Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi all,

I received this fabulous 330TQ on Wednesday. It appears to have been floor stock that was put away for a few years - there are a few minor dings and the strings are as old as the guitar, but even so it plays and sounds as sweet as anything I've got. I now realise what I've been missing all these years. On top of that, the TQ finish is amazing. More pics when I can nab the camera from my lovely wife....

Congrats again, Evan.

I agree with you on the TQ.... looks especially good on a larger-bodied Rick IMO. Yours is a cracker!!

Nice one Evan a birthday treat?

Congrats, Evan!

scotty wrote:Nice one Evan a birthday treat?

A present that my wife didn't know she had bought me.....

Nice score, Evan

antipodean wrote:A present that my wife didn't know she had bought me.....

Congratulations, she'll love it.

Way to go dude! Slap some gold guards and TRC on there for a cool look.

That's a beautiful color on a 330.

antipodean wrote:Hi all,

I received this fabulous 330TQ on Wednesday. It appears to have been floor stock that was put away for a few years - there are a few minor dings and the strings are as old as the guitar, but even so it plays and sounds as sweet as anything I've got. I now realise what I've been missing all these years. On top of that, the TQ finish is amazing. More pics when I can nab the camera from my lovely wife....

Nice Score.
Nothing like waking up a sweet Guitar
That color would look amazing under stage lights.

This 330 looks very much like a guitar from a store in Adelaide which was sold recently and then resold via ebay, a 2003 model if I am not mistaken. I have played it in the shop a few times over a number of years, very nice colour. It did have one issue with a very deep nick (almost a knife cut) in the 4 or 5th fret right under the G string, which put me off, plus the massive price mark up this particular store applies to its stock.
I believe this is the reason it did not sell for years. The last time I saw it, a pretty radical fret job had been performed on it, certainly no more cut evident in the fret. As a result the frets looked very flat almost jumbo, but it still appeared to have some wear left in it.
Hope you got a good deal on it.

I ended up import/buying a brand new Ric from the Asia-Pacific distributor before the credit crunch impact, at a fraction the stores asking price/s. This store was asking AUD$9500.00 a month ago for a 360/12C63, any takers. I hope RIC keep the current Asia/Pacific (Japan) distributor arrangement in place, at least it provides an alternative source to protect against this sort of situation

Hi Rowbow,

Hmmm....very interesting. The guitar was indeed from the city of churches. However the frets are the same size as on my 660/12 (though a tad flatter)... and the fingerboard is very clean, so if there has been a refret, it was the utmost of pro jobs. I would have expected a few cracks or chips in the fretboard finish, and I can't find any. Maybe a bodacious bit of fret levelling has occured? There is a little fretwear on the first five frets, a little guitar-hanger mark on the neck and some small dings, consistent with it being a showroom hack, or maybe from the original buyer's (private seller's) light use.

To put the cost in perspective, I would have had to pay around JPY 100,000 for a Japan-sourced 330 or USD 950 for a US-sourced 330 to get as good a deal, factoring in shipping and taxes.

Being able to buy from Rickenbacker Asia rather than just rely on local dealers (who source from Rickenbacker Asia anyway), but the recent strong yen has been a bit of an impediment. I've relied on second-hand deals from the US and Japan instead. The odd gem does turn up locally, but you really have to be in the right place at the right time.

Also the city of pubs.

It was only a heavy fret releveling, no refretting was done. I see the stores pricing sticker is also still on the scratch plate.
It is a nice colour a very attractive guitar.

I made an offer on this guitar when it was in the shop considering the work that needed to be done and its age.
They were effectively charging over double the Asia-Pacific distributor asking price. This was back in late 2006, before RIC started the string of price increases and the exchange rate was good.

I do not buy from local dealers any more, the service is terrible, the prices are ridiculous and it is impossible to try guitars out when the store is continually pumping out death metal on the P.A. at ear bleeding levels. This is my experience of this particular store.

Just as well we have ebay and direct distribution. I believe the Ozzi dollar is predicted to hit around 0.85c against the greenback by September, so this will help.

Good luck and enjoy.

Thanks Robert, and welcome! I was forgetting my manners there!