First Impressions of My First Rickenbacker

[Vertigho]

Hi Folks,

My new 330/6 AFG arrived yesterday, and I had a chance to play with it a bit last night. I wanted to post my first impressions and ask a couple of questions.

I should preface all this by saying that I am still very much a novice when it comes to guitar playing and guitars in general, so if some (or all) of my comments/questions seem naive or ignorant, that's probably why. Let me also preface this by stating that this 330/6 is the second of my, now, 2-guitar collection - my first (purchased just one month ago) is a G&L ASAT with a semi-hollow swamp ash body (no f-hole), natural wood body binding, a gun-oil tinted maple neck/fretboard with a polished gloss finish and vintage Telecaster shape/dimensions (7.25" radius, 1 5/8" wide at nut, modern C-shape profile). It has Dunlop 6100 Medium Jumbo frets. The pick-ups are G&L's Magnetic FIeld Design (MFD) single coils, the bridge is G&L's Saddle-Lock fixed bridge and it has the G&L non-compression truss rod. FYI, for those unfamiliar with G&L, it is the company started up by Leo Fender and George Fullerton after they sold Fender to CBS and wanted to get back to making guitars (and basses). The G&L web site is here and a good G&L discussion site is here.

As expected, the 330/6 looks very nice, and, also as expected, I am very impressed with the fit and finish on the Ric. I haven't yet gone over it with a fine-toothed comb, but it's clearly a well-built instrument. I am also very impressed/pleased with the build quality and fit/finish of my G&L - I would say the two are quite comparable in that regard. From my research into both these guitars/companies, that was a comment that I consistently heard for both: "...build quality is top notch; it's like getting a custom built guitar at a bargain price...". I'd have to concur in both cases.

Based on some reviews of the 330/6, I was expecting the 330/6 to be a bit (or more) less comfortable to hold than the G&L, but I didn't find that to be the case so far. Now, based on my novice playing abilities, I'm not running far up the neck at this point (just working on notes & open chords in the first position and starting to work on barre chords as well), so the 330 "horns/antlers" might be a bit of a comfort/accessibility issue when working up the neck, but I cannot yet comment on that.

In terms of tone, I can definitely hear a difference. I love them both: the G&L is similar in tone characteristics to a Telecaster, but the MFD pickups give it more depth and richness. Also, the fact that it's a semi-hollow model ASAT adds another dimension as well. I really love it. You can hear audio clips of the ASAT semi-hollow here (by pro players, not me, thank goodness). In terms of tone, the Ric is, well... a Ric (I suppose there's no need to go into a detailed description of the Ric tone for this audience). I don't know whether it's the maple vs. ash body wood or the Ric open hole semi-hollow body vs. the closed semi-hollow body of my ASAT or the Ric High-gain vs. the G&L MFD pickups (surely all three factors come into play in terms of the resulting tone), but the Ric sound is truly unique. I love it as well. In fact, I love it just a little bit more than the ASAT.

Finally, my impressions of the playability of the two: the 330/6 was a bit of a challenge for me when I first picked it up last night. It's got a flatter curve to the fretboard (10" vs 7.25" on the ASAT), and that was noticeable, but not problematic, for me - I'm not yet sure which of the two curvatures I prefer. The neck widths are the same (1.63" at the nut), so no issues there. I think the thing that presented the biggest challenge for me when I first picked up the Ric was the fret size and height. They seem to be significantly smaller and lower than the Dunlop 6100's on my G&L. Consequently, I found that I have to be more precise in my finger position (I have to have my fretting finger right behind the fret) and use a bit more fretting force on the Ric. After about 15-20 minutes, though my open chords were ringing clear and true. I suppose having the smaller/lower frets means that the action on the Ric can be set very low (though it doesn't seem to be so, as shipped; I'll probably want to have it adjusted lower sometime soon; anyone have any good Ric luthier/tech recommendations for the DC/MD/VA area? Charlottesville is most convenient, Richmond is OK, too; but I can certainly make the trip up to NoVa/DC/MD to take it to a highly recommended person).

The other thing I noticed, that I think may need some adjustment, is that the 1st string is very weak sounding from the bridge pick-up. It sounds great unplugged and on the neck pick-up, but when plugged in and playing through the bridge pick-up only, it doesn't really chime through on chords like (I think) it should. I presume it would be simply a matter of adjusting the pole height on that pick-up for the 1st string. Would that be easy enough for a non-expert to do?

Thanks in advance for any comments/insights/recommendations you can provide.

Andrew

[deaconblues]

Well, let me be the first to say congratulations, and welcome to the forum! A very beautiful, stunning finish on that AFG 330! You really shouldn't have to put your hand right behind the frets for the notes to ring out, maybe the action is too high. I have definitely noticed the volume cut on the high E string on my 1993 330, but it has the old, non-adjustable pickups! I have no experience with the new ones, maybe someone else could chime in here. As for repair centers, I use Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center in Wheaton, MD. There are probably some closer to your area, though.

