What is the deal with Rickenbacker?

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mithra6

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I'm not in the market for guitars right now, but I was just wondering if these were even viable guitars. I know they have a rep for the jangly guitar sounds that the Byrds had, and I know George Harrison played one for a while, but you don't hear anything about them anymore.

What's the deal?
 
There are still made and played, but not so popular as Gibson, Fender, and a host of other vendors.

I have a friend that has a number of recent models and they are all well made.

Ed
 
Relatively high quality and still American made I believe. A friend with a guitar store told me that they are still producing them by hand the way they always have -- which means that it is not a high volume production as compared to Fender or Gibson. Consequently, stores that carry them won't always have a lot of stock available. You can also add the early Who, the Jam and the Replacements to bands that have used them prominently (and not in a particularly jangly way either). They do have a unique sound.
 
They're a well made classic american guitar with their own signature look and sound at a really good price. Like USA Fenders.
 
And I think that they still hold the standard for electric 12-strings.
 
Yep - some of the Pretenders stuff from the 80s is all about a Rick 12-string
 
From what I've heard, and this is second-hand information, they have tough, hard to comply-with standards for stores to be distributors, so they are not carried by many places.
 
hixmix said:
They're a well made classic american guitar with their own signature look and sound at a really good price. Like USA Fenders.
Click to expand...

Not to detract from Fender's fine products, but Rich is handbuilding set-neck semi-hollows for about the same price as American Standards, which is a staggering value.
 
ermghoti said:
Not to detract from Fender's fine products, but Rich is handbuilding set-neck semi-hollows for about the same price as American Standards, which is a staggering value.
Click to expand...

...................
 
Paul Kantner played a Rick in the early days of Jefferson Airplane.
Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys
Paul McCartney plays a Rick bass once in a while.
Chris Squire plays a Rick bass.
 
Yeah, From what i Know the Rick Basses are great. I dont know much about the guitars except that they look neat.
 
They have their own unique tone which I've never heard in another guitar. Great bang/buck ratio.
 
I was just curious when I was researching my purchase my Les Paul (which I love) what I never heard much. It looks like it's a distribution issue. I seemed to have a good rep in the old days, so I was wondering if they had gone downhill in recent years. Seem like they haven't!
 
They definately have their own unique sound. I always thought they felt a bit plasticy to play....not much weight with the hollow body. I actualy don't like the feel of them at all but the sound is amazing.

Basses are a different story, they rock!
 
I had a 360 12 string for several years. It was well made, beautiful, sounded great, and I hated it. It had an 1 5/8" nut width (on a twelve string, mind you).
I'm not one of those guys who cries about not being able to play anything but one nut width, heck my guitars range from 1 11/16" to 2" and I'm comfortable on all of them, but that thing was just impossible to get comfy on. I sold it and bought more Martins :D .
 
Tim and Jeff Buckley used the electric 12 string from Rickenbacker. The 360 I presume?
 
I'm not sure about the Buckley's. The 360(semi-hollow two pickup) or 370(same, only three pu's) are the guitars most associated with Roger McGuinn.
I think the solid body Rick twelves may have a wider neck, but the hollow body to me is the classic Rickenbacker sound.
 
Lennon on the early Beatles stuff
Harrison's 12 string because he liked the Byrds

Tom Petty's 12 string (pretty much to emulate the Byrds/Beatles sound)

John Kay of Steppenwolf

Joe Walsh has used one live for slide at least (can't remember is he used it for other stuff live)


Basically, Rick was the sound of the English invasion of the early 60's. The Lennon used one and the Rick people jumped on that. They had a very successful marketing department and when you combined that with Beatlemania, they couldn't lose. Later, when the Beatles switched guitars looking for new sounds, Ricks weren't cool anymore. Yesterday's news. Time and tastes change.

If the Next Big Thing breaks out using Ricks, it'll start all over again.
 
Along those lines

When I first started to play electric, it was all about Les Pauls. Page, Clapton, Santana, Duane Allman.

There's a 20-something guy I work with that says Les Pauls feel like antiques to him. :eek:
 
I can't separate the Rick from Chris Squire. What a trademark sound, and still going strong after 35 years. I saw Yes again a few years ago, and Squire's Rick tones (not only jangly) were among the most interesting I've heard live. If I were a bass player (I'm not), I'd definitely have a Rick in my collection. Some bass pedals, too, which he used sparingly but very effectively.

J.
 
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