New (to me) Guitar day!

[Danhalen]

Today I took delivery of this (one in the middle). It is a 1965 340-12. I know this is a lousy photo but it is nighttime and I had to use flash. This guitar is beautiful:

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/5698/p6160060.jpg

This is my first vintage Ric and my first 12 string as well. I am totally in love! These sound so different than the new ones. I played it for hours today after I got it. I could easily see this becoming my main guitar. I already know I have to get a vintage 6 string now! This guitar puts my 1997 reissue to shame tone-wise. It really has a nice "hollow" quality to it, and it is also so punchy and resonant. Also, the string spacing is awesome, the pairs are very close together so it plays much like a 6 string. I love the neck on this too. It feels almost exactly the same as my 1997 reissue, but the edges of the fretboard are just a bit more rounded.

I understand that this guitar is very rare. I have never seen another 60's 340-12. Is it possible that this guitar is a 330-12 that had a third pickup added? I understand that it had a Gibson humbucker in the middle at one point and has since been restored. I wonder if it was originally a 3 pickup model however before the addition of the humbucker. I also don't know what the original colour was as it is a refinish. I love the colour though I have always loved black guitars.

The sounds I can get in the middle position with the blend knob are really cool. Very rich sounding. Interestingly, the neck and middle on their own produce less bass frequencies than the bridge alone and sound significantly lower in output. The bridge alone is great great great sounding!

One thing, the nut came loose somehow, so I need to get it fixed in place I may also get it lowered a little, as I am very particular about my guitar setups. Any suggestions for a good luthier to take a Ric 12 to in Toronto for nut work?

ROCK ON DUDES

[grazioso]

Is it possible that this guitar is a 330-12 that had a third pickup added? I also don't know what the original colour was as it is a refinish.

The sounds I can get in the middle position with the blend knob are really cool. Very rich sounding. Interestingly, the neck and middle on their own produce less bass frequencies than the bridge alone and sound significantly lower in output. The bridge alone is great great great sounding!

yes it is likely that middle pickup was added but that doesn't matter much - the most important part is that you like it and the sound of it. for the traces of the original color look at places like controls cavity or input jack routing or under truss rod cover or under bridge pickup..

the description of the sound is something that makes me wonder if it is wired opposite..
under normal factory settings - the neck and the middle pickup are wired together and they sound very deep ...on contrary bridge pickup would go through the bright 0047 cap and sound piercingly bright with hint of rasp in its voice. i think your guitar has neck and middle pickups wired through the bridge pickup section of the circuit with the bright cap and *that* took the bass down. there is nothing wrong with it if you like the sound...

as for the luthier - make sure to take it to someone who knows rics through out and will check the neck geometry before attacking the poor thing with nut files and ratchet the truss rod

[badeggs]

Beautiful guitar, I like how it's flanked by those two Les Paul Juniors...congrats!

[doctorwho]

Congrats, Daniel!

[collin]

This is my first vintage Ric and my first 12 string as well. I am totally in love! These sound so different than the new ones. This guitar puts my 1997 reissue to shame tone-wise. It really has a nice "hollow" quality to it, and it is also so punchy and resonant.

We have another convert, folks!

Congrats Daniel---it's gorgeous.

Once you go vintage.....it's really hard to go back to the newer stuff. Both are great, definitely....but it's hard to describe the difference in tone and feel from a modern Ric to someone who hasn't played one. Rock on!

[Danhalen]

Beautiful guitar, I like how it's flanked by those two Les Paul Juniors...congrats!

Yup that's where it lives at the moment!

Thanks for the kind words/info guys! People on this forum are so nice.

I ended up taking the guitar to the 12th Fret in Toronto today to get a new bone nut cut. The string spacing was great (the pairs are really close together) but the nut was too high and graphite. Also it was moving every time I played hard. Instead of paying to have the graphite reworked, I elected to spend a bit more and get a new bone one with the same string spacing. The guitar is in pretty good shape which I already knew but hearing it from a luthier is always nice. I am sad to be without it for a few days though! In spite of the playing issues which are very minor the guitar sounds so great. I love the sound of it through my AC 30 with just a bit of gain. It sounds HUGE. "Convert" is right! I seriously am already thinking about how to clear out the rest of the guitar that I don't ever use to fun the purchase of a vintage 6 string. These really are the coolest guitars. This guitar really feels like an "instrument" if that makes sense.

Grazioso - That makes sense that the neck and middle pickups are going through the .0047 cap rather than the bridge. I am inclined to remove it from there and maybe leave it off of the bridge pickup as well. I guess I could try it and bypass it if I don't like it. That's what I did on my 1997. Put it on there and ended up bypassing it.

[sloop_john_b]

Dan, by chance was your Pelham Blue SG once a newish Faded SG?

[collin]

This guitar really feels like an "instrument" if that makes sense.

Yeah, makes great sense actually. To me, vintage Rics feel like an old Violin. Delicate and finely crafted and they just resonate so nicely.

[Danhalen]

Dan, by chance was your Pelham Blue SG once a newish Faded SG?

I hope not! I have always been under the impression that it was a '66. I am pretty sure it was refinished cheaply though, as the finish is very very thin (like one or two coats of colour and no clear coat) and has absorbed into the wood grain a lot. I got it for pretty cheap because it had some ****** vintage parts on it, and because of the refinish. I have got it playing and sounding great now. It is very light, resonant, woody and punchy sounding. I love it, although I do use my Rics more often

[Danhalen]

This guitar really feels like an "instrument" if that makes sense.

Yeah, makes great sense actually. To me, vintage Rics feel like an old Violin. Delicate and finely crafted and they just resonate so nicely.

That's it exactly. Makes some of my other guitars feel like toys!

[sloop_john_b]

Dan, by chance was your Pelham Blue SG once a newish Faded SG?

I hope not! I have always been under the impression that it was a '66. I am pretty sure it was refinished cheaply though, as the finish is very very thin (like one or two coats of colour and no clear coat) and has absorbed into the wood grain a lot. I got it for pretty cheap because it had some ****** vintage parts on it, and because of the refinish. I have got it playing and sounding great now. It is very light, resonant, woody and punchy sounding. I love it, although I do use my Rics more often

Oops! Only asked because it was a dead-ringer for this conversion and I didn't see the neck binding on yours. It is gorgeous.

[Danhalen]

Thanks! Oh yeah this colour is pretty rare. I love that guitar. I like it better than my TV yellow Jr. For some reason it is more resonant and just sounds better. The nut is also a bit narrower which feels better to me. The TV Yellow one has a huge/wide neck! My favourite neck ever is my new Rick though. Man oh man it is perfect. Almost the same as my 1997 reissue but the fretboard edges are a little more rounded. Perfect!