Is there anything wrong w/ ricky's made in the 80's

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Wed Nov 15, 2000 3:33 am

I'm in the market for a 330 and I just saw a cool red 330 not fireglow but red w/black pickguard. Do these guitars sound or play any different than the current models? How do these guitars differ? I really want the vintage true ricky sound all chimey , what should I be shopping for? What kinds of pickups are recommended? The single coil or the toaster?

hairyheadbanger · Post by **hairyheadbanger** » Wed Nov 15, 2000 9:21 am

Is there anything wrong w/ ricky's made in the 80's ? No, there is nothing wrong with them.
Go for something with toaster pickups for the vintage chime. For extra chime get a 12

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Wed Nov 15, 2000 1:31 pm

When the Kilson Drive factory was moved into the main building ,John Hall and Brian Carman felt it was time to update several pieces of tooling to really put the guitars into a 'world class'.

They did so and JH continues to do so.

I have not been in the facility since Brian was there,but got the whole tour thru the entire plant .What a difference it was from what I had worked in.

Some of the old ways remained ,but they have slowly been removed to make for a better and more consistant product.They still have a gigantic -hands on labor force and that is really the only way to do some of the operations.
No CNC tooling can hand sand the corners of the bodies,scrape the binding,dress the frets,polish the finish,install hardware,set up ,string and wire the components.They are still very much a "Hand made" product.

In my honest opinion...they make a better guitar now than when I worked there or at any time previous to now.

Most of the silly things are gone with the look and the sound intact.Only little collector nit-picking things are wrong and that is purely cosmetic.Yes the fireglo is 'wrong' ...but it has always changed with each painter and the materials are also slightly different from batch to batch.
The new fireglo isn't bad...just not the same as 1965 ,or 1975 or 1985 or even 1995...so what !
Look at Fenders ever changing sunbursts over the years.

anon · Post by **anon** » Wed Nov 15, 2000 10:18 pm

ACtually it's not a Fireglow it's just a solid red, it's kind of odd. So these guitars from the 80's are recommended and are close to how they make them now? Thanks for all comments, I thought I would ask the experts before I buy.

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Thu Nov 16, 2000 12:50 pm

Brian Carman who was the plant manager in the mid 1980's was a bassist ,but knew plenty of people with guitars and from working in his band "the Chantays" ,he did get to hear what was like about guitars and why.I know his guitarist Ricky Lewis very well and have done plenty of work for him.
So he got to hear good input.

Those guitars of that era definately were better made than those of the 1970's.But ...they were not that much diferent.It's really a fine tuning thing .

Scott_Stulken · Post by **Scott_Stulken** » Thu Nov 16, 2000 7:31 pm

Just ask Peter Buck -- he's been playing the same '82 360 JG for years now! Actually, I've heard that for a couple of years in the early '80s, they were REALLY good.

Hope this helps!

- Scott

anon · Post by **anon** » Tue Nov 28, 2000 8:01 pm

As a side note: At one time, I owned both an '83 320 and an '86 320. HUGE differences in these two models. First, weight. The '83 was heavier. The body was at least an inch wider across. The horns were not as "pointy" as the horns on the '86. The headstock was wider, etc............I preferred the '86 ...easily.

ric480 · Post by **ric480** » Fri Dec 01, 2000 11:14 am

I had a 1973 480 that was stolen in 1981. I went right out and got a 1981 480 and as I recall, was happier with the 1981 version. Of course, my recollection of the 1973 is fuzzy at best, but the one difference I distinctly remember is that the 1981 high-gain pickups have the little rounded "button" pole pieces where the 1973 had thinner "nubs" (for lack a of a better description) which were kind of sharp at the tips. I don't know if this made any difference in the pickups' performance or just is evidence of the high-gain pickups evolution. So, to get back on topic, in my limited experience I don't think there is any concern with 1980's manufactured Rics.