I think I want a Rickenbacker 360

[Larry Mal]

I don't think of them as being all that expensive compared to other American and now Japanese made guitars. I mean they do hit a certain price point of the market and don't bother with entry level stuff that I suppose they don't feel they can make profitably, then again, Rickenbacker shows no interest in trying to be the guitar for everyone. If you want what they have, they have it.

I think their factory produces all the guitars they can sell. They have backlogs.

I can respect that. I kind of wish other guitar makers had the same idea other than Fender's "a Strat in every closet" strategy.

[ryland]

I don't think of them as being all that expensive compared to other American and now Japanese made guitars. I mean they do hit a certain price point of the market and don't bother with entry level stuff that I suppose they don't feel they can make profitably, then again, Rickenbacker shows no interest in trying to be the guitar for everyone. If you want what they have, they have it.

I think their factory produces all the guitars they can sell. They have backlogs.

I can respect that. I kind of wish other guitar makers had the same idea other than Fender's "a Strat in every closet" strategy.

While I appreciate the philosophy of holding steady with the production capacity they have and serving a higher end market, they could certainly make updates for playability. Almost everyone has at least some trouble with Ric necks. I've sought out the wider neck variety, of which I'm only aware of three models (650, 660, and 1993), and find them quite playable. But this leaves everything else they make unplayabe to me. It's an interesting marketing philosphy to say the least.

[Larry Mal]

While I appreciate the philosophy of holding steady with the production capacity they have and serving a higher end market, they could certainly make updates for playability. Almost everyone has at least some trouble with Ric necks.

Not me- I had heard all the things everyone says, and I was prepared to hate it, and I am very sensitive to narrow nut widths and have actually given a guitar away because I hated playing it for that reason.

But the Ric felt great, and I measured it with my calipers, finding out it was the same width as my AVRI Jazzmaster and Telecaster. Those are basically on the narrow end of what I like, but the Ric felt good.

And like I say, I found I played it slightly differently than I did my Gibsons and Fenders, and I felt kind of stupid to have not tried a new thing earlier. I got no complaints and very much enjoyed it.

[eilrahc]

I think it's a myth that they're especially expensive. They're not cheap, of course. The prices have long lagged behind the made in the US offsets (new and used), and new Rickenbackers are basically at the same price point as the AVII offsets. It's just that there aren't lower tier options (well, the 330 is more basic vs the fancier 360, but no MIM or MIC versions). There are also more deluxe/fancy versions (1993+, 380, etc.) which are a different deal.

In my experience, I'm not sure that they're that idiosyncratic either. For example, I keep trying Jazzmasters (MIJ, USA), but my Rickenbacker 330 (and the 360 I had previously) always wins out for sound (/dimensionality), craftsmanship/quality (meaning also "holistic instrument" vs. "assembled guitar parts") and usually playability (the AVII was super nice though), so the Jazzmasters get sold or returned.

Other people have had different experiences, of course.

Yeah, I feel I should make it clear that it's not a view I reserve specifically for Rickenbackers, I'd regard most new USA-made guitars as expensive all things considered. I'm on the opposite side of the Atlantic too, so we end up paying an extra few hundred on American-made guitars too.

They seem to be something that people either get or they don't. I wouldn't say I'm in the "don't get" camp, but they're something where I personally don't feel I can justify the two or three grand one would cost. But obviously loads of people love them and think they do, which is fine.

[wproffitt]

I played a 2023 model year 360/12 last spring and a lot of what I had experience on previous iterations of this model seemed to have changed: that is, the neck shape felt more or less like a modern fender. By this, I mean it felt more like a C than a U with weirdly big shoulders. The string pairs were not so close together as to interfere with cleanly fretting cowboy chords.
The new neck shape is quite comfy!

[ryland]

While I appreciate the philosophy of holding steady with the production capacity they have and serving a higher end market, they could certainly make updates for playability. Almost everyone has at least some trouble with Ric necks.

Not me- I had heard all the things everyone says, and I was prepared to hate it, and I am very sensitive to narrow nut widths and have actually given a guitar away because I hated playing it for that reason.

It's the exception to the rule that made me edit my post to say 'almost everyone'. Maybe it's the people that can't get along with the necks that cry the loudest, but I have yet to personally meet a guitar player who can deal with the narrower spacing. There was one Ric in particular that changed hands a few times in college for this exact reason. We all wished that it was playable. Such cool guitars!

It sounds like maybe they are updating the neck profiles, which is great news. I wish there were stores around here that carried them. The one that had a bunch for a while has stopped carrying them because they don't sell very easily.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

At the moment I have a 330 and my 360/12v64 is up for sale. The latter was my dream guitar, and definitely sounds like all those records I love that made me want to buy one in the first place, but the fact that I can't easily strum a C chord in the first position rankled me enough to arrive at the conclusion that I don't really need it in my life any more.

