If I Could Change One Thing About My Rickenbacker ...

[admin]

It would be to have my Model 350 have 21 frets instead of 24. I just like that extra room with 21 frets than the extra three frets. Yes, this is being picky but in my world of dreams it is on my bucket list. Now someone please talk me out of this idea so that I don't have to buy another. How about you? What feature of your beloved Rickenbacker would you change?

[mike_d]

Hmm, I understand your situation and only ever owned one 24 fret Rickenbacker a 330/12 twelve string to compare . I sold it off in favor of a 21 fret 360/12c63. Now I have to have 21 fret models. I do have a 21 fret 350v63 JG which I bought from another forum member here long ago and it is a great guitar, so it’s hard to go wrong if you decide to add another.

[admin]

Thanks Mike. I am grateful for your comments.

[JingleJangle]

I actually love my 24 fret 330, but I have long skinny fingers and I can get really high up there for single note stuff. Hard to thing of anything I’d change about it, love that guitar as is!

[admin]

Glad you like your 330, Jason. A nice first post. Welcome to the RRF.

[Dom]

I’ll happily take those 24’s Peter, I need those frets ! I think the original 24 fret 350 Liverpool is the best lead guitar semi hollow out there. It’s proportioned perfectly over any 24, like a mix of old school and new needs. For a slide player every other guitar is just in your way. Greedy me would ask for the 650 style heel and 2 smaller 3ways to get all pickup options . I completely agree that the 330 looks better as a 21… but I’ve been playing 24’s for so long that I get lost on a 21 !

[JingleJangle]

Glad you like your 330, Jason. A nice first post. Welcome to the RRF.

Thanks!

[iiipopes]

It would be to have my Model 350 have 21 frets instead of 24. I just like that extra room with 21 frets than the extra three frets. Yes, this is being picky but in my world of dreams it is on my bucket list. Now someone please talk me out of this idea so that I don't have to buy another. How about you? What feature of your beloved Rickenbacker would you change?

The very first 350's, the V63's, were 21 frets.

I don't wish. I do. Let's see what have I changed on mine:

320: repositioned the pickups to be in the same relative position on my 21-inch scale as on the vintage 20 3/4 inch scale guitars, swapped out the overwound neck pickup for another underwound high gain and re-wired it with my vintage/modern push-pull mods (see my factory thread on the subject). Yes, that close to the bridge, that 1/4 inch does make a huge difference in jangle.

360-12: unwound the overwound neck pickup to a more reasonable amount of wire so the tone is not heavy; it is now approaching an acoustic-y tone due to its position on a 24-fret neck; trimmed and installed stamp metal mandolin bushings in the slot tuner shaft holes so the posts don't bind; put a push-pull in place of the 5th knob so I can have the inline capacitor or not at will. I have purchased individual saddles and filed new saddles, especially my offset low E string saddle so the unison string intonates off the back edge and the octave string intonates off the front edge so it has vastly improved intonation on a standard 6-saddle bridge.

4002: when the frets wore out, and had to be completely refretted anyway, had the crown radius changed from 7 1/2 inches to 9 1/2 inches to get more even response string-to-string and be more comfortable for me; push-pull to the neck pickup to have its inline capacitor in or out at will.

I gig. I am a player. I am not a slavish collector. These mods were for functionality. They have paid for themselves many times over across the decades. Moreover, they pass the "front-of-the-stage" test, meaning that you can't tell just from looking that I have done anything to the instrument, so my instruments retain Rickenbacker aesthetics and ethos.

[admin]

I’ll happily take those 24’s Peter, I need those frets ! I think the original 24 fret 350 Liverpool is the best lead guitar semi hollow out there. It’s proportioned perfectly over any 24, like a mix of old school and new needs. For a slide player every other guitar is just in your way. Greedy me would ask for the 650 style heel and 2 smaller 3ways to get all pickup options . I completely agree that the 330 looks better as a 21… but I’ve been playing 24’s for so long that I get lost on a 21 !

Points taken Dom. As is so often the case, one person's challenging guitar is another guitarists dream machine. I am going to remind myself of this post and move forward with new insight.

[admin]

I gig. I am a player. I am not a slavish collector. These mods were for functionality. They have paid for themselves many times over across the decades. Moreover, they pass the "front-of-the-stage" test, meaning that you can't tell just from looking that I have done anything to the instrument, so my instruments retain Rickenbacker aesthetics and ethos.

Scott a very interesting post. I concur, there is little point to have an instrument that does not suit one's playing style. Very nice modifications that retain the look of the original, even from the front row!

[iiipopes]

I gig. I am a player. I am not a slavish collector. These mods were for functionality. They have paid for themselves many times over across the decades. Moreover, they pass the "front-of-the-stage" test, meaning that you can't tell just from looking that I have done anything to the instrument, so my instruments retain Rickenbacker aesthetics and ethos.

Scott a very interesting post. I concur, there is little point to have an instrument that does not suit one's playing style. Very nice modifications that retain the look of the original, even from the front row!

Thanks. And, of course, except for the unwound pickups, which is actually to anybody's ears an improvement, completely reversable.

[mike_d]

There is one big change that I already made to one of my Rickenbackers. It was the lousy tuners on the 1993+. Fortunately Rickenbacker replaced them under warranty but the guitar was nearly unplayable for almost a year. Worst experience I’ve had owning a brand Rickenbacker, but now it’s wonderful!

[scoobster28]

I love the Accent vibrato I had installed on my 330LS, but I do wish it was easier to restring.

[thisismusicinc]

I'd love to have rick-o-sound on my 4001v63 and 4004cii.

[chronictown]

This is getting really picky, but I'd like to see reissue 6-string models with properly sized plexi TRCs...always thought that CWs, v64s, etc. looked a little wonky with wider, longer '63 and earlier sized TRCs. The 12-string models are fine since the TRC is limited in space between the headstock slots, and is shaved down accordingly. Anyways, my $0.02