Rickenbacker 360

standard fireglo, maybe 2003 bought new.
payed it a lot, but it deserves every penny.

I never had a guitar in my hand that sounded and seemed so classy...believe the hype : this one can do everything.
can chime and sparkle, when you strum or in arpeggios (that is absolutely the thing to do with this axe), and if it's distorted entering in a cranked my vox AC-30 (the natural partner) it's the most beautiful crunch I have ever heard.
no, the most beautiful is when I kick my bigmuff...people's jaws drop down when they hear what kind of fury this thing can produce.
it's a semi-hollow, and that means you can get feedback very easily...controlled, musical, feedback !
the guitar it's not as noisy as the strat I sold 1 year ago.
the only downside is that it has not an uber-long sustain, not like a les paul...until you jump on your bigmuff, or TS, or anything else and then the problem is solved.
closing the tones-a bit, not completely-gives you some woody, nice jazzy tone.
amazing versatility.
another pro : it's seems like this guitar makes ready-to-be -recorded tones...already compressed, know what I mean ? they cut thru the mix !

the finish, intonation, and everything was PERFECT.
the case was perfect.
I plan to put locking tuners on, but not to solve any tuning stability issue...it has not, stays in tuning perfectly...it's just that I'm a lazy guy, and I think I will change string more often, if I put them on.

I have it from 2005 circa.
it looks brand new.

I needed no support.

gosh ! it's already twenty years of playing ?..ehhh, time flies.
never been a pro for a single day in my life, but I made records,I made european tours, I played a lot of guitars, and I can say that this is among the best of them.
if it was stolen, I would meditate suicide -or homicide, if I knew who stole it.
I play a music that can be associated to the guitar, like middle-beatles, byrds and, when it gets harder, the who.
you can check it at www.myspace.com/philomankindband.
in our last recording session, we had two strats, with the much , deservedly, hyped woodoo pick ups,and this, plugged stereo in a bassman 135 and an AC30.
we used the strats for all songs except one, that needed a harder hard rock sound...well, that's the only really, really fantastic sound we got. we could have used it for the whole tracklist !

My Rick was built in March '09
Mapleglo Finish
2 Hi Gain P.U.
rosewood fingerboard
5 control layout (2-V 2-T, 1 Blend)
pickup selector
24 frets
maple body
maple neck
Schaller tuners
R tailpiece
bound body and neck
dual truss rods
standard jack
stereo Ric-0-Sound jack
standard molded case
triangle fretmarkers
6 saddle bridge

What can you say about the sound? It's a Rickenbacker.
It has that famous chimey, jingle-jangle. Bright and alive.
Nothing quite sounds like a Rick. I play thru a Fender Champion
30 DSP. I play blues and rock, but, you can play anything on this guitar.

My Rick was set up perfectly from the factory. I didn't have to do anything, just take it out and plug it in. No flaws, or blemishes. It has that beautiful mapleglo finish. The Chrome\Nickel hardware shines. Fast, easy to play neck, I like the triangle fretmarkers. Look sharp. All controls, pick-ups, switches work great.

This guitar is built like a tank. Solid as a rock. Rickenbacker is a family owned and operated company that takes pride in their works of art. They have been builting first class instruments for 78 years. They are America's best guitar company. This guitar is built to last, will probably outlast me. The Mapleglo finish is terrific, it along with their Fireglo finish helped put the company on the map. 2 Outstanding colors. I would replace if stolen, it's not leaving my sight.

I have contacted the company by phone and email several times for general questions and have always found them, friendly, helpful and eager to satisfy. The warranty is the standard "long as you own the guitar" contract.I would have to search around, I would think, to get repairs done, only a couple of dealers in this state.

I have always wanted to own a Rickenbacker, since I first saw John Lennon play one on Ed Sullivan in '64. I have been playing guitar since then. I have Fender, Gretsch, Epiphone, Phantom guitars (8 in all). This Rickenbacker is something special. Rickenbacker is a special American company. They build beautiful looking and sounding instruments. When guitar companies are having their guitars built overseas to save a buck. Rickenbacker keeps turning out theirs from Santa Ana-California, USA. I'm so proud to own one.
By the way, my next purchase will be a 330 in Fireglo.

1993 Fireglow, 2 volume, 2 tone, 1 blend. 2 outputs, one standard and one "Ric-o-sound" stereo output. Schaller tuners, double truss rod. This is one stunningly beautiful guitar, people who aren't into guitars gasp when I crack the case open. Strats and Les Pauls don't have quite the same impact.

It has a unique sound, its a big part of the appeal. You want chime and jangle, you need a Rickenbacker. Its one of the most tonally complex electric guitars I've ever played. Harmonically rich, just gorgeous clean sound but also sounds fantastic overdriven.

This is my second Rickenbacker, both had intonation problems. On both guitars I have removed the springs behind the low E and the G string because I couldn't get the saddle back far enough to intone the string properly. Before that I was constantly retuning and never feeling like it was tuned properly. Very annoying. The action is slick all the way up the neck, very very sweet playing guitar, although the neck not very wide.

It feels solid, its just so beautiful that I don't really want it to get into potentially damaging situations with drunk people. That's what Squiers are for.

nice website, always bought older and used, never thought of calling them up

Been playing for over 30 years. I sold my 330 a few years ago and had seller's remorse since. This 360 came my way this week and I will never let it go. Right now I've got a Reverend Manta, Gibson SG, Tele 52 Reissue, Tokai Strat, Gretsch 5120, and now the Ric 360. If I could only keep one, this would be it. I have a deep emotional attachment to this guitar, I think my wife suspects something...

2002 360 - with the standard high gain PUs, 24 fret. has ric-o-sound
( don't use it) , German Shallers, - the whole thing is stock other than a pro set-up years ago. Sometimes I miss a bigsby but I'd never change this

Here is how you make it sound rating a "6 or 7 " - plug it into some boutique Klon, Fulltone, analogman pedals than to an AC15, AC30, DC30, Lightning, Twin, marshall, bassman, mesa, Dr Z or anything else rated at more than about 10 watts RMS. With these amps in small clubs you get the volume up to maybe "3" at best - then you wonder " where is the magic Ric tone?