For 12 strings, the spacing in the updated nut really does make a difference. It was something that the independent Rickenbacker techs/gurus routinely did, and I'm not sure when they moved the octave pairs closer together, maybe starting in the 2000s sometime, but it does make it feel a bit roomier. Not much, but a bit.

Yeah, I read many years ago about how the 360/12v64 can be made more playable by sanding the lacquer off the fretboard, removing the binding and replacing the nut, but the difficulty in finding someone qualified to do all that properly + the cost involved + the resultant devaluation of the instrument all added up to just living with the neck as it is.

Using a capo seemed to help, so I guess the necks on these do broaden out a bit as you go up the neck, but ultimately I'd just as soon sell mine and try modifying a cheaper, more playable XII with a Creamery toaster-top to see whether there's a significant difference.

[Fac 50]

There may be minor differences in tone between a 330 and a 360 due to body shape, but this is a tiny effect, if it exists at all. For me it's all about the pickups - the output of the hi gains has changed a lot over the years and I haven't seen a definitive guide to this as Rickenbacker have been pretty secretive as usual. IMO the ones to avoid are the higher output hi gains as they are very middy, honky, low headroom and the opposite of what a Rickenbacker should sound like. The late 1990s up to 2007 seem to coincide with these 'bad' hi gains. What I do know is that from around 2007 the high gains have been lower output and are really great sounding. They overdrive well and also jangle nicely.

I had a beautiful 330/6 Blueboy from 2003 that had terrible hi gains. I didn't know enough at the time to swop them out so I sold the guitar. Since then I've had a 360/6 from 2013 which I added toasters to as an experiment. They were fine, but pretty thin sounding and didn't record that well. I sold that guitar as I didn't really like the Mapleglo finish, and now have a 2019 330/6 Fireglo that is great and definitely a keeper. (As an aside I sold the 360 on eBay in the UK lockdown of 2020 to a catholic priest in a Searchers/Byrds tribute band. He had over 20 Rics!!)

I have absolutely no problem with the neck width or profile, but it has changed over the years. A table correlating neck dimensions and pickup outputs would be an interesting thing to have, maybe one of those weird Rickenbacker forums has one, but I've found them useless for good info.

I do find a good Ric to be super-versatile and capable of a lot of sounds you wouldn't associate with the brand. Oddly enough the tone that needs a bit of work to pull out seems to be the Smiths/REM type jangle that most people would associate with them. I use mine for that and for everything including raw garage rock, floaty early-Floyd stuff and everything in between. The only limitation is that high fret bending is pretty tough. Maybe a better bridge would help there, but I think the stiffness is just inherent in the design. Mastery bridges seem pretty expensive for what they are - any experiences with those? Do they change the tone at all?

[cestlamort]

Mastery bridges seem pretty expensive for what they are - any experiences with those? Do they change the tone at all?

I put a mastery on my 1999 360 and it wasn’t that much of a difference, maybe just a little “more” if that makes sense (not unlike a mastery on a jazzmaster). I sold that guitar to fund my 1982 330 and the mastery did make more of a difference there, even if only being a better piece of metal than the original one (and I think the posts locking to the bridge plate helps with sustain and definition). Not sure if it’s worth the cost though (I’d found both mine used, which is also a review in a way).

[Jonesie]

Mastery bridges seem pretty expensive for what they are - any experiences with those? Do they change the tone at all?

I put a mastery on my 1999 360 and it wasn’t that much of a difference, maybe just a little “more” if that makes sense (not unlike a mastery on a jazzmaster). I sold that guitar to fund my 1982 330 and the mastery did make more of a difference there, even if only being a better piece of metal than the original one (and I think the posts locking to the bridge plate helps with sustain and definition). Not sure if it’s worth the cost though (I’d found both mine used, which is also a review in a way).

I swear by my Mastery. Definitely added a bit of sustain and heft to my 330's sound, and also it got rid of the incredibly frustrating rattle of the stock bridge.

[Tafarel]

I guess I am in the minority, but I don't find them inherently weird at all. My next door neighbor had one and I was afforded the chance to play it at length from about the age of eleven. His was a 360 from the 1960s. It had the 'R' tailpiece on it, as well as the toasters, and it was Fireglo.

I have owned a few throughout the years -- a Jetglo 360 that I had for a long while; a matching 360/12 that I didn't hang onto for long; a Jetglo 330 that was a bit of a dog (just not very lively compared to the 360); and now a 360/12 C63 in Fireglo; I also had a Ric 4000 (the single pickup one from the early 70s) that someone was dying to buy from me, and which I eventually sold as I am not a bass player.

What I found is that the 360, which I played consistently for ten years, worked really well for both rhythm and lead. It initially had a lacquered fretboard which wore off through the years. It was a 1989 vintage, and the high-gains really jangled. However, the current 360/12 C63 has toasters, but they are a little hotter than the 60s-era ones, measuring 7.8K neck and 8.5K bridge. They still are very jangly, but it is a bitch to tune live under the lights when the pressure is on, so to speak.

