Is Ric Ever Going To Reproduce The 481?

[electrofaro]

Look, some tree gave his life so Hendrix could bring his art to us all. Surely that tree deserves to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame more than ABBA does

A debatable personal opinion, Tommy... what do you do when your Rickie guitar really needs a guitar tech? You won't let them touch it either?

I've never bought a new Rickie... still, the 360 although 2nd hand I've gotten really fond of. And I still think selling MY 2nd hand 480 was a mistake I'll regret forever!

[Tommy]

The price was $1500.

$1,500?
Wow. And I mean "wow" in the sense that $1,500 seems like a very reasonable price.

[Tommy]

. what do you do when your Rickie guitar really needs a guitar tech? You won't let them touch it either?

I suppose when the day comes, I will have to let another handle my Ric.

Have to say, I've had my 360/12 for over 20 years. Ric builds a nice guitar. Not much is needed in terms of guitar techs. Right now my pickup switch is a bit scratchy and doesn't immediately click to the pickup I flick it to, but that's such a small matter for a 25 year old guitar and I can easily deal with it.

[360girl]

. what do you do when your Rickie guitar really needs a guitar tech? You won't let them touch it either?

I suppose when the day comes, I will have to let another handle my Ric.

Have to say, I've had my 360/12 for over 20 years. Ric builds a nice guitar. Not much is needed in terms of guitar techs. Right now my pickup switch is a bit scratchy and doesn't immediately click to the pickup I flick it to, but that's such a small matter for a 25 year old guitar and I can easily deal with it.

Why don't you just replace the selector switch? It's not that hard to do. You can either get an OEM replacement switch from a Rickenbacker or (probably) Pick Of The Ricks, or if you want to save a few bucks, and don't mind a shorter switch tip, get an Allparts or Stewmac pickup selector switch.

As for new vs used guitars - I've had 3 Rics, all were 360s. The first two were new (I regret selling them, in both cases, it was due to financial issues, which seemed to have settled down), and my present one (a 2006), I bought used this past Thursday. It's as good as my other tow 360s were. if you want to view buying guitars as an essence/spirit of the guitar kind of thing, think of used guitars as being like a cat or dog from a local animal shelter - it needs a good home, so it needs to be adopted!

BTW, here's a twist on the used guitar thing people. How do you feel about buying back a guitar you used to own? I did it under the most wildly improbable circumstances. I bought my first 360 (a 1994 Jetglo 360, that I called Baby) back in early 1995 (it had hung on the wall for several months of a local dealer [Cascio/Interstate Music - they were the local Ric dealer at the time], after the person who ordered it backed out of the deal), to be a backup guitar/alternate sounding guitar from the Gibsons I used to play at the time. Over the period of the next 4 years, it became more than just a second guitar - it became an important part of my gigging arsenal, sharing equal playing time with the Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion, I had at the time. I've typically played in bands, that did seriously heavy stuff (even some thrash metal on occasion), and believe me, Rics can definitely do crushing tones! But, I digress. In 1999, I had hard financial times that were starting to happen, and it wasn't looking like they were going away anytime soon. I needed the cash, so I sold all of my good gear. Bye-bye Mesa DC III amp, and bye-bye Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion. I held out on selling Baby, my 360, but I eventually had to sell her a few months after the other gear was sold. I used some of the money I got from selling my 360 (putting the rest in the bank), to buy a different, lower cost guitar (I ended up buying a Fender Toronado - it was a decent guitar, but it wasn't my 360, or my old Gibby), and a cheap amp (I was bandless at the time, so I figured cheapo amp would do). I kind of gave up on Rics after selling Baby, figuring it would be hard for me to afford them again, and that it would be best to just move on guitar-wise.

Nine plus years later, after reading a NGD thread on another guitar forum, for a 650 (where I commented that I missed my old 360), I went perusing online for used Rics out of curiosity. While I was still not completely out of the woods financially from the same issues that forced me to sell almost all of my gear back in 1999, I had a better paying job, and figured that it just might be possible to afford a Ric solidbody (I didn't think I would be able to afford another 300 Series Ric at the time). I found a listing for a 1995 Jetglo 360, at an area Music Go Round. Suspecting that not many 1994 Jetglo 360s were sold in Wisconsin, I decided to go take a look at it. I took one look at it, found the dings I put in the headstock (complete with white paint from the wall of my old apartment, when I bumped into the wall, like big klutz!), and was shocked to realize that the guitar was my old 360 I'd sold 9 years ago! It was iffy at best for me to buy Baby back, but I put it on layaway, sold a bunch of stuff, and bought it back!

