Chasing the Jangle: Rickenbacker 620
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ย. 2024
- #rickenbacker620 #rickenbackerguitars #geminipickups
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Welcome to this demo, review and discussion on this Rickenbacker 620 thats been vintage modified with a set of Gemini 60s Spec Toaster Pickups! Using a Fender Tone Master Super Reverb, Vox AC15, Keeley Red Dirt Germanium, and Line 6 HX Stomp.
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Those clean tones are probably the best I’ve heard in my entire life.
Love Rickies. I got lucky many years ago and was able to purchase a 1965 Fireglo 360-12 just like Harrison's. Incredibly rare. I can plug it into anything and it sounds fantastic. Can't beat those early toasters.
Those are not the early toasters but the 0.0047 cap which isn't in the electric circuit anymore since mid 80's.
Rickenbacker is that long lost forgotten guitar you don't hear alot of, but has been used to record some of the most memorable songs.
alot of one hit one songs of the 80's actually used them. in a world dominated today by Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, a guitar like this can sneak up on people and not know what to think.
but then you hear the sound and your mind is blown.
that opening jam in the beginning brought back memories, i remember hearing that song on the radio alot when i was real young, late 80's. i had to of been 4.
sounds great! Love Rickenbackers. Versatile guitars if you ask me, not limited like som people think
You've convinced me to make some trades for a Rick. I was never sold on the semi hollow 330s but discovering this 620 on your page did it for me.
This is a nice informative helpful video. Jack brings home the point that you need to explore & get to know your Rickenbacker guitar, to learn how to best get all the types of tones they offer. Ricks really are in a class of their own. They have this rare bird mystique about them. You don't run into them every day! And when you do, they exude a classy well-made aura!
I’ll throw a name at you Jack.. The Smithereens..song that comes to mind “A Girl Like You”.. those guys rocked that tune
Thanks for the awesome video..I had the 660/12 FG Petty and the 360/12/64 ..and now I’m getting back into the Rick again with my soon to arrive 620 Jetglow..looking forward to doing all your mods..
Always loved how the six hundreds looked and sounded
620 is my favourite guitar model ever. I have two of them - both are stock but one is from 2002 and the other is from 2008 and they have a lot of differences - the 2002 sounds absolutely PERFECT, with hi-gains, capturing exactly the sound I had in my head when I was looking into getting a rickenbacker. (I was primarily influenced by rickenbacker players from the 80s, who were mostly using guitars with hi-gains!)...
the 2008 on the other hand - I find the neck shape a fair bit more comfortable and also it's balanced a bit more nicely weight-wise and the instrument's overall response and "personality" (for want of a better description) agrees with me a bit more, but for some reason, I'm just not getting quite the same 'jangle' from the hi-gains - they are a little different, with hex-screw adjustable poles rather than fixed rivets - quantitatively speaking it's the "same" sound, but the QUALITY of the jangle is somehow less clearly articulated and less nuanced. Since this guitar also has more of the 60s aesthetic (they transitioned back to that around '07-'08 - more recently they've even gone back to the '64 style control knobs!), I suspect this one might be a good candidate for the same type of 60s spec mods you've done to yours :D
Compression (and maybe some treble boost) will help a lot. For me, my Ric love started with the Beatles and early Who, and increased with Paul Weller, Johnny Marr, Peter Buck, and Ed O'Brien. All killer Ric tones, and no two the same.
Rickenbacker 620: he only thing janglier than the mid position on a jazzmaster.
Agree with all of those, Brian. Add XTC and Pretenders too.
Indeed chasing that Jangle, I found a 1982 330 Double Bound...kind of a barn find in terrible neglected condition inside and out. So I basically rebuilt it. Took everything off of it and had it refinished and repainted...Put in new CTS 500's with lower resistance wiring...Replaced the original bridge with a mastery...replaced the tuning machines with Grover Roto-matics...kept the annoying original R tail-piece...put in a new nut...replaced the original PUs with Kent Armstrong SK1 vintage toasters. Well after all that it still didn't have exactly the jangle I was looking for...kind of but wasn't doing it for me...I played through a number of amps and still found it underwhelming...SO I bought a Jangle Box JB3 and Ta Da! that was it. In fact my Tele gets a lovely Rick-like sound with JB3...nothing like a little compression and sustain to get things ringing. Im might consider the Gemini PUs. Frankly I'm Still not sure about my Rick...its an odd duck..I'm not thrilled with the neck...cant decide what puts me off...i've tried everything from 13's to 8's on it...settled on 10's just didn't seem to have a voice with anything lighter. sometimes I love it when I play it, and sometimes I want throw it in the fireplace...well after I take off all the expensive bits I put on it. I think I need to play a few other Ricks to get a bigger picture. For now I keep going back to my old stand by Tele. But I really want to love my Rick...
