers, if you can ever find one. It's the only solid body Gretsch I've ever seen with stylized Strat body instead of the Gibsonish body look.

Toasters on the Gretsch. Philip, would you please explain further?

David, the only modern 360s I own are all Carl Wilson signature models, these are great guitars, but still different sounding than the 330 being used in our band. It was born from the factory as a 330 with HG PUs. I changed the HGs to VPs and the tailpiece to a trapeze, those VPS are a real trip on that guitar, miles of tone.

Ultimately, a lot of these topics (especially "tone") is a very subjective thing. A lot of recent discussions elsewhere in the forum see people absolutely swearing by HGs, suggestings that they get almost as much jangle - AND the option of a thicker tone - which is why they prefer them and see them as more versatile.

The modern VPs, as we have seen proven, are significantly different to the 60s versions, so I sometimes wonder whether people's ears are lead astray by the look of the VP before they even start.

Personally, I have VPs, but I wouldn't feel like I was missing anything major by having HGs.