Artists Who Play RICKENBACKERS

Do you ever think of Rickenbackers as being ‘niche’ instruments? I think I’m guilty of that: seeing them as a cool, iconoclastic alternative to the usual mainstream choices. Is that true though? As soon as you consider who actually uses them, they immediately become a pretty significant proposition. In preparing for today's article, my research threw up basically some of the hugest bands in history, from The Fab Four to half of Georgia’s finest, R.E.M.

So, that’s what today’s all about: highlighting the greatest guitar and bass players in a celebration of the brand in general. Rickenbacker are a brilliantly eccentric brand whose guitars and basses both have deeply unique sounds to match their looks. I can almost guarantee that there’s going to be at least one or two artists on today’s list who you’ll love, so let’s not waste any more time! Here’s the list of top Ricky players!

I don’t even need to include his last name, because you already know exactly who I’m talking about here, don’t you? Motorhead’s legendary frontman played pretty much nothing other than his customised Rickenbacker 4001 bass for his entire career. To be fair, he did sometimes use a Gibson Thunderbird during his Hawkwind days (he was fired for basically being too mental for them) but I don’t think there’s a bassist in the world more associated with a Ricky than Lemmy.

The small shades, the peace ‘n’ love sentiments, the jangly Rickenbacker arpeggios…it can only be The Byrds’ Roger McGuinn. Their music instantly brings you into a rose-tinted California of the late 60s (whether you were ever there or not) and I think artists like this are responsible for how a lot of people view the Rickenbacker brand: as living artefacts from a simpler, more romantic time.

Of course, not every 60s guitarist wanted peace and love, right? The Who’s Pete Townshend may have ended up smashing his Rickenbackers as a stage show gimmick, but it started from genuine frustration. Whether he was working out personal frustrations or adhering to ‘auto-destructive art’ principles, Pete certainly made firewood out of a huge number of Ricky 330 and 360 models, including Rose Morris import versions. It makes me weep just thinking about it!

R.E.M.’s Peter Buck took the jangly arpeggios of his beloved Byrds and brought them into 80s college rock, redefining American indie for the decade. As legend goes, after his Telecaster was stolen, he visited a nearby pawnshop and bought the cheapest guitar they had, which happened to be a black Ricky 360. He’d play other guitars in the future, but none of them saw as much action - or heralded as many copycats - as this one.

It’s not just Peter Buck who was enamored with Rickenbacker in the band. Bassist Mike Mills (who actually did a lot more than just play bass) used a Rickenbacker 4001 for all of R.E.M.’s influential early material, including the Chronic Town EP, debut album Murmur and its follow-up Reckoning.

Rush frontman may just be the most gifted and technical bassist who can also easily fill arenas with his music. The Canadian three-piece are no strangers to complex, demanding music, and though he’s arguably most famous for playing a Fender Jazz bass (including his own signature models), he’s still strongly associated with a number of modified Rickenbacker 4001 and 4003 models, particularly in the 70s and early 80s. Lee’s mods included installing a Badass bridge and taking off the chrome pickup covers for a crunchier sound.

Another highly melodic and technical player was the late, great Yes bassist Chris Squire. Squire almost approached his instrument like a lead guitar, but he never lost sight of the support required by the music that could only come from the bass. For almost all of his career, he favoured a Rickenbacker 4001, and preferred to use the stereo ‘Ric-O-Sound’ outputs to dominate on stage. A huge influence of Geddy Lee and many other players both inside and outside the prog rock genre.

Whether you know him as the bassist for Killing Joke or as uber-producer for U2, Primal Scream and Paul McCartney, you’ll understand that Martin “Youth” Glover is a musical force.

His languid yet powerful Rickenbacker 4001 basslines offered a contrast to Geordie Walker’s intensely bruised guitar work, and anchored the band somewhere between punk and dub reggae.

80s hitmakers The Bangles brought a cool 60s-style creativity to their music, thanks to several members being a part of the LA arts scene known as the Paisley Underground. Lead singer Susanna Hoffs strengthened her connection to the late 60s by choosing a Rickenbacker 350, the model that had a ¾ sized body but a full-size neck. Rickenbacker even made her a signature model - the 350SH - for a number of years in the late 80s. Rare!

Tom Petty and fellow Heartbreakers guitarist MIke Campbell were both partial to the inimitable chime of Rickenbacker guitars. In particular, Petty went for a 660 model, which of course is a 12-string. Listen to the intro The Waiting and you’ll realise how unmistakable it is!

As a solo artist, Paul Weller seems to prefer his trusty Epiphone Casino, but during his time in The Jam, the iconic image of him is suited, booted and physically assaulting a Rickenbacker. Weller made use of a few models, with the most unique one remaining the ‘Wham!’ guitar, which was a Ricky 330, custom-painted with Roy Lichtenstein artwork and featuring a Gibson humbucker in the neck position.

Which guitar do you associate with Johnny Marr? Or, should I say: which guitar do you associate with The Smiths? Marr has good taste in his choices, and used a lot of classic electrics and acoustics throughout this seminal band’s brief career. However, some of his most recognisable and beloved guitar work was performed on a Rickenbacker. Two, in fact: a 300 and a 330/12, the 6-string in Jetglo (black) and the 12-string in Fireglo (sunburst). His reasoning for choosing these guitars was to keep his playing away from straying into ‘blues rock cliches’, which is a similar reason for him championing the Fender Jaguar in recent years, to ‘avoid bad habits’. There’s a lot of wisdom there!

Radiohead are big old guitar geeks who love their gear. You can tell by how much of it they use between the three guitarists! Johnny Greenwood has a famous Telecaster and Ed O’Brien had a signature Fender Strat, but both he and singer Thom Yorke are both well into their Rickenbackers too. They’ve both used several models, but generally, Thom seems to go for a 330 model, whilst Ed prefers the 360.

Oh yeah, these guys! They’re only the biggest band the world has ever seen of course, and of the four of them, all but drummer Ringo Starr played Rickies through significant stages of their career.

John Lennon’s famous teeny tiny model was the Rickenbacker 325, whose small 21” scale length and triple pickup layout certainly make for a unique playing experience! ‘Beatle George’ favoured the 360/12, effectively demonstrating the guitar’s timeless twang and shimmer to the rest of the world. Macca found himself a lefty version of the 4001S bass too, making Rickenbacker the definitive Beatles guitar brand.

What have I noticed from writing this blog? My main takeaway - apart from Rickenbackers being used to make some of the most popular and best-loved music on earth - is that Rickenbackers are used by guitarists who overwhelmingly write parts for songs: they are not used for extended soloing much at all. That may be obvious if you’ve spent much time on a Ricky, but the point is that these guitarists are either deliberately choosing Rickies for this reason, or their natural inclination to avoid ‘the shred’ takes them towards Rickenbackers.

That’s true of the guitars, but it’s almost the complete opposite for the bassists! Yes, looking at the bass players on here, I’d say that Mike Mills and Youth are both ‘busier’ players than their guitar playing bandmates, and that Chris Squire and Geddy Lee are both out and out technical virtuosos. So, what’s true with the guitars seems to be the opposite for the basses. What’s in common is the association with exceptional music, and that’s the most important point of all.

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