Hear is how you make it sound rating at "10" ( the way I eventually learned to find the magic ) - plug it directly into a non master volume 7.5 watt EL84 amp and turn the amp up to 3/4 full volume - then use the guitar volume knobs - then you smile.

This guitar moved me away from strats, teles, LPs and aeverything else once I figured this out. Also pedals are silly with a ric. they give pre-amp distortion ( no magic ) - but at < 10 watts you get the power tube saturation - then you get the roar and the wonderful ringing tone. Then you sell your solid bodies and matchless amps and silly $400 pedals. This is how it went with me. Those big amps would be ok for outdoors or big halls I guess. I have played 40 yrs and owned too many guitars and played big amps for WAY too long. The 360 taught me that guitar straight to amp with no pedals and using guitar tone and volume knobs is the way to go. I play in a cover band - lots of campy dance stuff people love - 60s R+B, poprock, AC/DC, beatles , maroon 5 , etc - My favorite moment is when a 20-30 y/o LP, strat,marshall player hears that ric though an amp turned up and their jaw drops... ALL kinds of music sounds just awesome.

There was a transition period of moving from years of rosewood, ebony and maple boards to the laminated board of the 360 but and after a few months I loved it. Obviously rics are rhythm monsters but lead playing grew on me and the bends are smooth ( even compared to old brazilian boards). Intonation is dead on - and tuning stability is absolutely the best of any guitar I have owned - which is wierd - no locking tuners. lubricating the nut and saddles does make a difference. For me it plays better with the bridge cover off - better right hand muting and position. Another wierd thing happened with the 360 - I found myself using thinner picks ( 0.60 mm ) - they just work right. There is maybe one thing I might change - I really liked the slightly wider neck width on my 660 that I had 10 years ago. I think the Carl Wilson model had this wider neck - would be fun to try it. Also I'm not sure the strap locks are needed - but no big deal. Another big deal is how nice 360s lay on your shoulders - they just feel right. 4 hours is ok with these - I don't miss those 8-10 pound solid bodies

No problems - I do bring a back-up - strings start to break after 3 weeks on teles and strats - longer on the ric.

I don't know.

I am thrilled with it. It is a refreshing 3 dimensional tone compared to years of those other typical guitars and amps. I get lots of positive comments. The hi gain PUs are part of the deal. My 660 had the vintage toasters - toasters are nice and jangly - but you can never get the growl - I sold my 660 - this was an eye catcher tho - really held value.
The only tone that comes close to making me this happy are Casinos. - the P90s + true hollowbody does growl like a ric - but you don't get that ringing sound with a casino. There is nothing like the sound of a low output amp turned up and unmiked - and this is it. The amp that works right for me is an English Gibson GA15 - 3 simple knobs ( in triode - 7.5 watt mode ) it's interesting - paid $400 for this used about 7 years ago ( out of production)- not handwired - NOT "boutique" and I have sold my bad cat, lightning and will probably let my old AC15 go too. Probably other 5-10 watt amps would be right - but probably needs to be an EL84 amp.

2 pickups

fireglo finish

24 frets

typical rick 360

I bought this 1989 Rick on ebay about 5 years ago. Both pickups were shot and did not work. The finish was cracked and chipping all over the guitar. A real relic that had been played hard its whole life for sure.

I tried every pickup Rickenbacker had to offer and settled on a Rick humbucker in the bridge position and a Rick toaster in the neck position. I use the stereo "Rickosound" out. The neck (toaster)pickup goes into a modern Orange ad30 head and the Bridge (humbucker)pickup goes to a vintage Sound City 50 plus head, then both heads go out to a stereo wired 4x12 Orange cab. Its all power! sounds amazing! Everything from Metal to Country and all the rest.

i play in a band that is kinda hard to describe -floyd/jesus lizard-just simple dynamic rock music.(www.myspace.com/thepoleslive)

This guitar is just a joy to play. Its pretty much the only guitar i can play now. Im in love. head over heals. But it was not love at first sight or play, it took time. Slowly building a relationship. It took me a long time to fall for this guitar, i owned it about a year before she started really sinking her teeth into me.

The action on the guitar is so low and easy to play its silly. No buzz. No dead freats. perfect tone on every string and every fret all the way up the neck, all 24 frets.

As i stated this guitar was pretty beat up when i received it. finish cracking all over the body. Large spots of missing finish. pickguard cracking and broken in spots. That's what i love about her! She's not a pretty girl. She's a work horse.

I never adjusted the neck or the bridge. just installed new pickups due to the old ones being shot.

like i said before i tried all of Rickenbacker's pickups ( high gains, toasters, humbuckers). I put a humbucker in the bridge and a toaster in the neck. A great combo i would highly recommend for any Rick owner. Because of the Rickosound, i get the hi-gain of the humbucker (with no squeal) and the power and fullness of a single coil mixed together for unbelievable stereo rock tone!

Its addicting i can't get enough of this set up.

This guitar came to me looking seriously abused. Somebody obviously treated this guitar very badly. Though it is 20 years old, it easily looks twice that age. After changing the pickups (which i did myself) i have never had a problem out of her. A rock solid guitar.

no need

A Rickenbacker is an aquired taste. If your used to playing Fenders and Gibsons it will take time get used to the Ricks ways but once you get past the learning curve its all gravy! These are quality made solid guitars with thier own charm and charisma. Try one but give it time grow on you.

USA made, fireglo finish, 24 frets, stock passive pickups, grover tuners, skb hardcase.
Very well finished guitar in every detail.

I pursued this guitar for a long time, I bought it in Florida 10 years ago, in a Sam Ash store to be exact.
I didn't even tested it, I fell in love instantly with it's glossy finish...what a mistake.
The thing is, this kind of guitars have an specific and narrow sound, they didn't have the acoustic values of any guitar I previously owned, so, my critic comes from a personal perspective.
I mainly played through an 1969 original silverface Deluxe Reverb Fender with telefunken/GE NOS tubes, the sweetest amp I've ever used.

