Best Rickenbacker Guitar Players
These are the guitar players who are famous for playing Rickenbacker guitars. Please do not put bass players on this list; I will create a different list for Rickenbacker bass players. It doesn't matter if they play 6 string or 12 string, just as long as they play a Rickenbacker.
James Roger McGuinn known professionally as Roger McGuinn and previously as Jim McGuinn, is an American musician. Roger McGuinn is the most dedicated Rickenbacker user in the brand's history. He also developed the popular jangly fingerstyle technique that is commonly associated with Rickenbackers.
George Harrison (1943 - 2001) was an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and music and film producer who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. George Harrison was one of the first people in the world to own a Rickenbacker 12 string guitar. He and Roger McGuinn are the two men who made the Rickenbacker 12 string popular.
Johnny Marr is an English musician, songwriter and singer, best known as the guitarist and – with Morrissey – co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Born in Ardwick, Manchester, to Irish parents, Marr formed his first band at the age of 13. Johnny Marr played a Rickenbacker 330 during his time with the Smiths. His guitar work is legendary.
John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (9 October 1940 - 8 December 1980) was an English singer and songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as a co-founder of the Beatles, the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music. He was assassinated by Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980 at age 40. Lennon was characterised by the rebellious nature and acerbic wit in his music, writing and drawings, on film, and in interviews. His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history. John Lennon was the first member of the Beatles to own a Rickenbacker, a 325.
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty was an American musician, singer, songwriter, multi instrumentalist and record producer. Tom Petty made Rickenbackers cool again when he posed with a Rickenbacker on the "Damn the Torpedoes" album cover.
Continuing the Tom Petty narrative, Mike Campbell also used Rickenbackers very frequently. He even has a small Rickenbacker mandolin.
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the lead guitarist and songwriter for the rock band The Who. The early sound of The Who had a loud, jangly edge due to his Rickenbacker playing.
The guitarist for R.E.M. Peter's main guitar is a black Rickenbacker 360. He helped shape the sound of the alternative rock movement.
The most important
John William "Paul" Weller Jr is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/new wave/mod revival band The Jam. Paul Weller used Rickenbacker guitars during his time with The Jam after being inspired by Pete Townshend. He was the most famous Rickenbacker player in the British punk/mod revival scene.
Susanna Hoffs was the former lead singer for the Bangles. She is the most famous female Rickenbacker player (having played them consistently for years), and she has her own signature model, the 350SH.
Certainly the best-looking of anyone on this list!
During his days with Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fogerty played a Rickenbacker 325. He modded it by adding a Gibson PAF pickup and a Bigsby vibrato.
David Howell Evans, better known by his stage name the Edge, is an Irish musician and songwriter best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist of the rock band U2. The Edge makes reasonably frequent use of the Rickenbacker 12 string on songs like Mysterious Ways and Get Out of Your Own Way.
The notes you don't play
Rhythm guitarist for Jefferson Airplane. He frequently used a Rickenbacker 12 string.
Edward John "Ed" O'Brien is an English guitarist and member of the alternative rock band Radiohead. He makes extensive use of effects units to create atmospheric sounds and textures, and also provides backing vocals. According to the website The King of Gear (a database of all of the gear used by Radiohead's members), Ed O'Brien's first guitar was a Rickenbacker, presumably the blonde Rickenbacker 360 that was frequently used on Pablo Honey and The Bends until it got stolen in October 1995 along with the rest of the group's gear. He then bought a Fireglo Rickenbacker 360, which became one of his main guitars; he owns two other Rickenbacker guitars.
Eric Patrick Clapton is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, once as a solo artist and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and Cream. He has also been a member of Derek and the Dominos.Guitarist for the Searchers. He and John McNally (the other guitarist) frequently used Rickenbacker guitars and helped shape the jangle sound of the 1960s.
As I mentioned in the bass player list, I am putting Mike Rutherford on both lists because he played both bass and guitar on a regular basis. He played a double neck Rickenbacker 4080, which had a 4 string and a 12 string neck.
Carl Dean Wilson was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their lead guitarist, as the youngest brother of bandmates Brian and Dennis Wilson, and as the group's de facto leader in the early 1970s. Lead guitarist for The Beach Boys. He frequently used a Rickenbacker 12 string after being inspired by George Harrison to buy one.
