Last night I played a gig in Copenhagen using my Rick 360 exclusively - NO LP's, 330's or Strats.

We have often discussed if Ricks are ideally suitet for lead guitar tones - and if I didn't feel that earlier (which I actually did...) then I do now for sure!

We went thru soft ballads and havier rock things - and the 360 delivered everything needed for it all - thru my vintage Super Reverb and a Tube Screamer (TS 10) for distorted sounds. EXCELLENT tones!

I usually get different guitars for different styles using Rickenbackers for big and beautiful chords and delicate runs - but due to my sore back (handling amps and speaker cabinets for 40 years...) I tried this time to use only one light and highly playable guitar - the Rickenbacker 360 from 1997. Fantastic!

Sometimes, (often), Ric's get labeled as good for only certain things, but as you know, it's just not true. They are guitars, and they can do almost anything.

Hey glad to see more and more understanding the versitility. I'm just starting to realize it myself.

Keep an ear open for Matthew Sweet's new album, "Modern Art", to be released soon. The lead guitar on the first track is a stock '99 360, and several others were done with a 650C. Yes, they're great lead guitars in a live setting, but they record even better!

I could shred on mine for a while (It takes getting used to), but can't after I've played other guitars.

That being said, I don't think it's easy to play rhythm on a Ric until you get used to it.

Early Who, Steppenwolf, Credence Clearwater Revival, Byrds and not to forget many Beatles tracks all feature great Rickenbacker lead guitar playing.

Particularly Credence with John Fogerty's 325 short scale bluesy, cutting, tight rock riffs, leads and solos are outstanding and so easily rekognizeable - but also George Harrisons highly melodic 12 string Rickenbacker 360 lead work on for instance A Hard Days Night and others are amazingly great... well songs from all the above mentioned bands are fine examples of lead guitar culture from the days of the past - at its very best.

Remember lead guitar is not a particular way of constructing a guitar but a way to play any guitar. And among those the Rickenbackers generally happen to be quite usable in the right hands.

I thought Kay only used the Ric as a rhythm in Steppenwolf?

Roger McGuinn and Peter Buck have probably used the Ric as a lead guitar the best (IMO). McGuinn in particular could make it sound like other guitars. That always bugs me about some players: They think Ric can only sound like a Ric, which is simply not true.