New 330/12

[PeterJ]

Hey folks,

Just thought I'd share a pic o' my new (second hand) 330/12. Sole mod is the pair of toasters. Everything else is stock.

Enjoy

PeterJ

[indianation65]

Everything in the photo looks cool vintage, from the gear, to the wall pix, the wall paper, door and especially that awesome floor! What a way to start out; not to mention a great 330!

...wisdom through age

[PeterJ]

Thanks. I'd play this thing every minute of the day if my neighbours would let me

PeterJ

[kiramdear]

Happy for you, Peter! Beautiful fireglo and thumbs up for the toasters. What year is it?

[jimk]

Lovely! And a janglebox, too. Chime on, PeterJ.
JimK

[8mileshigher]

Nice shade of Fireglo ..... Enjoy !

[PeterJ]

Thanks guys. Very happy to finally be among the Ric fraternity. This is my fourth 12 string electric (Dano, Maton, Strat XII) and it does everything better than the others (some qualification there but it's generally true).

Always loved Fireglo but never realised how great it looks in person. It's almost edible.

It's from 2008 by the serial number. The toasters are new, as well.

For the record I have it strung with a set of Elixir .009s supplemented with single strings but I might just go back to the Ric 12s for a little extra tension (didn't get along with the Thomastik made up set).

The Jangle box perfects the sound though I'm happy enough plugging straight into the Bassman. This is the JB2 model with the treble boost which I tend not to use with the Ric (it was great with the Strat XII). In fact I wind the treble back on the main setting.

I play either solo or in small groups like duos or trios and have always liked the fullness that an electric 12 gives to support vocals. I can say something good about each of the other three I've owned and generally I've only replaced one with another because the new one did something the previous one couldn't. I always had a sour grapes attitude to Ric 12s (because I couldn't afford one) but when this one came up the time was right and I plunged. It really is an improvement in every department or enough of them to make it my champ.

I really couldn't be happier with this. As it's a little hard won (saving plus selling a few instruments: Rics are expensive in Australia) it makes it all the sweeter.

Once again, thanks for the thoughts. I won't need any encouragement to keep this one

PeterJ

[Reynman]

Congrats Peter!

Did you replace the pickups or did you buy it that way?

My next goal is a 12 with Toasters...tell me about the tone? Do you have any experience with higains?

Patrick

[analogpackrat]

Nice one! I'll bet it sounds great through the 4x10 bassman. I'm curious what you didn't like about the TIs?

[PeterJ]

Congrats Peter!

Did you replace the pickups or did you buy it that way?

My next goal is a 12 with Toasters...tell me about the tone? Do you have any experience with higains?

Patrick

I replaced the pickups. The guitar was bought "as new" with Hi-gains.

The difference that I can hear is mid-range. The Hi-gains have more which gives them a fuller or thicker sound. The toasters are appreciably airier.

The Hi-gains sounded good. It's important with electric 12s to manage your mids as it can mean the difference between articulate chording or even arpeggios and creating a big toneless wash. The Hi-gains didn't do the latter (but humbuckers tend to) but the more I heard of the toasters (a few youtube clips demonstrate this) the more I preferred them. The toasters tone, for my taste, does a bit of the eq work straight off. I won't use the treble boost button on the Jangle Box with them as it gets too ice- picky. I'll even add mids with my setup (the Bassman has a mid control) but I do so knowing I can reverse it without loss of tone.

PeterJ

[PeterJ]

Nice one! I'll bet it sounds great through the 4x10 bassman. I'm curious what you didn't like about the TIs?

Everything sounds good through the Bassman. I was a big Fender blackface fan and for a while I had a Deluxe Reverb reissue which did the job perfectly until I started turning it up more and noticed that I didn't like what felt like early breakup (I only ever use clean tone). Also, I got myself a Bass VI and needed an amp that would take anything I had. My choice was between a Twin and a Bassman. A bargain Bassman came up locally so that's where I went. Great tone shaping and warm as a summer afternoon. And it does take every instrument I put through it (ie Tele, Strat, Bass VI and P-Bass, all Fenders) and the Ric sounds gorgeous through it, jangle box or no.

I've used TI's on every acoustic I've ever owned or recorded with and find them unbeatable in that dept. I put a set of George Bensons on a Gretsch archtop recently and was defeated by the lifelessness of the tone (they are designed to jazz boites with humbuckers methinks, not acoustics with little single coils) plugged in or not. Hearing the raves about the TI set for 12 strings I ordered a set and tried them out. They felt poorly balanced to me in tension and tone. I felt I was fighting them to get through to enjoying the sound of the guitar. They made me think twice about picking it up.

I've been something of an explorer regarding stringing electric 12s. I've tried Ernie Ball, D'Addario, TI, Dean Markley and the Rickenbacker ones that came on the 330/12. There's no clear favourite among those as some worked better than others on different instruments. The Danelectro (25.5 scale) worked best with the D's. The Maton (24.25) was supposed to come with Elixir 10s but they were unusable when I tried them. I worked out that someone had restrung mine with a customised set of Elixir 9s which I figured out and made up through a set of 9s and singles. The Stratocaster XII (25.5) worked best with these as well. When I first put a set of these on the Ric they felt too floppy and sounded thin but a re-setup fixed that and now they feel easy and sound good. I am, however, considering going back to the Ric set as I can recall liking their balance and strength of tone.

I can see why people like the TIs, it's a clean tone and a slick feel. They were just wrong for me. They reminded me of trying 10s on the Maton (ie they should have worked at that scale but just made it hard to play). I also think that treble guitars and flats are a bad mix for me (a set of chromes I tried on a Jazzmaster once came off after about an hour). My Strat and Tele get Elixir 10s as they feel and sound good for a long time. My anti-slap P-bass gets heavy chromes, by contrast.

PeterJ

PeterJ

[Reynman]

Sounds awesome...definately my next purchase!

[larsongs]

Beautiful 330 12! Almost got one myself but got the 360 12 instead. They do sound great! Very cool Guitar, enjoy!

Glenn