It just never worked for me, the intonation was right, the action great, well balanced sound, very playable but without any soul. Very, very dissapointing through the years I used it as a lead guitar in a pop band. Tried to cover the holes to see if it seems to gain any body...didn't work

no flaws in this one, beautiful in every angle.

solid guitar, stays in tune, and stuff...

...

well, I have a strat model by Peavey, a MIJ Fender Jazzmaster, Epiphone Dot, a vintage MIJ Vox inspired Fiama semi hollowboby and my latest one is a 5198 Gretsch.
Just compared to the Peavey the 1000$ Ric was useless, it didn't work for me, I had to sell it to a Beatles collector, and I can??t be more happier with that ;)

Standard Ric 360. Bought it in 1998. Have used it steadily for the last 10 years, including gigs about once per month and weekly band practices.
Hardshell case included.
Jet Glo (black and white)
Tone and volume for each of the 2 pickups (neck and bridge) - pretty standard stuff. Plus, the 5th knob that controls blend between the two and ALSO controls the stereo output balance if you use the stereo Ric-O-Sound output (I never do).
Nice bridge with individually adjustable saddles to get perfect intonation.

I played this through a 1970s silverface Fender Twin Reverb for years and loved it. Recently, I bought a Vox AC15 Heritage Handwired.
All I can say is, if you want to sound like The Beatles, this is it.

But in addition, I've always been impressed by how you can get smooth bluesy sounds from this thing. Easing off the treble on the Vox amp, crank it up a bit so you get some breakup, and this guitar does a nice job with crunchy sustain and overdrive.

You will get fabulous jangly rhythm sounds from this thing, but you are not "sentenced" to only that sound. I wouldn't pick it for a metal band or for playing mainly hard rock or blues. But if you want to do a few songs like that in your set, you can get by.

But man, for classic rock, country, and anything in the singer/songwriter roots rock alt-country vein, this thing can't be beat.

I never use effects pedals. I hate them - batteries, noise, phoney baloney sounds. An excellent guitar like this and a good tube amp makes for a better sound than any silly pedal ever will.

Guitar came with their "compressed 10s" strings on it.
Light E is a .010, heavy E is only a .038. Since then, I've stuck
with that (Fender makes a classic 150 set that is .038 - .010)
After about 5 years, I did have to tighten the truss rod nuts, as
the wood has settled enough that the nuts had actually become
loose. But it was no big deal to do this.
Finish is beautiful - smooth glossy black.
All the parts fit and feel solid.

I bought this thing MAIL ORDER, and it was set up perfectly right out of the case.

My only complaint is that the individual bridge saddle pieces were actually a bit too wide and couldn't slide past each other. I couldn't turn the allen screws to make them move because the pieces next to each other would actually bind. So I pulled the saddle pieces out and hit each side (left and right) with a few swipes of a big flat mill file. That solved that issue.

But because of this, I knocked it down to an 8 instead of a 10.

Has been 100% reliable for 10 years of (admittedly) gentle, but steady, gigging.. I have never carried a backup
guitar. I can't even remember the last time I broke a string.

Never needed any.

Been playing for 30 years. Play mostly classic rock and singer/songwriter alt-country. If it were lost or stolen, I'd buy another one immediately.
My second choice would probably be a Telecaster - since I am a jangly rhythym kind of guy, but I like the semihollow body feel and I am more comfortable with the strings being up higher off the body on the Ric, like an archtop would be.

And man... for about a grand, it's one whale of a grade A guitar.

I bought this guitar in the early '90s. '73 USA standard 360, which I did a slight modification to (see below). Modestly equipped and well built, this guitar is close to being the perfect guitar for me. Only one small flaw (which to most players is a feature)...

I used to play a few different guitars, so I frequently had to plug in a new guitar for the next song. With the Rick-O-Sound stereo output on one jack, it was a hit and miss situation, a real pain. So I rewired to have both jacks mixing both pickups, but with split available when I use both jacks simultaneously.

Technical reference for those interested: I changed the jacks to standard mono with NC switches, and crosswired the switches to the pickup inputs. I.E. both switches connect between the two pickup inputs, so both jacks must be plugged to break the connection. I used properly screened wire between the jacks (although the gap is small, with passive pickups it's "better safe than sorry" I guess).

My style is mostly folk/rock, trough I try my hands in many styles. Originally an acoustic player, I tried a lot of different electric guitars. Really good instruments, some of them, but they still didn't quite hit home with me. When I first tried this guitar, the "organic" sound was the first thing that struck me. Maybe the semi-hollow body gave me the physical feedback I was used to from the acoustic, I don't know.

It needs a good amp with high impedance inputs to perform well, though. With transistor preamps it's sometimes flat and dull. Currently I use a Laney 30W all tube amp with an old Zoom digital effects box in the loop, and that provides what I need. (Most of the time it's only the guitar and amp, though.)

I did some fiddling with the pickup heigth and had to retune the bridge for proper intonation. It seems the previous user had put the bridge on backwards and adjusted it accordingly, but there was no evidence of it being played lefthanded (saddle grooves were intact). Other than that, the guitar was ready to play, and still is. It never needs any adjustments, it seems.

This is one dependable guitar. A few dents and scratches, but you need to come u close to notice. I once lent it to a friend who played in a punk style band, and it came back with one pickup dead. That's the only time I ever had trouble with it, and it wasn't the guitar's fault (foreign object inside one of the output jacks, easily fixed...). His belt buckle did make some dents in the finish on the back, though...

As I played different instruments when I used to play gigs, I could always fall back on the mandolin or acoustic guitar, so I didn't bring a backup. Never had a problem, though.

My only "support incident" was when I tried to find out how old my guitar was. The web pages provided a serial number input, and told me the guitar left the assembly line in september 1973. Not enough background for me to rate the support, though.

My Ric is a 2003 with Ric-O-Sound stereo output and it was made in the USA. Pretty much has the same features as any other Rickenbacker 360-- just a standard model. Two tone knob, two volume knob, a blend knob, and 3-way selector. Hi-Gain pickups.

