OSG Rickenbacker (and Rickenfaker) thread?

[SignoftheDragon]

I had a 620/12 that was rather easy to sell on:


It was... fine. Nothing to complain about really, other than the fact that it simply refused to outshine even the most basic half-the-cost guitars that I had to compare it to. Italia Rimini, Reverend Airwave, Rivolta Combinata, even the Eastwood Surfcaster tribute; all of 'em equalled-or-beat the Ric - in tone, playability, or both.

Not saying that I've given up on the brand- I'm still low-key on the lookout for a Ric that will check my boxes, the 620 just wasn't it.

[Tafarel]

I've had this for about two years. It's been used on our recordings, but deploying it live has proved to be problematic. Plays wonderfully and sounds chimey.

This is my favorite RIC model, but I don’t pen one. If I may ask, what’s made it problematic when playing live?

If we used it for the first songs it would be great because it wouldn't be sitting waiting to be played. Having to check the tuning when I put it on is the problem, as our songs kind of go from one to the other without pauses -- little intros and outros that segue from one into the other. I begin a good half of our live songs and there is little to no room for retuning.

It's not really the fault of the guitar at all. Simply my mania for being in tune, I guess. I don't find any 12-strings particularly easy or quick to tune.


If that makes any sense at all.

[muffonrat]

I want this

Me too.
I can contribute to this thread with my Greco Ric copy which has become one of my favourite guitars to play.
The neck of this guitar feels absolutely perfect to me.
There are some nice examples in the "show your lawsuit guitars" thread.

[OffYourFace]

I just noticed Rick changed headstock shapes & sizes over the years. I had no idea.

In this pic it goes 1980 - 1989 - 1986

[cestlamort]

Once you see the different headstock shapes, you can’t unsee them. (Same for the horns on 330s, albeit less so)

The Ric internet folks call the middle one “Gumby”. Recent headstocks are closer to the 60s skinny ones and look right to me.

[wproffitt]

If we used it for the first songs it would be great because it wouldn't be sitting waiting to be played. Having to check the tuning when I put it on is the problem, as our songs kind of go from one to the other without pauses -- little intros and outros that segue from one into the other. I begin a good half of our live songs and there is little to no room for retuning.

It's not really the fault of the guitar at all. Simply my mania for being in tune, I guess. I don't find any 12-strings particularly easy or quick to tune.

If that makes any sense at all.

That totally makes sense, thanks!

[hansbrinker]

Here's my genuine 360v64 12-string...



And my Chinese faker...

that faker looks nice. How is it?

what ever happened to the 360f you had?

Thanks!

The Chickenbacker is really good. I found a trustworthy seller whom I walked through the entire process. That said, the only original parts left are the tuners.

I took out the crappy Chinese fake toasters and replaced them with “60s wound” toasters from Gemini pickups and a new wiring harness (500k pots, orange drop cap, cloth wire) from 920D, added a Mastery bridge, genuine Rick pickguard and knobs, and a tailpiece from Winfield Vintage. The cheap but decent TRC is from Aliexpress.

I moved the pickguard up to match the look of a genuine Rick, so I was left with two holes. I plugged the holes with toothpicks and found a perfect enamel paint match to cover them up. Looks great from a distance but up-close it's noticeable, which is ok since this is going to be a beater/player.

Basically I wanted a custom color Rick look-alike that will sound — and play better due to the slightly wider neck — like the genuine article for around $600-$700.

As for the 360f (good memory), I still have it, but it's been disassembled and I've never put it back together again. Don't know if I'll get back to it, since I have plenty of guitars at the moment. If I ever do want to scratch the 360f itch, I'll save up and order a custom one from Harry White.

[Fac 50]

Yes - the hi-gains vary over the years. I haven't seen a definitive era-by-era breakdown but from my own experience the late 90's-2007ish higains were higher output, very middy and 'honky' and really quite far away from the traditional Rickenbacker sound. From 2007, when they changed to the adjustable pole pieces they lowered the output and these pickups really do give you the best of both worlds - nice chime and also sound great with more gain.

If anyone has a more granular view it would be interesting to know. Cheers.

My experience aligns with that.
The pickups on my 90s 330/12 measured 14+k each (and sounded like Guy Fieri).
Worth noting, too, that the toasters also changed over the years, and the 90s/00s toasters are basically hi-gains, until they introduced the "scatterwound" ones.

Thanks - good to get confirmation.

[OffYourFace]

I want THIS 360

[Flurko]

I always thought I preferred 330s over 360s, but these cool guitars are making me wonder.
I'm still gassing hard for either of those in the walnut edition.. still way above my pay grade !

[sal paradise]

Anyone got a 325? I’ve always kind of fancied one of those too.

[Jonesie]

I want THIS 360

...you won't do it.

[JSett]

I want THIS 360

...you won't do it.

I reckon he's gonna try

[sal paradise]

I want THIS 360

...you won't do it.

I reckon he's gonna try

I would do it for that price. And that colour

[cestlamort]

The CNC era at Rickenbacker started around 1984, so that one is still from the earlier era, and may have some quirks / differences. Judging by my 82, the top may be thicker, braced, bridge placement could be totally off / eyeballed (with randomly placed screw holes - it works but you need to redrill if replacing the bridge). No deal breakers there, but worth noting.

I’m still used to Rickenbackers being a relative bargain vs offsets: they were almost always cheaper than USA jazzmasters, and have hovered around 1200-1500 for standard ones (330, 360) for years. Heck, they were cheaper than Fenders new, too (Remembering the great MF blowout of 2012-3(?) with new 360s for $1100 or so!) So it’s still strange to see asking prices over 2000, and fairly ridiculous to see recent ones listed for $2500 or so. (A different matter for older ones of course).