Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have a chance to do a deal on a 370, which includes a trade of my 360 plus some cash. Despite the fact that the 370 is a discontinued model and will probably have more value when they're all gone, is there anyone who feels strongly about the 370 being a superior instrument over the 360? Thanks for your opinions!

The three pickup guitars are temporarily discontinued until the backlog situation has improved.

Some find that the middle pickup gets in the way of picking. But if your style can accommodate its presence there's no doubt to me that it is of value to have an extra soldier in your tonal army. For market value, I'm not qualified to comment deeply, but it would make the guitar worth more just on the face of it. Rarity alone isn't enough to bank on, I've observed.

I have 370 mg. Initially the middle pickup was a nuisance but it only took a short while to change my style subconsciously. So much so that now I cant remember why it was an issue.
Value? thats determined by the people that want to buy c/w your desire to sell. I wouldnt let mine go for the same or less than a 360

j

To me it would depend on the difference in cost. You can easily add a third pickup to your 360.

Personally I don't think a third P.U. is big deal, though my experience has been with non Ric guitars. How does the switching work? Can you turn off the middle pickup?

The neck and middle pickups are tied together in a Rick. So you can select neck+middle / neck+middle+bridge / bridge.

As crazy as I am about my 370, I'm not positive how much of it has to do with the pickup configuration. I mean, the thing is perfect, but I'm not certain that a 360 isn't. I think that this is a go-and-see situation.

beatlefreak wrote:The neck and middle pickups are tied together in a Rick. So you can select neck+middle / neck+middle+bridge / bridge.

I always hated that on my 370/12, you couldn't isolate the the neck pickup.

Still, pretty, isn't it?

The three pickup model is great to have if it doesn't cramp your picking or strumming style.

I would add to that, however, that to get the full range of tonal possibilities that a change in the wiring is helpful.

With the three pickup models, having access to the middle pickup alone, just the neck and bridge together, the middle and bridge together and the neck alone are valuable combinations that add much to the sound palette. You will need to change the wiring circuit to get all of these possibilities, however.

If you are going to paint a picture, why not be able to use all of the colours.

I would get the 370. You can always wire it up to your liking, they're discontinued for now (the 6 string anyways, I think) and the tone with a 3rd pickup is nice and glassy.

Speaking as someone who has both a 330 and a 340, the three-pickup guitar sounds different, due to the way the pickups are wired. So I think the first question to be asked is, do you prefer the sound of a single neck pickup or the neck-and-middle pickups? I wouldn't call either better or worse; they're just different.

If you re-wired the 370, you could still get the 360 pickup combinations, plus some additional tones using the middle pickup. So on that basis the 370 is more versatile, but, it does require changing the stock wiring, and perhaps adding switches, push-pull pots, additional pots, etc., depending on what you want.

Sounds like a good idea for future models - a push-pull pot on the small knob to control volume on the middle pickup.

Not all three-pickup models are discontinued, though - the 370/12 remains on the pricelist.

dpowell wrote:Sounds like a good idea for future models - a push-pull pot on the small knob to control volume on the middle pickup.

http://web.mac.com/john_minutaglio/iWeb ... 64A49.html

I have both a 370/12 and a 360/12, and the tonal difference to me with stock wiring is minimal. I believe even John Hall said he thinks you can get about 90% of the sounds from 2 pickups that you can get from 3. I had a 370/6, but sold it to buy a 2 pickup 660/6. No regrets there!