Thinking of buying a 12-string Rick. Curious to hear differences in opinion on the 330 vs. the 360.

It's pretty much a cosmetic difference.

maybe binding.. and rickosound? possibly.

i have a620. i got it when I was 13. I love it.

Oh yeah, I forgot abou the Rick-o-Sound...the 360 has it, the 330 doesn't.

I love my 330-6. I don't even sound like R.E.M. or Tom Petty when I play it.

330 = mono, no binding


360 = Stereo, full binding (neck and body)

The cool thing about the 360 is that the binding is only on the back "plane" of the body, but the front has a rounded seemless bevel... Mmm comfy.

I'm a Rick geek, and for some reason I've always liked the simpler models. I think the 330 rules. It's everything a Rick should be and nothing more. I may be wrong, but I think they generally sound fuller. I know very few people who've used the Ric-o-sound feature on the deluxe models since a splitter box is needed. It's a relic effect from the days when "midrange boost" was a mind-blowing, psychedelic experience.

While I'm straying from the pack, I think the new Hi-gain pickups beat the crud out of the coveted "toaster tops". They were meant to be an improvement and I think they are. Some years are better than others, so play and listen. I'm fond of the late 70's to mid 80's models. The output seems to be nicer, but I could be wrong. I have a '79 and an '82 (12 and 6 respectively) and they get complimented a lot.

Experiment with treble boosting and compression. If you like the McGuinn sound, that's how it's done. I just use a compressor some of the time to "squash" things a little and I like that. Just a little Guyatone thing. When I record, I use a Presonus Blue Max for the same effect. Tube amps tend to do them justice too. I think an amp loaded with EL34s is the way to go, but I like my 12 string to sound "British."

Don't pass by the solid body 12's. They can be really cool. The old 450's are impossible to intonate exactly, but it's usually not a problem since 12's are always a little "off." The later 620's are great and a good deal.

Look outside of Rick as well. They make the best, IMHO, but I'm not militant about it. Voxes are too expensive these days, but sound great. You get that Will Sergeant tone - very 60's garage.
I can't say enough about Shergold guitars, 6 and 12. They were one of the few companies that didn't give up on 12's when they were out of fashion. Amazing guitars for the money.
I never liked the Fender XII, but the Strat 12 is pretty great.

Rick is the only major manufacturer that puts the heavy string above the octave (looking down from your chest). They've been doing that since the early 60's. Only a handful, maybe only two, were strung traditionally. The first one, and the one made for George Harrison. Mike Campbell owns the first one and I think Tom Petty owns George's.
The traditional way (octave on top) makes for a *really* different sound, so see what you prefer in regard to that as well. You may find that the bright attack of the non-Ricks suits you.

I have two modern 12-string Rickenbackers,
a '98 370 and a '00 360. The 370 is merely
a 3 humbucker version of the 360, which means
you can fake being Roger McGuinn and Ace
Frehley at the same time. These guitars are
really well made... the necks are fairly slender
and while the scale length seems to be more
like a Gibson, I would swear that the necks on
mine are less broad across the fretboard than
my Les Paul.

Before the Rickenbackers, I played some of the
'90s reissue Danelectros for some time and those
things were problematic both sound-wise and
playability wise (no truss rod, thus the action was
pretty terrible above the 7th fret aggravating my
tendonitis). Another kinda strange thing is that
the Rickenbackers have 24 fret necks, which I
never really thought much about until I tried to
play one of our songs on a standard neck and
ran out of space. So suffice to say, access to
the higher frets is very easy, unlike most guitars
where you know when you're playing above the
15th fret b/c you no longer have your thumb
around the neck.

All of which might be informative, but I've never
played a 330 and thus can't tell you anything
about them.

Tak'er easy,
Fred

I've got a 2003 rick 330 12 string....I couldn't play the thing well for the life of me, seemed like the pickups were too hot for my style.

One night I got drunk and started unwinding them....I was careful and took breaks and would install them, listen, and measure the resistance, take them back out and start unwinding. Finally I got a sound I really liked. I must have took off a couple hundred turns and I believe they are in the hi- 7k or low 8k range now.

The original resistance values were in the double digits, and did not leave enough room for subtle picking. At least for my style.

curious of the resistance of different years? Anybody want to measure them?

The later models had the High Output pickups. My guess is that you dewound them down to the level of the famous "toaster tops" which were quieter and more delicate sounding. I personally like the Hi Outputs myself, but I'm not opposed to the old style - I just would kill myself or my wallet to get them.
You, on the other hand, have found and economical way to make your own.
Badass...

alex maiolo wrote:
I can't say enough about Shergold guitars, 6 and 12. They were one of the few companies that didn't give up on 12's when they were out of fashion. Amazing guitars for the money.
I never liked the Fender XII, but the Strat 12 is pretty great.

A little OT but on the subject of Shergold (which seemed very popular with early 80s prog bands for some reason): They are part of a long line of designs derived from the Burns / Baldwin / Fenton Weil family. Our singer has a 1968 Baldwin 712T (i.e thinline 12 string semi acoustic - not semi solid) and although I've read mixed reviews of them, it positively roars through an overdriven amp. The treble is practically industrial - possibly aided by an aluminium nut. It's not a typical jangly 12 string sound by any means, which may explain the patchy write ups but it suits our 'folk-core' approach. I've seen them for £400 ish.