Several months later, like a dope, I let Gretsch GAS get the best of me, and ended selling Baby to buy a Brian Setzer Hot Rod (despite stating I was never getting rid of Baby). At the time I rationalized the sale of Baby, by telling myself, that I just wasn't gelling playing-wise with the guitar. Well, it took a few months, but I ended up regretting selling Baby. I realized/remembered that the first time around, it took me a few months to really click playing-wise with the guitar (oh yeah, and while I do like Gretsches, I ended up not liking the Brian Setzer Hot Rod, and selling it). This realization was what led me to getting Blondie (my 2nd 360 - a 2009 Mapleglo, bought on payments from zZounds in 2010), and determining, that I couldn't get Rics out of my system, and would probably always have one. When I had to sell Blondie last year, due to an unexpected bill, I pretty much decided that I would get another one to replace her. Sure enough, courtesy of a completely unexpected bonus this past week, I now have another 360 (tentatively called Mabel - for Mabel the Mapleglo 360 [not sure if I want to do the BB King thing, and recycle a name - in this case, Blondie]). Now you could say, that as a "used" guitar, that I ended up selling, the guitar wasn't meant for me. Well, we all make choices. I just happened to make a bad choice of re-selling Baby (but, some good did come out of doing so - it made me realize that like Gretsches, I pretty much doubt I'll ever not have another Ric around.

I don't subscribe to the Randy Rhoads mentality of "only specific guitars and specific amps" have the magic in them for you to play good. Yes, a specific amp or guitar, may really jibe with you as a player, but I do feel that much, if not most of the playing magic comes from you as a player. I don't need to play only a guitar I bought new, or that is old or vintage, for me to make my best music. It just has to feel and sound good to me. I've had guitars I've bought new, and guitars I've bought used, that I've regretted selling to this day.

Here's a picture of Baby, from when I re-bought it in late 2008

[Tommy]

Why don't you just replace the selector switch? It's not that hard to do. You can either get an OEM replacement switch from a Rickenbacker or (probably) Pick Of The Ricks,

I don't subscribe to the Randy Rhoads mentality of "only specific guitars and specific amps" have the magic in them for you to play good.

I know I should just replace the switch, but I usually just play my Ric in the middle position so I rarely even flick the switch. Anyway, I think a shot of contact cleaner might clear it up. Have the cleaner, just never bothered using it on my Ric.

Cool story about buying your old guitar back. That's an odd occurrence I'm sure.

Never heard that Randy Rhodes "only specific guitars" quote. Have to say I agree with it. There is something very special about owning MY guitars. Many people always use that "guitars are just tools" phrase, but I don't see them as tools at all. They are me.
(I understand a professional musician viewing guitars as tools; but I am not a professional musician so I never see my guitars as tools.)

[IHeartRics]

I played a 481 probably about 30 years ago. I can't remember how well it played but I definitely don't remember not liking it, and it looked cool. But that model always find of turned me off because it didn't have toasters or higains, which to me are are part of the Ric charm.

Now the 480, that's my deal! I have 2 and love them. I like the 330's and 360's but I wanted a Ric solid body, and being a taller guy the 600 series looks like a student model on me. It felt like one too. Nice guitars, just a comfort thing to me. But my 480's play sweet and feel great with nice balance. When I let people play them they love them and say "I gotta get me one of these". It's a wonderful guitar and I'm OK with others not being keen on them.....betters the chances I can get more of them!

And as for used, I like it that way. Broken in and slightly relic'ed. That way I don't feel bad when when I put the first ding or scratch in it. And I'm more interested in playing them than polishing them!

[psychomatthias]

How much money are you willing to spend?

The one-off: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rickenbacker-48 ... 500wt_1352

[electrofaro]

How much money are you willing to spend?

Quite an interesting 481... bit steep though!

[IHeartRics]

How much money are you willing to spend?

Quite an interesting 481... bit steep though!

I'm happy to see Ric playing this design in a guitar again, but looks a little too modern/updated for my taste. I like the old vintage look.

[psychomatthias]

Now just take out the mini humbuckers and replace them with HB1s:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-1973-Vinta ... 2a20e660d7

[sloop_john_b]

Now just take out the mini humbuckers and replace them with HB1s:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-1973-Vinta ... 2a20e660d7

No way! I bet that guitar sounds great!

[8mileshigher]

Now just take out the mini humbuckers and replace them with HB1s:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-1973-Vinta ... 2a20e660d7

Yeah, I agree with you on using Ric pick-ups. I really like that JetGlo finish on that 480 on e-bay.

[electrofaro]

If you're at it changing the PUs to Ric HBs, why not put a new harness with blend knob in?

[Grey]

No way! I bet that guitar sounds great!

Yeah I bet those mini hums sound fantastic. Replace the creame plastic with black and you're good to go.

[IHeartRics]

Now just take out the mini humbuckers and replace them with HB1s:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-1973-Vinta ... 2a20e660d7

No way! I bet that guitar sounds great!

I would definitely first want to here them brefore I'd replace them since I do like the sound of Gibson mini HB's. But I gotta say Ric HB's are nice too, just a different flavor between the two. But if the Gibson's sounded cool, it would be interesting to try to dess them up like toasters, if even possible. I do seem to recall someone stating they did it before.