360 Ruby Red (2014) - some questions

[4000]

Hello,

I'm interested in a 360 guitar (6 stringer), in ruby red.

Few things I was wondering about, if you know more it'd be much appreciated!

#1.
Strings (not exacty) over the PU pole pieces:
I saw that the 6 strings are put 'offset' on the bridge saddles, most likely keeping saddles the same as for the 12-string version,
so that the additional strings for 12-string version can be added without shifting the thicker ones. As a consequence for the 6 string version, the strings don't really properly cross the PU pole pieces. I know this usually isn't a problem, but I don't know how this would be for these HiGain pickups; it's the first time I run into these types.

#2.
Ruby Red colour gone again ?
As it happens there are several in ruby red for sale around this time, recent production (2014) but I don't see the ruby red colour listed anymore on the RIC-website.

So I'm wondering how short lived the re-introduction of this ruby red colour was ?
(let's be absolutely sure these are genuine Rickenbackers )

#3.
'Sealed' vs transparant - same wood ?
Are these colours made with the same quality of wood as those where the woodgrain is visible ?
(I understood say Fender sunbursts vs totally sealed colours selected different qualities of wood) but could well imagine RIC doesn't 'cheat' here. Just curious!


Thanks!

[LowSurf]

Don't buy it! Those Ruby 360s are TERRIBLE guitars

I have a Ruby 360, and it's only good for rock, country, and soul, as far as I can tell. I can only use it to play rhythm or lead-nothing else. I wouldn't recommend this guitar to anybody. The only way to get even a half-decent sound out of it is to play it through either a tube or solid-state amp, with or without effects. The only other way to get it to sound good is to play it unplugged. Other than that it's worthless. I also hate the tuning machines, because I never get to use my cool TC Electronic Polytune, since the strings are basically always in tune. Finally, the pickups also S*ck, because the only tones I can get are a sort of jangly clean with crystal clear overtones, or sort of a chunky "Mini P-90" if I use an OD box. I plan to rip them out and replace them with some Super Distortion humbuckers.

Also the "R" tailpiece does not work very well as a whammy.

I have found the same issue with my strings not lining up exactly. I've noticed that it doesn't seem to affect the tone, and the high E doesn't drop out when I bend. Why even bother having polepieces at all, if they aren't going to help you bring strings in and out of the overall sound?

Finally, the workmanship is terrible. I have some nice guitars by other manufacturers, and you can really see where people have sanded, and filed, and put the frets in. Not on the crummy Ric. The frets are all polished off evenly with the fretboard, and there is no helpful overspray in the body cavity or around the binding to give you a feel for how it was finished. Clearly, the people in Santa Ana have something to hide, otherwise why would they do all the extra polishing and other detail work. I'm surprised they manage to stay in business.

This guitar is definitely a lemon, and I regret the day I bought it. Don't make the same mistake I did!

[clementc3]

[4000]

Ha! More totally disatisfied people !

Here, me as well.

I've flushed the pickups and nowadays just use this instrument for the MIDI hex-pickup I attached to it
(I had to re-drill the top of the body several times for that, didn't get it right the first few times, ...)

but since there's this weird slash hole in it already, I don't mind a few additional holes... no need for a vacuum sealed body, right ?

[jdogric12]

1 - no, it's not for the reason you think. Just a coincidence. 99% sure you won't hear a difference.
2 - They just discontinued Ruby, like, a week or two ago.
3 - The only difference in wood is that they save the prettier pieces for the see-thru colors like mapleglo and fireglo. If you're not planning to sand the finish completely off, there is no difference.
I think Pick of the Ricks has a sweet Ruby 360 - I was just there a few weeks ago and sawr it with mine own eyes. Nice one!

[4000]

Great review LowSurf, thanks for the warnings & sharing your experiences .

Alas, it's too late for me, I've acquired one, based on your review. I hate proper guitars, so this one is exactly I was looking for.

And it controls my MIDI stuff perfectly.

