|
Author
|
Topic: Rickenbacker BD6
|
Rick Alexander
Member From: Florida, USA
|
posted 16 December 2004 02:13 AM
profile send email edit
I just received this astounding little beauty today via UPS that I "won" on eBay. It doesn't look like a 50+ year old instrument - somebody either took real good care of it or didn't take it out of the case much. Not a scratch or scrape on it, unless you use a magnifying glass. Oddly enough, the only "flaw" is that one of the 2 white dot markers at the 24th fret is worn away. Rick Aiello tells me the year of manufacture is between '49 and '53 - those were the days! It plays and sounds amazing - sweet as ham sliced up and baked in brown sugar and pineapple juice, or if you crank it up it has a bite like a pitbull. I love this thing - I already know it's going to be my main studio 6 string, and maybe after a while I might bring it to live shows to augment the Stringmaster T8. I hit BuyItNow and paid a pretty penny for it - they ain't getting any cheaper! But I plan on keeping it forever and ever, so what the heck - I would have just squandered the money on bills and groceries anyway, and then what would I have to show for it?!?
Sooooo, I just thought I'd share . . . .
The best pic is at: http://rickalexander.com/BigSteel
4th one down - and if you click on the pic, it'll take you to: http://rickalexander.com/BigSteel/RickenbackerBD6.html
fo mo pics . . . ------------------
Rick Alexander
57 Fender Stringmaster T8, 57 Fender Champ, Remington Steelmaster D8, 47 National New Yorker - Music Man and Peavey Amps . .
|
Roy Thomson
Member From: Wolfville, Nova Scotia,Canada
|
posted 16 December 2004 04:38 AM
profile edit
Rick,
What does the bridge look like on that
model? Can't see it under the horseshoe.
The material it is made of and shape? (bridge)Roy
|
Rick Alexander
Member From: Florida, USA
|
posted 16 December 2004 10:27 AM
profile send email edit
Roy, it looks like it's made of bakelite too. It has 7 additional notches between the strings, a total of 13 - I guess so it could be used for models with more strings. I took a closeup of it and put it at the bottom of the page, it's a little blurry but you can get the basic idea from it. http://rickalexander.com/BigSteel/RickenbackerBD6.html |
Roy Thomson
Member From: Wolfville, Nova Scotia,Canada
|
posted 16 December 2004 11:06 AM
profile edit
Thanks Rick. |
Bill Blacklock
Member From: Powell River, British Columbia, Canada
|
posted 18 December 2004 11:59 AM
profile send email edit
Rick,
What a beauty, your right it's only money the steel will be your companion for a life time. I picked up a T logo Ricky of the same vintage a couple of months ago. The Ricky came as part of a package deal it was the National New yorker I wanted. After I ajusted the horse shoes on the Ricky I was floored, I had no idea you could get that sound out of 1/14" pickups. I've kept the Rick and sold the New Yorker,its the best sounding lap I've ever owned,yes even better then my pre-wars. Bill |
Rick Alexander
Member From: Florida, USA
|
posted 18 December 2004 02:53 PM
profile send email edit
quote:
yes even better then my pre-wars
Bill, could be the pre-war hype is just that - the "older is better" thing. Oftentimes it is, but apparently not in this case. The more I become acquainted with this little gem, the more blown away I am by its tone and playability - and other qualities that mere words fail to describe.
I did a couple of 2 week gigs in Powell River many years ago, '75 or '76 I think. Are the bars there still full of hot chicks that just want to have fun, or was that just a '70s thing?
I have to thank the gentleman who I bought this guitar from - Jack Jones. He took excellent care of it, because it is in incredible condition. He must have put a new set of strings on it right before he shipped it, because I had to wiggle them a couple of times to get them to stay in tune. I've gotten quite a few steels on eBay, and that's the first time I got one with new strings. Cudos Jack . . I'll buy a steel from you anytime!  |
Bill Blacklock
Member From: Powell River, British Columbia, Canada
|
posted 18 December 2004 09:30 PM
profile send email edit
75 or 76, hot chicks wanting to have fun? Let me think, I would have been 23 at the time. I thought I dremt all that! Man, didn't we have a time!! What band did you play with? I often think of those days and the great bands that went from town to town, Black Snake blues band, Stallion thumb rock, Mother tuckers yellow duck, Seeds of time, the list goes on and on and the party's never ended. Great to be young
|
Rick Alexander
Member From: Florida, USA
|
posted 18 December 2004 10:28 PM
profile send email edit
That was no dream, Bill - now you have confirmation! When I played Powell River (I wish I could remember the name of the club) it was a duo - "Rick and Kris" I sang and played acoustic guitar plugged into a wall of amps and my partner Kris Brooks played a lefty stratocaster turned upside down. I would have been about 28 or 29 and I remember we had us a real wild time, on stage and off. I could tell you some stories about that gig and that whole tour, but this may be the wrong forum for that . .
Too bad I didn't have the Rickenbacker back then!
|
Mark van Allen
Member From: loganville, Ga. USA
|
posted 18 December 2004 10:38 PM
profile send email edit
Dang it, Rick, I'm not sure anybody should have that many nice axes! I'm jealous...------------------
Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
|
Rick Alexander
Member From: Florida, USA
|
posted 19 December 2004 12:54 AM
profile send email edit
Thank you Mark, I had a deprived childhood and I suppose I am overcompensating for it . . 
Seriously, I love vintage steels and I want to do my small part to preserve some of them for . . . um posterity - yeah, that's it.  So I find 'em, clean 'em up, put new strings on and tune 'em to one or more of the 1,865 commonly accepted tunings. Herb Remington calls it "The Museum", and I like the sound of that. Thank goodness for eBay and this Great Forum!
| |
The Steel Guitar Forum
