My Rickenbacker recipe of the day

[fuzzjunkie]

I never had a problem with the Rickenbacker neck profile, but then I have long, thin fingers and didn't start out on Gibson necks. I like to fight with a guitar when I play it. That's why I like an old Telecaster. It has some fight in it.

You have to fight a bit to get something besides jangle from a Rickenbacker, but it can be done. After years of having to fight to play a guitar properly I was in a studio and picked up a Les Paul for the first time. It played "like butter," it almost played itself. I hated it.

[zhivago]

The one thing I notice about Rics is the low vintage frets...I am used to tall jumbo frets (I have 6150s on my JM and LP)...I quickly adapt though and bend with ease. If I had a Ric that I really liked I'd probably eventually crack and re-fret it.

I have always had a soft spot for 630s...



But I'd like a gold guard like the Tom Petty one has...

[CS]

The 660/Tom petty was based on Mike Campbells 620, changes include flame maple and a wider neck

[zhivago]

The 660/Tom petty was based on Mike Campbells 620, changes include flame maple and a wider neck

Do they only make a 12 string version? It seems all the Tom Pettys I see are 12s...

[CS]

I think that the tp was 12 in burst only and the 660 was available as a 6 and in different colours.

[zhivago]

I think that the tp was 12 in burst only and the 660 was available as a 6 and in different colours.

Oh man...looks like the 660 is the one i need!!

[nanamour]

Oh man...looks like the 660 is the one i need!!

Yep, and available in the same Fireglo/gold guard scheme as the Petty 660/12 model!

In terms of in terms of sights and sounds I really liked the 660/6 I had for a couple years--the toasters sounded great for everything from jangly rhythm work to stacked fuzz mayhem and the vintagey appointments really set it apart from 620s I've played--but I actually found the neck too wide for my liking (...this coming from a Trump-handed mutant who feels most at home on A-width and Hagstrom necks ), but I imagine it suits the 12 string version wonderfully.

[zhivago]

Oh man...looks like the 660 is the one i need!!

Yep, and available in the same Fireglo/gold guard scheme as the Petty 660/12 model!

In terms of in terms of sights and sounds I really liked the 660/6 I had for a couple years--the toasters sounded great for everything from jangly rhythm work to stacked fuzz mayhem and the vintagey appointments really set it apart from 620s I've played--but I actually found the neck too wide for my liking (...this coming from a Trump-handed mutant who feels most at home on A-width and Hagstrom necks ), but I imagine it suits the 12 string version wonderfully.

Very interesting...my favourite neck is on my '56 Les Paul and it is fairly wide...it would be cool to compare the two

[electric12]

I have always wanted, but have never played a Ric; that set up sounds nice, and jangly though. How are the necks on them girth wise?

Play Tom Petty/Wiburys tunes

Since reading this I've had the Roy Orbison part into the Tom Petty & Bob Dylan part of, " Handle With Care ", stuck in my head.

They get a lot stick for toothpick necks, but both my 330 and 360 just have fairly normal slim and thin feeling necks. I think the difference is that the string spacing can be quite narrow and the necks mostly stay the same width all the way up to the neck joint rather than flaring out. They're quite a 'stiff' guitar but I like that sometimes; I really dig the low frets and varnished fretboard too. The bridge can be a bitch to set up.

They're not impossible to play leads on or anything, but they do make you work a bit harder for certain sounds and styles. I probably wouldn't take it to a working covers gig where I need to cop a dozen different styles, but I play in a DEVO tribute and have only ever used Ricks without any issues. My 330 into an AC30 with a RAT for feedback moments is my favourite rock rhythm sound. Absolutely massive on powerchords but lots of definition so you can hear the notes, then when you kick in the boost it turns into total howling mayhem on tap.

On the subject of skinny necks, I have a 360/12 and a 360/6 which both have nice, what I would call 'slim clubby' necks. Not overly fat but enough to get your hand around and play very comfortably. As has been noted, it's the string spacing on a 12-string Ric that raises complaints. It is narrow, but nothing you can't get used to. Bizarrely I find that I can play it better after a spell playing bass for some reason! Having said that, there was one time I'd been playing my Bass VI and found that I couldn't play the 360/6 because the action is so good... it felt like I was trying to fret threads; had to take 10 for that one

I used to have a Ric 610 that was a lovely-sounding guitar and looked amazing (nicely battered!) but the neck was skinny on that. To the extent that I ended up selling it because of it. It started to give me cramps.