I bought the Rickenbacker basically because I saw Tom Gabel playing a 330 the first time I saw Against Me!. Of course, upon further research, I found that the 360 is a much more luxurious guitar. I play everything. At the moment I am in a rock/punk band, but my tastes when playing solo are much more experimental/ indie/ blues sounding. Basically, I need a guitar that sounds unique and does what I need it to. My current rig is a '66 Fender Bassman Amp and I run it through a RAT 2 OCD. The single-coil pickups are kind of noisy at extremely high volumes, but you'll have that with any single coil pickup and still most humbucking pickups. The clean is jangly and sparkely, on pretty much any amp (but especially Fenders!) and many complain that this is pretty much the only thing that Rics pull off well. But I must contest. With the proper pedals, you can pull off any kind of sound you want with a Ric, regardless of what people say. The catch is, it will have its own unique tone seperate from any other kind of guitar. For me, this is especially good. The only thing that I hate about the Ric is that it doesn't do well with palm mutes. Personally, I never palm mute, but in the rock/punk band that I'm in, there is a lot of palm muting. If it were me, though, there wouldn't be so much.

In any case, to wrap it up, don't listen to what people say about versatility. A Ric can do anything with the right pedals-- just don't be lazy and you can get some really unique tones!

I got this used, so I can't say how things were straight from the factory. But when I got it it was set up perfectly. The finish is thick and extremely shiny- gotta love that. The fretboard is also laminated. That adds to the speed of the neck as well as comfort. Pretty much no flaws. My only complaint is that the finish is pretty easy to scratch.

This guitar has taken a lot of abuse. I've had it for about a year now- got it Christmas of 2006. I beat the crap out of it, and you can barely tell. If you maintain your guitar, clean it, and so on, it'll last forever. I already use it without a backup, though it's always good to have one just to be safe. I'm just an idiot.

Haven't really had to deal with it. Parts are really hard to come by though, and that's kind of unfortunate.

I've been playing for six years, and I also own a Fender Esquire 50's Reissue as far as guitars. If it were stolen, I'd be up shit's creek because I'm poor. So I would buy another... but it'd take a while. So, basically, I would have to find the thief and beat him with my Esquire until dead. Better that I destroy the Esquire to get the Ric than lose it. I love the unique tone of the Ric, and the versatility, I just hate how easily the finish scratches, especially since I don't have a case. But that doesn't affect anything except aesthetics. It's hard to compare a Ric to other guitars, seeing as that's basically comparing apples and oranges, but I'd just like to say that anyone planning on buying a Rickenbacker should consider that the tone is considerably different than any other guitar out there. So, if you're looking for "run-of-the-mill"... get a Les Paul.

I got a standard 360 made in 2004. It has all the standard features which Rickenbacker is known for. I didn't expect nothing more or less.

I love the sound of this guitar. It's always a pleasure to play a Rickenbacker, but I don't understand why they (Rickenbacker) replaced the toaster pickups with the High-gain pickups?? A toaster pickup sounds better...

Rickenbackers are known for their finish - not without reason! The high gloss finish is briliant and the workmanship is exelent. It's truely a quality instrument made of only the best materials available.
A standard Rickenbacker makes a Fender custom shop look like a cheap guitar.

I had two custom made Fender guitars - the first came with a defect pickup. The Second was painted in the wrong colour and had the wrong finish and it didn't sound like an old one - some exspensive shit made by mexicans.

It's a Rickenbacker!

Fast response

2007 Rick 360 in Blueburst - serial no. indicates it was manufactured in the first week of April 2007, I bought it in June 2007. The Blueburst finish is the 2005 Color of the Year, which can no longer be ordered, but Rick is still making them while they work on their order backlog, and if you look hard enough it's still possible to pick them up from larger dealers in the US. It's a knockout, and it's a Rick.

Has that chimy Rick sound - you either dig it or you don't. I do and wouldn't part with it for the world.

There is more high-level craftsmanship in any Rickenbacker than you are likely to find in a container-load of guitars from other mainstream manufacturers. Every Rick is at a level of quality that some other makers call their Custom Shop work. On the 2007 run however, Rick seems to have widened the string spacing at the nut over an earlier model that I have compared it to. This difference is not huge - about 1 or 2 mm over a previous year's example of this guitar. The problem that results at least on mine and I know of a few others as well is that the Top E string can slip off the fretboard at the 2nd to 5th frets if you are not careful. This was discussed on a forum on the Rickenbacker site recently and funnily enough the Thread seems to have disappeared. The change appears to have been made in response to customer complaints about narrow string spacing on earlier models. Rics have always forced players to fret the neck carefully as their necks are generally quite narrow, so this change will please some players and annoy others who find their style of playing will push the Top E off the neck periodically. Apparently even George Harrison once found this to be part of the quirky charm of playing a Rickenbacker, so be aware. For me, it's a 10 in almost every respect, and a 5 for the new nut, so I'll saw my rating off at a 7.

It's a Ric - enough said.

Rics can only be repaired under warranty by sending them back to the factory in California. I personally find that a pain, as that is bound to be an expensive and lengthy proposition. The good news is you are unlikely to ever have a problem with a Ric, but as for customer service I've never dealt with them, and if I ever did have a problem I'd order whatever part was needed from their website and have the work done locally. So in that sense, their warranty doesn't mean much to me, but at least some common parts are available on their site.

Own too much other gear to list but including one other Ric - the Rics are what I dream about.

1991 mapleglo with black hardware & pickguard. Looks awesome. The Ric-o-sound is a cool item but one rarely used by most. I think Ric should include the box & cables with every stereo guitar. Otherwise it has good features that are well positioned. They've had a lot of years to perfect it.

If you are primarily a rhythm player (I am)this is your axe. The chime is what we all remember & gave Ric its reputation. I have to admit that I always bring a second guitar for my occasional lead work. Its just not gonna cut like a Strat or growl like a Gibson. Great mid to highs but a little thin on the bottom.I love the sound but it doesn't work for every tune (probably good for 80% of our stuff).

