It's all Scotty's Fault

[jps]

Flying Whale Intestines.

[ric330]

Yeah those 60's Full Width Inlays really caught my eye as I really like vintage Rickenbackers that's why the tuner conversion and toaster covers fit the bill for me.

I was checking in the Rickenbacker book and it appears that there were only 23 360 JG's in 1966 and only 7 360 JG's 1968 making my Favorite vintage Rickenbacker probably way out of my reach financially - This way with the 2008 360 JG with the FWI, the small headstock, Toaster top covers, gets me really close to the look of that rare bird.
To tell you the truth I've yet to acually see an original 360 JG from the mid sixties. Someday.......

here's a 1966 Maple glo :



Vintage tuners,FWI, toasters, (although the fretboards were a touch shorter and the pickups were a little farther apart as a result compared to the 2008 - but that's just being picky)

I'll post a couple pictures of the 2008 360 JG when I'm finished with the conversions for any one interested.

[ric330]

Couple of key points about the pickup conversion.
I tried to use allen head studs and found no real difference in tone or output (relative to the modified Rickenbacker pole pieces) - so I opted to use the Rickenbacker pole pieces cut off and notched.

Here you can see the notches cut in the top of the pole piece to facilitate threading them back into their respective position in the PU.
I found relatively no difference in tone and output when comparing threading the polepieces in from the top with notches up or threading the polepieces back in from below with notches under the pickup.

I opted for notches below to give more mass of the pole pieces at the string side (pictured here):


I usually get a new set of pads for the pickup for a real clean job but not always necessary if they come off smoothly with no damage.


A note about those tiny nuts holding the pickup cover on - I would recommend using a nut driver to remove and reinstall due to the fact Rickenbacker puts these on pretty snug and you may need to use some carefully applied torque to loosen. The nut driver helps you maintain resasonable control. You may need to use a properly fitted screw driver on the top of the cover side if it starts to spin.

[ric330]

So what do I get for all this work :

The closest thing I'll ever get to a 1966 360 JG (Of which there were only 23 made)

Here's a link to a big pic:
http://www.pbase.com/esquire/image/112355446/original

I going to fit it with some of the black vintage knobs to see what it looks like - even though not really correct for this model.

[scotty]

Beautiful guitar Kevin looks great.

[godber]

That's great Kevin, a truely classic look.

[winston]

What a great thread and the final outcome is a very classy looking instrument. Thanks Kevin

[ric330]

It was definitely a fun project and now I get to play it. I don't feel I lost anything selling the 2007 360 JG to buy this one and convert it to vintage appointments like the 2007.
The great thing is now I've got those 60's style FWI that I really wanted. I may in the future try some real toasters but I was kind of use to the High gains converted.
If (or should I say when) I do get another Rick, I think I'll have to get a 12 string