Jangely Rhythm Guitar: Rickenbacker 330 or Coronado II?

[UlricvonCatalyst]

I thought Ray mainly played acoustic during the middle years (assuming you mean Face To Face - Village Green). The Fender one with the Strat-style headstock.

Sometimes. And sometimes a Telecaster. And sometimes the Rocket. There aren't a lot of good videos from this era, or pictures to know what song is being played.

And I've already got several Telecaster-shaped guitars. haha.

Well, like I said, compressor or Janglebox. Unless you're just looking for an excuse to buy another guitar....

[sirspens]

I thought Ray mainly played acoustic during the middle years (assuming you mean Face To Face - Village Green). The Fender one with the Strat-style headstock.

Sometimes. And sometimes a Telecaster. And sometimes the Rocket. There aren't a lot of good videos from this era, or pictures to know what song is being played.

And I've already got several Telecaster-shaped guitars. haha.

Well, like I said, compressor or Janglebox. Unless you're just looking for an excuse to buy another guitar....

Well, obviously that's part of it! Haha

[Maggieo]

I thought Ray mainly played acoustic during the middle years (assuming you mean Face To Face - Village Green). The Fender one with the Strat-style headstock.

Sometimes. And sometimes a Telecaster. And sometimes the Rocket. There aren't a lot of good videos from this era, or pictures to know what song is being played.

And I've already got several Telecaster-shaped guitars. haha.

Well, like I said, compressor or Janglebox. Unless you're just looking for an excuse to buy another guitar....

No one will be surprised when I say get a T-type, put it in the middle position, turn up the treble on your amp, and add a compressor.

Total Jangle Reinhardt.

[sirspens]

Today I tried several guitars at Guitar Resurrection (Austin, TX), though I couldn't find one to try with a proper mini-humbucker:

Guild Starfire III: It has a "mini" humbucker in that it isn't a full size humbucker. Of all the guitars I played, it was the brightest and most lively, but nothing extraordinary.
Gretch: Several models from fairly cheap to fairly expensive, all with Filtertrons. All of them were some level of dull sounding at best.
Epiphone P90 Sheraton: Good P90 punchiness, but also not what I was looking for.

Of course, there were no semi-hollows with single coils or gold foils.

[marqueemoon]

There’s always Nashville tuning too.

Probably going to do that with my reissue Dano U1 for our next recording project.

[sirspens]

There’s always Nashville tuning too.

Probably going to do that with my reissue Dano U1 for our next recording project.

I have a Telecaster patscaster that I keep strung for Nashville tuning. I've been playing it a lot lately. It's fun to write with, as it really forces you to think of rhythm guitar in a bit of a different sense while also creating a bigger playground for the bass to explore, as there is more separation between the two instruments.

[Maggieo]

I just had an "oh duh!' moment- Johnny Marr Jaguar.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

I just had an "oh duh!' moment- Johnny Marr Jaguar.

Well spotted. Totally overlooked that option myself.

[sirspens]

I'm giving a Coronado a try. Curiosity has gotten the best of me.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on this vs. a Ric 330 in the jangle stakes. Surely a more expensive option, though?

[sirspens]

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on this vs. a Ric 330 in the jangle stakes. Surely a more expensive option, though?

I'm pretty hopeful on the tone after researching and watching videos for these pickups. They, like the WRHB, have adjustable screw pole magnets. The wind looks tight and tall, like a Strat (a bit disappointing under that wide cover, was hoping for a wider wind). But, they still have a nice bright sound while also being full bodied.

Here is a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewdnn_EgU1s

And, you would think it would be kinda pricey, right? 1967, rare transparent red (most had bursts or solid colors, supposedly to cover up binding flaws) with tremolo, in good condition, with a bit of checking (been played but by no means abused over the years). I paid a bit under $1,400. More than a used recent Ric 330, but less than new one.

I'm really excited.

[stevejamsecono]

I'd be curious to hear the end thoughts on this myself. Honestly I agree with whomever said a Tele though, because that middle position is magic and it's on more "jangly" records than people think.

I had the pleasure of playing one of the new matte finish 330s at Sam Ash a few weeks ago and although it was a VERY fun guitar to play, I was kind of surprised how like.... not jangly it sounded? Like it definitely wasn't a heavy sustaining guitar and it had a nice treble response, but if anything I thought the overall response of the guitar was pretty flat and even and not especially more jangly than anything else. As far as how it actually played it definitely was friendly to those techniques (ringing arpeggios and the like), but I think it's rep as the jangle machine is really kind of overblown.

[sirspens]

I had the pleasure of playing one of the new matte finish 330s at Sam Ash a few weeks ago and although it was a VERY fun guitar to play, I was kind of surprised how like.... not jangly it sounded?

Yeah. That is my impression of the newer Rics, as well. The pre-hi-gain ones that I have played were very jangly.

I am encouraged by the videos I have seen of the Coronado with these pickups. Good high end response, a bit peaky. Also, that video I posted doesn't have a middle position example, but I was blown away by the middle position sound in the videos I saw that had it.

[MrFingers]

Rickenbackers with HiGains are quite dark sounding guitars. To get the Jangle out of them, you need to compress the hell out of the signal, and/or add a treble-booster.

Another option is using a guitar with DeArmond pickups. One of the most jangl-y guitars I've played was an old Guild Starfire III with the white-topped DeArmonds. The Coronado also has DeArmonds, so...

[garyfanclub]

I’ll jump in here too and say that my Ric 330 is anything but jangly. It’s actually one of the darker guitars I own. Something to be said for the fact that it’s a late 80’s model, and these have notoriously hot pickups so it’s likely on the extreme end of the spectrum for dark Rics. Really curious about what sound they were targeting with these, pretty hot and muffled in the neck, super plunky and weak in the bridge.

The only reason I haven’t dumped it at this point is the neck itself is magical. I’m toying with the idea of replacing the pickups with mini humbuckers by Proto, just haven’t pulled the trigger yet. This move should clean up the muddiness and imbalance.

Really interested to hear your thoughts on the Coronado - just bought a 75 Tele Custom at a screaming can’t-say-no price, or I’d be looking for something similar. Was the Guild you checked out an older one? I’ve heard the late 60s Starfires are super jangly, especially the ones with the Guild mini-hums. Would also reccommend checking out an old Silvertone 1446 if you can find one - the bridge position is gloriously jangly.