360 vs. 620

jturner97 · Post by **jturner97** » Tue Jul 08, 2003 2:51 pm

i had the pleasure of playing a new 360/6 mapleglow this weekend (still trying to find a 620 to try out). the only other ric i have ever touched was a 330/12. for some reason i was more impressed by the 360; it seemed to have a tighter, more rockin sound (this may be in my head), and i loved the contour, it was the most comfortable guitar ive ever played, by far. im still debating the 620 however, since it is a solidbody it should be even more suitable for rock...

what differences can i expect between the 360 and the 620 in tonality, feel? will the finishing and neck feel the same? the edges of the 360's neck were rolled nicely and i really liked the coated fretboard. im basically wondering if the 620 will be as tight and crunchy sounding, or perhaps even more so. im kind of in the dark unless i get to play a 620 soon. by the way i searched the forum and couldnt find enough sound comparison to satisy me...

thanks!

guitarking2001 · Post by **guitarking2001** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 8:24 am

Justin,
Just sharing my .02 on the rock n roll rick thing.
I am in a rock cover band and my primary guitar right now is my 360WB (which is a 330 with shark inlays and binding...BTW).. I am playing through a JCM900 High Gain 100Watt Marshall half stack. We also play very loud.. My dist channel volume is set at 6, and gain knob pegged. I am very surprised and impressed with how this seemingly unlikely candidate performs with lots of gain (i.e. Creed, Godsmack, etc.. covers). Like my strats, sure, the ric will do the 60hz buzz in between songs if you leave your volume up and distortion box activated, so I switch to a clean channel or roll off on the volume when not playing...like I do with my strats/teles. I suppose if I was playing hard rock all night long, I might invest in a humbucker equipped guitar, or switch pickups in one of my guitars, but since the band I am in does everything from Mowtown, Stones, Beatles, Creed, Blues, to Top 40 dance songs, ACDC, (you get the picture), the rick is able to handle all of these.. In fact, I had a guitarist in the audience give me a compliment last weekend and he said he couldn't believe all the totally DIFFERENT and excellent tones I was getting out of that Rick and Marshall combination.. I am totally hooked on Ricks now and will probably get a 330 for a backup guitar soon. But I can't decide what color....Fireglow, or Jetglow like the one I have already... hmmmmm..

guitarking2001 · Post by **guitarking2001** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 10:51 am

I just realized I totally missed your main point of what the differences are between the guitars. I can't comment on that cause I never played either models...

My comment was more geared towards where you said:

"...im still debating the 620 however, since it is a solidbody it should be even more suitable for rock..."

I am not having any howling feedback issues that I would have expected with a hollow body... and the sustain and tone is incredible.... So it is possible to play music beyond the Byrds, Beatles, Who, etc... with these "hollow" guitars... IMHO

jturner97 · Post by **jturner97** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 1:23 pm

thanks matt for the help. i also would be playing my (future) ric through a marshall, i have a jcm800. im glad you dont have any feedback problems, ive heard a few comments about feedback when you turn to different angles in front of a half stack. i played the 330/12 through a new jcm800 at sam ash a few weeks ago and it sounded great, but the 360/6 sounded even better to me through it, for some reason.

its good to know that someone else uses a ric for rock, as i plan to. ive read several posts from people who only use them to play covers of songs that they were originally used on (beatles,byrds,etc.).

guitarking2001 · Post by **guitarking2001** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 5:37 pm

Yeah, I get the impression from reading the posts here, that I (we) might be a minority as far as the "rock" thing goes... Especially with our Marshall half stacks!! I would guess that the 360 would sound identical to a 330 once you are doing the distortion thing. Good luck!

big_g · Post by **big_g** » Thu Jul 10, 2003 5:06 pm

Here's a little trick to try to help kill some of the feedback issues with a hollowbody at louder volumes.

Cut a piece of masking tape, long enough to run under the strings with the sicky side up and still wrap all the way around to cover all the stings. Don't pull it tight, but make sure it is secured to all of the stings and both sides make contact all the way around.
This trick usually silences the overtones, just enough to make them a good bit more controlable.
I learned it years ago from an old blues guitar player that used a Gibson 175 at gigs. I hope it can help you guys out too.

jturner97 · Post by **jturner97** » Fri Jul 11, 2003 6:01 pm

are you saying that the masking tape will simply be wrapped on the top and bottom of the strings (assumingly near the bridge)? wouldnt that absolutely kill your tone? and not to mention sustain? wouldnt your strings permanently sound like an old dull set? perhaps im mistaking what you meant.