I have 3 Rics & this is why. My first, a 1965 Ric 450-12, I bought in 1966 & still gig with it. I have not seen consistent quality control over the years from anyone else. The fit & action are top notch & the finish will give the PRS dudes a run for the money. Only ever replaced six machine heads on the 450 to keep tune better & just did that 2 years ago.

Well see above. I had a drunk fall over on my 360 several years ago & feared the worse. Amazingly it was perfect except the G string was a little flat. It may look fragile but its a tough bugger. I only have backups for my lead work.

Only dealt with them once in 95. Took a bit but they handled it.

I would give this guitar a "10" if were just a little thicker on the bottom but maybe then we would lose the patented chime that we all love. This is the most attractive guitar in my whole 14 guitar collection. You WANT to hold it. I will always buy & love Ric's. I have the 450-12, a 1996 620 & this baby. Rock on!

Mine was an '80s model with a brown sunburst finish. Evidently the brown sunburst finish was discontinued in the late '80s or early '90s. I think it was an '86 based on the serial number.

two single coil pickups that looked like soapbars, rick-o-sound, 2V 2T and a frequency pot of some sort, and all the standard features. Grover tuners.

The tone was rich, but not fat. I could not find a pickup combination that I really liked that much, and I found it to be very bright overall. I guess I mean it had a broad spectrum of bright tones, or something...It could get pretty raunchy with distortion, which was kind of cool. Sustain was poor.

Action was low and comfortable (probably not factory action, though), fit was nice but there were some glue spots on the inlays. Finish was good and attractive, and the look is art-deco cool. There's really nothing quite like a Ric for looks and style.

I was not convinced that this guitar was all that durable. The hollow body and thin neck made me nervous. The guitar was well made, and all that, and was not flimsy at all. It did fine on stage, and the hardware and straplocks were fairly sturdy. The guitar was used, and the 'R' shaped string holder at the bottom of the guitar was starting to corrode a bit / lose it's chrome.

No idea.

This is a neat guitar, but not a 'one and only' for me. I only used it on stage for a few songs, because it had a limited range. No low end. Cool mids, but strong, strong highs. Maybe humbucker pickups would sound better?

Hand Made in America! I won't bore you with all the features, but let me say I've never owned a guitar like this before! The semi-hollow body with the classic Ricky sound is really refreshing! Coupled with the Vintage Toaster pickups, this guitar resonates and sustains so well. Ok...here is where I was suprised. The guitar out of the case was completely flawless. The maple-glow finish is totally custom shop quality. The frets were highly polished, intonation was right on and the flammed maple/walnut neck is so sweet! The rosewood finished fretboard and sharktooth markers are awesome looking and the feel is even better!

So...I've been a Gibson, Fender and PRS player (snob) for many years. After the purchase of this guitar (Rickenbacker 360/6) I felt ripped-off in the sense that..."Why did I wait so long to try a Rickenbacker?" Being from So. Cal and Rickenbacker only a few miles away, I can't figure out why I snubbed them for so long! Anyway, I'm glad I pulled the trigger and finally got one. The sound is full, rich, and lush very organic sounding. Rickenbacker just has that sound that no other guitar can get! My guitar has the upgrade with the Vintage Toaster pickups. Clarity is an understatement. The 5th tone and "blending" knob is where this guitar really stands out! Endless variations of tone and volume combinations. You've heard that you can't play lead guitar on a Ricky? That's not even true. For all you Les Paul fans...Try playing your leads on the neck PU and your rhythm on the neck PU. That's the secret. Just opposite so to speak of the Les Paul configuration. I have two amps. 1. I play a Carvin Belair 2x12 (El34's and 12AX7's) and 2. A Mesa Boogie Rectoverb 1x12 (6L6's and 12AX7's) single rectifier. Sound so sweet on both amps! Grant it...The Ricky is NOT your typical Heavy Metal Shredding guitar...this guitar is for mature audiences only! :-) Really, you need to try the Rickenbacker as it would be a great addition to your guitar collection!

Fit and Finish...again custom shop quality! Hand Made in America! Amazing to look at and even better to play. Top-notch guitar in my opinion.

The 360 is light and very durable I'm sure. It stays in tune! I'd have a back-up at any gig no matter what I play. My 360 will not be my number one guitar on stage. It will be used for those appropriate originals and covers that require the Rickenbacker sound. I can see me using it on a Blues set too! Time will tell.

Very friendly in Santa Ana, CA...I called asking them about their strap locks. They make their own but are milled and designed for the Schaller system! Good thinking! Still can't believe Gibson does not offer strap locks except those "Cheesy" aluminum stock ones they insist on using.

If you've ever been curious about a Rickenbacker, check one out! I bought mine at Wildwood Guitars and I'm glad I finally got a Rickenbacker. Been playing 27 years and can't figure out why I never tried a Ricky until now! Go for it, you'll be totally stoked you did!

Bought in '06, Jetglo with R tailpiece, 2 single coils, stereo outputs, 5th blend pot to adjust volume of neck pickup when both coils used together and to fine-tune the volume of the neck pickup when used by itself.

That might not sound like a lot of "features", but the design of this thing gives you tons of functionality. Think Florence Griffith Joyner, all muscle, no fat... A Whammy bar or a piezo (which you can get) would be, 90% of the time, useless, but just enough to push this guitar to a perfect 10. Right out of the box, it's got everything I could ever need.

For the money, you won't buy a better guitar, end of story! It's playability, quality of construction, and components all contribute to a huge tonal pallette that your fingers will be eager to explore. No, you won't get the chunk of a solid-body guitar with a PAF in the bridge, or the bright bite of a strat, but... you'd be amazed at how "right" the sounds you can coax from this guitar feel when applied to musical styles that you wouldn't have expected! You can play the hard stuff with this guitar if you're willing to sound different! The jazzy tones that this guitar can produce absolutely floored me and it's simply perfect for any kind of vocal accompaniment. Neck pickup lead lines are extremely robust... very full with immaculate clarity.

