Rickenbacker guitars

[Kramerguy]

yeah, I know this isn't the git forum, but I don't know most of the folks there, but I was wondering...

 

I've never seen a local player using them, nor have I ever seen one for sale in a music store, outside of finding one once at a pawn shop, and it was destroyed IMO.

 

So what's up with them? Why are they so seemingly rare? Why don't more local guitar players use them?

 

I play a lot of clean tones these days and thought a Rik would be an awesome addition to my collection (although I can't afford one heh)

[wades_keys]

Expensive + reputation for unreliability.

[BATCAT]

I've never heard that they have a rep as being unreliable... but yeah, smaller company, and expensive.

 

I'd love to own a Ric someday!

[jwlussow]

I've owned a bunch of Rics. They are actually pretty good. Since I'm a bassist I have used their 5 strings. They absolutely suck. So much so that they pulled them off the market while they re-design them. That was 3 or 4 years ago. I had some converted 5 strings but I had an order that was in their system for 9 months that got pulled when they decided they needed to do the re-design. They didn't even have the courtesy to let me know. I happened to call to check on the status and they told me my order was cancelled a month earlier. They never even sent back my deposit until I pressed them for it. John Hall (Ric's owner) is a douchebag. He thinks he is God's gift to musicians. Rickenbackers used to be great instruments now they are having reliability and QA/QC problems. I'll still probably pick up a five string if they decide to start selling them again because they are cool looking. They just never sounded as good as my Warwick does. I wouldn't have known about Warwick if Ric didn't pull their five strings so I guess I do owe them that.

[Funkwire]

I'll echo the above--smaller company, so not as many made. US-made, so more expensive than some other brands. Combine the price with the relatively low availability, they seem to get snapped up pretty quick. I've only seen one or two in stores that I can recall. I don't even know of any brick-and-mortar Ric dealers.

 

I've always lusted after a Ric 12-string...but the one time I actually played one, it became heartbreakingly clear that it could never be. The string courses are too close together for my sausage fingers.

 

But all in all...I can't see why they command the prices they do. Outside of the the 12-string, which is the industry standard, none of their other models really stand out to me. And yes, I'm including the basses. Every time I've been in a band with a bassist who played a 4001, I hated the way it sounded.

[BATCAT]

 

I've always lusted after a Ric 12-string...but the one time I actually played one, it became heartbreakingly clear that it could never be. The string courses are too close together for my sausage fingers.

 

 

You should check out some vintage Hagstrom 12-strings. They can sound killer, have a bit wider necks, and are usually well under $1000.

[Ferdinandstrat]

 

Expensive + reputation for unreliability.

 

 

Well yeah, if you're Pete Townsend.

[MarvinDog]

Back in my gigging days (80s), I played with a couple of guys who had Rics.

 

One guy was a guitar player who had a beautiful 12 string Ric. He strung it for 6 and it was his backup guitar because it wouldn't stay in tune for the length of a song. His main guitar was a Yamaha with a Floyd Rose that he kept locked. He did use the Ric in the studio on one song that we recorded. It was only used as an accent-- it recorded beautifully.

 

The other guy was a bass player who had a 4001. Same story as above. It was just the backup to his P-bass.

[ZigZagWanderer]

I have a Rick 650 Dakota that I love. It's their entry-level guitar and they pop up on eBay, etc. pretty regularly. I don't think it has much in common with other Ricks--the 650s have humbuckers and the nut width is 1.75" and the neck profile is substantial (which is why I got it--love wide and fat necks). Neck through construction, 24 3/4" scale. Maple and walnut, although they make a "Colorado" version that is all maple and is finished in typical Rick colors. Surprisingly 'heavy' sounding, although I use .12-.52 strings on it. If you want to hear what it sounds like through a variety of amps and pedals, go to www.hernextfriend.com/music.html and scroll down to the "New #2" selections--all of the electric parts on that record were the Rick 650.

[Kramerguy]

well I always liked the Geddy Lee rik sound, but moreover, I like that the rik guitars (6-strings) have a very unique flavor, you can hear it in the romantics, tom petty, and The Church, freaking killer tones.. something that might accent what I'm doing these days.. but alas they are rare and I am poor

 

But a tele would compliment just as well if not better anyways .. haha, just tryin to be different

[Lee Flier]

As a couple of others have mentioned, Ric is a small company and they don't have to answer to stockholders. So their emphasis is on quality over quantity. They won't open factories overseas or in Mexico. They won't hire luthiers who aren't well qualified. As a result, they're always about 2 years behind in production.