Nice! It sounds like you have a 360, rather than a 330. The 330 does not have binding.
Thank you for making this video!! I’ve never been a fan of rickenbackers. I love a big thick bassy “fender” sound…. But you’ve shown me there’s a lot more to these!!
Thank you for the great video Jack. For me, the most amazing part of the video is where you play the 6 string RIC through the HX with the 12 string emulation. That combo produces a RIC 12 string sound that is better than any competitors real 12 string electric guitar that I have heard. Cheers from the Land Down Under.
Glad you enjoyed it! That Line 6 effect does a surprisingly good job. Probably wouldn't stand up against an actual Rickenbacker 12 string, but like you said, better than knock offs and a great option for those who want the sound but can't justify spending that much for a real one.
@@JackFossett Well I am a Stratocaster man at heart. I did have a Fireglo 330/6 back in the 1980s for a few years and I moved it on with the intention of purchasing a 330/12 or a 660/12. However, life can often take unexpected directions and I never got either. Thing is, if the HX had been in the frame when I had the 330/6, it would have been good enough for my purposes and I would probably still have both. No regrets though. Love my Strats. And I will likely get a RIC 12 when the right one finds me :)
I play bass and guitar, Ric has always been a favorite. Nice in-depth review of this guitar.
Nice demo. As a guy that owns more than a few Rickenbackers, only 1 of them has the toaster pick-ups, I can tell you this. Take it for what it's worth. The toaster pups do have a rather low output compared to the modern Rickenbacker pick-ups. I think the key to the "jangle" is a treble boost or an OD pedal. If you have the modern pups, turn down the volume on the guitar a bit and push the amp, into a very slight distortion using the volume on the OD/ Boost Pedal. You also might want to add a touch of compression too in your effect change. My Rick 620 has a very narrow fretboard, that takes some getting used to. The 330 and 360 six string are just amazingly awesome, they have a nice smallish neck. A standard 330 was my first Rick some 25 years ago. I wouldn't say Rickenbacker are better or worse than any other guitar out there. They are what they are, just like Strats, Teles Les Pauls, SG's and ES guitars. It's a tone worth chasing or looking at. They are all made in the good Ol' USA. Tom Hall has worked hard to make sure of that and nobody copies them. However, he can only do so much. If you ever break a part on a Rickenbacker, do not throw that part away. You will need to send that part back to Rickenbacker to purchase a replacement. Rickenbackers love Fender amps, Vox amps, and even a Mesa Boogie eq-ed correctly. Marshalls give them a whole different vibe. I try not to over-analyze the whole Rickenbacker thing. Just play and get your own vibe going. I saw REM way back in the 80's Peter Buck used on Fender Twin and he also had a Mesa Boogie. No Vox amp for Buck that night.
I love your rickenbacker videos man!!
Just bought a set of Gemini toasters 60's wind to drop in my 360. Great pickups at a decent price. They do get you into "Jangle Town" and sound awesome when overdriven. Nice demo.
Great video, tones and playing Jack! I laughed out loud listening to your video when I realized you have the exact same pickups as I do. I bought them a few months back for my 360W (6-string). You took the words from my mouth…they are MAGNIFICENT. Mine have the lacquer potting that Rob at Gemini offers. As you said, they transformed my Ric. I’ve had my 360 for about 4 years, and I always loved it in theory more than in use. Those stock hi-gains are just meh to my ears. These toasters have such great string definition, dynamics….just a lot of overall “character”. And yeah, they do overdrive amazingly too! I kept the stock pots, except for the tone pots, which I switched out for CTS 500k’s. I’ve especially fallen in love with the neck position…and I totally agree with your take on that Beach Boys tone. I can’t say enough about how rad these pickups are. Cheers!
-B
if you are playing a 325V59, your target (to sound like Lennon’s guitar) is 4.8-5.0k, and you’ll want to disconnect the middle pickup like Lennon’s guitar. If you are playing a 325V63, 1997, 381, 360V64, or any other Ric equipped with vintage pickups, you probably want to opt for the 60s spec. 7.0-7.5k. Bonus Tip: Now for the bonus. All the old Ric 3 and 6 series guitars had a .0047mF capacitor placed between the treble pickup and its volume pot. The original pickups used in the 50s were typically wound to 4.8-5.0k ohms. The 60s pickups were typically wound to 7.0-7.5k. The early reissues were wound to about 8.5k, and sometime in the late 80s, the pickups began to be wound to 11-12k.
Jim Babjak from the Smithereens and Jody Porter of Fountains of Wayne come to mind of great power-pop guitar players that got killer rock tones out Rickenbackers, not just the jangle.
