Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello all

It's funny to say, but Rickenbacker is something of a unicorn in the guitar industry. Very clearly, the company plays by their own rules when compared to other brands. The fact that it has remained in family for so long is a definite benefit, though not necessarily unique. Perhaps the ...

Actually, I would suggest the John Lennon mod: he simply detached the middle pickup from the wiring. I think you will find the bridge pickup has better tone that way by itself, as the older toasters (pre-5-knob) were only wound to @ 5.5 kohms' worth of wire to begin with, and you get rid of the ...

Outstanding video, Chris. I really enjoyed watching it.

And thank you to Woody for bumping this thread!

I wasn't familiar; now I'm subscribed!

Looking great! I think it's wearing its history nicely.

jps wrote: Sun Aug 24, 2025 1:30 am I'm sticking around here until the lights go out.

Same here! Some forums are more active than others... sometimes it's nice when things are calmer than other places.

Congratulations and welcome to RRF! It’s a beaut!

Has anyone ever turned a normal Rick into a baritone?

I'm thinking of doing it to a 650S. A gorgeous guitar but with a 24 and 3/4" scale length.

Also I will have to drill the bridge and maybe even the lowest tuning peg to acommodate a .68 gauge string.

Anyone have tips or photos or stories of ...

kennyhowes wrote: Wed Jul 30, 2025 4:00 pm Nope - the pole spacing is different between the neck and bridge pickups…

Rats, thanks for the correction, though!

Another thing you could try is to simply swap the neck and bridge Hi-Gains to see if that is to your liking. I honor what Rickenbacker was trying to do, but I don't like or need that much tonal variation between pickups. Currently I have a Toaster (7.4k) in the neck position and a Hi-Gain (12k) in ...

That sounds like an amp problem. What are you plugged into?

And welcome to RRF!

I've been out of the loop for a year or so... I wouldn't have expected them to go back to finished fretboards or 21 frets, but these new instruments are looking really sharp! The slimmer headstocks and vintage knobs are nice touches, too.

Cool project! It’s one of those things where you can do lots of things and not feel too guilty about it. If the gold-foils are really low output, maybe just putting a toaster or Hi-Gain in the bridge would balance out well. I have a 7.4k toaster in the neck and 12k Hi-Gain in the bridge of my 330 ...

I would be torn, too. As easy a touch-up as it might be, some of my favorite RIC players also have worn lettering on their TRCs and it’s a testament to the years of playing those instruments have had.

I saw that Facebook post, wondered if it was legit, but it seems so!

Compared to the few of us who liked the quirky finished fretboards, there has always been a much larger crowd of people grumbling about them, so this is probably a smart move. "Give 'em what they want!"


(Now I wonder if the ...