Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello, I'm brand new here, after getting my 1997 SPC VB reissue (1993) out of mothballs.
I bought the guitar about a dozen years ago and haven't had much time to play it properly until recently and I'm now in the process of reacquainting myself with it. The guitar is in like new condition and is beautiful. It just needs a bit of a setup, new strings and cleaning of the toggle switch.

I just have a few thoughts and questions:

-The frets are a quite low (and/or the lacquer on board is heavy). Just making sure but I'm assuming this is the spec for the vintage reissues? Still quite like it, it's just an adjustment for me.

-The bridge PU seems quite hot. tested at 12.55k. Is this typical of this era? (1993) or is this a odd one. Still sounds great with great clarity. Not sure if all are that hot. I'll test the N & M individually soon when I pull the control plate.

-I'm getting ready to change the old strings. What would be a good compromise between flatwounds and RW strings? I'm aware of half round or ground wound but never used them. My latest thought is Pyramid Nickel Classics RW w/round cores. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance. I'll post some pictures here when I have more time.

Nice! Those are great guitars. I wish Rickenbacker had kept them in the vintage lineup.

From what I remember, those early versions of the Toaster Top vintage pickups were very hot. So the reading you got sounds about right. The current versions are not as hot as that. There are a lot of folks--me included--who really like those hotter pickups. Enjoy the guitar. Oh yeah, the frets are very low--just like the originals.