350V63 questions

[happy_dude2341]

i have the chance to buy a 350V63 for $1600
the only problem is it will have to be my only guitar.
how versatile are they?
how do they handle gain? i'm guessing it wont be awesome for punk but cant it do a decent job?
how thick is the neck? (front to back)

thanks for all replies

[jps]

Welcome Bill.

Paging Aitch! Paging Aitch! Paging Aitch! Paging Aitch! Paging Aitch! Paging Aitch!

He has several of this particular subspecies of Rickenbacker, and he is a bit of a punk, himself!

[happy_dude2341]

thanks man

[winston]

He has several of this particular subspecies of Rickenbacker, and he is a bit of a punk, himself!

Hmm! I think he has them in every colour now

Bill they are a very versatile (not to mention cool looking) guitar. I play lead mostly and I have played all of Aitch's 350 v63's and not one of them disapointed me. I have a 350 as well but mine is the "Liverpool" model. It's a "rocker".

I hope this mini review helps.

[bitzerguy]

Mine FG is my go to guitar. I use it for literally every genre of music we play (and we play a lot of genres). I had to learn to put a little more push into it when playing lead and bending than I was comfortable with at first, but now I HAVE to play it. The neck on mine is very thin and very fast, It was my first with a finished fretboard and that took getting used to (5 minutes of scales). It is a very fast neck, but it is narrow with small frets, so you learn to play cleaner and tighter.

You have to be careful with very high gain tones, as it can feedback very quickly and sharply. But back off the treble a bit and once you get it balanced it can hold it's own against many a humbucker equipped "standard brand". It is a bright guitar (it is a Rickenbacker after all) but with a bit of EQ and some time learning to set it up, you can improve any song you are playing with it. It is very easy to control any feedback as well for excellent endings, spaced leads or over the top playing. Pinch harmonics are a breeze too.

Through an AC30 it get's THE 60's tone and with a bit of gain goes very nicely into punk. Through a bluesbreaker with some grit, you can get a very tasty "strat on steroids" tone. With my Valvetronix AD120VTH amp, I go surfing, rockabilly, get metal, go soft, can emo, and definitely go fast and over the top loud. It can also get very thick or thin, ultra clean or so messed up you don't sound like anything else.
Great for whatever type of sound is in your head.

Oh yeah, while not as important as it's tone, playability and versatility, it is the most killer looking guitar on the planet IMO.

If there was any guitarI would not live without, it's my 350V63. I envy Aitch with his beautiful collection of them, and I'm very firmly implanted in the 350 camp. I have a 620JG and a 660/12 as well as a '69 Les Paul, two Godins and two Teiscos, but the 350 is unquestionably the king of my stable.

[ozover50]

Jeeeeeez!!! I wish you guys wouldn't post while I'm asleep!!

Dean has done a wonderful job summing up the 350v63, Bill.

They are by far my favourite Rickenbacker model - both from 'playability' and aesthetic points of view. The neck on them is generally very slim and slick. One of mine has a slightly 'clubby' neck but not to the point of making any huge difference in feel. The combination of controls provides a plethora of tonal variations...... from cool, jazzy sounds to biting mids to out and out jangle and clang! It takes a little time to work these out and if you do buy it I suggest you spend a good deal of time working with the pickup selector switch and 5th knob, both of which some people seem to leave in the mid position for whatever reason. I tend to play mine through a Roland JC-120 amp, so there's not a lot of 'grunt' to be had there. However, I have played one through a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10 and it had everything you could possibly want - including really driving crunch. That's why I put a deposit on a 4x10 on Saturday morning!!

As Dean said, if you play a lot of lead the small frets will take a bit of getting used to but it's by no means a mountain - depends very much on your technique. The finished fretboard may also be different to you but again it doesn't take much time to get used to it.

Whilst it has the same width at the nut as a Strat or Tele, it 'feels' slightly narrower to me and that's no doubt due to the string postions and spacing on the nut. However, swapping from a Strat to a v63, it takes only a minute or two for the left hand to 'dial it in'.

$1600 seems like a very good price..... expecially if it is in close to mint condition. My observation is that they tend to go for anywhere between $1800 and $2200 in excellent to mint condition on ebay or CL, with the odd one outside these figures due to dings and scratches for the lower and and highly desirable 'colour of the year' finishes for the higher.

So you now have two glowing reports to go by. If you get a chance to play it do so..... you could be very pleasantly surprised. I certainly was when I picked up my first 350v63!!

I hope you end up more than happy which ever way you go, Bill.

Cheers,

H

PS.... If by any chance it's Amber Fireglo and you don't want it, LET ME KNOW!!!

[Clint]

ANY guitar can be used for Punk. Use whatcha got is what Punk's all about.

As for the 350V63, think of it as Rickenbacker's answer to the Stratocaster.

[jps]

Only better.

[cjj]

ANY guitar can be used for Punk. Use whatcha got is what Punk's all about.

As for the 350V63, think of it as Rickenbacker's answer to the Stratocaster.

Only better.

Oh, I don't know, I personally think my MIM Strat is better, but that's only because I have it and I don't have any Rick guitars (only basses) . Then again, I can't play a guitar worth a darn anyway so it probably doesn't matter...

[goofyfoot]

Sixteen hundred bonz is a good price, considering the 12-13-07 price hike. Sold my Jetglo for that price before the increase. It was time to thin the herd. Versatility is so-so, IMHO. If you have your compass set towards the road leading to punkdom, there are other guitar makes that can get you there just as well, if not better (e.g. Gibson, Schechter). The right amp factors into the equation, too. Just my dos centavos' worth.

Did you score it after all? Best regards.....Goofyfoot.

[mahatma]

I too have been thinking about getting the 350v63, but what scares me away is the feedback. I have a 381 that I play through a Bogner 60W tube, and I haven't found a way to crank it up without taming that terrible microphonic squeal. However, it sounds great at low volume and using the pre amp section for gain. I tried playing with for hours but the only way I can get rid of the squeal is if I go in the other room. But when I do that, I can't get the "good" feedback and infinite sustain because I'm not near the amp. Maybe the 350v63 doesn't have this problem, but I doubt it because it has the same toaster pickups as my 381, and that's where the feedback is created. I would consider getting the pickups potted as some have said this helps the microphonic feedback. But any alterations, especially to the highly prized and sought-after toaster pickups, might decrease its value.

[bitzerguy]

I play mine through a 120W Vox Valvetronix rig with 2 AD212 cabinets. Now when I set the amp at 120W (I can use 2, 30, 60 and 120W power setting) I have to stand 15-20 feet away, face away from the amp, and back off the guitar treble quite a bit using the blend knob (I set my neck pickup tone all the way "bass" and the bridge pickup at about 80% full "treble" or less depending on what happens in the room). No microphonic feedback there, only the "good" feedback. Even at 30W I have to watch the brightness of the amp settings and the guitar treble. Not a problem at all, just a little different from most of my other guitars. In fact these settings work well with my '69 LP Deluxe with mini-humbuckers. The LP is much, much worse than the 350 for microphonic squeal.

[beatlefreak]

I too have been thinking about getting the 350v63, but what scares me away is the feedback. I have a 381 that I play through a Bogner 60W tube, and I haven't found a way to crank it up without taming that terrible microphonic squeal.

If your pickups are supported off the body with the gromments, switching them out for the foam ring will cut back on some of the microphonic feedback.

[mahatma]

Grommets it has. I'll try the foam and see what happens. I just want to add that I think the toaster pups make a great Punk guitar too. They have a fabulously unique trebley scream when used with a lot of gain. The treble gives it an awesome sound when used with a Wah pedal too. 'Very British.