Trading a 620 for a 330?

[DavidW]

I've got an 07 Jetglo 620 and it is my first Rickenbacker. It's a great guitar and has great sounds, but I've just recently bought a stratocaster (which I love to death) to diversify my sonic palette. I found somebody that is willing to trade a fireglo 330 for my 620 and I was thinking it might be a good idea to have one hollow body and one solid body as opposed to two solids. They're both high-gains, so i guess my real question is will the sound difference be enough to warrant a trade? His has a little more wear than mine, but I don't mind that so much. As a gigging musician I'm bound to wear it down some anyways.

[Clint]

This looks familiar. Like I said, the body size and feel is the major difference between the 620 and the 330. One more thing to consider, if you play a lot of gigs on dimly lit stages. The position markers on the 620 (black dots on white binding) are much easier to see than the 330's (small gray dots on dark wood). To some people, this is no problem. To others it's a big deal.

[DavidW]

haha, sorry about that. Should I have not posted in both places? I could take one down if it's a problem. Either way, thanks for the information, I'm going to try them side by side when I get a chance and see which I prefer.

[Clint]

No, that's fine. I don't think anyone cares either way.

[DavidW]

I've got another question and don't want to clutter things up by making another thread. Since I 've had my 620 the neck pickup has always had WAY less output then the neck pickup. it's a SIGNIFICANT drop in output, the mix knob almost seems to have no effect when the two pickups are together. However, if I'm playing on just the bridge pickup and turn the sound on my amp way up, the mix knob actually makes a difference. When it's all the way to the right ( looking down while playing) it gets more loud and hot sounding, when all the way to the left it gets more dull sounding. My impression when I first bought the guitar was that the mix knob was to blend the bridge in when the two pickups are together, but it seems almost like more of a tone knob for me. Is this significant drop in output and this blend knob feature normal?

[indianation65]

Mr. DW,
First part of your initial post knowing we all just opine...get the 330 so that you own the coolest, most dangerous-looking Rickenbacker around! Those corners can kill a man!
Second, I performed the functions just as you described...bridge only, blender knob swayed the sound but I ended up with about the same sound, knob turned hard left or hard right. Neck pickup, bigger bass left, no sound right; both pickups engaged, bassier left and more treble right. As to your actual final question; yes, it seems to be as much a blend knob as a tone knob to me. I do not hear a significant drop in volume one way over the other. Perhaps one pickup is higher then the other? Thanks for making me feel the need to experiment with the 5th knob. I hadn't done it in a while.

Addendum: I performed this test on my Rusticglo, formerly a Jetglo.

...wisdom

[Clint]

Huh, I don't know. If you look at the schematic, the 5th knob is really just a redundant volume control for the neck pickup. Try turning all the knobs full up, with the pickup selector in the middle. Now, when you turn the 5th knob back and forth, it should boost or cut the neck pickup's volume to balance it with the bridge pickup's output. When the mix sounds good to you, you're done.

[jimk]

Clint, you're basically correct in that the fifth knob is really a redundant volume control for the neck pickup. On a 360 that is run through 2 amps via the ROS jack this becomes quite obvious. It's fun to play with, though.
JimK

[IHeartRics]

Does your 620 have the Ric-O-Sound jack plate (I would think it does)? Make sure your putting the cord in the Standard jack and not the Ric-O-Sound jack. That may be a possible cause.

Also, I believe the 5th control is most useful when the bridge pickup has the 0.0047 cap. It allows you to adjust the volume of the neck pickup to better match it's output to the bridge pickup. Without the 0.0047 cap in there, I'm not quite sure of it's usefulness.

[kaleb2470]

Definitely make the trade. Totally worth it.