Did You Ever "Rickenbacker?"

[soupy1957]

Even though I have owned/bought & sold many different guitars over the years................the one that I never DID buy, (I've played a couple of them) was a Rickenbacker.

As a child of the 60's, and a Beatles nut, you'd think my one goal in life would be for a Vox Tube Amp, and a Rickenbacker! It was/is, but I never took the plunge.

Anyone who has done so, care to comment on your experiences with that pairing, from a players point of view??????

-Soupy

[eljay]

and i still have them:



recently acquired a vox clone tube amp, too, but all my interest is acoustic these days, so they just grace my guitar room for now. "someday" i'll pick up an electric, again.

the narrow necks on 6-str Rs are not that hard to adapt to. otoh, i had a R 330-12 and hated it almost from the moment i opened the case. it's long gone . . .

[zabdart]

The thing about that combination, at least back in the 60s and 70s, was that Vox, unlike nearly every other amp manufacturer, put the reverse feedback circuit of their amps as the first circuit in the chain, between the input channel and the pre-amp stage (rather than the last circuit before the output stage), so it acted as a sort of natural signal compressor. When you combine that with the lower output pickups Rickenbacker was using in the 50s and 60s, you get that nice, chimey sound that's on all those old Beatles records up until Rubber Soul. Since around the mid-70s or so, Rickenbacker went to higher output pickups, so that arrangement doesn't work so well anymore.

[soupy1957]

Educate me a tad.....the model number that everyone wants, (from the early Beatles days, I suppose) is what?

Nice looking guitars!! Didn't Rickenbacker have some sort of rather unique sound controls on them? I never DID figure out the switches and so forth....

-Soupy

[6L6]

I owned and played a beautiful 1966 Fireglo 360-12 for many years. It was only a couple of serial numbers off Roger McGuinn's most famous one (that was stolen and has never turned up).

Of all the songs played on Ricky's over the years, this one is my favorite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA8tUUrSTIw

Bill

[Mr. Scott]

The guitar Lennon played was a short-scale model, a 1958 Rickenbacker 325 which he bought in Germany. It was originally natural and he had it re-finished in black.
The 12 string used by Harrison was a 360-12, dated 1963, which he acquired in America I believe. They used othe Rickenbacke models too, but those two are the iconic ones. Thet used Gibson acoustics too and Lennon's 160E has recently been sold for some 2.4 million dollars.
With regard to Vox amps, they were widely used by the Beatles in their touring days but ironically they never had an endorsement deal with vox or any proper advertising arrangements. In the studio they used Fender amps quite a lot, in fact Lennon bought his first Fender amp, possibly a Deluxe, while they were still in Hamburg.
There is a good book called "Beatles Gear, all the fab four's instruments from stage to studio" by Andy Babiuk (ISBN 978-0-87930-956-5) for those real fans.

[guitararmy]

I used to have one of the Roger McGuinn signature 12-string models in FireGlo.
Very neat guitar, but decided it would be better served in someone else's hands...

[ohYew812]

Great song, very cool video! Thanks Bill.

That's one I haven't heard, or if I had back then I was only 5 and just don't remember.(1966)

[eljay]

Originally Posted by 6L6

I owned and played a beautiful 1966 Fireglo 360-12 for many years. It was only a couple of serial numbers off Roger McGuinn's most famous one (that was stolen and has never turned up).

Of all the songs played on Ricky's over the years, this one is my favorite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA8tUUrSTIw

Bill

the syndicate of sound was a one-hit wonder. their one hit is great! pretty impressive that they could sound just like the record while playing on a pier without amps

[J185-4Me]

I sure have!

I've owned several over the years, including the vaunted Roger McGuinn 370/12 reissue -- a stellar guitar!

Now it's a 360/6 Carl Wilson and a C63 (a la George).





Fred

[Petty1818]

The first "real" guitar that I bought was the Rickenbacker 360 model. I still have it and will never let it go. Mine has the Fireglo finish and the hi-gain pickups. I bought it used but in mint condition over ten years ago and I believe it was built in 1999. In terms of construction, it's easily the best made guitar that I have come across. Even after all this time, the guitar basically looks brand new.

