Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I just bought a new 330 from Musiciansfriend(at an insanely good price) to replace an '87 that I foolishly sold a couple years ago.

I love the guitar, but it seems different than my old 330. Specifically, the neck seems chunkier and possibly wider, and I think the pickups sound different.

Are any model changes over the years documented on this forum or anyplace else?

Pickups were different in '87. The current day Ricks have gone back to a '60s style smaller headstock. The necks have varied through the years.

I played one today and the neck seem to be a bit more bigger then my friends 330
and its needs a setup with new strings and this 330 just came out of the box.

hmmm....1987-2009.

That's 22 years inbetween the two. Why would they be the same?

I definitely can't think of any model from any guitar company that hasn't changed one iota in 22 years (yes, even the strat has changed over time).

That's kinda what makes them cool, that an '87 feels different than an '09.
The necks are chunkier now, but the headstock is now a respectable (normal!) size. That's just a couple of the changes....

Yeah, I got a 330 from MF this summer as well and the neck bordered on baseball bat size. I just traded it away, but kept my 360 which has the slimmer Rickenbacker neck we're all familiar with.

Which end of the bat?

If the rest of the guitar makes the owner happy, why not just take it to a local luthier and have the neck shaved?

kelly wrote:Yeah, I got a 330 from MF this summer as well and the neck bordered on baseball bat size. I just traded it away.

Same here, exactly (even from MF).

From what I remember, the MF 330's (mine was JG) were from 2007, so i'm not sure if they are still the same.

Some people dig the fat necks, especially for lead playing. The one I got was fatter than any "chunky" tele neck I've ever played, couldn't groove with it myself.

collin wrote: Some people dig the fat necks, especially for lead playing.

I certainly do! My LP has an enormous neck on it, and that was the first thing that appealed to me about it. Great for the type of lead playing I normally do; tougher for the Malmsteen licks.

I find newer Rick necks quite comfy, and the thinner necks as well, but have actually played some Ricks that had necks that were far too slim to be comfortable to anybody. One was actually a 335F.

jingle_jangle wrote:Which end of the bat?

Which bat? I've had many bats (baseball, not the ones in the belfrey! ) and they also varied in "profike" ... some had thick handles, others thin handles, etc.

It's funny - I usually like big fat necks, but as I've mentioned before, my '05 360/12 had a 'baseball bat neck' that fatigued my hand after only an hour or two of playing.

paologregorio wrote:If the rest of the guitar makes the owner happy, why not just take it to a local luthier and have the neck shaved?

Or barber...

I don't know about 330's but I bought two 360's at the same time. They arrived the same day, one an '08 and one an '09. The '08 has the superslim patented Rick neck, the '09 just slightly fatter, but not MLB territory. I play the (ever so slightly)larger necked '09 regularly, it just feels great for leads. The '08 is destined to be a closet classic!

Anyone not happy with their "fat" neck Ricks can just sent them to me!
Never met a Rick neck I didn't like.

rickenbrother wrote:Anyone not happy with their "fat" neck Ricks can just sent them to me!
Never met a Rick neck I didn't like.

Now how did I know you were gonna say that Joey? OK I'll take the left overs...................