Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello, My name is Natalia, I'm from Argentina, I'm about to buy a Rickenbacker 360/6. I would need to know if the sound keeps the same when I distort it. Is it convenient to use with effects?
What is the difference with the Vintage 381/V69? And what is the sound difference?
Regards,
Natalia Schiavello.

I'm not really sure about what you mean if the sound will change or not when distorted. My experience with the 360-6 is that first you need some kind of compression, I use a Boss CS-3 which I feel gives you that RIC twang on the clean end. Regarding the question of distortion I use a Danelectro Daddy-o-overdrive, when kept at low levels seems to retain much of the same tone with a little more punch. I've experimented with various other distortion pedals and cranked up in my Marshall, and for my money I go with the less is more approach. The 381/v69 is altogether different animal, alnico's compared to ceramic's which is a preferance issue.
Good Luck,

Welcome to the Forum, Natalia!

I can speak only from ny expereience. I often play my guitars through a Crate GX-40C+ practice amp that has a single channel with foot-switchable clean and dirty (distorted) settings. My 1981 460 BG (neck-through solid body) with high-gain pickups sounds fine on both settings, with the distorted sound coming out strong (and dirty) and the clean sound jingly-jangly. As I recall, using the same settings with my 450v63 JG with reissue toaster pickups gave a different sound, but not so much that it wasn't usable, and adjustment of the controls was sufficient to get a sound very close to that of the 460.

In my opinion, picking the right amp and effects pedals is as important as the guitar. What amp are you going to be using with your guitar?

Hi Natalia and Welcome.
I'd say the sound difference when distorting the guitar is that you lose the jangle and chime a bit. But that's relevant to distorting any guitar. It will sound great with a little overdrive though.
I play through a Mesa Boogie amp and I use a Tube Screamer for overdrive. My Ric has 'toaster' pickups as opposed to the 'hi-gains'.
It's a very usable overdrive sound - another thing that's great about Rickenbackers, it sounds a little different than everything else.

What's the music scene like over there?

Welcome Natalia. Generally, the 360/6 does keep its distinctive sound when distorted, no matter what kind of pedal or amp you might be using. At extreme levels of gain/distortion, I find that all guitars sound pretty much the same (they scream, they moan, they rock). At modest levels, the tonal characteristics of the 360 are still recognizable. There's more treble than with a Gibson, for instance, and the overall effect is "tighter" than with other guitars. You have more control so that you are better able to pound out a precise, defined rhythm.

As for the 381v69, there are many, many differences. I'm sure you can make out some of the cosmetic differences from the photos on the Rickenbacker website. Here are some things that you might not be able to tell from the photos: The 381 is heavier and feels sturdier than the 360 (which is not to say that the 360 is a flimsy guitar). The body of the 381 is deeper and it has a much richer, mellower tone than a 360. There is a lot more bass. I often play jazz on my 381 and it sounds beautiful. (The guitar, not my playing.) The neck has basically the same playing profile as the 360 (there might be slight differences, but I can't feel them). The 381v69 has a 21 fret neck. The 360 has 24 frets. Check elsewhere on the Forum for the ongoing 21 vs. 24 fret debate. Personally, I have no preference. The 381v69 sounds much "heavier" when distorted, too. It's a thicker sound, but not as thick as the aforementioned Gibson (or any other humbucking guitar).

To my ears, the 381v69 is a nicer sounding instrument and is much more versatile. But that's just a personal preference of mine. The downside of the 381v69 is that it's much more expensive than the 360. It is also a bit harder to track one down. If you ordered a new 381v69, you would have to wait a little bit longer for it to be delivered.

Don't let any of this dissuade you from buying a 360. They are very fine guitars capable of producing many lovely (and nasty, distorted) sounds.

I don't know what kinds of amps you plan to use with your Ric. I have several Fenders and Kustoms. All of my Fenders are tube amps. I like that overdriven tube tone. The Kustoms have germanium transistors that can sound very close to tube amps. Those types of transistors are also found in old and now rare effects units like overdrives for that reason.
I have several Strats, one Les Paul, and one Mustang amongst my guitars. When I first got my 360 with the highgains it would not overdrive. So I raised the Pickups up near the strings. I did'nt really expect much from that but I got a lot out that move. Especially with the bridge pickup. Now its got great overdrive
I don't like a lot of bass in my rymthm so I use the fifth knob to roll it off in the neck pickup for most of my clean rymthm work.
With this new set up the bridge pickup is louder. So when I'm playing crunchie rymthm I roll back the volume control to about where eight would be if ten were maximum. Then I run it up to full for my leads.
If I run in the mid position with both pickups on then I turn down only the bridge pickup and just flip it full again for leads.
With this set up the guitar is very useful to me as I can get every thing from very smooth and sparkle cleans to and almost P90 like growl in overdrive.
The 360 does not have any feedback problems that are associated with other hollow body guitars when used at high volume levels or even when boosted with overdrive pedals. That would seem to be due to the thicker body and semi hollow body form. But I had a Kustom guitar once and it had the same type of contruction but it would feedback like any hollow body.
I have a buddy who uses a Gibson 335 and even it with its build in feedback block it has no where near the feedback resistance that the Ric has.
I hope this will give you some idea as to how the Ric will be compared to other guitars that you might be thinking of.