Recommend me a guitar

wayneirie

Generally I have two electrics one is my casino that's staying. I'm after a keeper in the last year I've gone through a tele an sg and I'm currently trying to flog my strat. To be honest I've just found the fenders a bit meh. But I liked the twang/surfy sounds I could get. Had a quick ten minutes on a Rick 330 and it was pretty sweet, can they twang as well as jangle? SG was ok, but not for me. My other choices are a guild starfire v or possibly a jazz master. I mostly play garage rock, jangly stuff, quite a bit of funk and soul, lots of fuzz into a vox. I'm after a keeper. Any suggestions/guidance/experience/ideas/streams of abuse welcome.

xmrchi

I would highly recommend a usa guild either an original hoboken or a westerly, , guild have not really had a bad period like the other big 2, the necks are beautiful and from the 4 I have owned they sound superb, plus the prices are very good as they don't have the history or Fender Martin and gibson due to guild being started in the 50s.
My all time favourite brand.

stimpsonslostson

I'm going to suggest a Jaguar- jangly, surfy & can do fuzz too.

As a curveball, how about a Melody Maker- I got one recently, it plays like a Les Paul Junior, but has loads more twang & bite due to the thinner single coil.

wayneirie

only thing that puts me off the jag jazzmaster is the amount of faffing about that seems necessary to stop the strings popping out.

All this stay trem/mastery business. A friend of mines got a jag so I might see if I can borrow it. Melody makers are cool but I probably need a trem.

Moss

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-Red-Gibson-1967-SG-Melody-Maker-Hard-Case-/181748401176?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a510c8418

NervousJohn

Bit of reverb and a Rick will twang with the best of them. Some did come with trems, or you could fit a Bigsby. And for surf credentials Carl Wilson played a 360.

Equally I'm biased and my keeper is a Rick 330-12...

ICBM

Rickenbacker 620s are more Tele-like than 330/360s.

You should also maybe consider a Gretsch of some sort, they can twang as well as jangle, and you probably need a trem to get the more surfy sounds.

wayneirie

Do all ricks have centre blocks? What would you compare the 300 series ones to?

Corvus

Gretsch is a good shout, enough meat to rock but jangle and twang is what they're known for. Sound great into Voxes. Obviously you should buy my Annie.
/shameless

wayneirie

I'd love to buy your gretsch bill. But I couldn't see me being alive long enough to play it. If I bought it.

Elwood

A PRS swamp ash special?

Corvus

Wayne no worries mate, was only half serious. Maybe a Cabronita with Bigsby, don't know if Dipinto Galaxies are available here but they're very Surfy, also there's a Mosrite-ish Dipinto on fleabay at the minute. Though leftfield things are always harder to move on if it's not 'the one'.

stimpsonslostson

Gretsch seems like a good idea.

It really sounds to me like you NEED to go to your local Guitars'r'Us & play everything that even remotely takes your fancy.

It'll probably be more of an exercise in ruling options out than finding "the one" but it's a fun way to focus your criteria& narrow the search.

ICBM

wayneirie said:

Do all ricks have centre blocks? What would you compare the 300 series ones to?

They're a very different construction from a standard semi-hollow.

Instead of being constructed from ply they are routed from solid wood, with a centre 'block' that supports the neck tenon and extends as far back as between the pickups.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v693/jingle_jangle/1960 365 CAPRI/structure2.jpg

This is one with the back off. The cross brace is not part of the guitar, it will be to support the sides while clamping the repair.

NervousJohn

wayneirie;642757" said:

Do all ricks have centre blocks? What would you compare the 300 series ones to?

Edit : wot ICBM said.

330s and 360s effectively do. They are chunks of maple with the areas on the top and bottom bout routed out. The tops are pretty thick as well so feedback is very controllable at gig level with an AC-30 with a bit of gain in front of it.

Soundwise, Ricks are a lot more flexible than people give them credit for. To me their somewhere between a Tele and a Gibson 335.

TonyR

A mate from work came round last week and I introduced him to my collection. He was blown away by my Ricky 330, he couldn't believe how good it sounded - he thought the Tele just end edged it for clean, but only just.

I love my Rickies but they're not to everyone's taste.

badlydrawnbanjo

I would recommend a Johnny Marr jaguar (and not just because I'm selling one). Does everything you want.

Moss

The Phantom Loller strikes again

Sarge

You could always try a Danelectro.... (ducks for cover) 

TonyR

stimpsonslostson said:

Gretsch seems like a good idea.

+1 for Gretsch, after having just got my hands on one I'm blown away by it, in fact I can't stop playing it and it's a very long time since I've had a guitar like that!

I said in an earlier post that I love my Rickenbackers and I do but they're not a patch on this - and that is saying something.

If you do want a Rick 330 I've got a Jetglo (black) one that I could possibly be persuaded to part with.

ICBM

Sarge said:

You could always try a Danelectro.... (ducks for cover) 

Why? They're pretty good guitars!

Also somewhat unconventional, they're made from stapled pine (originals) or plywood (reissues) frames with Masonite - hardboard! - fronts and backs.

This is an original 60s Convertible… yes, they really were that crude.

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r393/ReesGuitars/dano_frame.jpg

Cheap doesn't even start to describe it really. But surprisingly, they sound good.