Flawless finish and the action is the best I've ever seen, right out of the box. I've played for 20 years and have owned/played a lot of guitars. Up until I put my hands on this guitar, my custom shop Fender and my Carvin were tied for best action... this guitar has forced them into retirement, no competition. The binding around the neck, the fret work, the finish, the intonation, everything was dead on.

If the late George Harrison could take the same guitar on the road for 30 years, I'm thinking it can more than stand up to stage/road abuse! If you only get in one car wreck in your lifetime, you're doing better than the national average... but you still pay insurance every month. I think having a backup on stage is just as smart, and usually just as unnecessary. This is a hollowbody, but it's not overly delicate.

Don't know yet. Reputation seems more than solid, though.

I've had my USA-made Kramer stunt guitars, Gibson hollow-bodies, Fender custom shop solid-bodies, boutique acoustics, you name it... A lot of which are truly and regrettably overpriced. Of that lot, I place my Carvin (custom made, as are all Carvin electrics) at the top of the list for handmade quality with an upscale import pricetag. I surprised my wife by counting up the number of instruments I've owned at one time or another, and out of the 30+, this guitar, which is the best built, most versatile, and best sounding of all of them, is by far the most enjoyable instrument I've ever owned. It is much needed relief from GAS (Guitar Acquisistion Syndrome), which plagues many, many musicians. I don't think I need to buy much else, except for maybe another Rickenbacker!

I bought this Rick in Feb of 2006...serial number indicates it was built in Jan 2006, 100% in the USA, as all Ricks are. Mine is a Jetglo 360 with white pickguard and trussrod cover...a beautiful guitar. When I first got it I simply opened the case and stared at it for minutes....since I was 13 I've dreamed of owning Ricks, a 6 string and a 12 string, and though I've played a couple in music stores over the years, now that I'm 26 this is the first one I've owned and I am ecstatic. It's the standard 360, maple body, 24 frets, rosewood laquered neck and fingerboard, 2 Rick pickups, two tone knobs, two volume knobs, the blend knob, three-way pickup selector. It has the 6 saddle bridge with cover/handrest, the classic "R" tailpiece and is just a GORGEOUS guitar. Schaller tuners which are the ONLY parts of the guitar not made by Rickenbacker themselves...even on their webpage they state how they tool and machine ALL of the metal for the guitars except for the tuners. Guitar came with the standard Rick plastic case (I am gonna buy the wood/tolex Rick vintage case when I have the money), came with keys, tools, polishing cloth, and a bunch of literature. A fantastic guitar. My one gripe is that the pickup selector switch feels a little flimsy, but everything else feels solid. I am surprised at how light the guitar is....I also have an Epiphone Dot 335 with Bigsby and this feels much lighter even though the factory specs for the two axes has the Epi being a pound LIGHTER....

I play music that's a cross between classic rock (Zeppelin/Cream/Who/Hendrix) and more melodic rock (Beatles, Blur, Mansun, Suede). I play through a LARGE pedalboard: MXR DynaComp>Ibanez TS-9>Vox Wah> Dunlop Tremelo>Ibanez AD-9>Dunlop Univibe>MXR Stereo Chorus>MXR Phase 90>MXR Flanger>MXR Auto-Q> into Vox amps. This guitar sounds wonderful, I can get that chiming Rick-only sound but also some more growly, warm tones. Fantastic.

This guitar, as per Rick's tagline, was indeed "ready to play straight out of the case!" I found it to be set up wonderfully, with perfect action. The guitar looks flawless, from the joints and frets to the famous Rick finish. Just GORGEOUS from top to bottom, front to back.

This guitar will withstand live playing, I'm sure. While Ricks have an (undeserved) reputation for being flimsy, for a guitar that is a light as it is, it feels surprisingly strudy. The hardware, except for the flimsy pickup selector, seems solid and the finish on these badboys lasts forever...I played a 30 yr old Mapleglo 12-string once and it was still gorgeous. I'd use this on a gig with no backup...this is my dream guitar (although I still love and play my Epi too!)

Never dealt with the company but haven't heard anything but good stuff about them.

I've been playing guitar for 16 years and FINALLY have my first Ric. I've always wanted a 6 string, 12 string, and bass from Rick and I'm 1/3 of the way there. I've also always wanted a high-end acoustic, and after contemplating Gibsons and Martins for years, I'm gonna go with Rick on those too. They're super-high quality and for the price, they smoke Gibson and Fender and all of the other big manufacturers, whose prices keep going up. Rick is also the ONLY US guitar maker that does it ALL (unless you're talking super-high end Gibson and Fender custom shop stuff, which will run you into the $2500+ range). Plus, EVERYONE and his brother has a Gibson or Fender. Rick's look different, sound different, and have always been my favorite axes. Aside from my awesome Epi, they're the only guitars I'll ever play from now on.

Well, here's a different opinion, if you can handle it. I really like the design of this guitar, i.e., this model, and I really tried to like it, but...
You know the features. I don't remember all the details offhand (because I didn't buy one), but, in addition to what I've seen since, the first one I really paid serious attention to was one I saw in a music store in Kent, OH, a-way back somewhere between 1973 and 1975. It was used then, so it was obviously older than that, and apparently one upon which it made its reputation.
The laquered rosewood (or rosewood-related) fingerboard surprised me, as it didn't seem practical, and may well not be as far as ease of play. Over and above that, as I recall, the high E string in the upper registers was nearly off the edge of the fingerboard. I can't see how this could happen just from use, as the neck is a fixed one (and your stuck with it that way). Add to this that the neck is 1-5/8 inch at the nut, rather common, but with Ric's it seems to be somewhat narrower still: there just doesn't seem to be enough room between the strings. Last time I checked, they didn't offer a model with 1-11/16 inch, and the next width up they offer is 1-7/8 inch--too wide for me, but...who knows what it really is?
As far as pickups go, the only ones that seem to make a Ric a Ric are the ones that give it "that sound"--the single coil, relatively weak ones--which is OK, I guess, but seems to limit its functionality to rhythm, primarily (think John Lennon).
The "R" is my favorite tailpiece; Ric tremolos like on the John Lennon model are a joke; the trapezoid tailpiece is way too unsophisticated looking; and the bridges are a bit strange.
Everybody seems to rave about their finishes, but I've just never been impressed. They look painted on to me, as if with a brush (not quite that bad, really). But I have yet to see a mirror finish on one, invariably noting streaks that follow the wood grain (you've got to look at it at an angle if you know what you're doing).
I like the idea of a semi-hollow design because my shoulder doesn't like too much weight (are you really worth the effort, Les Paul?), but the first time I picked up a John Lennon, 3/4 size model, I was surprised at how heavy it was. So much for any advantage there.

