Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello- I haven't really contributed to the forum for some time though I've been lurking and looking. But today I took delivery of my third Rickenbacker; A 610/6 from (apparently) December 1988. I never thought I'd be buying another Rickenbacker unless I got myself a 4003 (or 4005!), but GAS got me! I'd just sold a vibraphone and then I saw this on another forum:

It's a bit of a beater covered with chips and with a mismatched scratchplate but I saw it and it looked so cool!


It sounds great, although it might take me a while to get used to the 'compact' nature of the body. Mind you, I haven't tried it standing up yet.

There's not much info on these things out there, is there?

Hi Congrats !

But... Photos pleeeeaaase !

Greetings

peter

Congrats, Mark! Nice geetar. I used to have a 660/12 and a 660 75th anniversary, but decided I like bigger boddies better, hence my 330 that i have. Perhaps Jetglo will make it feel larger.

Excellent find!!

Very cool! Congrats and have fun with your 610!

Congrats, Dog ! !

Cheers chaps!
As requested, here's a few more pics.

I've had my first couple of hours of actually playing, and I have to report that I am still in love with it.

It feels incredibly small and the playing position is different to my usual Jazzmaster/360/Casino style. It makes me feel a bit more rock and roll, and much taller! Sounds great though- very tight and great with fuzz. It's also really nice going from the 610 to my 360/12- it makes the 12 string fretboard seem like a football pitch in comparison! All those chords I usually struggle to get my fingers into are just so simple after playing the 610!

I've replaced the large white scratchplate with a black one. I kind of like the "none more black" look. A black TRC would be good, but I can live with the white one.

Nice guitar! Good thing you found it before I did. I'm always on the lookout for those, great value on an underappreciated Ric. I've got four of them, three 610/6s, and one 610/12. My black 610 is also pretty beat up and dinged, but sounds great. Came with toasters. I gig with these regularly and really like the fact they're so light, but yet have a pretty full sound.

Here's a pic of me playing the 12-string during a recent gig.



Here's my collection of 610s

Congrats on your new old 610. That is quite an impressive collection you have. The 600 series guitars are the underappreciated gems of Rickenbacker. I walked into the Philadelphia Guitar show last November with no intention or thought whatsoever of buying a Rickenbacker. Found my way over to the "Pick of the Ricks" booth and a Ruby Red 620/6 just caught my eye...just looked amazing. Decided to try it out and I was just floored by all the different sounds I could get out of it plus the 620 felt like it was tailor made for me (I'm about 5'4" and have small hands). Looked at the price tag and was pleasantly surprised...ponied up and took it home. Now I want a 660/12....someday. Anybody who believes all the myths about Ricks being one trick ponies needs to play a 600 series guitar.

Thanks John That's a nice collection of 610s!
Do you not find the twelve-string a little cramped, though? Does the 610/12 have a wider neck than the six-string? I know it's a cliche when talking about Ric 12s, but honestly, when I go to my 360/12 after playing my 610, the fretboard feels like an aircraft carrier deck! Which is nice, as it means I can do all the stuff I can't usually do!

I managed to gig my 610 the week before Christmas and it was more than satisfactory, I'm pleased to say. I was swapping between it and my Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster, which has a much more substantial neck and chunky frets, as well as a longer scale length. However, any worries I had regarding not being able to quickly re-adjust to one guitar after playing the other were completely unfounded. Fortunately!

Sounds-wise, it proved itself quite able to cope with our set which varies between stuff by the likes of Echo and The Bunnymen, Love, The Black Angels and Black Sabbath - yep, the 610 handled War Pigs with aplomb! Lots of fuzz and feedback fun. My only criticism would be that I struggled with explorations at 'the dusty end' where the skinny frets require a little more dexterity than I managed at times, but that's entirely a case of blaming the guitar I think!

So all-in-all, I'd say I'm quite happy with what was a bit of an impulse purchase. I'm not sure whether it was much of a bargain it was (it was about $800) given it's condition, but I bought it as a guitar rather than an investment, so I can live with that.

dogload wrote:our set which varies between stuff by the likes of Echo and The Bunnymen,

Curious, what Bunnymen stuff do you do?

Tommy wrote:

dogload wrote:our set which varies between stuff by the likes of Echo and The Bunnymen,

Curious, what Bunnymen stuff do you do?

We do several Bunnymen songs- Show Of Strength, Heads Will Roll, Monkeys, All That Jazz and Lips Like Sugar.
We used to do more, as we started out as a couple of Bunnymen fans who hadn't played in a band for ages, who then decided to make a band!