Why No 360/12 Wide neck - like the 1993/Plus

[3bound]

My favorite Ric besides the Rose morris Ric Pete townsend used to play, is the 360/12 in Jet Glo BUT the neck is pretty narrow for a big guy like myself ...6'2' and 225 pounds.
My hands are pretty big and although I can play a 360/12 it is not a very good match for me. The 6 string feels better in a 360 Jet Glo.

The 1993 Plus came along and it does have the wider neck, cool "f" hole, and binding top and back so I bought one of in Fire Glo.
Really sweet guitar. Great sound and feel.
But still would love a 360/12 Jet Glo with that wider neck like on the 660/12 and the 1993 Plus.

Maybe it will come along at some point and I'll be first in line

[admin]

Kevin thanks for weighing in with regard to your neck preference for a Rickenbacker 12 string. I see your preference for the 360/12 model.
I am wondering, however, if you have you tried the 660/12 model to see if it is a comfortable fit?

[3bound]

I was considering a 660 but wanted to go with the hollow body.
I still may end up getting a 660 if it is the only other choice in a wider nut for a 12 string.

[steverok]

I own a 1993+, and it is a wonder that more of the Ric 12-strings do not have this fretboard width. It would be great if they offered a 2 pick-up, semi-hollow model with the wider fretboard and cats-eye hole. Probably will never happen though ...

[Tubwompus]

I own a 1993+, and it is a wonder that more of the Ric 12-strings do not have this fretboard width. It would be great if they offered a 2 pick-up, semi-hollow model with the wider fretboard and cats-eye hole. Probably will never happen though ...

I agree with this.^^^
Essentially, my objective was the George model with a more useable (to myself) neck width.
That said, once I got my 1993+ in my hands, I had an extremely difficult time complaining.

[iiipopes]

Mr. JH addressed this on the factory forum some years ago. In short, the traditional stock 360/12 neck width is selling too well to change.

[3bound]

Yeah I get it. It is hard to complain when the numbers keep selling the traditional 12.
I should give the 360 12 another try for a few weeks and see how things go....

[Tubwompus]

Along with my 1993+, I have a 660/12 and a 350/12v63, which I believe has a 330/360-spec neck. Definitely a differently feeling bit of real estate with 12 strings above it, compared to my other two.

[stringsncords]

The 1993 Plus is absolutely a great guitar (I have one), but I would actually prefer a similar guitar model with 2 pickups,
OR a 360/12 C63 with the wide neck of the 1993 Plus. The 660/12 just feels unbalanced to me, with the wide neck and thin body.

[pauleway]

I own the 1993Plus,(MapleGlo) and the 660/12,(MapleGlo), and love them both. Been patiently waiting for them to come out with the 360/12 (McGuinn style) with the wide neck to complete my trifecta, but I'm not getting any younger!
Owned the standard 360/12 with the narrow neck and went through the process of:
1. Loving it and telling myself I'll adjust to the narrow neck
2. Not playing it too much (or hardly at all), but telling myself I'll get use to it, and it's just too beautiful of a guitar not to have
3. Finally facing reality and selling it because it was just too hard (for me) to play Some of us just have those fat fingers, and are not talented enough to adjust to that narrow neck, and believe me - we've tried!!

I'm sure there are many more Ric lovers out there that went through exactly the same process.
I'm truly happy with my 1993Plus and 660/12 wide necks, but being a huge Byrds/McGuinn fan, a 360/12 wide neck is what I hope to own before the fire dies!!

[3bound]

Set up... Set up... Set up

Well it appears to me after playing a "well set up" 360/12 that set up is everything.

They actually play quite well provided it has been set up properly. I played one that was almost effortless to play.

Incidentally the 660/12 I just bought was a tough player as the nut slots were just too high and made playing down at the nut a real chore.
Not that big a deal to fix but I'm going to certainy get my hands and a 360/12 and get it set up just right.

It's all about the set up

[Jangleman]

The simple solution to the narrow neck on 12 string 300s is a wider spaced nut. I very nearly gave up on my gorgeous 330/12 MB by trading for a Gretsch 12 but at the last minute decided to try a wider spaced nut (requires 42s not 46s) and at the same time fit a 12 saddle bridge. The result is a total transformation. My 330/12 now plays as easy as a 6 string. The separate saddles allow much better tuning and more accurate intonation. I have a 660/6 FG (even more gorgeous) and the neck on that is a perfect width for a 12 but I like the hollow body 300s. Wider nut + 12 saddle bridge = massively improved pleasure.

[thark]

Hi Jangleman. How did you get/make a wider spaced nut? Details?

Cheers,

KB

[Jangleman]

Hi KB,

Rickysounds.co.uk does a wider spaced nut for all ric 12 strings, except the 660 and 1993 plus, at £21.99. Hope that helps. It does work a treat.

Jangleman.

[thark]

Thanks, Jangleman.

From the photo on Rickysounds it looks like the string spacing is considerably improved ... so much so that the high and low E strings are almost above the fret bevels! No matter. I already have one on order.

Cheers,

Keith