See above.

OK, so there is a certain mystique about this guitar and its sound, but, sheesh, for the prices they command, you'd like some playability and versatility. Don't get me wrong, I still want to like them (and so I'm up-rating it for its "vibe"), but back then I went with an ES335TD that I still own and I've never regretted it, if that tells you anything.

lefty fireglo made march 97 bought used in 02

thru blackfaced '70s fender twin (7581a's in the power section)via dunlop wah then echoplex (in mono mode). my tech rigged my twin for the ric-o-sound, bass into 1, treble into two, reverb and trem on both channels. i dont use effects with this set-up, but it's freakin heavenly.

beautiful, buttery, and did i mention beautiful?

friends who've held it are surprised at how solid it is. i guess 2 truss rods'll do that for ya. i gig with it always, don't worry too much about keeping it perfect. it's MY guitar dammit and every dent has a memory! did have the stereo jack replaced once.

n/a

favorite guitar of all. don't play the american strat at all anymore. this and my mexican tele'll get the trick done.... the tele is the backup.

This is a revision to my previous review (see immediately below). I was wrong about the string gauge, it ships with .010's. I asked Ric customer service how thick of a string gauge I could get away with putting on it without having to have the nut recut, and I got an immediate reply back that the manual that ships with the guitars had that misprint. They also emailed a link to a PDF of the manual with the correct specs.

The fact that I am used to .011's combined the shorter scale length must have solidified the illusion that I was playing .008's because the strings do feel skinny to me. But if they are 10's,most players will probably feel quite content with them.

sent them a question and got a reply back immediately, and my follow-up question was answered immediately. Very happy with this, they seem to walk the walk.

Ric features are well enough documented now, so I'll skip the obvious. A lot of people don't mention the infamous 5th knob anymore (George Harrison once remarked that as far as he could tell, it didn't do anything!), but it is actually very useful. Essentially, it's a fine tuning control for blending the front and rear pickups. Yes, it is a bit redundent since you already have a front pickup volume knob, anyway, but the 5th knob is more subtle and allows you to dial in some more tones. Try it, you'll like it!

Included Schaller tuners are great and reliable.

Weird thing, guitar ships with .008 strings! I've never seen a professional guitar ship with such skinny strings. I normally use 11's, and the .008's made the guitar feel very odd at first. The nut slots are so well fit to the 8's that you'll need to have the nut slots recut if you want to use thicker strings, there's really no leeway there. Kudos to Ric, I guess, for such tight precision tolerences in manufacturing, but it's a pain to have to resize the nut slots just to change to my preferred strings.

However, having said that, there is a playability issue involved with string gauge, read below.

Again, the Ric sound is legendary, so there should be no need to overdescribe it. I got frustrated with solidbodies years ago, the midrange always sounds too constricted to my ears. The Ric hollowbody yields a much richer, warmer, more dynamic sound. But it's not too deep (thickness-wise) like a Gibson or Gretsch hollowbody (also great sounding guitars), so it still has a bit of chunk to the sound, it's a big part of that Ric "Kerrrang" that you hear through the pickups when you strum.

Not sure what all the fuss is about "toaster vs. new pickups" - the new pickups sound great. They're bright, but not thin or shrill. I think it's a testament to how good they sound that the guitar sounds rich and fat even with the puny .008 strings!

The guitar sounds great for just about anything. Put it through a clean Vox or Fender and it has all the sparkle and chime you'd expect. Overdrive the amp and the guitar sounds fat and rich, not at all like a Strat or Tele with that tinkly Fender high end. Even with an overdriven amp, though, it retains definition and clarity that makes a Les Paul (a humbucker Les Paul, anyway) sound like mush in comparison (this is all from hands-on experience with AB'ing my various guitars and amps, not a rant - I think Fenders and Gibsons are great for what they are, but they're just not really my cup of tea).

The fit and finish straight out of the case put to shame anything else I've ever bought. Setup was perfect, intonation perfect, couldn't find any flaws anywhere. Finish definitely has that famed Rickenbacker mirror-like shine.

However, that thick lacquer finish on the neck and fretboard has got to go! I know that's been a "signature" of Rickenbacker from the early days, but one of the reasons Rickenbacker perhaps hasn't grown much as a company is that they don't seem to listen to what players want. The lacquer on the back is bad enough - it's thicker than Fenders and Gibsons - but the lacquer on the fretboard makes playing leads nearly impossible. Bending is particularly hard because your fingers get caught up - it only takes about 1 minute of playing before your fingers start to get that sticky feeling.

And that's too bad, because there's nothing inherent to the Ric design that makes playing leads on these guitars hard, contrary to popular belief. The neck's back profile is similar to a Fender C neck's, maybe a little thick for my tastes buy certainly not an impediment. It's just that darned lacquer!

I talked to a guitar shop pro who advised I do nothing about it for a year; the lacquer is still curing and some of it will seep into the wood. After the finish stabilizes I plan on having the neck and fretboard rubbed out to get a more satin finish-type feel.

The double truss rod probably necessitates the thicker C shape, but I can't see any real advantage to having 2 truss rods. Perhaps that works well on their 12 string models that have stronger string pull on the neck and perhaps it's just easier for them to tool their line so that all necks are made the same way, but for the 6 string models it would be nice to see a single truss rod with a softer 60's slim taper neck for easier grip and lead playing. I have single truss rods in my Fenders of similar scale length and I've never had a neck problem, not sure why Ric thinks it's necessary.

