Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi Guys. I'm new here and am fascinated by this 370/12RM. I'm a player but also a collector. I have several vintage Gibsons in perfect condition and am looking to add the 370/12RM to my collection. I have a lead on a beautiful 1989 370/12RM Roger McGuin in the black finish with all the paper work. My question's are how collectible is this guitar, is it a sought after guitar, and is it considered one of the better Ric 12 strings? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,

bj

It all depends, really. Collectors have shelled out an enormous amount of dough (over $8k) for MG McGuinns. However, they are worth it, because of their versatility, onboard compressor, managable control layout and onboard compressor.

If the McGuinn is what you really want, go ahead and buy it!

They are also valued for their '60s-style necks which feel thinner (but not narrower) than those of the stock Rick 12-strings.

Definitely collectible - only 1,000 in existence from what I've read, and John Hall has stated he will not reissue this model.

The closest thing we ever got to a reissue of the McGuinn was the 370/12V67, and even then, that too was a limited edition. And Ron is correct, necks on all 60s RI 12-string are thinner, but are slightly wider. Not as narrow as a stock '89 360/12, but not 660/12 wide, either.

Thanks everyone. This has been extremely educational and helpful. It seems like this would be a smart purchase. I just may have to pull the trigger!

bj

Go ahead, let us know the results!

BTW, I added "onboard compressor" twice for emphasis!

From what I know, jetglo (black) is probably the least produced colour of the 370/12RM, I'd get it, even if you have to sell some of your gibsons.

Thanks so much guys. I went for it. I should get it by the end of next week. I'll let you all know when it's here and I've actually played it. Can't wait.

bjdeluxe wrote:Hi Guys. I'm new here and am fascinated by this 370/12RM. I'm a player but also a collector. I have several vintage Gibsons in perfect condition and am looking to add the 370/12RM to my collection. I have a lead on a beautiful 1989 370/12RM Roger McGuin in the black finish with all the paper work. My question's are how collectible is this guitar, is it a sought after guitar, and is it considered one of the better Ric 12 strings? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,

bj

Prices are climbing up on RM's... which means increasing demand to a certain degree and maybe awakening collectors. BUT... don't buy collectible guitars. Buy guitars that are going to be collectible Maybe you should not buy it for playability btw as the compressor is working in a little strange way with some basic problems - losing for instance everything when power drops only a little. Even John Hall said in an interview once in Guitar Magazine that Rickenbacker should have done a bit more RD on the onboard compressor before releasing it (I've quoted John Hall exact somewhere else around here...).

I've now been messing a bit around with my old guitars magazines and found The Guitar Magazine, Vol. 7, No 8, 1997 and on pages 34 to 38 there's a nice article telling the story of The Byrds. And in a frame on page 36 The Rickenbacker RM signature 370/12 is under the microscope. In this article John Hall, CEO and owner off Rickenbacker is interviewed.

It goes (quoting the mag):

John Hall, head of Rickenbacker International Corporation, now wishes they had taken more time to work on the compression circuit. "With a bit more work we could have made the compressor quieter, and made it behave more linearly when the 9V battery started running low," Hall says. "The trouble with the McGuinn model is that the compression volume is directly related to the battery voltage - but inversely unfortunately. As the battery discharges it's gets louder, and the gain is so much, you'll receive Radio Moscow!"

The article btw also mention the original 1988 price: $ 1,399. It also says that a few examples without enhanced electronics were available at $ 1,299 and finally that in 1996 the last new RM was sold for $ 2,500. In GB the asking price a year later were up til £ 3,000 (app. $ 5,000).

Only 1,000 were built all in all - 500 in Rogers favorit mapleglo, 250 i jetglo and 250 in fireglo - for your information. Necks and bodies were hand shaped (or rather shaped by hand...) and once again the triangular inlays in the fretboards extented all the way across the FB.

End of Rick RM lesson

For what it's worth, the onboard compressor in the RM will drain the 9v battery quickly, so change batteries at the first sign of "crackling" or distortion. If you can find one, install a LITHIUM 9v battery. Although they last much longer (up to 10x), these batteries are expensive. I've bought mine at Radio Shack.....I think they're around $12. I keep the compressor on the #6 position for maximum compression with treble boost. IMHO, there's no other outboard box or pedal that can match the incredible sound.

RonLovesRic12strings wrote:For what it's worth, the onboard compressor in the RM will drain the 9v battery quickly, so change batteries at the first sign of "crackling" or distortion. If you can find one, install a LITHIUM 9v battery. Although they last much longer (up to 10x), these batteries are expensive. I've bought mine at Radio Shack.....I think they're around $12. I keep the compressor on the #6 position for maximum compression with treble boost. IMHO, there's no other outboard box or pedal that can match the incredible sound.

There's also the possibility of getting rechargeable 9V batteries (I'm not sure that Lithium batteries can be recharged...) or simply bypass the compressor cirquit and run the guitar thru a Janglebox - which is a better compressor unit in any respect.

I got the guitar the other day and there's something weird about it. It's wired backwards! The volume control that's supposed adjust the neck pickup actually adjusts the bridge pickup, and the volume control that's supposed to adjust the bridge pickup adjusts the neck pickup. The toggle switch is also backwards, up acts as if it were down, and down acts as if it were up. Anyone ever come across this or is this normal?

thanks,

bj

bjdeluxe wrote:I got the guitar the other day and there's something weird about it. It's wired backwards! The volume control that's supposed adjust the neck pickup actually adjusts the bridge pickup, and the volume control that's supposed to adjust the bridge pickup adjusts the neck pickup. The toggle switch is also backwards, up acts as if it were down, and down acts as if it were up. Anyone ever come across this or is this normal?

Sorry to hear about this. It's possible that someone did some work on your Ric sometime between leaving the factory and you owning it. Not sure if this helps, but the manual for your Ric is here:
http://www.rickenbacker.com/catalog_boo ... og=mcguinn
Are you handy with circuits and soldering? The wiring schematics are here:
http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/19514.pdf
It's possible your Ric is wired correctly, but the bridge and neck pickups were installed in the wrong positions. While you're at it, you may want to check the resistance of your pickups. I wonder if someone swapped out the 12.4K ohm toasters for newer 7.4K ohm ones, and in the process managed to install them in the wrong positions.