Thanks Jack, very informative. You like the same Rickenbacker tone that I do and now I know how to get it. I liked it through the Fender amp.
From Leo: I never had a Richenbacker, never handled one in the store. They have still fascinated me since John Lennon played played that 325 on TV. Sort of like a unicorn. The 12 string emulation on the HX is really good. Good demo.
Thank you for this video, it helped me in my decision to buy the 60's high toaster's from Gemini,
Awesome, great to hear!
how do you play the riff you were playing for the 12 string settings? i really like it
@@Geneflow02 Thanks! Its just an arpeggiated vamp on a 4-1-5 progression. I was trying to make it sound very Tom Petty for that clip.
Cool guitar, thanks!
A jetglo Rick would look great next to my red SG. These are my favorite pickups too.
Love Carl Wilson and his Ric tones also!
I love Rics and first i thought something like why did he butcher this piece of art but you did it for the best! Keeping the RiccoSound and using it with “modern” technic to make it sound even better! Jangle on!
Thanks for the info.
Did I miss a mention of the .0047uF capacitor for the bridge pickup?
Hey Jack, I’d be super interested in a video of how you make your living out of playing music. I feel like the life most musicians live is about touring, or playing at sketchy bars, etc etc. Yet , to me ir feels like you’re a normal guy with a normal family. So I’m interested to hear how you do all of this.
Top work as always, but credit where it's due. While Carl certainly played all the live stuff, by the time Brian was doing more complex compositions starting with Don't Worry Baby, he turned to studio aces the Wrecking Crew to put those tracks down for posterity. It was go-to players Jerry Cole on that tune, and Billy Strange in others such as Sloop John B. There's a great story in the book about Brian calling Billy early on a Sunday morning to get him in to lay down the riff for that and having to have a local shop open up to procure Ric 12 and Twin Reverb for Strange, which he then gifted him as a thanks for the favor.
You have said in the past that your wife has given you gifts of other amazing guitars. Any chance she might leave you for a retired, bald, steelworker?????? 😁.
Just checking. You can’t blame an old guy that likes amazing birthday/anniversary/Christmas gifts 😎🎸🇨🇦
Alas, God only made one version of Mrs Fossett, an exceedingly rare prototype. SIGH!
This was great! I hope you get your hands on Gemini's Suprocaster pickups. I would love to hear what you would do with them!
I put PAF sized toasters from the Creamery in an Epiphone. Underrated pickups, for sure!
Color me intrigued
I made pretty much the same mods to my 620 ,and it sounds much more alive with the Winfield tail piece and fresh low wind toasters, (a Rickenbacker in the neck position and a Creamery in the bridge). I think the original R bridge was a bit of a tone sink due to its mass and its alloy/pot-metal fabrication.
Great video Jack
It seems to me you have converted the 620 to have aspects of the 660, but without the wider fretboard of the 660. Sounds beautiful.
That’s essentially it, but still with a lower price tag. And I’m actually not big into the checker binding - just a personal preference thing.
run, run, run but you sure can't hide... Beautiful guitar baby
Great vid.
My 1988 620 is a rock & roll beast. More of a bulldozer than a jangly guitar. I have a 450/12 for the jangles. The 620 I have is more like a Les Paul Jr sound. Great for open G Stones or Black Crowes.
I have an original Ric-O-Sound I use for the real jangle on my Rickenbacker through a Vox AC-30 and an old Fender Twin Reverb.
Hi Jack, just a wee heads up, there is a excellentt interview with Robben Ford concerning his new album Pure on Jeff McErlain's youtube channel.
Great Video!!!! In the future will you demonstrate the Rickenbacker HB1 pickup?
Possibly!
You should listen to Unknown Henson playing a Rickenbacker, doing Jimmy Hendrix.
The Rickey Jangle!
Jack Fossett, master of the minor fourth! As always, thoroughly informative demo. PS: A suggestion: demo a Hallmark Custom, a Mosrite Mark 1-style guitar. I'd to hear your opinions on one of those. Only a grand with case!
I play it because I care 🤠
Incredible range of tones Jack, thanks! Adding a 3rd middle pup to my 660 and definitely going to use this as a launch point tho I'm curious to use a 6-way toggle and go for the out-of-phase strat 2 and 4 positions. Did you use standard .047 caps w those 250 tone pots?
I'm another who appreciated you taking it beyond the tried and true Beatles tone - and you absolutely nail the 'California beach tone', but I trust I can dial in Lennon's 325 with this set up too.
Rickenbacker should notice your mods when planning production models.
