350V63 and the iiipopes tone mod
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2018 3:35 pm
Hi folks. I have been a long time reader of this forum, but this is my first (and lengthy) post. I have picked up a LOT of great info from this group (thanks for that!), but I finally feel that I have something helpful to add. I wanted to provide some insight into my experience with a recent modification of my 350V63 Liverpool.
I picked up my 350 in July after a long absence from the Ric world. I have always gravitated towards the 360 hi-gain sound (I am a big fan of Peter Buck’s sound), but I also really wanted the body style and sound that Lennon brought to the early Beatles records. I fell in love with this 350 for it’s 325 looks and how the longer scale fit my hands. After buying it, I found that I could get pretty darned close to the Beatles rhythm tone that I was looking for, and by using the bottom switch position only I could even get close to that Paul Weller early Jam sound, but I couldn’t quite get that live REM tone from the middle position. I was rolling the 5th knob mix so far into the bridge pickup that there was no noticeable differences between the middle and bottom switch position tones. Nice Ric jangle, but missing that bottom end in the mix that I felt that it needed.
I read about the “iiipopes tone mod” on both here and the Rickenbacker company forum and from what I read, putting in a push/pull switch that took the center pickup out of the mix in all of the toggle positions sounded like the fix that I was looking for. I asked for a copy of the schematic from iiipopes here, and he was good enough to provide me with one. I took the schematic and the 350 to my tech about 2 weeks ago to get the work done.
I just got it back last Thursday, and spent a good amount of time with it this past week. While I may still be in the honeymoon phase, all I can say is “wow”. This mod has added a new layer of tonal options. I am able to dial in a nice, classic Rickenbacker ring that has that Ric chime with a nice balance of low end that fills it out. I also have the full palate of 1, 2, or 3 pickups as I need. In other words, I can get just about any 6 string Ric tone that I could ask for. This really is a great mod.
As a point of reference, I am playing through a Mesa TA-30 combo, so I have access to both the Vox style chime and Fender-esque tube compression, which also helps me get closer to exactly what I want. Overall, I would say that my one quest is over.
So thank you, iiipopes. This mod has added to what I already considered to be a great instrument. If someone out there is thinking about doing this but is still on the fence, I would say “go for it, definitely”. You won’t be disappointed!
Sorry to have written a novella for my first post, and thank you all again for the helpful information that you put on these forums. I hope that this adds to that!
I picked up my 350 in July after a long absence from the Ric world. I have always gravitated towards the 360 hi-gain sound (I am a big fan of Peter Buck’s sound), but I also really wanted the body style and sound that Lennon brought to the early Beatles records. I fell in love with this 350 for it’s 325 looks and how the longer scale fit my hands. After buying it, I found that I could get pretty darned close to the Beatles rhythm tone that I was looking for, and by using the bottom switch position only I could even get close to that Paul Weller early Jam sound, but I couldn’t quite get that live REM tone from the middle position. I was rolling the 5th knob mix so far into the bridge pickup that there was no noticeable differences between the middle and bottom switch position tones. Nice Ric jangle, but missing that bottom end in the mix that I felt that it needed.
I read about the “iiipopes tone mod” on both here and the Rickenbacker company forum and from what I read, putting in a push/pull switch that took the center pickup out of the mix in all of the toggle positions sounded like the fix that I was looking for. I asked for a copy of the schematic from iiipopes here, and he was good enough to provide me with one. I took the schematic and the 350 to my tech about 2 weeks ago to get the work done.
I just got it back last Thursday, and spent a good amount of time with it this past week. While I may still be in the honeymoon phase, all I can say is “wow”. This mod has added a new layer of tonal options. I am able to dial in a nice, classic Rickenbacker ring that has that Ric chime with a nice balance of low end that fills it out. I also have the full palate of 1, 2, or 3 pickups as I need. In other words, I can get just about any 6 string Ric tone that I could ask for. This really is a great mod.
As a point of reference, I am playing through a Mesa TA-30 combo, so I have access to both the Vox style chime and Fender-esque tube compression, which also helps me get closer to exactly what I want. Overall, I would say that my one quest is over.
So thank you, iiipopes. This mod has added to what I already considered to be a great instrument. If someone out there is thinking about doing this but is still on the fence, I would say “go for it, definitely”. You won’t be disappointed!
Sorry to have written a novella for my first post, and thank you all again for the helpful information that you put on these forums. I hope that this adds to that!
