Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Got my 650 Dakota yesterday...guys, this is the most fantasic Rick I ever had, and I had a few (620, 320, 350, still got my 330)!! As I'm playing lead in a band with a sound that you might call Britpop today, I was looking for a guitar with a wider neck and hot pickups, so I figured out a Gibson SG a long time, till I found the death cheap unplayed Dakota on the net (I don't want to say it's new, must be a 1993, but it's an absolutely mint virgin. Suppose it hang in the store and nobody looking for a Les Paul liked it).
My seven year old daughter opened the case when the guitar arrived, and she said something like "Wow, Daddy, it's made of wood!" The walnut body really makes a great appearance! It's great to have a new Rick, as you might know, and to be a member of the big Rick player family!
Love my Rick...love this forum...good night.
What's your opinion about your 650?

I love mine too.

A problem I have with the 650 as well as with my 320 and 350/12 V63: The frets stick out on the side of the fretboard. This seems to be a Rick problem.

Actually, this is a problem with all brands of guitars with an unbound neck. If you live in a climate where it's very dry, or where extensive heating is in use, the wood of any guitar is going to shrink. Obviously the metal fret isn't going to shrink proportionately so it will overhang the fingerboard. Have a local luthier dress the edge of the board just one time while the guitar is dried out and you'll never have the problem again.

I own a 650 Dakota. My opinion is it's a great guitar! Fortunately, I haven't had the fret problem mentioned above.

Thanks for the information, Mr Hall. I said, this must be a Rick problem with the frets, that's because I never used any other guitar than a Rick, you know...thank you.
I'm going to buy a second 650 as a backup, I found another death cheap one in the internet, a Colorado is it...they are so beautiful, now I know what I missed over the years by not having a 650! It sounds so great, and the humbuckers are not evil as someone said in this forum, they give you a warm, sweet and fat lead sound (they look asthetically too..still got the Made in USA sticker on the rear one).

...I always felt they could have done more justice to the 650 series by finding some endorsers, I really have nobody ever seen playing one here in the center of europe...don't know if this is different in the States or elsewhere. Why isn't Mike Campbell trying one?

The Colorado is made of hardwood, so they say, I can't find a translation for that, which kind of wood is that?...(from the hardtree...??)...

The perfect dream would be a 650 with an unfinished rosewood fretboard with 330-like frets, I hope I can accustom to those jumbo frets...the neck should be finished on all 650s, this unfinished maple on the Dakota feels naked somehow...

We're gonna start rehearsing next week, I'm playing the 650 against a PRS and a Strat (yes, we do have 3 guitars...)...can't wait...

The Colorado is guaranteed to have a hardwood body as opposed to softwood, like Pine or Spruce. The reason for it being unspecified was to allow us to spray Walnut body guitars Jetglo black in the event the wood grain was unattractive. However, this has never happened yet so all 650C's have been produced with Maple bodies.

Rickenbacker doesn't do endorsements. If Mike Campbell wants one, he knows where the music store is.

I played one of these for the first time at our new Ric dealer in my town. WOW... Saving up to buy one of these!!! This guitar is an excellent value !!! Thanks Mr. Hall !!!

...and my 650 Colorado arrived yesterday...it's quite as beautiful as the Dakota. They call it jetglo, you know, but it's the best black finish I've seen on a guitar and even on a Rick, it's really high gloss. The maple fretboard is lacquered too, I didn't know that (the Dakota fretboard isn't)! It looks and feels beautiful and has some nice grain. I was never as happy with a Rick as now with the two 650s, and I meanwhile have well accustomed to these jumbo frets and humbuckers and don't want to miss 'em!

Took the plunge and got the 650 Sierra I tried out last week. Never Happier... I hope more guitarists give this one a try. I think it is excellent.

Robert: Congratulations! My two 650 too make me happy. I think they should really do a signature 650, to gain more attention to this line of guitars. But you know, guitarists are like sheep: All guys have a Strat or a Les Paul, because the other guy has it too...to me there's two sides: I really feel good by owning a guitar that nobody else has, but also I would like to see more people having it...
I would be interested about other player's opinion about the 650 and which kind of music they play.

So where are you 650 players?!
I'm gonna experiment with strings on my 650s these days, I bought a lot of different sets from Gibson Brite Wires to Pyramid. Always used 10s on my guitars (I'm not Brian May with 08s!), but 09s I think fit better for the 650.

Havent benn on here lately, Been playing my 650...
Havent needed strings yet but I think Im gonna go with the Rics like it came from the factory.

Can you guys give me a desripiton of the tone or "sound" of the humbuckers in your 650's? I'm considering dropping a set into my 480, and I've checked the local music stores and haven't found one to try.

I love the chime and sound of toasters, but the cavity may be too shallow for them in the neck position. It currently has the Hi Gains. They too have the Rick flavor of the toasters, but appear more mid range and distort easier. Not a bad thing, but just curious that the humbuckers might interest me if they still have that Rick tone, or at least a touch of it.

If you have other Ricks with toasters or Hi Gains, give me the scoop on the comparision to the humbuckers.

By the way Peter, I recently saw Joe Walsh playing a 650 (think it was the Colorado - all black?)in the James Gang reunion concert last month. It definitely sounded powerful, but I was up in the cheap seats and it was a bit echoed. I've also seen him on the Drew Carey show and some live video of the Eagles Hell Freezes Over tour with it. I seem to recall an old interview where he said he didn't like Ricks. If I recall right, looks like the 650's may have won him over.