DA Bro you forgot the original George Harrison..........opening riff hard days night
I see you have telecasters also between the 620 and the Tele which do you prefrer
I would love to see you buy a cheap knock off, make the same changes with tuners and pick ups and see how they compare.
It would be a good experiment...I honestly think with a good bridge, good pots and wiring and vintage style toasters like KA or Creamery or Gemini you will a pretty decent Ricksound and add a Compression pedal like a JB3. The overall Rick sound really seems to be down to the PUs
Excelent video! have you made any comparison between toasters and hi gain pickups? Saludos
Gorgeous guitar, and good call on going with toasters. Nothing else sounds right on a Rick as far as I'm concerned -it's kind of like a Danelectro without lipsticks. The lower output and microphonic qualities of those kind of pickups lend an acoustic guitar quality blended in with the electric quality which give them their characteristic tone. But I think it's probably a misnomer that so many people use the word jangle in association with just any model of Rickenbacker guitar. I'm pretty sure the word originally started to be associated with Rickenbacker 12 strings (which definitely fit the definition of jangly), but then people just started thinking "jangle" anytime they saw any Rickenbacker guitar. I don't know. I don't think of six string Ricks as having a "jangly" quality at all. They have a particular small-hollowbody midrange and a bit of acoustic airiness to them that is unique, but the only guitars that fit my mind's conception of what "jangly" means, are 12 string electrics.
thats a really good observation
Oh no they are not available anymore at the link! Anybody know where I can get these? Great playing thanks for sharing!
I've seen Eagles concert video with Joe Walsh really wailing on a Ric. I think it might have been a Glen Frey model he was playing.
Yes it was! Exactly that. He used it for slide a lot.
I think it's the combination of short scale larger gauge strings and a trapeze bridge that gives these guitar their tone. Pickups help a bit but I think the overall construction has the most to do with it.
The 620 is not short scale. It has a 24 3/4” fretboard.
I think the 600 series 12 strings sound better than the hollow bodies.
Good calling getting rid of that original R tailpiece. Yes agreed, they do look cool but they’re also prone to cracking. Not great.
I’ve got a Ric 660-12 which is a beautiful, wonderful guitar but I had a devil of a job getting ‘that’ Ric 12 sound until I got a (Byrds Ltd Edition) Janglebox. Man that pedal sounds awesome and works a treat of 6 string electrics too.
Great review as always, that 620 of yours sound very nice 👍
Great video!! Did you have to fill in the Shaller tuners small screw holes in the back of the headstock..or did the Mosrite tuners screw drop in and then drilled the other.. thanks in advance..
The Mosrites covered the Shaller holes right but, but I did obviously have to drill new holes and also slightly widen the peg holes for the ferrules
@@JackFossett thanks I can do that!!
Could you share you’re 12 string settings from the stomp. I’ve got the hx effects but can’t get it to sound right.
I have a Vintage Series Rickenbacker 381V69 which I purchased in 2018. It came with Rickenbacker's Toaster Top pickups which sound totally vintage and authentic to my ears. So, I am a little perplexed as to why you felt the need to swap out the pickups on your 620. Am I missing something?
This one came with the Rickenbacker Hi Gain pickups
@@JackFossett OK. Now I understand. Thank you for replying!
Sounds great, I’ve been looking at a set of the 50s wind for my 330, what did you do for potting?
potted
@@JackFossett wax? I see Gemini has a lacquer option as well which I’m not familiar with.
@@joeobrien167 Yes wax
Are you alright, buddy?
Can't believe you had tuning issues with the nut and tuners on a new rickenbacker, considering the price of them that's dreadful, you would expect those kind of issues with cheap knock offs that's not good enough, some companies really do live on their heritage.
These older companies tend to be reluctant to adapt modern guitar building techniques. The loyalists would scream blasphemy. It’s the Harley Davidson problem when HD made a motorcycle without excessive vibration, it was their most hated bike by their customer base.
Are they wax potted or not?
So you replaced the volume and tone knobs, but what about that fifth knob (neck blend) did you leave it stock?
why didn't you just trade for a 660?
It may be because the 660 has a wider neck (1.75 inch versus 1.625)
Great review style, fricken gorgeous guitar. However I think for anything besides trying to sound like Roger McGuinn (a worthwhile pursuit, as Mr. Petty knew), a Tele smokes this. Just make sure it’s got a shiny finished maple board, four knobs & a Freeway switch. Oh and leave the damn neck pickup stock. Those little chrome wonders kill fascists.
looks like a Chinese Rickenbacker. The phillips head screws, the tailpiece.
Ok pal
Is not lol
There is absolutely no jangle or secret vintage tone in 6 string Rick. The jangle is only present in electric 12 string guitars, no matter the price or brand. Thomann makes a fine one that jangles for real the RB612.