 

A few years back, for this reason, they dropped Guitar Center as a vendor (which I thought was pretty funny ). So now they deal strictly with mom and pop stores. Often there are only one or two authorized Ric dealers even in a big city. It's a different business model than the "big boys" but it's one that works for them, and most aficionados of Rics understand and appreciate their emphasis on maintaining quality.

 

This makes them a little hard to find. There are also some players who are reluctant to use them because they're under the impression that a Ric is a one-trick pony - you use it to get that 60s jangle sound and nothing else. The truth is they're capable of being used for pretty much anything except maybe metal. They have models with higher gain pickups, and you have to tweak your amp differently with a Ric (whether guitar or bass) than a Fender or Gibson, but that's nothing unusual.

 

I own 2 vintage Rics - a '66 450-12 string and a '73 4001 bass. Love them both. I'd love to have a Ric 6 string one day, but I think I have enough guitars.

[rhat]

The guitar player in our trio is gonna buy a rick 12 string. He had one when I played with him in a band at age 18 it was a 12 string where you could lock down six strings and play it as a 6 string. He sold all his electric gear and bought a D-35. We are starting to dabble with the old set list from back in the day ,,,, he needs the 12

[MusicalSchizo]

I've played a bunch of different Ricks, but never owned one. I though they were pretty nice, though the necks were weirdly small on the guitars I've played. I enjoyed playing both the jangly sort of stuff on them, but I also played some scratchy funk stuff on them and they sounded really cool. With a cranked-up AC30, it's definitely quite a racket - in a good way!

 

The 4-string Rick basses I've played (all 4003s) have been decent, and have a very interesting and unique sound. It's punchy and round.

 

I played one 5-string Rick one time, and I was pretty pissed off that they even bothered to try and make a 5-string, because it was a TERRIBLE bass. Just {censored}ing horrible. I couldn't believe a company that made so many other good guitars could make such a horribly-designed piece of {censored}.

 

That's just my take...

Brian V.

[tim_7string]

I've owned a bunch of Rics. They are actually pretty good. Since I'm a bassist I have used their 5 strings. They absolutely suck. So much so that they pulled them off the market while they re-design them. That was 3 or 4 years ago. I had some converted 5 strings but I had an order that was in their system for 9 months that got pulled when they decided they needed to do the re-design. They didn't even have the courtesy to let me know. I happened to call to check on the status and they told me my order was cancelled a month earlier. They never even sent back my deposit until I pressed them for it. John Hall (Ric's owner) is a douchebag. He thinks he is God's gift to musicians. Rickenbackers used to be great instruments now they are having reliability and QA/QC problems. I'll still probably pick up a five string if they decide to start selling them again because they are cool looking. They just never sounded as good as my Warwick does. I wouldn't have known about Warwick if Ric didn't pull their five strings so I guess I do owe them that.

 

There was a store in Minot, ND called Star Guitar that had a Rickenbacker 5-string bass guitar back in 1994. I believe it was used. That was the first time I ever saw a Ric of any kind up close and personal. I almost bought it (they only wanted $350 for it), especially because I was going through a "Beatles" phase at the time and also an "I'm a bass player now!" phase.

 

However, by the time I got some cash, it was gone. Pissed me off too, since it was there for months before that. I had no idea they sucked. I guess I'm glad I didn't buy it then!

[JacieFB]

I saw a 12 string MapleGlo 360 and a 6 string JetGlo 360 in a slightly-larger-than mom and pop store in Cincinnati the other day. I'd love to have a 360 some day. I also can't really think of anyone that uses a Ric guitar on the local level. I know a couple of guys, myself included, who use Ric 4003 basses from time to time.

[JimiRules]

Being a huge Lennon fan I've always wanted to get a black Ric like his. I've never played one, but I'd love to try one out. I've never seen anybody in my area using one live, but I've seen a bassist in my area playing a ric bass before.

[John Watt]

G'day! I've got to post after a name like JimiRules, going back to when I saw Jimi in Toronto in '69, and I'm lefty too, playing a '64 Strat in '70.

