TRC 82 FrankenRIck 360/12WB

[mglc2081b]

Hi guys,

I acquired a 1982 360/12WB a few months ago. It needed quite a bit of work and I finally have it to playing shape. It has some miles on it and the previous owner had attempted to convert it into a 360/12v64. It was a half-assed job to say the least and it needed quite a few fixes just to get it playable. The frets were worn and the laquer on the board was in bad shape. I had it refretted and relaquered by Chicago Fret Works. It still had HiGains in it and since the conversion was half-done and went ahead and put toasters in. It had the 50's style TV knobs (God knows why), which I replaced with the correct vintage black knobs. The vintage reissue Kluson tuners were in really sorry shape, so I replaced them with 2 brand new sets of the reissue tuners. It came with the R tailpiece which I have retained in favour of the trapeze that would be appropriate for a v64 or c63. It has the X-bracing which (I think) would put it closer to a V64 than a C63, and it was made closer to when the V64 was manufactured. Colour is Jetglo.

So with that said, the previous owner had acquired a set of gold pickguards and a gold TRC for it. It looks to be a factor reissue TRC with the pearloid back paint, as do the guards. Trouble is, I really hate the gold on this thing. Some think it looks great, and it's all a matter of taste. I am wondering where/what the TRC came from. I can send pictures if anyone is curious.

To my point: I'd actually like to trade for a white TRC. I must fit a 360/12WB with no mods needed, and in turn will supply my gold one. Is anyone here interested in such a trade? I don't really need the guards as I can purchase them new pretty easily. But I suppose if it's the whole set, it's the whole set.

Thanks

PW

[jps]

Hi guys,

...It has the X-bracing which (I think) would put it closer to a V64 than a C63.....It looks to be a factor reissue TRC with the pearloid back paint, as do the guards..
Thanks

PW

Oh, no!!! Another PW???

Welcome Peter!

X bracing would make it more like a C63, actually.

TTBOMK, RIC never made a pearloid back painted TRC or pickguard.

[8mileshigher]

Re cross bracing, my '81 WB has cross bracing. My two V64 models from the 1990s do not.... going from memory on the latter two. Perhaps cross bracing ended for general production models sometime in the 80s, except for special re-issue models, like the C63 ?

[mglc2081b]

Good info.

So the TRC looks very close to that on the reissues with the logo painted on the back (rather than the raised letters like my '82 360/6) and resembles the 660/12 TRC. I have a suspicion that that's what it came from. I don't have my 660/12 any more to compare it with. Anyway, it does look like an authentic RIC TRC.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gesssmtoj7jsm4l/TRC1.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t3ywej6po2fm45x/TRC2.jpg

Thoughts?

Thanks for the input guys.

[paologregorio]

X bracing continued at least through the end of 1984, because my AZ Blue 360 WB has X bracing.

[jps]

As best as I can tell from those photos, yes, the TRC looks original to a 660/12.

[paologregorio]

It would be interesting to see how the WB was "half-assed" converted to a V64; did the previous owner cut the fretboard/neck down to 21 frets and move the neck pickup forward, or was the conversion one in which the previous owner installed "vintage" type hardware/knobs/etc, on the guitar? Curious to see this. The headstock looks nice, btw; I like the narrower 12 string headstock with the Kluson or Schaller vintage-style tuners; much more attractive than the bigger headstock with modern Grovers or modern Schallers installed on some Ricks of that era, but just six strings, IIRC.