The other guitarist in my band just recently bought a new Jetglo 330 and it sounds great as is. He is, however, in the process of sixty-fying it. He got a trapeze tailpiece -- the 'R' tailpieces are junk, and the only thing weird about Rics that I find -- Kluson split-shaft 3x3 tuners, reflective knobs, and Creamery pickups wound to his specs -- 5.9K for the bridge, and 4.8K for the neck. The current ones don't have the Gumby headstocks on them, either. He doesn't care much for the bridge, but I don't find it problematic at all. He is now on the lookout for an affordable 325 -- the John Lennon one.

Rics into a Vox AC30 is hard to beat, and he's got that covered, too. I play mine through Marshalls -- SV20 and JTM20 (or whatever the nomenclature is for the new, smaller studio JTM) -- and it still sounds like a Ric. I don't play with a lot of gain, however, as I love Marshall clean tones.

[Soniqfreq]

There may be minor differences in tone between a 330 and a 360 due to body shape, but this is a tiny effect, if it exists at all. For me it's all about the pickups - the output of the hi gains has changed a lot over the years and I haven't seen a definitive guide to this as Rickenbacker have been pretty secretive as usual. IMO the ones to avoid are the higher output hi gains as they are very middy, honky, low headroom and the opposite of what a Rickenbacker should sound like. The late 1990s up to 2007 seem to coincide with these 'bad' hi gains. What I do know is that from around 2007 the high gains have been lower output and are really great sounding. They overdrive well and also jangle nicely.

I had a beautiful 330/6 Blueboy from 2003 that had terrible hi gains. I didn't know enough at the time to swop them out so I sold the guitar. Since then I've had a 360/6 from 2013 which I added toasters to as an experiment. They were fine, but pretty thin sounding and didn't record that well. I sold that guitar as I didn't really like the Mapleglo finish, and now have a 2019 330/6 Fireglo that is great and definitely a keeper. (As an aside I sold the 360 on eBay in the UK lockdown of 2020 to a catholic priest in a Searchers/Byrds tribute band. He had over 20 Rics!!)

I have absolutely no problem with the neck width or profile, but it has changed over the years. A table correlating neck dimensions and pickup outputs would be an interesting thing to have, maybe one of those weird Rickenbacker forums has one, but I've found them useless for good info.

I do find a good Ric to be super-versatile and capable of a lot of sounds you wouldn't associate with the brand. Oddly enough the tone that needs a bit of work to pull out seems to be the Smiths/REM type jangle that most people would associate with them. I use mine for that and for everything including raw garage rock, floaty early-Floyd stuff and everything in between. The only limitation is that high fret bending is pretty tough. Maybe a better bridge would help there, but I think the stiffness is just inherent in the design. Mastery bridges seem pretty expensive for what they are - any experiences with those? Do they change the tone at all?

The pick-ups are definitely where it’s at pre-1994. My understanding is that before 1994 the bridge hi-gain was much lower DCR than the neck pickup. My 1986 360 measures around 12k in the neck and 6.25k in the bridge. They also were still using the vintage value pots (250k/500k) which affects the tonality. This is also where the 5th knob really shines in helping blend in the right balance.

This is the “jangle” you (and I) seek from 80’s alt/post punk and early 90’s shoegaze. There is a lot of depth and dimension to the sound…and stereo outs…a huge bonus of the Ricky 360 so few use…but should! A TRS cable for $20 (and two amps or modeler inputs) is all you need.

I like my Gumby head with West German Schallers, little fin, flat-fretted laminated board, and no-folk reverberated fuzz jangle in stereo 360.

[Larry Mal]

Mastery bridges seem pretty expensive for what they are - any experiences with those? Do they change the tone at all?

Mastery bridges have a kind of "sound" and that was present on the Ric. I like that sound and liked what it did on the Ric, but to be honest I didn't keep the original bridge on very long.

It pisses me off when things aren't attached to the guitar, so the Ric staying on there was a huge improvement. I put a harp tailpiece and locking tuners on, and string changes were easy, I can't imagine what a nightmare it would be otherwise.

I guess you take off one string at a time.

[fuzzjunkie]

It pisses me off when things aren't attached to the guitar, so the Ric staying on there was a huge improvement. I put a harp tailpiece and locking tuners on, and string changes were easy, I can't imagine what a nightmare it would be otherwise.

I guess you take off one string at a time.

One string at a time is how I do it, but then that’s how I’ve done string changes on all my guitars.

At least since I had a Gretsch that had a bridge that wasn’t pinned. I didn’t know that was a thing, but I was in a hurry and decided to remove all the strings at once. Then the bridge bounced off onto the floor. Never again. Once was enough.

[DaddyDom]

If I could own a 360/6 with binding, in either Autumnglo or Montezuma Brown, I would love it to the moon and back.

It would be like a piece of art you could play. When you own some art, you don't love everything about it every day but some days its the absolute best thing that you ever saw.
It fills your soul and then some.