New member and first time Ric owner!
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 4:36 pm
Firstly let me say hello from sunny Manchester, UK. I've lusted after Rickenbacker's, especially 330's, since my childhood days obsessing over Paul Weller in his The Jam days and Johnny Marr and his Jetglo 330. I'm a drummer first and foremost but I gave that up (at the ripe old age of 15 
) to play bass in a local band. I've always had a guitar but I'd deffo class myself as a novice player! No soloing here!! Scroll on a few years and I finally decided to do something about my Ric itch.. I've played about on a few 330's/360's I'd come across in shops over the years but none of them seemed to feel right to me? Having large hands and fingers maybe didn't help either? Anyway I saw a 1980 330 advertised in a local shop so I decided to check it out. Within minutes of picking it up it just felt and played so well.
The shop had it listed as 'Walnut' but after a bit of research, mainly on here, I believe its an Autumnglo finish as its satin rather than gloss. Some bits of the body have 'brassed' quite nicely; that is to say the satin finish has gone shiny with wear such as the upper part of the body where your right arm rests. Its got a few chips here and there but its only 5 years younger than me! I wish I was in such good shape!!
Once I got it home I did notice that the bridge pickup was out of alignment in relation to the strings and the bridge. I started to panic, thinking I'd been sold a dud but after more research it seems its not as uncommon as I thought. ( I unscrewed the pickup just to check it hadn't been 'offset' by a previous owner but the only holes present were the ones in use so it must have left the factory like that). I moved the pickup over last night and it looks tons better. It might be my ears fooling me but I could swear I can hear a difference too. Sadly the only cosmetic issue thats now arisen is the brown staining from the bottom of the foam pad is now visible. I can sort of live with it I think unless any of you guys know how it can be removed?
As a side note the guy in the shop, who I incidentally know but had lost touch with, told me they'd taken it in part exchange form Mark Radcliffe, a Radio/TV presenter/Journalist/Musician and all round nice guy from around these parts. No letters of authenticity etc. but I believe my pal and to be honest, if you're gonna invent a bogus ex-owner history to sell a guitar you'd probably choose someone else with a bit more guitar cache! No offence Mark if you're reading this!!
Here's some pics. They were taken today, post pickup surgery but I've also got some 'befores'. As I'm no Ric expert I'd be interested to hear from you guys regarding originality etc. I suspect its had a new nut at some point and its got a black pick guard too. I think I've only seen one other like mine with the others having a white pick guard? Tuners are Kluson Deluxe but I've seen different Kluson tuners on other 330's
) to play bass in a local band. I've always had a guitar but I'd deffo class myself as a novice player! No soloing here!! Scroll on a few years and I finally decided to do something about my Ric itch.. I've played about on a few 330's/360's I'd come across in shops over the years but none of them seemed to feel right to me? Having large hands and fingers maybe didn't help either? Anyway I saw a 1980 330 advertised in a local shop so I decided to check it out. Within minutes of picking it up it just felt and played so well. The shop had it listed as 'Walnut' but after a bit of research, mainly on here, I believe its an Autumnglo finish as its satin rather than gloss. Some bits of the body have 'brassed' quite nicely; that is to say the satin finish has gone shiny with wear such as the upper part of the body where your right arm rests. Its got a few chips here and there but its only 5 years younger than me! I wish I was in such good shape!!
Once I got it home I did notice that the bridge pickup was out of alignment in relation to the strings and the bridge. I started to panic, thinking I'd been sold a dud but after more research it seems its not as uncommon as I thought. ( I unscrewed the pickup just to check it hadn't been 'offset' by a previous owner but the only holes present were the ones in use so it must have left the factory like that). I moved the pickup over last night and it looks tons better. It might be my ears fooling me but I could swear I can hear a difference too. Sadly the only cosmetic issue thats now arisen is the brown staining from the bottom of the foam pad is now visible. I can sort of live with it I think unless any of you guys know how it can be removed?
As a side note the guy in the shop, who I incidentally know but had lost touch with, told me they'd taken it in part exchange form Mark Radcliffe, a Radio/TV presenter/Journalist/Musician and all round nice guy from around these parts. No letters of authenticity etc. but I believe my pal and to be honest, if you're gonna invent a bogus ex-owner history to sell a guitar you'd probably choose someone else with a bit more guitar cache! No offence Mark if you're reading this!!
Here's some pics. They were taken today, post pickup surgery but I've also got some 'befores'. As I'm no Ric expert I'd be interested to hear from you guys regarding originality etc. I suspect its had a new nut at some point and its got a black pick guard too. I think I've only seen one other like mine with the others having a white pick guard? Tuners are Kluson Deluxe but I've seen different Kluson tuners on other 330's
- Any idea's what the writing relates to? Looks like mine was destined to be a 320 at some point??
- Do the caps/pots look original?
