Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

chronictown wrote:That bassist has a great look

He goes well with the drummer!

I use DR Blues 11s on my '87 610 and the strings bend fine.

I had the chance to try out a 620 at GC back in 2004. Chording was excellent but I could not bend the strings to save my life. Coming off of Les Pauls and Strats to the 620 was pretty drastic. The experience shy'd me away from coming back to the 620, though it is the best looking guitar available today. Then, I played a 330 and made it sing. Massive string bends all over the place like Les Pauls and Strats etc. So I bought it and haven't looked back

I play a 330 with 10's and string bending is too easy on that. I sometimes think the strings feel too light and 'bendy' and should have more resistance but all in all i'm very happy with it and don't want to change it. Funny thing is though I have only ever played a 620 in a shop and It had a completely different feel to my 330 and in fact i too struggled to bend the strings. I remember thinking that the strings and feel of the guitar was similar to my acoustic which have 12 gauge strings.

I can't comment on the 620, but I have played its wider necked cousin the 660, and it was a breeze to play. You might want to consider one of those.

I'd experiment with strings before I wrote off trying to bend on a 620. A simple change to .009s made a big difference on mine.

Sounds like a setup issue to me. The question is, how many string changes and setup options will the seller let you try before you buy?

For what it's worth, I've used D'Addario, GHS and SIT strings, .010-.46 and never had a problem bending strings on my 620. And I like to bend strings a lot!

I used D'Addario XL 0.011" - 0.049" on my former 610 and never had issues string bending.

Of course, variable #1 is the human playing the 620. Issues of playing style and finger length and strength all come into play, too.

jps wrote:

sloop_john_b wrote:

pinkfreud wrote:It sounds terrifying to not be able to bend strings on such an expensive guitar.

It's not as though you can't bend strings - it's just not the ideal guitar for that Clapton/Hendrix school of guitar.

Unless you're Unknown Hinson.

Again, I didn't say you can't do it - I can, and Unknown can, and I'm sure you can! But it's not the ideal guitar for that style.

Unknown now plays a Reverend with juicy p-90's.

sloop_john_b wrote:Unknown now plays a Reverend with juicy p-90's.

...and bats, too!