Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Just read a post on another forum from a guy who just got his first Rickenbacker - a 330 six string. He loves it and says he is now saving up to buy a Ric 12 string. I immediately thought, why not just buy the classic 12 string first?

That leads me to ask: Do you think most first Rickenbackers bought are the 12 string model? Everybody loves them, everybody wants one, they are the flagship of the Rickenbacker line...are they the first purchase for those buying a Rickenbacker? My first Ric was a 12 string model. I wonder if that is the norm.

Well, I don't know about that. Rickenbacker doesn't make a 12-string bass!

Tommy wrote:...the 12 string model...they are the flagship of the Rickenbacker line...

I don't know about that; I just see them as a 12 string version of their respective 6 string model.

Of course, Paul & I are bassists, primarily, so what do we know, anyway?

I suppose it depends on your needs. I couldn't possibly care less about having a 12 string. I have no desire to play one.

I know a lot of Ric players might have grown up on the Byrds and other bands that were using 12's. Personally, i'm a younger guy and those sounds couldn't be farther from what drove me to buy a Ric.

I have a 360/6. A few of the guys I listened to playing Rics are:
-Peter Buck of REM
-Tom Linton of Jimmy Eat World
-Guy Picciotto of Fugazi
-Keely Davis of Engine Down

I was in college in 1998 when I saw Jimmy Eat World in New Jersey. They stepped on stage...Both guitar players had Vox AC-30TBX's, one with a Ric 360 and the other with a Les Paul. The drummer clicked the sticks 4 times, and they opened up with this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=093MUTp0Z2c

I was in the front row. I had never heard a cranked Vox AC-30 before. IMO, this band has gone way down hill since their early days. But back then, their performance was flawless. It may not be the quintessential Ric and AC-30 tone most people around here think of. But after I heard that sound, I was done. The guitar tone was glorious. If you were in your early 20's and into indie rock in the 1990's, Jim Adkins and Tom Linton of Jimmy Eat World were guitar gods. That performance was probably the single reason I play a Ric and an AC-30.

bassduke49 wrote:Well, I don't know about that. Rickenbacker doesn't make a 12-string bass!

Yeah, right on...

My first Ric would have been a 12-string if I'd been able to find a 450-12 back in '66. I wound up with a Vox Phantom XII, and what I really wanted was a Ric 360-12 OS, but I couldn't afford one, and nobody in San Francisco had any Ric twelves in stock anyway, believe it or not! The only Ric 12 I had the ghost of a chance of being able to afford was the 450-12, and like I said, I couldn't find one. About 1970, I acquired a '67 450 6-string, and realized that 450's and I don't get along so well. The only other Ric I've had was a '72 Jetglo 381 6-string that I got in the early '90's. Beautiful guitar, not in the best playing condition--someone had taken a hammer to the bridge in an attempt to get it to intonate with .008-gauge strings, and the frets were worn pretty badly. A bridge replacement and a set of toasters helped--the original Hi-Gains were pretty muddy; I've heard newer ones that sounded much better. I never got comfortable with it, so I got rid of it after a few years. A perfect example of why you shouldn't buy a guitar just because it's pretty! To be fair, the 381 reissues I've tried are a lot better than my '72 was. I'd buy one of those if I could ever afford it!

Yeppers.....it was in my case. I bought a '99 360-12MG that had a neck issue, twisting towards the bottom a few degrees, despite truss rod adjustments....it sounded great, despite the problem.....but I ended up selling that one and buying a '67 330MG that popped up in a local 2nd hand guitar shop.

To OP: I wonder the same thing. I would dare say yes, most people's first Rick is likely a 12, since there are far more 6 strings alternatives than 12 string alternatives. But who knows?

Just had a look at the gallery. Surely it is not representative.

I searched only using the checkbox for 12 strings and 6 strings.

Here are the results:
12 strings: 1347
6 strings: 3133

Hotzenplotz wrote:Just had a look at the gallery. Surely it is not representative.

Here are the results:
12 strings: 1347
6 strings: 3133

Interesting research.
True that certainly is not empirical evidence, but it may be a good representation of how it really may be in the market. 3 to 1 sales ratio in favor of 6 strings over 12 string models. I wonder if that is so.

In my opinion 12 string owners are a bit more "special interested".

They maybe decide more often to put it into the register. And there are a lot of 6 string users that just want to play a Rickenbacker, mostly influenced by the image of Rickenbacker.

A comparison: I am member in a forum for a special car. 10% of these cars have a different car body. When there is a meeting for these series 90% of the cars that appear are from the 10% part.


In other words: I think there are much more times 6 than 12 strings out there.

I had 4 basses and 3 six strings before buying a twelve.

I'm possibly not representative but my first, and only, Ric is a 12 string.
That said, it's definitely made me want a 6 string and I didn't really see that coming.

Forgive my ignorance but what's the idea behind the "register" - is it some sort of security thing?
Is it a good thing to add mine in there? (It's just a normal, modern Ric, so I can't see anyone (other than me) wanting to look at it.)

I'm of the opinion that nothing screams RICKENBACKER like a 330 or 360 or 370/12. If I could afford a 360/6, I'd probably pounce on the offer. But if it wasn't for George Harrison and Roger McGuinn playing their respective 12'ers, I would probably never have made my first Ric purchase: a red 1991 330/12!