Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

It looks like the bass players are having fun showing off the mods to their basses. What have some of us guitar pickers done to our Ricks?

The idea here is the fun a lot of us have in modifying our instruments to suit our desires and/or needs; let's keep this in the sprit it is intended to be in, FUN!

Even though I'm still Rickless, I've often thought it would be fun to find a project Rick 360 or 330 12 string MG, put a pair of vintage toasters on it, checkered binding, and a faux tortoise shell pick guard and TRC. Probably a pretty tame idea, but it would look and sound different than my future 360/12 FG with high-gains
JimK

Overwound bridge toasters: 14 and 15K, thanks to the skills of Sergio Silva.

You've already seen pics of the rest.

I've toyed with the idea of putting a Kauffman on my 330, but with the discontinuation of the 325c58 and my lack of capital as a poor college student, I don't know if it's ever going to happen. Would be cool, though! (If anyone wants to sell one for under $100, lemme know!)

Jimk - Ever consider tortoise/gold? Very 'old-school' Rickenbacker (although this one's gold/black):

This is like the one I did for Graham a couple of years ago now.



This is a 375F...

On another topic, I managed to pick up an "F"-style Kaufmann a couple of months ago from Tokyo--for a reasonable price--about $160.00. So they are out there, though not to common.

I have what should be a really cool modded Rick arriving in May. A WB, of course, but with CB, FWI, CB bound vintage profile headstock, slot post vintage Kluson style tuners, vintage fretboard radius, Blue Boy finish (non-yellowing), and gold guards. Not sure how much of a mod it is, since they're all features of Rick guitars at one point or another, but just not all together on that particular model. The guitar started life as a 330, and already had the vintage TRC and knobs by the time I bought it in its rather worn condition.

I forgot to mention a couple of mods featured on "Big Red"; a 25" scale fretboard, a bone nut, and medium tall frets-mods not really apparent in the photos. the change in scale and the bone nut were suggested by Larry Davis as mods that would improve the tone of the guitar. I'm not sure how, but he's the expert, and the guitar sounds great.

I've posted these pictures before, but here's a before and after photo of my 350....

You stole my title!

With the mods that are under the hood on this 360v64 a gifted guitar player could play blues, rock and even country..........

Needless to say it's my #1 Rickenbacker guitar.

jps wrote:You stole my title!

Yes, I did indeed! I thought to myself "Why should the bass players have all the fun?"

JimK

Does a 360 equipped with HBs fall into this category?

jingle_jangle wrote:This is like the one I did for Graham a couple of years ago now.



This is a 375F...

On another topic, I managed to pick up an "F"-style Kaufmann a couple of months ago from Tokyo--for a reasonable price--about $160.00. So they are out there, though not to common.

Paul

Is the lower pickguard 2-ply black and white (thinner black on thicker white)? I'm guessing that you custom made it.

I've been looking for a set for a modern 330, but can't even see any sellers of the blank sheet material anywhere - they all seem to do a Fender like 3-ply black/white/black.

I've recently been trying to mimic it by bevelling the edges of a stock white set, spraying the top black, razor scraping the bevelled edge and buffing the top. The results are mixed - buffing near the edge is a nightmare:roll: Do you know anywhere I could try?

330FG:
1)push pull 5th knob for .0047 cap across the bridge pickup for vintage options
2)Fender TBX tone control on the neck pickup. All the way left-tone cut/middle detent-out of the circuit/all the way right-slightly brightens.
3)Vintage Toaster Pickups

360/12FG:
1)push pull 5th knob for .0047 cap across the bridge pickup for vintage options.
2)Tonestyler 17 position(1st being bypass)varitone(bridge)reducing treble in very small increments. Removes ice pick sounds without compromising tone.
3)Vintage Toaster Pickups

5th knobs work as stock in either position.

4003AFG-Vintage Toaster Pickup in neck.

Oh, and "It's a Mod, Mod World" is a great song by a chronic Rick users "Squier". Why they are never mentioned here is beyond me.

godber wrote: Paul

Is the lower pickguard 2-ply black and white (thinner black on thicker white)? I'm guessing that you custom made it.

I've been looking for a set for a modern 330, but can't even see any sellers of the blank sheet material anywhere - they all seem to do a Fender like 3-ply black/white/black.

I've recently been trying to mimic it by bevelling the edges of a stock white set, spraying the top black, razor scraping the bevelled edge and buffing the top. The results are mixed - buffing near the edge is a nightmare:roll: Do you know anywhere I could try?

Mark, it's commercially-available 3-ply. Both of these guards were custom-made by me.

Buffing near the edge of a guard should not be a "nightmare". Use a rotary buffer and be sure it's rotating away from the edge, not toward it. That way, it won't catch.

Here's another option that I did on my resto-modded '60 365 Capri: tortoise shell/white/black 3-ply on the bottom, gold acrylic on top:



This is a nice classic look, and goes well with brown stove knobs...

Man, I would love to have that setup...tort/gold, Kauffman and amber switch tip.

Thanks for the info Paul. That tortoise shell looks sublime with that colour.