Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Can someone tell me the difference between these two models? They seem very similar--is the only difference the pickups?

Thanks.

Finish,bridges,type of guard,fretboard and plating are the real differences.
The pickups ,that too,but the maple fretboard is NOT found on the 660.

The sustaing quality will be different.Now this is a therory,as I have never compared them side to side.I know of no dealer in Western washington that stocks a full line of Ricks,not have I seen a store that does on the west coast of the USA.

Mark,

Thanks very much for the answer.

I've got another question, that may be a bit basic. I'm a current 330 owner, and as you've probably guessed, I am trying to decide between the 650 and 660. I'm looking for a guitar good for lead work as well as rhythm--I find the narrow neck on the 330 difficult for fingerpicking and riffs, I am a bit clumsy.

Question: what is the difference 'playability' wise between the 650 and 660? Forgive my ignorance, but how does the 24 fret scale of the 650 vs. the 21 fret scale of the 660 effect playing in terms of action, ease of playing at the top of the neck vs. further down, etc? The only guitars I've ever owned are the 330 and a Martin acoustic, and being a lefty, I rarely get to try guitars I'm interested in out. Sure, there are plenty of Stats and Pauls out there for me to mess with, but I'm just a Ric man at heat, I guess.

Any advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jon

Jon,

I too am a lefty and I have a 650 Sierra. Since buying it a month ago my Strat and Paul stay in thier cases. This guitar is awesome!!! It is terrific at lead and ryhthm. The Humbuckers give it a wide range of sound. On the treble pup I'm able to get a good "Ric" tone. Switch it to both pups or bridge pup and I get a great deep bluesy lead tone. THis is the most versitile Ric I have owned . I have had a 330 and a 360 in the past.

I havent played a 660 but when I have the dough for a Ric 12 that will be my choice. I prefer the tone of the solidbody Ric to the Holowbody.

Just my 2 cents!!!

I absolutely agree with Mr. Brunn... the solid Ric has THE tone and, as I have owned Ric hollows (360's) in the past, I can say that I spent alot of time trying to create the solid-body tone on those hollow-bodies. Now, I am fortunate enough to own a 660-12 as my only Ric. The wider neck is a VAST improvement, at least where the 12-string is concerned. The trapeze tailpiece makes stringing as easy as is possible. The 12 saddle brige assures intonation, and the toaster pickups are PERFECT. If you enjoy the early Beatles/Searchers/Byrds sound, and you have a reasonable amp (I usually pump mine through a modest Fender Blues Junior at home and a '59 Bassman Reissue out), you can get it "right out of the box" with the 660-12. Oh yeah, I would advise using ONLY Ric 12-string sets on any Rickenbacker 12-string. Try other manufacturers strings and you will see what I mean.

To play the devil's advocate, I only string my 360/12 with Pyramids. I liked the factory strings okay, but they do not compare to the tone I get with the Pyramids. If you're unsure of what strings you want for your guitar, just try dofferent brands and gauges until you find what sounds and feels best to you.

I have a 660 six string FG. The lutherie is excellent, the woods are superb (fantastic maple flame) and the sound is really great for sixties stuff especially. The vintage pups will be, i would guess, the biggest difference in the sound of the two. Also, the necks are far wider than on 300 series guitars as well as 620s (outside of the laguna). They are like base ball bats in comparison. I've owned mine for more than two years, and, if I had to keep just one (360 vs 660) I would keep the latter. Another thing, the bodies are pretty small and light, with the neck somewhat top heavy. I am able to do blues stuff with it, but, as my French guitar service guy asked "where's the potato ?". I think the vintage p/u lack some output, already in comparison to a highgain p/u. I have played ric humbuckers on a 230 GF, and there is a lot to be said for active humbuckers as well. Once on this site, John Hall stated that the biggest factor to sound is how the neck is attached to the body ...

I was in Ed Roman's store in Vegas 2 weeks ago, and I saw a lefty 650 and he has about 40+ rics in his store right now. You'll want to talk to Scott Krell there.

Overall, I think that ric's are quite solidly made instruments. On this site, there are some interesting write-ups on 650s and also on harmony central.

Good luck,