Karera Rickenbacker 330 Copy

From what I understand, this is a Korean made semi-hollow guitar based on Rickenbacker's 330 model. It looks alot like a 330, 24 frets, scimitar-shaped sound holes, "toaster-top" pickups, two-teired pickguard, might have the double truss rods like a real Ric. The only major differences are the trapeze tailpeice is without the big metal "R" and the missing fifth control knob, and the Karera logo where the Rickenbacker one belongs and most importantly the bolted-on neck. The tuners resemble non-locking Schallers in appearace and feel. The neck, as on a Ric is very thin with frets of a decent height on a heavily laminated rosewood fretboard. The finish is beautiful, slightly transparent, it even makes the plywood this guitar's made of look good. And with alot of guitars I've owned, a classy black tolex-covred cardboard case is included, and oddly enough, 2 packs of insence sticks and a NASCAR T-shirt were in the case with the guitar.

The sounds are a suprise. If you've seen previous reviews of one of these guitars, the neck pickup is very noisy, but the noise can be put to good use. I set the volumes and tones so the pickup selector switch will flip from a distorted loud noise to the sweet clean and jangly (almost like a real Ric) sound. With the setup I've discovered, playing thru my Marshall VS15 you can call the pickup selector a "Who-REM swtch", because with a flick of the switch, you can play "My Generation" raunchy and loud, then get the sounds of "Talk About The Passion" close to how it sounds on the album. I use shortcomings of cheap guitars to an advantage, so I can't tell you what's good or bad. I'm just saying it does just what I want it to, and does it beautifully.

I got the guitar mail-order, expecting a half-hour's worth of setup. But the thing was set up perfect, and IN TUNE (it's gotta have double truss rods if since that's the case.) The finish looks great, and I take good care of these things, so I'm sure it'll hold up. The all around quality is very high for a cheap guitar.

If I was to play live, I'd probably use a number of guitars anyway, But I can see giving this one the brunt of the work. I like the sounds, I love the feel, whatever finish damage the guitar could get would probably add character, and if it does happen, it won't be the first guitar I refinished myself. I'll take a cheap approach and use a couple of cans of Krylon and some spray laquer and make it look nice. It's not hard work.

I do all repairs myself, I do all modifications myself. I won't be dealing with them. I know that for a fact.

I have been playing for about 5 years. I've owned several of the cheap brands (Aria, Kent, Hohner, Memphis, Squier and now Karera) this is the 5th electric guitar I've owned. I do alot of repair and improving on beat-up guitars, I usually re-sell them, sometimes for a profit. But this one's a keeper. The feel of the guitar is great. I always wanted a Ric, but I can't imagine paying $1400 for a new one, or $700 for a used one. If I ever lose this one, I might go for the Ric then. Because I don't think I'll ever find another one of these. Especially if Rickenbacker CEO John Hall has his way.

I purchased this guitar over eBay internet auctions. This is a Korean made replica of a Rickenbacker 330. It has all the attributes of it's namesake. 24 fret neck, 2 toaster style single coil, high gain pickups, cat's eye sound sound hole, double pickguard and trapeze tailpiece. Unlike the original, this guitar's body is laminated plywood as can be seen clearly through the sound hole. Other descrepancies are the tailpiece, which although is fancy, does not have the Rickenbacker "R" on it. The electronics do not have the master tone control, like on
the contemporary 330's. There are individual potentiometers for volume and tone for each pickup and a three way switch for either pickup or both. The body is cut and routed in the same manner as a Rickenbacker 330 with the sloping area at the center where the tailpiece is located. The neck has small dot like position markers. I am not sure of the neck's radius, however it is much different than the 9.5 that I am use to on my Fender guitars. It is very flat and the neck is thin. It makes it very easy to play. The peghead is in the traditional 330 shape and has Grover style tuners that are quite nice for this price range guitar. I have not measured the neck for length, however the strings feel looser than on my Fenders, which have 25.5" necks, so I assume that the neck may be shorter. But this becomes an optical illusion due to the fact that the guitar's body joins the neck at the 21st fret and the access to the 24th fret is just milimeters away. Two octaves on one string!
The company that was selling these guitars stated that they would no longer stock this model. They offerred four guitars for sale on eBay. Two had bolted on necks and two had set necks. Because this was an inexpensive instrument, I chose the bolt on model, in case that I would need to shim it up. But the guitar was set up perfectly when it arrived. The bridge and saddles are exact copies of Rickenbackers bridge and saddles. The are hidden by a removable bridge cover that is easily removable. The saddles can be adjusted back and forward, up and down with a screwdriver and an allen wrench. My model is a cherry sunburst. I have had a hard time getting used to two features on this guitar. One that I have already mentioned is the neck. The other is the pickups. I am used to playing guitars with pickups that are set in routed cavities. This guitar's pickups are mounted directly on top of the body (as they are on real Rickenbackers) and secured to the body with screws. To accomplish this the neck has to set at least 3/4's of an inch or so above the body so that the strings will be above the pickups.
The only problem that I have with this instrument is the pickups. The are single coil pickups and the hum. In all probability the hum is no worse than on some other name brand single coil guitars that I own, however it is annoying. Other than that the action is great, the electronics are ok and this guitar is a breeze to play.

I bought this guitar mainly on a whim because it looked good. It is somewhat difficult to finger pick on because of the pickup placement. However I am sure that I will eventually get use to it.
Like I mentioned before, it is a noisy guitar due to the high gain single coil pickups.
It does have that Rickenbacker jangle and sounds quite different from a Fender or a Gibson.

The guitar arrived with a great setup right out of the box. I do not know if the factory is responsible or the music store that I bought it from was responsible. Action is terrific. The body is obviously plywood. Fretwork is reasonable good, the bottom side of the neck could have been trimmed a little better on a few of the frets. The nut appears to be graphite. I prefer metal or plastic. I like the bridge and the saddles. Adjustments are similar to a Fender arrangement only on an archtop bridge.

I think that I could use this thing live without many problems. The finish is cherrysuburst and would probably show up nicely on stage. I will probably use it for a backup.

If this guitar was stolen I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep over it. I think that just the fact that is is such a good copy of a 330 will make it easily saleable in the event that I decide to trade it. I always wanted a Rickenbacker, but my those are expensive instruments. They are well made, practically handmade. But as a family man I just do not have $1500 to part with at this time, so this was a pretty good option.