Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Paul, It's a good thing that you have that fire extinguisher handy. That fireglo looks so hot that it may ignite any minute!!!! LOL

That 350 is amazing!! Stunning work again, Paul.

This may sound dumb, but in what ways does the f-hole change the sound, if at all?

I sure do like the renderings of the 350 with f-hole and checker binding, John. Wow!

...Dean

Charles. I had the same thought.

Amazing!!!

Just three words.....Fab U Lous! Paul, your work continues to astonish me - truly fantastic! It's been a while since my last post. I haven't had much free time lately, but I had to comment on your latest gem. Great work my friend. I'm anxious to see your next project!

As one who can #@*! up a guitar just by changing the strings, I truly am in awe of the work you do.

I may have to send my 620 to Paul to have a fake f-hole added.

WOW, double-wow, with a side-order of wow. That 350 is exquisite! It's so gorgeous in that new incarnation. And I didn't think the 350v63 could be any cooler...

Brian (or Paul) if you have some full-size versions of those pics I'd love to have a look at them, feel free to email...

J. Oliver, I sent you a few that Paul sent me. Did you receive them?

Yep, thanks! I responded to your email, maybe it got filtered into your junk box...

Good! Thanks for your reply.

I would like to ask the same question about whether this mod affects the tone or structural integrity of the guitar in any significant way Paul. A friend of mine who is an expert Luthier warned me against this some time ago with my own 350V63. What is your take on the changing stresses to the internal bracing of the guitar or the open cavity affecting the tonal balance?

Is your friend the expert luthier very familiar with the construction of the Rick 325 and 350 models, or for that matter Rickenbackers in general? I think not.

These small semi-hollow bodies are incredibly rigid, having been (as all electric Ricks are) machined from a solid billet of hard maple. The top of this guitar is around 8 mm (5/16") thick, there is a substantial hunk of maple running down the center to secure the neck, and the sides are between 3/8" and 1/2" wide. Any change in the stress of such a structure made by routing a 5 1/4" X 1/2" wide "F"-hole, is quite minimal.

A built-up guitar, such as a Gretsch archtop, needs more careful consideration, but even most of these, having laminated tops, can tolerate this sort of modification without harm.

Tone: I played the 350 for a few minutes through my tube Magnatone and, not having an unmodded 350 to A/B, noticed no significant difference in tone. Theoretically, it should sound a bit more "open", but although I think you could pick it up with measuring devices, subjectively it would be virtually indistinguishable. This is one rugged guitar with a very stiff structure and a heavy top plate.

I might add that I encountered no internal bracing, nor did I expect to. My work on a number of '60s era Ricks of a larger body style (360s. 330s and my own '60 Capri) would indicate at least a diagonal brace running from the lower tip of where the "F" hole sits, to roughly the center of the control cavity, but remember--this is a small-bodied guitar, with very thick-walled construction!

YEAH!

This might sound utterly ridiculous, but is replacing a slash soundhole with an f-hole within the realm of possibility? Say I wanted to plug up the slash on a new 360 and have it replaced with an F-hole, is that possible? Of course, with a full solid-color refinish as well.