1993 plus vs 360 12v64/c63

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TownesVanZandt
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1993 plus vs 360 12v64/c63

Post by TownesVanZandt »

Hello all:

Thinking about taking the plunge and picking up a 1993 plus. Just wondering if anyone has played them extensively and how they compare to a 360 12v64 or c63. It seems I could find a v64 on ebay or reverb for much cheaper than the average 93 plus. Is the extra dough worth it? How do they sound/play compared to one another?

Thanks in advance!
stringsncords
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Re: 1993 plus vs 360 12v64/c63

Post by stringsncords »

I have both models. The 1993 Plus is the most comfortable electric 12- string I've ever owned; I'm 6'1" and 245, so my hands aren't small, and the 1993 Plus fits my hand size perfectly and it's a joy to play. I'm not crazy about 3-pickup guitars, but the tone is great, and when I play gigs, I manage to not think about the 3rd pickup too much - if you play the strings lightly and don't "dig in" too much, you won't have any contact with the middle pickup.

The 360/12 C63 is a great guitar, and while the neck is a bit tighter than the 1993 Plus, it's still comfortable for me to play. It's a 2-pickup guitar, so the space between the pickups is a definite plus for me. Compared to a standard 360/12, the neck has more room, and it's a bit thicker (I have owned 360/12's and sold them). The C63 is a wonderful guitar.

I have also owned a 360/12 V64, and found it to be very tight string spacing - it has the thinnest neck of the 3 models discussed.

Hope this helps - try them both, and let us know!
TownesVanZandt
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Re: 1993 plus vs 360 12v64/c63

Post by TownesVanZandt »

Will do, thanks. Just have to decide if investing that much in a guitar is a good idea. Of course - it's a Rickenbacker - so the answer will probably be yes.

Found a place online where I might be able to pick one up for $2400. That seems like a steal, no?
Tubwompus
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Re: 1993 plus vs 360 12v64/c63

Post by Tubwompus »

I have a 1993+, a 660/12, and a 350/12v63.
The 350/12’s neck is close as dammit to my 330 and 350v63 6-strings and both of those would be a pretty cozy piece of real estate to cram 12 strings onto. I’m sure the 360’s necks are very similar in dimension. (At least the ‘60’s examples I’ve played, along with my Fab Gear 360’s neck, are all unnoticeably different in my own experience.)

The 1993+’s have 660 necks which are wider, a bit flatter, and much easier for avoiding misfires and such when using 12 strings above it.

The middle pickup, like on many 3-pickup guitars (other than strats, oddly enough, to my own ear) are only good for adding a midrange “honk” to the tone. So I have the same mod done on all of my 3-pickup Ricks whereas the small fifth knob’s pot is replaced with a push-pull to be able to either have the guitar function as factory-spec or one can disengage the middle pickup completely. With a 1993+ in that config, you have, in effect, the George model (more or less) sonically but with a much more playable neck. And god knows I need that. Haha
stringsncords
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Re: 1993 plus vs 360 12v64/c63

Post by stringsncords »

$2,400 is an excellent price for a 1993 Plus.

If you can swing it, I would go for it - it's the only 12-string you'll ever need.
Vtg36012
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Re: 1993 plus vs 360 12v64/c63

Post by Vtg36012 »

Hey there. new guy here. kinda.. had an account for some reason but don’t remember posting anything.

anyway i had both of these for a month or two to compare and kept the mapleglo 1993 now but only for cosmetic reasons (btw, why am i the only one who bought one of the new 2019 1993+ on ‚verb??? can’t believe that one for ~2800$ is still there. are you all waiting for the fireglo?).

the standard rick neck, as on the c63, is skinny as hell. BUT for me the 1993 neck isn’t exactly comfortable either! it is IMO too wide. so it’s really a personal question which for you sucks less. the 1993 sounds fuller and warmer in chords because every string has space to ring. but then, since the fretboard is so wide, the octave on the low E and A sometimes don’t ring because my fingers have to reach over such a long distance to push down the strings. G and F are a lot easier on the regular slim neck! the low G note often gets killed when fingerpicking in G.

but then... isn’t it part of the rick12 jangle that it sounds kinda sketchy and not perfect? you get a little more of this with the c63..

the guitars themselves sound exactly the same on the bridge PU. i measured the PU heights of my c63 and set up the 1993 exactly the same which resulted in the same tone. with the PU selector up (neck pickup) the c63 sounds better IMO. the 1993 produces a (for me) pretty much unusable chorus like sound. like one of these older acoustic guitars with a ****** pickup inside. but that really doesn’t matter to me since i’m after Byrds jangle in middle posish and Beatles like dry-wood-rick-tones on the bridge. and as i said, with the right setup, both guitars sound exactly the same in these two positions. alright to be fair the single(double?) notes sound a little fuller in the middle position of the 1993 because of the third pickup.

to sum it up, should i have kept the c63? i still don’t know... they sound the same so i kept the 1993 because the mapleglo is so unbelievably beautiful in person. the fireglo is absolutely stunning too and screams „60s“. but after looking at both for a month i figured that the mapleglo looks so much like a late 60s psychedelic spaceship and at the same time a timeless piece of furniture in an art gallery.

oh and one more thing. i don’t know if there is something wrong with mine (maybe somebody can tell me) but the ric-o-sound is different on there two models. on the c63 i had i could just plug in two calbes in two amps and have both PUs running separately. this doesn’t work on the 1993. it seems i have to use a Y-cord. when i plug the second cable into the ric-o-sound there’s no sound at all..
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