Note that I ran out of those 16 MIDI-channels pretty quickly, so I added a second MIDI hex-pickup for a new batch of 16 MIDI-channels. This time, having learned considerably, I needed somewhat less re-tries when drilling the mounting holes. Happy!!

[4000]

On a more serious note, this was a bit disturbing:

viewtopic.php?t=413568

Mine has a spot were the paint bubbles, and dunno if it might get worse.
All stable so far, but I must say I WAS a bit surprised & underwhelmed that this could happen.

Have a good weekend!

[4000]

1 - no, it's not for the reason you think. Just a coincidence. 99% sure you won't hear a difference.
2 - They just discontinued Ruby, like, a week or two ago.
3 - The only difference in wood is that they save the prettier pieces for the see-thru colors like mapleglo and fireglo. If you're not planning to sand the finish completely off, there is no difference.
I think Pick of the Ricks has a sweet Ruby 360 - I was just there a few weeks ago and sawr it with mine own eyes. Nice one!

Thanks for the response, much appreciated.

1 - OK, all fine, not I'm not noticing any troubles - just one of those things you look for when checking out a new or 2hand guitar

2 - I see, interesting. It looks gorgeous!

3 - Must admit the ruby finish makes it look like fine jewelry, while (im-very-ho) a sanded off one makes me think of a cigar box
So no plans here to remove this finish, unless the finish decides by itself to leave the guitar, see viewtopic.php?t=413568
Just curious if prettier pieces of wood also sound 'better', but I realize this might be very subjective. If there's general concensus on this though I'm eager to hear.

best regards

[Ric5150]

If anything, I tend to believe it works the other way around, but I doubt anyone really knows.

It's a significantly different creature, but on Les Pauls, it seems that many of the "better" ones I've played have been ones with relatively plain tops. Several people I know have noticed the same thing. Then again, its hard to say how much 'goodness' comes from the figured maple and how much comes from that particular piece of relatively plain mahogany underneath.

There's also a question of how good you might be at convincing yourself that the really, really, pretty guitar in your favorite color sounds just as good as the ugly-looking one that actually sounds better. It's an art.

I can at least make a reasonable semi-scientific argument that a piece of wood with plain, straight grain will tend to resonate better than a similar piece of wood with a few really large knots in it. Birdseye maple is pretty much just wood with a whole lot of small knots in it and flame or quilt maple isn't far away.

As you mentioned, "better" is a subjective thing, but I do believe there is such a thing as an inherent quality/value as an instrument - certainly when it comes to variation within a model. That comes from people generally associating specific properties or desirable traits with a given make or model. "Resonance" also tends to generally be accepted as a goodness.

Then again, there are some ridiculously expensive violins in the world with pretty spectacular figuring, so who knows.

Buy the ruby if you like it and work on convincing yourself that it's absolutely phenomenal due to the plain, straight grain of the wood under the paint and don't look back.

[wim]

Also the "R" tailpiece does not work very well as a whammy.

Thar's correct, no dive bombing with that. So I dive bombed this worthless piece into the trashcan and installed a Floyd Rose.
I removed a lot of wood in the process but it sounded too 'woody' anyway, when I want an electric guitar to sound electric off course.

[4000]

If anything, I tend to believe it works the other way around, but I doubt anyone really knows.

...

Buy the ruby if you like it and work on convincing yourself that it's absolutely phenomenal due to the plain, straight grain of the wood under the paint and don't look back.

Thanks for your thoughts on this - you convinced me that the nice looking ones don't necessarily sound better, if at all, to say the least.
(FWIW, this can be the case for other things or for people in general as well, but let me stay on topic )

I simply couldn't resist this Ruby, like I said, an impressive piece of fine jewelry. I was glad (/relieved...) the neck wasn't an issue for me.
The resonance & warmth are impressive.

Now all is left for me is to get me one of those jackets in matching colour like this guy in the picture has...

(weird actually, he's tuning his 360, which is - like said above - never required... maybe a fake 360 ?!)

Have a good weekend