The Rickenbacker may not be ideal for many situations, but it is superior in the one thing it is good at - that sharp, striking, aggressive tone. For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XuRxzYeXWw
If you already play guitar then yes, easy to learn, hard to master ^^. But you should be able to get quickly to a point where you have fun playing. And then you can learn for example disco classics like Wind Earth and Fire's September which is great fun, especially together with a drummer!