Rickenbacker 360/12 VS 370/12
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
Rickenbacker 360/12 VS 370/12
I know the only difference between these two guitars is the third pickup. Can anybody tell me if that middle pickup is worth having or is it like the middle pickup on a three pickup Les Paul... almost useless. Has anybody read if RM used it on the Byrds 8MH recording. I am torn between the two and would appreciate ANY help in making my decision.
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8mileshigh
- Senior Member
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- Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2003 6:00 am
I always think the 370 looks better than the 360, but having said that, I only tend to use the bridge pick up 
. Having said that, you can get a different sound from the middle pick up. My advice would be go for the 370 - as long as we're talking 21 frets, otherwise it's too crowded with 24 frets. If you're talking 24 frets, then I'd go for the 360. I guess I haven't helped much?
. Having said that, you can get a different sound from the middle pick up. My advice would be go for the 370 - as long as we're talking 21 frets, otherwise it's too crowded with 24 frets. If you're talking 24 frets, then I'd go for the 360. I guess I haven't helped much?-
sloop_john_b
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sloop_john_b
- Rick-a-holic
- Posts: 13843
- Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:00 am
Mitch, I personally owned a 370/12 24-fretter and pretty much only used the bridge pickup. I think if you want that Byrds-tone, you need that cutting treble sound, which can only be achieved with the bridge pickup (Having the cap on it doesn't hurt either).
I traded it for a 660/12 and still use the bridge pickup almost exclusively.
I traded it for a 660/12 and still use the bridge pickup almost exclusively.
In my experience(360-12, 660-12VP,360-12WB-24 fret - originally with two toasters and then modified to three pickups, a neck toaster, mid and bridge high-gains) generating that bright Byrds tone is much more a matter of what you plug the guitar into than which one you play. There are some very good amps and speakers out there that just don't cut it if you're looking for that extra-bright, ringing treble. I keep trying medium-sized combo amps and selling them or sending them back after testing them side by side against, of all things, my Traynor bass amp. It literally just blows them away with both higher, cleaner, brighter highs and deeper, fuller lows. I just sent back a Roland JC120 (which is supposed to be one of the long-time standards for clean sound) after trying it because it was clearly not as clean, as bright or as deep on the bottom as the Traynor sitting next to it. Neither is my Traynor YCV40WR, though it sounds great with my Tele, so I keep it.
I get my Byrds tone using the neck toaster and bridge high-gain together, with or without a JangleBox for that extra brightness. The bridge pickup alone is generally a bit too bright, especially with the JB turned on. I rigged my middle pickup on an additional 3-way toggle which will blend it with either the neck pickup, the bridge pickup or turn it off. The factory toggle can then blend this combo in with the remaining pickup if I want all three on at once. Most of the time, I leave the middle pickup off. When turned on, it seems for some reason to act kind of like a compressor or limiter. Rather than adding power or volume, it just makes strummed chords very "even". It's hard to describe, but it's a nice, full sound that's great for rhythm work, but if you're flat-picking patterns on individual strings they don't stand out the way they do with just the neck and bridge pickups. Since I mainly tend to "chicken-pick" through the chords, rather than a full strum, about the only time I turn on the middle pickup is to record a strummed rhythm track that fills without standing out too much.
The reasoning behind all this madness was that I originally had a chance to try the WB both with twin toasters and with high-gains. I spent about a week switching pickups around to try different combinations. The toasters had a nice deep, woody sound, especially the neck position by itself - but the high-gains were brighter and this seemed to be generated mostly by the bridge pickup. I didn't want to lose either of these tones by deciding to use a pair of toasters or a pair of high-gains. So I mixed them, giving me three very different sounds, just by flipping the factory toggle. When I decided to mount a third pickup to see what it added I didn't know what it would do, but knew that I didn't want it to mess with the tones that I already had available, so I put in the second toggle to either mute it or mix it in with one of the others. Depending on what I'm trying to do, the middle pickup can be handy to have at times, though I don't think it's a huge addition to the arsenal and most of the time I could certainly do without it and the sound would still be great.
I get my Byrds tone using the neck toaster and bridge high-gain together, with or without a JangleBox for that extra brightness. The bridge pickup alone is generally a bit too bright, especially with the JB turned on. I rigged my middle pickup on an additional 3-way toggle which will blend it with either the neck pickup, the bridge pickup or turn it off. The factory toggle can then blend this combo in with the remaining pickup if I want all three on at once. Most of the time, I leave the middle pickup off. When turned on, it seems for some reason to act kind of like a compressor or limiter. Rather than adding power or volume, it just makes strummed chords very "even". It's hard to describe, but it's a nice, full sound that's great for rhythm work, but if you're flat-picking patterns on individual strings they don't stand out the way they do with just the neck and bridge pickups. Since I mainly tend to "chicken-pick" through the chords, rather than a full strum, about the only time I turn on the middle pickup is to record a strummed rhythm track that fills without standing out too much.
The reasoning behind all this madness was that I originally had a chance to try the WB both with twin toasters and with high-gains. I spent about a week switching pickups around to try different combinations. The toasters had a nice deep, woody sound, especially the neck position by itself - but the high-gains were brighter and this seemed to be generated mostly by the bridge pickup. I didn't want to lose either of these tones by deciding to use a pair of toasters or a pair of high-gains. So I mixed them, giving me three very different sounds, just by flipping the factory toggle. When I decided to mount a third pickup to see what it added I didn't know what it would do, but knew that I didn't want it to mess with the tones that I already had available, so I put in the second toggle to either mute it or mix it in with one of the others. Depending on what I'm trying to do, the middle pickup can be handy to have at times, though I don't think it's a huge addition to the arsenal and most of the time I could certainly do without it and the sound would still be great.
Thanks to all of your replies and and extra special thanks to Todd for your information filled response. It would seem that the middle pickup would come under "nice but not necessary" and that is what I wanted to hear to be able to make an informed decision on whether to go for the 360/12 or the 370/12.