Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

My friend and band mate Ray who has just bought the amder fireglo 360/6 asked me what the difference is between the 330 body and the 360. (Apart from shape and cosmetics)

I should really know the answer to this but I don't.

Help!

Mateybob wrote:My friend and band mate Ray who has just bought the amder fireglo 360/6 asked me what the difference is between the 330 body and the 360. (Apart from shape and cosmetics)

I should really know the answer to this but I don't.

Help!

I think John Hall mentioned that the body of the 330 has more volume on the inside, whether or not you perceive a difference, that's up to your ears, but many find the NS body to have more of a plunky sound because it has less internal volume.

I'll buy that. Are the 330s constructed hollow, or are they routed that way ?

kiramdear wrote:I'll buy that. Are the 330s constructed hollow, or are they routed that way ?

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the 330's and 360's are routed out from the back and have a cap placed on the back of the guitar afterwards.

That's correct. The 360s have more wood left around the edge when routing from the back, to allow for the soft radiused top edge, hence the difference in internal volume, which is more substantial than you would think; I'd estimate something on the order of 20%.

jingle_jangle wrote:That's correct. The 360s have more wood left around the edge when routing from the back, to allow for the soft radiused top edge, hence the difference in internal volume, which is more substantial than you would think; I'd estimate something on the order of 20%.

That seems like a decent hypothesis, I had guessed between 15 and 20

Thanks guys and gals.

Thus this is why the 360 feels so much heavier than a 330.

So, is it a panel the full size of the back of the body that is attached to both guitars after the internal routing has been done?
Is that process the same for both guitars?

I'd love to see pictures of the difference between the two.

Then I can go back to Ray and pretend that I know what I'm talking about!

The panel is the same as the body's plan view or footprint. On a 330, you can see the glue seam. On a 360, it's hidden by the binding.

jingle_jangle wrote:The panel is the same as the body's plan view or footprint. On a 330, you can see the glue seam. On a 360, it's hidden by the binding.

Thanks!