 

Walter Ostanek, a three-time Grammy award winner, owns a music store in St. Catharines, near Niagara Falls in Canada, that always had Rickenbackers. I never forgot the feel of one that had slanted frets. I paid Paul Saunders, an international luthier, to take the rosewood fretboard offa my '64 replica neck on a body I made, and use ebony for a two octave, short-scale fingerboard, with slanted frets. This is beautiful.

 

When I told him about my idea, he looked up at me with sparkling eyes, shyly saying, you know John, when you get up over the eighteenth or nineteenth fret, it might be harder for you to play those six string barre chords. I didn't catch him at first, saying I'd probably just be playing lead and wasn't playing big chords up there anyway.

 

Now I am. A Strat-style body with a P.A.F. humbucker at the neck, and Rickenbacker-style slanted frets. That's being up there for me.

 

as always, John Watt. DIY "a new paradigm of electric guitar"

[ggm1960]

I've used mine at gigs on occasion. It's a 620 that I bought through MF two or three years ago.

http://www.rickenbacker.com/model.asp?model=620

 

 

The neck through body design and single coil "toaster" pickups add a unique spank to the sound. The dual truss rod design can be difficult to set up properly.

 

Rickenbacker owners can be a fiercely loyal bunch.

[backtoblue]

I've wanted a 330 for as long as I can remember. I kick myself for not saving for one back when you could walk into any GC and see 10 of them hanging on the wall for under a grand.

[Lee Knight]

There are also some players who are reluctant to use them because they're under the impression that a Ric is a one-trick pony - you use it to get that 60s jangle sound and nothing else. The truth is they're capable of being used for pretty much anything except maybe metal. D

 

I think Ric 6 strings are great. But... I do think they are less versatile than other standard guitars. That's not a bad thing. That is a good thing to me. But that narrow focus does limit their appeal to those that need to cover a lot of ground with one guitar.

 

I do realize that they are not limited to jangle. But a Ric sounds like a Ric sounds like a Ric. One-trick-pony? Naw. But I will say they are not as capable of achieving some standard tones that the others (Paul, Strat, Tele) are capable of.

 

To me that is a good thing in its own way.

[Lee Flier]

I do realize that they are not limited to jangle. But a Ric sounds like a Ric sounds like a Ric. One-trick-pony? Naw. But I will say they are not as capable of achieving some standard tones that the others (Paul, Strat, Tele) are capable of.

 

I dunno - but why are those the "standard tones?" I own 2 Les Pauls and a Tele. Each has a wide range of tones but there are things that a Tele can't do. The Ric also has a wide range of tones but there are things that it can't do. I don't think that's a bad thing either - it's after all why people own multiple guitars. But I do think Rics have a reputation for being a one trick pony. Not many people would think to play leads on one, but they are more than capable. They just, as you say, won't sound like a Les Paul or a Strat, and if that's what you want, you should get a Les Paul or a Strat.

[ski219]

Other guitarist in my band has and regularly uses a Ric 12 string. With that and my hollow Epi we get a great sound for the old Beatles we play... along with plenty of other tunes as well. I think he paid around $1,500 for it, new.

[zekmoe]

I have a 360 and 360/12 that I regularly gigged with in my original bands. I'm not sure I will in the cover band I'm in, as the typical cover band crowd is..how should I say it..less respectfull of boundries and gear than the original band crowd. I guess that's why they make cheap strats and tele's for.

[Kramerguy]

I have a 360 and 360/12 that I regularly gigged with in my original bands. I'm not sure I will in the cover band I'm in, as the typical cover band crowd is..how should I say it..less respectfull of boundries and gear than the original band crowd. I guess that's why they make cheap strats and tele's for.

 

here's a tip-

 

Have your hard-case open somewhere near you (but out of the way obviously), so when you end a set, you just kill your vol, pull your plug, put the guitar in the case, and close/lock the case. Sounds like a pain, but it's literally just as easy as putting it on a tooth-pick stand some drunk is gonna knock it off of

[rhat]

here's a tip- Have your hard-case open somewhere near you (but out of the way obviously), so when you end a set, you just kill your vol, pull your plug, put the guitar in the case, and close/lock the case. Sounds like a pain, but it's literally just as easy as putting it on a tooth-pick stand some drunk is gonna knock it off of

 

 

Guitar stands are how most guitars get broken.