Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 3:23 pm
Paul: I am interested in your thoughts about Zymol under The Others topic. I picked up a bottle today and have been trying it out.
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A very nice March day...sunny and 65 (although it's gonna snow tomorrow), and Brown dropped off my new Fireglo Ric 350/V63!
Believe it or not, I ordered this guitar just last week--it was a MF "blem" offered at the '04 price. I was actually looking for a guitar Les-strat had ordered to see what he was talking about, and came across it. I've had a 350 on order since last Nov, but that one isn't due until this coming Nov, so I figured I had nothing to lose by trying the blem--if it was something I couldn't live with, no foul, MF takes it back.
Turns out that won't be necessary. I couldn't find anything at all wrong with this guitar...not even a pick scratch in the finish. Mechanically everything works, the fit and finish are all perfect. I noticed one small rivet on the outside bottom of the case that looked like it might have pulled a bit, but that's it. Score another one for MF clearance items (blatant plug for one of FDP's sponsors here!).
She's a beautiful little instrument--and "little" is the operative word here. The body looks and feels compact (especially compared to something like a JM or Jag), and is very light. The specs say 7 lbs, but it feels REALLY light to me. Ric calls the 350 a "full scale" guitar, but it's actually a 24 3/4" scale. It's supposed to be the full scale version of the 325 that John Lennon made famous, and compared to the 20 3/4" scale on that guitar, I guess the 350 is "full-scale." In any case, it feels very good to me--I like the shorter scale instruments like Jags, and this, combined with the light weight makes a pretty nice combination. The body contouring in the tailpiece area, combined with her smallish body, makes her very comfortable to play when sitting--the way I play most of the time. I'd think the lightness would be a huge asset when she's strapped over your shoulder.
The 350 comes sans whammy bar, not a factor for me since I don't use them anyway, but I understand that unlike the 325s, the 350 is a bit harder to add something like a Bigsby--it has something to do with the spacing of the pups on the 350--the lip on the Bigsby where the front screw mount is would have to ground down, and the screw moved to underneath the spring mount. The 325 doesn't have this problem.
The craftsmanship is impressive...the Fireglo finish is a beautiful option--I've seen Rics in most of their color line-up, and this is my favorite. Ric's finishes are proprietary, a form of varnish I think, and they're very well done. The color itself is softer in tone than Fender's Cherryburst, and fades to almost a natural tone in the middle of the body. The fretboard is finished as well, and looks/feels terrific.
I love the tones on this guitar...I've just started to mess around with her, but it seems like those little single-coils are pretty versatile. There's a three-posit selector (bridge, neck and center, and combined), with individual volume and tone controls. There's also a fifth little dial that allows you to shape the overall tone of the guitar once you have your volume/tone and pickup selector where your want them--or you can you use as sort of a fine-tuning equalizer. I need to play with this some more.
She sounded great after just a minor tuning (all the strings were tuned down a step, for shipping I imagine, although in Ric's owner's manual they say loosening the stings is not necessary). The tuners are nice and tight, vintage-style tuners, much like ones on the Fender A/Vs...they might be the same make, I'm not sure.
At sowewhere in the neighborhood of a $1000 less than some versions of the 325, if you're interested in Lennon's sound and not overly hung up on 100% historical accuracy, check out the 350. And if you could care less about what Lennon played but are still looking for a quality-made, great sounding guitar, check out the 350! Unless you get lucky like I did though, be prepared for upto a year's wait from time of order for a new one, though they often show up on Ebay and some of the Ric specialty shops as others have mentioned here.
Well, all for now...I'll get some pics up here in a day or two. But for now, safe to say there's definately a new girl in my life!!
Bill
