Guitars: What you expected and what you got.

[stoopicus]

I have always hated low-radius fretboards.

[tapper mike]

I think a lot of "feel" goes back to your first guitar and overall hand size/shape. My first guitar was a 70's thin(er) ES335. I loved that neck but I hated that body. It was too big for sitting and too heavy for standing. I had the chance to play a '59 Telecaster and I too hate the neck it was practically a U shape and every time I'd bend a string it would drop out in the upper register. By then my main guitar was a 90's Thin C Fender Stratocaster which I believe was a 10 inch radius and my backup was a '70s LP Custom with a thin 12 inch radius.

Thin flat radius necks are great for sweeps and fast scaling on the upper register. But I could never find any joy in them. I had several "Shredder" Ibanez guitars back in the 80's and they gave me no love. That's when I fell away from the hair band super shredder movement and decided to play more like "me"

My two tele's show off how varied Fender can offer specific guitar models even in the same time period.

The MIM is wider, chunkier neck and has a compound radius that's barely noticeable. The CIC has more of a middle C profile but a narrower width. The CIC is a dream to play for me with regards to the neck

The body style of the CIC (slightly smaller) But is heavier and gives off a darker tone(Pine body) Even though it's got brass saddles. It's become my number one just for the sheer joy of playing that neck.

The MIM with a chunkier neck sounds closer to truth with an alder body the humbuckers are okay but it doesn't have the full mojo of single coils and brass saddles. Sometimes I think that maybe a brass nut would serve better. Definitely more mass than standard brass saddles or "Bullet casing bass saddles"

[Magic Russ]

Nothing wrong with that. The 1959 Telecaster I once played sounded incredible but the neck was awful. It felt like a baseball bat ALL THE WAY AROUND. The fretboard was as round as the BACK of an Ibanez neck.

With the exception of John Fogerty on that one song, nobody should be playing a guitar that feels like a baseball bat.

[ThoughtExperiment]

Speaking of baseball bats...

It looks to me like, between you (i.e. the 'Guitars' section), you've probably owned/played most 'brands' of guitar - so here's a question that's bugged me for donkey's years (whatever they are).

Way back in the late 70s, I'd finally talked my dad into being my 'guarantor' for a Hire Purchase agreement (remember those?) on a halfway-decent guitar. So I went to a local guitar shop (remember those?) and tried out a whole load of stuff, including stuff I couldn't afford of course

Anyway, one of the items I couldn't even remotely afford was a Rickenbacker (6-string) which I thought looked really cool - I still do - but it was honestly the least playable guitar I've ever handled. It was such a shock that I've never forgotten it - I couldn't understand how a guitar could cost so much and feel so crap. Although I was still pretty green, I like to think I could tell even then if a guitar was basically ok but needed a few adjustments, so unless it was spectacularly badly set-up I don't think it was that. So my question (sorry it's taken a while to get here) is: was it me, or are Rickenbackers an 'acquired taste'?

[Uncle E]

Yes, agreed. They’re an acquired taste. People buy them for the history, the classic chime, and/or the spectacular looks.

[stoopicus]

FWIW it's also the same with Ricky basses. Look great, lots of admirers, also lots of people that try them and absolutely hate them.

Also, that has to be the worst designed bridge of all time.

[ugo]

Looks like they may have finally improved their bass bridge and the truss rod, and slimmed the neck a bit as well. Only took them around 60 years to figure it out.

Rickenbacker was seriously guilty of form over function with those old 4001/4003s. Neck dive, chunky yet terribly unstable necks with fragile truss rods, the (by then) completely pointless huge bridge pickup cover got in everyone’s way and only served to hide the hideously oversized rout, and a bridge design that got in the way of intonation and was made out of really cheap metal. But those basses really do look so damn cool.

When I was a guitar tech, on rare occasion I would encounter a Rick bass that transcended their normal tone and, when played a little harder, turned into a glorious snarling beast…but most did not come close to that kind of growl. 25-30 years later and I still have a craving for that sound. I never cared about the Rick-O-Sound option though. It is a cool idea but, at least back then, only successful pros could make use of it because it required affording two amp rigs, a bigger van to haul them both, and a roadie to help load/unload/set up for the gig.

[stoopicus]

Yeah. If you have one that sounds good, nothing else sounds quite like them.

[Bombadil]

I had a 4001 in my hands once. It was a heavy mofo. Didn't get a chance to plug it in.
I see why McCartney preferred his Höfner during the Let It Be sessions/concert.

[Magic Russ]

Yeah. If you have one that sounds good, nothing else sounds quite like them.

A friend of mine got a Rick bass a few years back. He said that he had to play a lot of them to find one that shouldn't have failed QC, though.

[Winstontaneous]

I loved the Rickenbacker 360 guitar I had, as impressive as the chime on the treble pickup was the wooly depth of the neck pickup, I actually used it for a bit of jazz. Really regret selling it, had to pay the bills. Ergonomics/design decisions by the Rickenbacker company are not always what I agree with, but at least they aren't the same old same old.

[ThoughtExperiment]

This is great. All these years I've wondered if I wasn't a good enough guitarist to appreciate that Rickenbacker. Maybe I'm not but at least there's room for doubt now

[tapper mike]

Can't really compare the basses with the guitars. It was in Hamburg that John Lennon discovered Toots playing a Rick and wanted one for himself

https://floydslips.blogspot.com/2007/04 ... atles.html

With Rick's it's about falling in love with the sound. If you fall hard enough you'll pay the price because they don't come cheap. When my Yamaha Variax Standard was minty new I went immediately for the rick tones. The 12 string was a joke but that didn't stop me from searching the internet for all my favorite Rick players and trying my hand out. It was great fun but it wasn't close enough for a real Rick. A friend of mine from high school got a Rickenbacker as her first ever electric guitar and never let it go. You couldn't pull her away from it unless she was playing a mandolin. To love one guitar all your life without wanting of other guitars. That's something amazing.

[stoopicus]

Yeah I absolutely love the look, and when someone has a *good* Rick (bass or guitar) they sound incredible. They also effect really well - I love Manny's 4001/4003 in this video:



Nice New Order riff there at the start too

BTW for the bass players: the Bass Clone there is easily my favorite chorus for bass. I like it a lot more than the Julia and it's a fraction of the price. Total sleeper champion.

[Uncle E]

To love one guitar all your life without wanting of other guitars. That's something amazing.

Yes, agreed. Clapton, Gilmour, Santana, and Beck all changed their guitars less frequently than me, which is frankly embarrassing.