[captsandwich]

Congrats and welcome.
I have noticed a litle bit of volume loss on the high E with the bridge pickup, but I don't have adjustable pole pieces. I mostly use both pickups and just boost the high end on my amp a touch. The horns should have no effect on comfort/playability up the neck. The only issue I ever had was playing live. Because the body was quite a bit wider than my strat and I play pretty low slung and am pretty active on stage, I found the guitar bounced off my thigh more than I expected. Slight adjustment in strap length, play off the hip a bit more & all is well.

[Vertigho]

I did a bit of digging on VA guitar techs and came up with 3 that look promising:

• Greg Kurczewski's Metro Guitar shop in Arlington - he previously worked at North Coast Music and was specifically recommended by a poster on the rickenbacker.com forum
• Marguerite Pastella's Fret Not Guitar Repair shop in Newport News - I've not seen any Ric forum recommendations, but impressive resume
• Brian Medas' Guitar Works shop in Richmond - again, I've not seen any Ric forum recommendations, but impressive resume

Anyone have any experience with any of these shops?

[jingle_jangle]

Welcome, Andrew!

That has to be one of the most gorgeous FG or AFG finishes I've ever seen on a new Rick. Period. Amazing color, and beautiful, gradual shading. You've got a keeper there, for sure!

I'm ex-Charlottesville, but that was 20 years ago, so no help with techs in that area.

[Scastles]

Glad to have you aboard, Andrew. Your FG certianly has a deep, rich finish. Perfection.

[beatlefreak]

Great looking AFG, Andrew. Welcome to the forum!

[Vertigho]

I did a qualitative comparison (i.e., eyeballed it) of the action on the 330/6 vs. the ASAT last night, and the 330 action is clearly & significantly higher. I'll definitely see about getting it to someone who can do a nice setup on it.

[Vertigho]

And thanks to all of you for the warm welcomes, advice, and kind words regarding the guitar. Admittedly, I overpaid a bit for this one, but I really wanted an AFG (or MB) finish, and this one was the nicest I'd seen in my 3 weeks of looking. And the history of this particular instrument was known and first-rate. It was from Pick Of The Ricks (and it was the Pick of the 2007 AFG 330 Ricks from Pick Of The Ricks) and as-new.

Here's what the seller told me about it...

Just some background for you. I called Chris and asked if he had any Amber Fireglo's in stock. He told me that he had 3 coming in but 2 were already sold from pre-orders. When I arrived at the shop - the day he called and told me that they had just come in - all 3 where still in the boxes unpacked. He said that because 2 were going to be shipped, there was no reason why I could not have my choice of any one of the 3. I am fanatical with my Guitars and I went over all 3 guitars with a fine toothed comb: this was the nicest as I said before. The Amber Fireglo is much nicer than the plain Fireglo - both Chris and I agreed on that. Of all the Rickenbackers that I had, I chose to hold on to this one because Chris told me - from what he was told by Rickenbacker - they will not make this color anymore. It truly is a Beautiful, Unplayed Guitar.

[arbiter]

Nice 330. Yeah you did overpay. I think it would look awesome with an accent. Real vintagey

[doctorwho]

Welcome, Andrew!

I don't know how mechanically inclined you are, but the Rickenbacker manual contains instructions on most (if not all) adjustments. A lot of us here on the Forum do our own set-ups and adjustments and are available to help if needed.

[ozover50]

Congrats, Andrew! I recall receiving my first Rick in January 2005...... I was too scared to pull it out of the case!!

[scotty]

Congratulations Andrew Theres nothing quite like a 330.Ive decided im not leaving this earth until i have one for every day of the week.

[johneek]

I did a bit of digging on VA guitar techs and came up with 3 that look promising:

• Greg Kurczewski's Metro Guitar shop in Arlington - he previously worked at North Coast Music and was specifically recommended by a poster on the rickenbacker.com forum
• Marguerite Pastella's Fret Not Guitar Repair shop in Newport News - I've not seen any Ric forum recommendations, but impressive resume
• Brian Medas' Guitar Works shop in Richmond - again, I've not seen any Ric forum recommendations, but impressive resume

Anyone have any experience with any of these shops?

I have dealt personally with the first two. My favorite is Marguerite Pastella. She is without question the best luthier I have ever dealt with personally. Unfortunately, she has had some serious health issues recently and is not working right now. Greg was also great, though I did not have him work on a RIC. He did a great job on a Candy Tangerine Strat that now resides, in what I believe is a semi-continual drunken stupor, in Australia. I did talk to him about RICs and he seemed pretty knowledgeable about them. I have no experience with Guitar Works, but I will check them out since Marguerite has been under the weather.

[shamustwin]

+1 on that being one of the best looking AFG finishes. Congrats!