Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

OK Rickenbacker Tone Freaks! Here's a chance to test your Rickenbacker IQ. I threw in a Gibson Les Paul just to make things interesting:-)

Plug a pair of headphones into your laptops and see if you can match the guitar with the audio clip. I recorded the following guitars through a Vox AC 15 TBX into ProTools using a tube powered condensor mic. No effects were added except a slight bit of T-Racks compression and a bit of reverb from the Vox.

Guitar 1: Rickenbacker 360/6 with scatterwounds
Guitar 2: Rickenbacker 650/6 Dakota with humbuckers.
Guitar 3: Gibson Les Paul Custom Shop '58R Figuretop with 57 Classic humbuckers.
Guitar 4: Rickenbacker 620/6 with hi gains.

Here are the clips (mp3, approx. 500k each):

http://www.coe.unco.edu/jeffbauer/rick1.mp3
http://www.coe.unco.edu/jeffbauer/rick2.mp3
http://www.coe.unco.edu/jeffbauer/rick3.mp3
http://www.coe.unco.edu/jeffbauer/rick4.mp3

Can you tell which guitar goes with these clips?

Technical information: All guitars were played with both pickups activated and the controls set full up. The exact same amp settings were used for each clip. Clips were normalized in ProTools and converted to mp3's. All guitars are equipped with Pyramid roundwound 10-46's.

I will post the answers later.

what's the prize?

The prize is...bragging rights for having the best ears in the forum.

A very tough task Profjeff. . I am not at all sure of my answers, however, listening to it a few more times is unlikely to help me. Here goes ...

rick1.mps= Model 620
rick2.mp3= Model 650
rick3.mp3= Les Paul
rick4.mp3= Model 360

Hmmm. I'll have to agree with Peter. If the third mp3 is a Les Paul, I'd say that it sounds a bit "muffled" compared to other three. Then again, I may be completely off on these.

Not easy... but I like the challenge.

Paying attention to the opening 6 notes, Clips 1 and 3 sound more dark and humbucker-ish to my less-than-stellar ears; 2 and 4 more bright and single coil-ish.

rick1.mp3= Les Paul
rick2.mp3= Model 620
rick3.mp3= Model 650
rick4.mp3= Model 360

Andrew: Very good, I like your analysis. I hope we at least got the Model 360 right. How many guesses do we get Professor?

I'm going with Peter as well - no idea about two and four, but one has a similar sound to my 620/12 and three to my LP copy. Beyond that I reckon two is more 'humbuckery' than four (the 650 has 'buckers, right?'), and, let's face it, everyone so far has gone for four as the 360...

Is there a prize for most convoluted reasoning?

PS This is a great idea for a thread, BTW

OK, class. You are failing miserably (except for Sir Andrew who has one correct so far).

Here are the same guitars in the same order with the bridge pickup this time and the amp turned up slightly:

http://www.coe.unco.edu/jeffbauer/rick1b.mp3
http://www.coe.unco.edu/jeffbauer/rick2b.mp3
http://www.coe.unco.edu/jeffbauer/rick3b.mp3
http://www.coe.unco.edu/jeffbauer/rick4b.mp3

Remember...we have a 360/6. a 650 Dakota, a 620/6. and a Les Paul Historic.

Thanks Peter, but I'm really "flying blind" here, as the only guitar I have among those in this contest is a 650. And it serves me right for cuttin' and pastin' from your post... look at that first line: mp"s"???

Since we're testing "ears" and not "intelligence," perhaps this should be considered a test of our RIC "EQ," not "IQ."

OK. So rick1b.mp3 is the Les Paul Historic. I can hear this now with the new sound byte, however, if Andrew has only one right and I have none it is an easy solution.

Andrew: Whatever do you mean?

Only one right?? Sheesh!

Maybe the new samples will help.

Good thing you have a Model 650 Andrew!

Yeah!!! It helps me to know a Les Paul when I hear one! LOL

Sir Andrew, your intimate knowledge of the sound of the 650 has served you well. The other humbucker guitar should be obvious by now. That just leaves the two single coils. Listen for the jangle.