360V64 & 360WB

lluís_molina · Post by **lluís_molina** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 5:25 am

Hello, I am new to the Forum. I am from Barcelona, in Spain, and I am thinking about getting my first Rickenbacker guitar (I already have a 4001 bass).

The one that I am after is the 360V64/6, but I have seen that there is also a 360WB which, apart from the pick-ups, looks very similar to the 360V64, and they are sold quite cheaper.

Can anyone tell me what are the differences in between these two models? Is the construction quality similar? Are there specific years to "pursue" or to "avoid"?

As I am after the "jangling" sound, I would go, in principle, for a 360V64 with toasters, but I am curious about knowing what is the nature and story about the 360WB (by the way, does WB stand for anything?)

Regards,

Lluís

spencer · Post by **spencer** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 7:22 am

Hi Lluis -
WB means "with binding" and I have heard people call the 360V64 a 360WB. If this "WB" guitar has modern hi-gains then it's not a V64. The V64 also has a trapeze tailpiece instead of the "R"
and a 21 fret neck instead of 24. I'm getting a 360V64/6 in less than two weeks and I'm very excited about it. Great guitar!
I'm trading in a 330 towards it - no more hi-gains for me.

wim · Post by **wim** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 8:41 am

Hi Lluís,

Welcome to the forum.
My advice is go for the 360/v64.
But take your Ohmmeter with you, be warned!
Check out the pickups resistance, I don't won't you to be disappoited like I was before the 'unwinding thing'.

http://www.brunnet.net/cgi-bin/rickresource/discus/discus.pl

you can read all about my experiences in this topic, and there are many other topics on the subject on this forum.

Good luck!

spencer · Post by **spencer** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 12:44 pm

Lluis -
Wim is right about that. When I get my 360V64, I already have plans to unwind the toasters. It's a 96' and I know Ric didn't start doing the scatterwound-7.4 thing until march 2000. Toasters sound SO much better if you do it. Put the cap in too. It's a bit of work though, not hard, just time consuming. I recently did this procedure on my 325V64 and wrote a long thread about it in the "vibrola" forum.
Good Luck Man...

lluís_molina · Post by **lluís_molina** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 11:25 pm

Thanks guys for your info.

So, I can see that the differences are:

360WB: short scale, hi-gains, R tailpiece.

360V64: long scale, toasters, trapeze tailpiece.

I understand then that the body size is the same, the bindings and the construction quality is also the same.

What I will try to do is to get a 360V64 from march 2000 onwards, to avoid doing the unwinding (I am not very skilled in those things). I am afraid I cannot try one of those (and go with the ohmmeter): I don't think there is a single one all over Spain in a shop to be sold, I'll have to go through ebay and the like.

Thanks again for the info,

Lluís

lluís_molina · Post by **lluís_molina** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 11:29 pm

Sorry, I have noticed I have made a mistake: according to Spencer, it is the 360V64 that has the shorter scale (therefore softer action).

Regards,

Lluís

wim · Post by **wim** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 11:32 pm

Lluís,

both guitars are long scale.
THe 360WB also has a bound soundhole.

milo · Post by **milo** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 4:16 pm

Lluis,
To clear it up a little bit, both guitars have the same scale length from nut to bridge, but one has 21 frets (that stop near where the neck joins the body) and the other one has 24 frets (the fingerboard extends a little bit further onto the body).