As for sounds, I find that I have to really try to make my Rics 'jangle'. The 12 in particular sounds absolutely huge. They are far more versatile than people give them credit for. In fact, War Pigs sounds amazing with a 360 (6 or 12!)

[cestlamort]

The 600 models are cool, but pretty small guitars . I'm over 6 ft and it felt like a kids guitar. (a friend laughed that a 620 I had looked like Prince's Rickenbacker). The 610 is the non deluxe version of a 620 (no binding, dots).

660s have the same body but a wider neck. The 660/12 was originally the Tom Petty model but they then eventually made them without his name (or royalties) which seems pretty tacky.

The 1993plus is essentially a 660 neck on a 1993 (U.K. Version if the old style 360) body.

I love my 330 and it just has a certain vibrancy to it that makes the jazzmasters I've had seem like dead wood. (Yes, a different deal, of course).

Some 80/90s ones (especially 360/12) can have tiny necks but that can be mitigated with a new nut.

[fuzzjunkie]

The one thing I notice about Rics is the low vintage frets...I am used to tall jumbo frets (I have 6150s on my JM and LP)...I quickly adapt though and bend with ease. If I had a Ric that I really liked I'd probably eventually crack and re-fret it.

I have always had a soft spot for 630s...



But I'd like a gold guard like the Tom Petty one has...

My Rick 360v64 came with the both white and gold guards and headstock plates. It's crazy how much changing the guards can alter the look of the guitar. Mine is Fireglow, and the red looks different next to the gold vs white. I imagine it's the same for black or another color combo. Putting a gold guard on a JM really alters the aesthetics as well.

[zhivago]

My Rick 360v64 came with the both white and gold guards and headstock plates. It's crazy how much changing the guards can alter the look of the guitar. Mine is Fireglow, and the red looks different next to the gold vs white. I imagine it's the same for black or another color combo. Putting a gold guard on a JM really alters the aesthetics as well.

Absolutely!!

Man, I hope I get to have a Ric one day...the trips over to CS's place are Ric-tastic!!



...and then there's the 50s Gibson over there on his sofa...and that Les Paul...and...and...

[CS]

My Rick 360v64 came with the both white and gold guards and headstock plates. It's crazy how much changing the guards can alter the look of the guitar. Mine is Fireglow, and the red looks different next to the gold vs white. I imagine it's the same for black or another color combo. Putting a gold guard on a JM really alters the aesthetics as well.

Absolutely!!

Man, I hope I get to have a Ric one day...the trips over to CS's place are Ric-tastic!!



...and then there's the 50s Gibson over there on his sofa...and that Les Paul...and...and...

Talking of which, a mate came over last week to try my LP as he had never played one and developed rather an obsession. He didnt like it. Too heavy. So I handed him the 360. Afterwards he tells his wife that she could sell her Washburn acoustics and buy a Rickenbacker. She wasnt convinced that it was in her interests to do so.

Oh and he really liked the ES125...

[zhivago]

Talking of which, a mate came over last week to try my LP as he had never played one and developed rather an obsession. He didnt like it. Too heavy. So I handed him the 360. Afterwards he tells his wife that she could sell her Washburn acoustics and buy a Rickenbacker. She wasnt convinced that it was in her interests to do so.

Oh and he really liked the ES125...

What’s wrong with her?? Unless 5the Washburns are Brazilian rosewood parlour size from the 30s, this sounds like a great plan!!

Ric GAS intensifying...


Oh, and....hands off the 125!!!!

[Grey]

The 600 models are cool, but pretty small guitars . I'm over 6 ft and it felt like a kids guitar. (a friend laughed that a 620 I had looked like Prince's Rickenbacker). The 610 is the non deluxe version of a 620 (no binding, dots).

They really are small. I'm not even a big guy and when I saw one in person for the first time I was surprised by how small it is.

I will use this thread to talk about my 480 since it's a Rick, a 6-string and an offset. This is a 70s-80s guitar and let me tell you those pickups are HOT. 12k in the neck, 14k in the bridge. It is a 100% Maple guitar and that combination produces a very angry sound, it has the best "both pickups" sound of any guitar I own and sounds nothing like what you'd expect from a Rickenbacker.