By Martin H. Rots

 Everyone is familiar with the sound of the Rickenbacker 360 12 string electric guitar.  George Harrison played the second one ever made in the early days of the Beatles.  Roger McGuinn took it's unique sound and turned it into the Byrds' trademark.  Years later, Mike Campbell from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers  used it liberally in his retro folk-rock  that so appealed to our aging ears.  Peter Buck of REM used one extensively in the 1980's.

The Ric, as it is known, is a classic rock instrument.  Nothing sounds like a Ric.  Two sets of strings, one thick and one thin are tuned an octave apart.  When played, it sounds like two guitars being played in harmony.  It can be a bitch to keep tuned, but when it is in tune, it sounds like heaven.  Listen to the opening of the Byrds' classic cover of Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man  or the riff of Ticket to Ride by the Beatles to understand what it can do for a tune.  It's right out front.  It wasn't just used for folk rock and pop either.  Listen to Fred "Sonic" Smith of the MC-5 work out on a Ric and a Marshall stack.  Let's just say what Fred does with a Ric isn't for the timid.

 I've always wanted a Rickenbacker.  Even now, every few years I'll find myself in a guitar shop and if they have one, I'll ask to play it.  There's nothing like a 360.  The strings feel like a woman's body on my fingertips.  The action is light and the first time I strum it, a smile comes to my face.  I know a twelve string is a bitch to keep tuned, but it's easy to ignore when someone else  performs the chore.

As I play, I begin to plot.  It's a good price.  It's used, but it looks like new.  There's no wear on the fretboard, the neck is straight and not a scratch to be seen.  It's black and I prefer the sunburst finish or red, but there are compromises to be made.  It was someone's treasure and how sad to have had to part with it.  I wonder if he had wanted a Ric for a long time, like me.  Maybe the guitar was like a woman you knew you couldn't hang on to.  If you were smart, you enjoyed your time together, resigned to the inevitable, knowing that someday you would have to part.

Life intrudes into my thoughts as I play.  I already have four guitars and haven't gigged anywhere outside the living room in almost forty years.  I would love to own the guitar, but the dishwasher is on its last legs and there's a payment due to the orthodontist. 

My wife and I were at the Guitar Center a few years back.  I wanted an amp to go with the vintage Mustang I had just acquired.  I looked at a Vox AC-30, a mid-size, single cabinet Marshall and a couple of nice Fenders.  I played with all the knobs and momentarily turned it up too high which caused everyone in the store to look in our direction. 

Candy didn't say anything as I tried each amp with a Strat they graciously let me use.  As I plugged into the Marshall she asked me, "Thinking about going on the road?"

That snapped me back to reality.  I plugged into a little 15 watt Fender practice amp.  It had a lot of effects built into it and truthfully, I wasn't playing Budokan, just the living room.  It wasn't going to break the budget and when I paused my playing and looked thoughtfully at it, I saw my wife smile.  She had made her point.

I faced reality, at fifty-something, my priorities no longer included electric guitars and amplifiers.  I was never going to own a Ric 12, a Vox AC 30 or a Marshall stack.  For that matter I'll probably never own a '64 Chevy convertible, either.

 I'll just have to get over it.


To learn more:                

 http://www.rickbeat.com/beatles/beatles.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_12-string_guitar_players

http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/rems-peter-bucks-stolen-guitar-gets-anonymous-return-174756