Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

So it appears that I've found the world of Ric experts, which is good, because I am not. About a year and a half ago, I made a brash decision to order a Dakota because I thought it was a beautiful guitar, and from its description, had the sound that I wanted. I absolutely love this guitar when I put on the overdrive, because it has a such a thick and rich sound. However, I am not crazy about how it sounds clean...in fact, if I turn up my amp past 3 (hot rod deville), it actually fuzzes my amp out becuase of the deep and rich tones.

Well, last Friday, I decided to pick up a 330... wow, what a guitar. I loved absolutely everything about this guitar except when I put the overdrive on. It does have a mean sound to it, but it just isn't as thick and rich as my dakota, and their isn't as much sustain either... obviously the hi-gains vs. the humbuckers is the difference.

My Question: How can I have the best of both worlds... that thick overdrive of my Dakota, and the beautiful clean tones of the 330? Am I missing out on another ric I should try out, or does anyone have any experience with modifying the pickups on the 330?

Variax??

Maybe you could tweak your amp/effects rig to thicken or brighten either guitar as necessary?

If you want the pickup swap route, conventional wisdom would suggest an HB in the neck of your 330 or a toaster in the bridge of your 650. . . .

Somebody a while back posted clips of a hi-gain in the neck of his 650 - it was a wonderful tone. You could try just swapping neck pickups in each guitar and see how it goes.

Or - just for kicks - mount a toaster to the 650 *in between* the buckers?

Put a coil tap on the bridge pickup of the Dakota. You can replace one of the pots with a push/push or push/pull switch to make the change invisible.