New 360/12 problems . . .

[Folkie]

I had my 330/12 restrung with the octave strings struck first on downstrokes, and I really love it that way. It chimes and jangles and sustains much more than it did before I had it restrung. All you have to do is play along with a Byrds record for five seconds and you'll realize that Roger McGuinn had his set up that way on the early records. He started out as an acoustic 12-string player and has gone on the record in a "Guitar Player" interview from May 1997 saying that his Rick 360/12 was set up like a conventional acoustic 12 on all those early recordings. It's one of the least known tone secrets behind the early Byrds sound (and Tom Petty even followed suit by stringing his 360/12 with the octaves first). To complicate matters, McGuinn now prefers the standard factory low-high configuration on his 370/12 (as you can see in his DVD "The 12-String Guitar of Roger McGuinn"). So the orders of the string pairs are entirely a matter of personal preference. Personally, I can't stand the sound of the new Ricks strung with the low courses first. It seems to kill al lot of the chime and shimmer. But others swear by the low-high configuration. To each his own!

[Folkie]

By the way, I meant no disrespect to all you traditional Rickenbacker 12-string lovers out there. Most do prefer the standard factory low-high configuration, but there are always a few like me who like to set up the guitar differently. I think one of the great things about this forum is that we can all help each other out by bouncing ideas off one another. So I hope my comments have been helpful and that everyone will trust their own ears when making this decision.

[buchrob]

There are many of us who are never happy with leaving well enough alone. After all, that's how the human race progresses.

If you want to clang out the Hard Days Night chord, then the "standard" Ric configuration is the way to go. I had a beautiful 330-12 JetGlo with toasters that I had to give up last year because of the recession and lack of use.

If you want a different but similar sound then buy a 12-string Dean Boca for several magnitudes of price lower. It's hollow body and shaped much like a Casino, and will will still jangle a plenty even with the "conventional" stringing, and at the end of your experiments you will still have a guitar to sell at a $100 loss rather than a Ric-en-stein which may ending up disappointing you on the resale market.

I've owned a few 12-strings along the way, and toyed doing the opposite of the original experiment: re-stringing a Takamine 12 to Ric standards and was unhappy with the results.

[jimk]

I'm not offended at all by your experimentation, Robert. I'm just one of those people who says "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." So I've chosen to leave my 360/12 as is. But if you think you'd like to modify your guitar to your liking, go ahead.

JimK

[drumbob]

Since it's brand new, you should go directly to Rickenbacker, as you have been advised. There should not be a bow in the neck, but it happens, and there should be no excuse for sloppy drill holes and loose tuners. My 330-12 needs a neck adjustment every couple of months, so I bought the nut wrench from Stew-Mac, and have learned to do it myself. It's not rocket science. I improved the action immensely just by doing it myself instead of paying my techie $60 every time.

My guess is that Rickenbacker will ask you to send it back for a free fix.