Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Greetings. I'm a newbie here and other than a brief mediocre experience with a Ric 650D, I have not owned a Ric in my many years of electric guitar ownership. I have already learned much from browsing this site and look forward to expanding my knowledge. Recently I ordered a new 330/12 for a great price, but got impatient when I found a 1996 330/12MG for a few hundred dollars less. It is supposed to be near mint and should arrive tomorrow. Since I only have 7 days to return, I thought I should ask if there is anything particular to this model and/or year that I should pay special attention to. Thanks in advance and I'll try not to be a pest!

Just make sure you like the way it plays. I'm sure you know to look over the guitar in great detail to ascertain its condition, and if you have any questions, take it to a qualified guitar tech who is used to working on Rickenbackers. That's very important. I took one of my 330-12 strings to two "techs," neither of whom had a clue as to what to do with it, and set it up so poorly, it wouldn't play.

If you are in New Jersey, avoid Bill Baker at Dave's Sound in Whippany, NJ. He's the biggest no-talent "luthier" I have ever met. That clown screwed the guitar up so badly, it was a mess, and he had the nerve to blame it on a bad set of strings. He stole $60 from me, and wouldn't even agree to try and rectify the poor job he did. The other no-talent was Dennis MacPherson, formerly of Ringwood, who has since moved to another state.

Thanks for the reply Drumbob. I received the guitar undamaged and looking great, but in desperate need of a setup. The action was so poor, it was impossible to play. I carefully adjusted both rods, bridge and pickups and it's a pleasure to play now.

I do have a couple of questions, though. On the headstock underneath the truss rod cover/nameplate there is an "X" mark by the bass side truss rod. Both rods worked fine. Any ideas?

Also, wondering how you keep the routed key strings from scraping the edge of the nameplate?

My best advice, for a newbie with a 12 string is to make sure that you use the correct gauge of strings on it. RICs own branded 12 string set is the one I always recommend as a starting point. There are others that are okay as well...

Also avoid Pyramid strings, as the tension is too high for the R-Tail.

Other than that, ENJOY. Welcome to the "Jingle-Jangle" club!!

I also tell folks to avoid the standard D'addario set. It has a plain G fundamental and A octave, which are very difficult to intonate. RIC's .020w are much better for those two strings. I think RIC has a lighter E fundamental too.