Here's the thing with Rickenbacker guitars though, they are not versatile. I purchased mine due to the fact that I am a Tom Petty fan and at the time I did not know much about guitars. I probably would not have bought it today as it's more of a complimentary instrument to add to a collection. I find the hi-gain pickups make mine far more versatile so I do use it more than I would a standard Rick but it's not my go-to guitar.

The only two complaints I have with mine are related to the neck finish and the pickup cover. The neck has a glossy finish on it which you have to get used to and I have. The problem is that higher up the neck, the finish is cracking and coming off the actual frets. I am hoping that my luthier can fix it as I am not sure why this is happening. As for the pickup covers, the 6 individual pole pieces have kind of tarnished a bit and no longer have a nice new look to them.

[Mayday Martin]

I had a Rickenbacker 620 in maple matched with an Orange AD30 on top of an orange 2x12.

it sounded prettttty sick.

And then I sold all the above to fund some new keyboards when I did that in a band. I have sold stuff off and on from day 1 of owning music equipment. The loss of my Rickenbacker and Orange I regretted so much that I vowed never to sell anything again.

Of course, I then sold my martin 12 string - but that was legal in nature. I will one day own the combo again...just waiting to have an excuse to do it (seeing as I don't play electric AT ALL)

[soupy1957]

Model "325" ........that's it!! You jogged my memory.

But I gather, if I remember right, that the reproductions of that model are not all that great, is that right?

What about the unique sound controls...........can anyone talk a bit about the versatility of them. I had the impression (even when trying to play one once or twice) that they were capable of more......

-Soupy

[6L6]

Not sure if they also played Ricky's like SYNDICATE OF SOUND, but they sure did a GREAT live cover of "Hey Little Girl". Meet THE DEAD BOYS!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sWbyDRfRGg

Bill

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Mr. Scott

The guitar Lennon played was a short-scale model, a 1958 Rickenbacker 325 which he bought in Germany. It was originally natural and he had it re-finished in black.
The 12 string used by Harrison was a 360-12, dated 1963, which he acquired in America I believe. They used other Rickenbacker models too, but those two are the iconic ones...

Some additional comments - compiled from a number of sources - from the owner of an '85 Mapleglo 360-6 (with original Rick-o-Sound box):

• John Lennon's '58 325 was one of the very earliest versions, possibly a prototype exhibited at the '58 Hamburg trade show, and was originally equipped with different circuitry. It was modified by Rickenbacker at the factory to the then-standard four stovetop-knob configuration and shipped back to Germany, where John purchased it around late 1960; subsequent modifications included not only the black finish, but a top-mounted Bigsby vibrato (replacing the OEM Kauffman vibrola) and a set of what appear to be Telecaster knobs. For the Miami Ed Sullivan Show it was replaced by a newer version, which would become Lennon's main electric until the group's late-1965 changeover to Epiphone Casinos; like the recently-recovered J-160E the first 325 was stolen, and has yet to resurface.
• George Harrison's first Rickenbacker was a '62 Jetglo 425 (single pickup, large white Plexi pickguard) which he used for a very brief period in mid-1963 - perhaps only a matter of weeks - before he committed to the '63 Country Gent he would use for the first American tour. The "Hard Day's Night" 12-string was one of two produced for Brian Epstein - the other going to Gerry & the Pacemakers - and was delivered to George while he was laid up in bed with the flu (where it became the subject of a radio interview), along with John's aforementioned 325 and a hastily-assembled lefty 4001S bass (with the infamous "backward" headstock) for Paul McCartney. Paul would not take delivery of the bass until late that year, preferring his Hofner for both performing and recording; it would not make its recorded debut until the Rubber Soul album ("Think for Yourself"), which also featured George's new-design Fireglo 360-12 ("If I Needed Someone"). George would use his second 12-string through the end of the Beatles' touring days in August '66; Paul's bass would undergo a number of cosmetic and structural modifications, and saw extensive live and studio service over the next two decades.