Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I bought my Roger McGuinn Ltd. Edition in 1989. It was manufactured in October,1988 and is #374 out of a run of 1,000. It works WONDERFULLY with my band when we do our Byrds set.

Here is a list of what we like to do:

1. Mr. Tambourine Man(Duh!)

2. Turn! Turn! Turn! (Duh Again!)

3. Eight Miles High

4. My Back Pages

5. The Bells Of Rhymney

6. I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better

7. Oh! Susannah

8. It's All Over Now,Baby Blue(early Version)

9. So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star

10. Wasn't Born To Follow

11. Chestnut Mare

12. Tiffany Queen

13. You Ain't Going Nowhere

14. Nashville West

15. Mr. Spaceman

16. I Want To Grow Up To Be A Politician

17. The Ballad Of Easy Rider

18. Chimes Of Freedom


We change the keys to alot of them as we just do not have the voices to carry them in the originals!!!!!!


Fun guitar that Rick. Great sound too.


Gåry Owen(On Solo Tour In Denmark!)

Gary - can you explain, in detail, what makes the 370/12RM so special in sound characteristics, because of its unique electronics, over a stock 360/12 or 370/12 Ric. I of course realize the unique sound comes from the special built in compressor - but what I'm asking is how you would simply describe the difference in sound, technically if possible, and otherwise. Thanks...in advance. PS - Congratulations on finding one! Wow!

Greg, did you notice that Gary's post was made over 8 years ago? That he is no longer a member? These factors greatly reduce the chance that he will be responding to you in the near future.

Others, however, may wish to "chime" in about their 370-12 RMs!

Use the "search" function, plug in "370-12 RM" and sit back and enjoy long hours of reading through 8 years worth of posts on this model.

GSRIC wrote:Gary - can you explain, in detail, what makes the 370/12RM so special in sound characteristics, because of its unique electronics, over a stock 360/12 or 370/12 Ric. I of course realize the unique sound comes from the special built in compressor - but what I'm asking is how you would simply describe the difference in sound, technically if possible, and otherwise. Thanks...in advance. PS - Congratulations on finding one! Wow!

libratune wrote:Greg, did you notice that Gary's post was made over 8 years ago? That he is no longer a member? These factors greatly reduce the chance that he will be responding to you in the near future.

Others, however, may wish to "chime" in about their 370-12 RMs!

Use the "search" function, plug in "370-12 RM" and sit back and enjoy long hours of reading through 8 years worth of posts on this model.

I've had a 370-12RM since 1989 and a revolving assortment of six or seven stock 360-12s and 370-12s since. Frankly, onboard compressor aside, other than the various pickup winds, there's little tonal difference between the RM and the others. The RM pickups at 11K ohms are, imo, the darkest and, ironically, not quite as jangley as the others. My other limited edition, the 360-12 Carl Wilson, has the best sounding pickups (6K ohms) of any Rickenbacker I've owned. The ultra lightweight top of the CW also makes it an outstanding player.

The RM has the most comfortable neck profile and, like the CW, all the great 60s build refinements: full-width inlays, 21-fret neck, square heel, checker binding and the old style headstock.

My dream guitar would be the pickups, body weight and figured maple of the CW combined with neck and color of the RM. The RM compressor is a nice feature, but obviously I don't need it.

The RM also has the interesting feature that each pickup has its own volume control knob. IMO this adds to the tonal versatility of the guitar.

FWIW, I don't usually use the on-board compressor on mine ... but that's because I don't use a compressor at all, instead relying on the pickups and amplifier alone.

No Ron, I guess I missed the 2001 date on the Roger M. post. Being a new member - I'm still trying to get used to where everything is.....
Thanks for directing me to some of the other posts though.

To Steve: Thank you very much for your detailed analysis of the 370/12RM Steve! It's funny you mention the great sound of the Carl Wilson model. I have heard the same good things about it more than once too. I know the CW model has that nice benefit of having that thinner top for fuller sound that Carl wanted
when helping to design the guitar after his own likes. You can hear that beautiful and unique sound of Carl playing his Ric to full advantage if you listen to certain recordings the Beach Boys doing the song "Dance, Dance, Dance". He does a very nice quick and punchy lead in the middle of the song that really defines
the special sound of the 12 string Ric better than in other tunes where it's been used. The 370/12RM's are sure nice though. Just too hard to find and too expensive (at least nowadays).

Thanks for your input on the subject too, Gary.....