Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey there, I’ve been lurking for a bit but this is my first post.
Totally understand if you don’t want to indulge this lengthy post, but here is me agonizing over getting a new 360:

I've always wanted a Rickenbacker 12 string.

Recently, even though I wasn't looking to buy a new guitar, I played a really nice 1980 360 6-string at my local vintage shop. And while it looked amazing and sounded nice, I couldn't keep it in tune up the neck. They said it needed a setup but a month later I heard back that there was an "issue" with one of the truss rods when they were setting it up and they'd sent it out somewhere else. In the meantime I'd read a bunch here and elsewhere about Rickenbackers and necks and various truss rod systems etc. I still haven't heard back but the truss rod thing and the reasonable for here ($1995 CDN) price were a bit of a red flag...so then I was sad and tried to stop thinking about it.
But instead my mind shifted *DANGER* to what I knew I really wanted: a 360 12-string.

So I've been looking around for a few weeks and managed to find a new one that was a return at another local store, very slightly discounted but with a full 1 year warranty (also includes a set up down the road.) Because of Covid I can't try it out in store but I can return it within 30 days. As you all know there's like a 1 year wait for these things so I'm kinda leaning toward grabbing it. It's approximately $3100 CDN ($2432 US) plus tax, still cheaper than any new or not-too-old 360 12-string or even 6-strings I'm seeing on Reverb lately but yikes expensive.

I guess my hesitation is in getting a "new" one as opposed to waiting who-knows-how-long for some kind of fantasy deal that might never come. I can't afford what the vintage ones are going for at this point, jeez I can't really afford $3200, it seems like madness but that's what they cost now I guess.

Love the Ricky sound but as far as tone goes, I'm not a purist in that regard. I mean getting a tone you like is huge; getting the exact tone someone else had in 1964 isn’t a priority for me. I’ve read all kinds of good and bad things about the hi-gains. I can understand changing to Toasters (and that seems like a cool option to have!) but some of the websites I've been seeing where people are rewiring the switches to old schematics and tracking down old polyester pots or whatever are beyond my scope and capability; for me it would feel like I’d do all that and then at the end of it I’d go home and I’d still not be George Harrison.
Which is too many words to say that I'm not looking so much to sound like Roger McGuinn or Tom Petty, I want to sound like me playing a Rickenbacker.

Anyhow, if you made it this far, thanks and I guess I'm looking for someone to talk me in or out of this. Love to hear from people who have the newer 12 string 360s.
Cheers!

Welcome to the RRF Brian!

I too am an Ontario based Brian, so I thought I would say hello.

My only 12 string RIC, is a FG 620 from 1980, so it isn't relevant to your specific question.

Long and Mcquades is likely a good place to try one out locally. Although I realize that everything is in lockdown at the moment.

Years ago we used to have a regular Ontario forum member meet up, ORAC we called it. I think the last one was seven years ago.

Ontario_RIC_fan wrote:Welcome to the RRF Brian!
I too am an Ontario based Brian, so I thought I would say hello.
Long and Mcquades is likely a good place to try one out locally. Although I realize that everything is in lockdown at the moment.

Ha, thanks for the welcome and response Brian!
Yeah, L&M is indeed the place where I found one but they aren't open for trying out.
What they're doing is allowing a full return within 30 days instead.

I've owned a 360/12, a 660/12 and currently have a 330/12 and a 360/12 WB, both of which have had a third pickup added, but will still play in all their original configurations if desired. At this point, I wouldn't sweat the fine details an awful lot. They all clearly sounded like Rickenbackers, which generally is not the case for other brands and they all sounded really good. You can always mod things in the future if you think you need to, but I doubt you will be disappointed with any well set up RIC twelve. The one thing I would suggest first is just to get your hands on one and make sure that you can work with the narrowness of the neck, which can be a problem for some folks. It can also be modified as a last resort, but that can run into a fair amount of money.

teb wrote:I've owned a 360/12, a 660/12 and currently have a 330/12 and a 360/12 WB, both of which have had a third pickup added, but will still play in all their original configurations if desired. At this point, I wouldn't sweat the fine details an awful lot. They all clearly sounded like Rickenbackers, which generally is not the case for other brands and they all sounded really good. You can always mod things in the future if you think you need to, but I doubt you will be disappointed with any well set up RIC twelve. The one thing I would suggest first is just to get your hands on one and make sure that you can work with the narrowness of the neck, which can be a problem for some folks. It can also be modified as a last resort, but that can run into a fair amount of money.

