My new 660

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 8:18 pm

I'm a bassist of 30 years but I own a few guitars including an '80 460 and a '75 4080. I can muster some basic chords, nothing fancy, about what you would expect from a bass player. Anyway, my new 660 arrived over the weekend and I have not been able to put it down since. What an absolute joy this guitar is. I played it for over an hour tonight and noticed that I had no noticeable hand fatigue afterwards. If I play my 460 for 15 minutes I get pain and cramping around the base of my thumb and in my wrist. Not so with the 660. In fact I think I could do another hour. The difference has to be the wider fingerboard of the 660. The back of the neck is more or less flat which is perfect for me. It is so much easier to finger chords and finger single notes. I ALMOST feel like I know what I am doing.

Is it just my bass hands or do any of you also find the 660 to be easier to play.

sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 9:13 pm

I find the 660 neck comfy for 12-string playing, but I think it'd be much too wide for me to play as a 6 string. I love the 300-series skinny necks.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it, Ted! They're great guitars and arguably the most beautiful made by RIC.

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 10:17 pm

Ted, did you get the pain when playing while sitting, standing (using a strap, of course), or both? The reason I ask is that I played while sitting down for a couple of hours two days straight and got pain in my wrist which I ascribed to bad ergonomic posture.

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 4:40 am

John: Yes, they are beautiful. My favorite Rick guitar of all time is the the 381 with the 660 a close second. Someday I will get a 381 too.

Gary: It happens in any playing posture with the 460. I think it is because I have to be very precise with my finger placement on the narrow neck. The smallest string I am used to fingering is about the size of the largest string on a guitar so it could be my bass hands.

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 11:22 am

Aha, got it.

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 4:29 pm

Congrats on geting your 660DCM, Ted! I find the wider neck good for the fingerstyle playing I do. It did take a bit of getting used to the wider spacing; the strings are too skinny for me, I am going to puts 10s on it.