Page 4 of 5
Re: Are 360/12's hard to play?
Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 4:25 pm
by jps
Bronson wrote:As another noob...The nut slots were high enough that fretting at the first through third frets was a MOTHER; a visit to a good luthier had her fixed up in no time.
Welcome, Tim!
Better the nut slots are too high than too low.
Re: Are 360/12's hard to play?
Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 4:39 pm
by Hixy
Doesnt anyone else find it very unusual that after spending thousands on a new Ric you have to spend more money to get it to play properly. I would have thought that it would be part of the quality control process to make sure these playable antiques of the future leave the factory in near to perfect condition.
Reading many of the threads where owners are having to spend many dollars on getting their Ric's to a playable standard makes me think there is some sort of Chinese production line going on where the bulk of the money changing hands is going to the owners and not into the product.
I hope I am wrong.
Re: Are 360/12's hard to play?
Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 4:41 pm
by jps
Hixy wrote:Doesnt anyone else find it very unusual that after spending thousands on a new Ric you have to spend more money to get it to play properly. I would have thought that it would be part of the quality control process to make sure these playable antiques of the future leave the factory in near to perfect condition. I hope I am wrong.
This is not out of the ordinary unless you have had an instrument custom built
and you were there during the final setup so the luthier could get it adjusted exactly to your liking before it left the shop.
Re: Are 360/12's hard to play?
Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 2:19 am
by bvstudios
I rec'd my 370/12 from the factory in early 2011. Straight out of the shipping container right there in the store (I wielded the knife- very carefully), opened the case, put a new strap on it, added a cable and a SNARK and sat down on a nearby amp to play around.
Three strings out of 12 needed tweaking. Three. Otherwise, the guitar was IN TUNE when it arrived. The screws and nuts were tight, the neck was straight, the strings fit the nut and the intonation was near as perfect as it could be given it was shipping with a 6-saddle bridge. After the first few moments, I handed it off to my luthier, who spent another 5 minutes with it and said "there's nothing it needs". I agreed with him
All I've done since is clean it and change the strings. Because I use D'Addarios, I did have to make an adjustment for the initial set, but that was it.
I'm still in love and having the time of my life with it.
Re: Are 360/12's hard to play?
Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 10:40 am
by Chrome Aardvark
Once I tuned it up my new c63/12 it was perfect right away. However, when I picked up my 360/12 CW it needed a bit of work before I was satisfied - the bridge needed to have saddles renotched and an adjustable base plate before it felt right.
In terms of 360/12s being hard to play, out of the two guitars I find myself favouring the c63, as does my partner's son. The difference in string spacing was a factor that both of us noticed. There are many different 360/12s on the market and the era in which your guitar was made can often make a difference in ease of playing, as this model has had a few changes over 50 years of production.
PS: The girlfriend's son was a very excited 14 year old when I showed him the new Ric and asked him to pick which one to keep and which one to sell.
Re: Are 360/12's hard to play?
Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 1:23 pm
by david/wales/u.k
[quote="Hixy"]Doesnt anyone else find it very unusual that after spending thousands on a new Ric you have to spend more money to get it to play properly. I would have thought that it would be part of the quality control process to make sure these playable antiques of the future leave the factory in near to perfect condition.
Agree
Re: Are 360/12's hard to play?
Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 1:39 pm
by johnhall
Hixy wrote:Doesnt anyone else find it very unusual that after spending thousands on a new Ric you have to spend more money to get it to play properly. I would have thought that it would be part of the quality control process to make sure these playable antiques of the future leave the factory in near to perfect condition.
This is NOT a quality control problem- in fact you'll find that these instruments are all set up pretty much the same, a least as close as can be done for a product made of wood.
We intentional set them at a "neutral" position, neither particularly high or low, since everybody has a different idea of how they like their guitar set up. 90% of our customers would hate how low I prefer mine, for instance, whereas 90% would also hate how high Peter Buck's guitars are set. There is no "one-size-fits-all" setup.
This is what a real dealer is all about- making the guitar fit your preferences perfectly. Those who choose to get the "better price" by shopping online have also chosen to forgo that service and must live with the instrument, set it up themselves or pay a local tech to set it up.
Re: Are 360/12's hard to play?
Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 3:40 pm
by deaconblues
Well said. Guitar setup is a very personal thing. I'm always amazed when people DON'T get a new guitar set up properly after buying it!
Re: Are 360/12's hard to play?
Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 3:52 pm
by cjj
And then there's the fact that it's made of wood. Wood, being a natural material, will change a bit with various environmental factors such as humidity. So, even if it's set up perfectly in one place, at one time of year, if shipped to someplace else, or even with just seasonal changes, it may need a setup to account for those changes.
If you want a guitar that doesn't have these "problems," get a plastic guitar. Of course those have other issues...
Re: Are 360/12's hard to play?
Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:10 pm
by jps
cjj wrote:If you want a guitar that doesn't have these "problems," get a plastic guitar. Of course those have other issues...
Re: Are 360/12's hard to play?
Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 7:23 pm
by Folkie
I bought one 360/12 from Pick of the Ricks, which arrived in the of dead of winter in tune and set up perfectly for my playing style. Then I just recently bought a 360/12C63 from another dealer, and the guitar did need some adjustments from my tech. It stands to reason that because each player has a unique style and technique, no guitar will arrive from the factory set up to every player's preferences. That's one of the reasons we have guitar techs in the first place.
Re: Are 360/12's hard to play?
Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 5:15 am
by david/wales/u.k
When people talk about having to pay more a lot more money after having the guitar I think they are talking about, for example, having to buy and then get a Tech to replace a 6 bridge saddle with a 12 bridge saddle, amongst other things. (Why does the 360/12 come with a 6 bridge saddle when even Roger McGuinn said that they are no good for the intonation higher up the fretboard. Indeed that is why he insisted that his signature model came equipped with a 12 bridge saddle.) This is just one example of people spending a lot of money after paying a small fortune to start with. Other people on here have also had to change the string spacing, renotch saddles etc.....but then others have played and loved the guitar as it is or have only needed the 'normal' set up that most guitars rightly need as explained in this forum.
Re: Are 360/12's hard to play?
Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 3:11 pm
by paologregorio
Oh no, the 12 string bridge saddle subject rears its ugly head again; there are about as many people who like the 6 saddle bridge as the 12 saddle bridge; I have two Rick 12s...I think I only have two. . ; one has a six saddle, one has a 12 saddle. I can't tell the difference.
Re: Are 360/12's hard to play?
Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 3:31 pm
by jimk
I'm another one with a factory standard 6 saddle bridge on my 360 12 string. Couldn't be happier. And I do indeed buy the premise that the strings one uses on said guitars makes a difference. TI jazz flats, Curt Mangans, and RIC brand strings all come highly recommended by members of the RRF. (I can't attest to D'Addario strings, as I haven't installed them.)
Second, I'm a multi instrumentalist and have played mandolin, banjo, and fiddle in various bands, sometimes all three during the course of a show. So the string spacing issue is a moot point with me.
JimK
Re: Are 360/12's hard to play?
Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 4:06 pm
by Folkie
Although many here have discerned a difference in tone between the 6-saddle and 12-saddle bridges (John Hall even chimed in, saying the 12-saddle produced a more treble-heavy sound), then if there is a difference, my ears aren't fine enough to hear it. The only thing I noticed was what you would expect: the added convenience for adjusting intonation. Strings really do make a difference, too: I had intonation issues with the 6-saddle and D'Addario strings, but not with those sets JimK listed. I think Scott Pope is the expert on this particular issue.