Great advice, I appreciate it.

Hello from the west coast of Canada, welcome to the forum! are you dead set on a 360 model? There are likely 330-12’s out there at a cheaper price that will get you the tones you’re after but without some of the extras like fancy inlays, binding and stereo outputs, if it’s the rounded 360 body style you’re after then you might be waiting a while for a great deal on one. When I decided to dip my toe into the Ric-12 string realm I found a $2,400 (CDN) that wasn’t my dream guitar but was a great entry point that I knew I wouldn’t lose my money on and then after 2 years with that I stepped up to the one I have now which I am in love with.

Good luck with your search!

Thanks Wizz.
That’s totally it, dipping my toe in. I am sort of partial to the 360.

So after thinking about it since December I just pulled the trigger on a 2020 360/12 Jetglo, pick it up next week.
I can return it within 30 days, and get a 1 year warranty. It was previously out for 1 day and returned so I got a bit off the price, $2479 US.
I agonized over used vs. new, different models, etc.
And the toasters vs. hi-gains thing...in the end there's nothing around here with toasters that is in my budget and if there was I'd have to wait at least a year anyway.
Like people have mentioned, with this guitar I can dip my toe in the crystal waters of lake Rickenbacker and if I like how it is then maybe down the road I can go more nuts with it.
Thanks for the input, folks.

bgm wrote:And the toasters vs. hi-gains thing...in the end there's nothing around here with toasters that is in my budget and if there was I'd have to wait at least a year anyway.

Nice choice ! 360 JetGlo is my favorite style. Don't worry about the hi-gains vs toasters. I may even prefer the hi-gains on all Ric's, including 12-strings. My experience is they generally produce a warmer and fuller chime.

Thanks Steve, I needed to hear that!

Congrats!

I have two 330-12 strings and love both. I can tell you that you can score a Rick 330-12 any day from Dave's Guitar Shop in Wisconsin for just over $2000 USD. Dave is a great guy and the shop has a spotless reputation. Dave is usually in the La Crosse location. He has three stores, I think. Not sure about shipping and customs fees, but Dave's prices are the best I've found.

drumbob wrote:I have two 330-12 strings and love both. I can tell you that you can score a Rick 330-12 any day from Dave's Guitar Shop in Wisconsin for just over $2000 USD. Dave is a great guy and the shop has a spotless reputation. Dave is usually in the La Crosse location. He has three stores, I think. Not sure about shipping and customs fees, but Dave's prices are the best I've found.

The 330/12 is $2142 USD here in Toronto at Long & McQuade.
And the 360/12 was $400-ish cheaper here than the prices I found at US stores. I read somewhere that it was cheaper for Canadians to order from the US, doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

Congrats on the new guitar! Should be fun exploring all the sounds it can make. I found with my 330/12 that using Rickenbacker strings on it got it really close to a vintage sound, even though it originally had Hi-Gain pickups. I later had toasters installed, which sound great. But to me, it didn't change the sound as much as using Rick strings. I'm sure the different pickups accentuate slightly different frequencies, but that's how it seemed to me.

Clifton wrote:Congrats on the new guitar! Should be fun exploring all the sounds it can make. I found with my 330/12 that using Rickenbacker strings on it got it really close to a vintage sound, even though it originally had Hi-Gain pickups. I later had toasters installed, which sound great. But to me, it didn't change the sound as much as using Rick strings. I'm sure the different pickups accentuate slightly different frequencies, but that's how it seemed to me.

Thanks Clifton! I'm super excited.
Still haven't got it yet; the guy I'm dealing with wanted the tech person to look at the action, he thought it was a bit high. I called yesterday and they were going to re-string it and set it up, I should get it tomorrow or Friday.
Not sure what strings they use...I think it's tough to get Rickenbacker ones up here.
Did you play around with adjusting the poles on the hi-gains when you had them?