The frets are small even by older Fender standards. Again, with the skinny strings it doesn't feel so good, but I've owned guitars with tiny frets before and putting on heavier strings alleviates this problem. Actually, it feels great - for an experienced player who prefers heavier strings, the smaller frets actually feel great underneath the strings. Heavy strings w/ large frets feels like you're playing on railroad tracks! Shredders would probably disagree with me, but this obviously isn't a shredder's guitar. The kind of leads I'm talking about playing are standard blues-rock stuff (the kind of stuff that - ahem - Rickenbacker supposedly builds these guitars for, no?), not shred leads. Yngwie and Nu-Metal disciples obviously don't need to be considering this guitar, anyway!

Too bad again about the nut being cut only for .008's, but I have to say the craftsmanship is perfect. I don't think I've ever seen a nut cut this well for an off-the-shelf new guitar.

And if I put heavier strings on it now, with the fretboard gloss still so sticky, it would probably be a huge nightmare, so I'll just deal with it for now.

The bridge saddles are a little scary looking. There's no smoothing or polishing, so they literally look like they were just cut from the metal yesterday. Very crude looking. Again - Ric - why are you hellbent on making everything look and play like it did 40 years ago? I'm all for vintage vibe, but I think it's ok to make little updates along the way, particulraly for little details like this. I don't know that this would have any effect on string life provided the actual string grooves are cut properly and they still put that cover on top, anyway (it's removable if you like), so maybe they just assume no one's looking!

The cover's an interesting idea, though, because it prevents your hand oils and moisture (and resultant rust) from forming on the strings right at their weak spot where they break over the saddles. Perhaps this may increase string life and reliability, too early to say. The cover stays low enough over the strings that you can still use your normal amount of palm muting and pressure, at least it didn't seem to affect my technique any.

Everything else is solid as well - electronics, switches, pots, etc. Everything feels top notch.

It's a hollowbody, but it feels very sturdy. There's no way it could be as sturdy as a solidbody, but unless your name is Pete Townsend it shouldn't be an issue. It doesn't feel prissy or rickety, feels very solid. I'd prefer to take care of mine and not subject it to too much abuse, anyway - this is not a guitar to make your Van Halen Frankenstein or SRV Number One abuse therapy, use your Strats for that. But, with normal care it should be fine for all playing situations from honky tonk bars to stadium shows.

Never dealt with them, so I can't comment. I do admire their tenacity to maintain their build quality - lots of Fenders and Gibsons leave their factories without the kind of quality control you're entitled to expect from such companies - even if it means staying smaller as a company. And I do think that philosophy probably indicates that they care about their products' reliability and reputation. I just wish they wouldn't be so bullheaded about the little stuff that could make their guitars more popular and appealing to a wider market.

Been playing for 20 years, left the business long ago and I just play at home for fun now. Always wanted a Ric and finally got the one I wanted. FYI I bought a 330 new about 10 years ago and, although the build quality was also exceptional, it just didn't have that Ric sound. It sounded very dark and muddy (yes, I checked the tone knobs!). I ended up sending it back. Strange, considering the build is nearly identical to the 360's and the pickups have supposedy been the same for many years now. Maybe I just got a lemon, who knows. Something to consider for the rest of you.

I do know that this 360 sounds exactly like I hoped it would. I'm baffled, actually, that people play Strats and Gibsons of questionable quality when for the same price they can be playing Rics that sound so much richer and more dynamic. It takes all kinds, I know, and I love the SRV Tube Screamer through a Fender sound as much as anyone, but if you've ever heard a Ric through a nice amp you'd wonder if you even needed the Tube Screamer and all the other baggage to get that richer tone.

If Ric would only make a guitar with a friendler neck, maybe players would recognize this!!!

Features covered well below. I had a 330 and got rid of it because the neck was just a little bit too clunky. This neck is different and easier to play. I like the body style better too.

I has that nice jangle but it also has a really neat fifth knob that has two purposes. First on the neck pickup it is a master volume, so you can alternate between elads and rhythm with a twist of the knob. the same knob is also a tone blend when set on the middle toggle setting, neat. It has a lot of great sounds, most versatile guitar i own in that regard.The tone knobs are not traditional for gibson players, and their placement makes them less easy to use live than a tele for volume swells ( the volume controls are the two bottom ones, farthest away from your pinky).

Finish is excellent and rivals my G&L Bluesboy in that regard.The fingerboard is narrow but requires a little more precision. When i switch back to the Bluesboy though, I am a better player. OK for most leads I play. ( I am no shredder.).

Wonderful American made instrument that will appreciate,. Their quality has always been good so there is no " golden period" of manufacturing. Therefore the value will hold.
Action is easy to adjust. Don't people know that? Intonation was dead on.

It is light and easy to hold.It is very well balanced. the strings are not hard to change at all, I just bend the ends up and they catch in the tailpiece. they suggest you change one string at a time, but I like to clean the guitar at the same time. As I'm using those new fangled teflon strings, I change a lot less often and need to get at the dust. It looks good too. When you pick it up you are amazed that it weighs so little. As i get older that is a factor. It stays in tune, it is a pleasure to own. And as has been said, it sounds like nothing else out there. I think I have the only one in this town and that is cool too.

No idea.

I own a fender tele, a G&L Bluesboy and other guitars. this guitar is not my primary one. It is however the one that i write a lot with, and enjoy listening too. It has an almost tele sound but fuller I'd say. The G&L is the only guitar that I use with it. between them I have a wonderful variety of tones. Plug it into an Allen Old Flame amp and there are no excuses for sounding bad. Well worth the price of admission. As i said I had a 330 and found it hard to play. But you know what? I missed the tone too much. Saw an add , did a horsetrade and I'm back in the saddle. I'd like to try a 12 string one day too.

It's a 360 from 2004 in a light blue finish which looks rather sweet. I got this one from EBay from the USA secondhand but unblemished. To be honest I bid on it after a few too many beers at #750 & expected to be outbid. I wasn't, so had to pay $100 shipping & $200 import duty for it!! Came with a nice silver case & an old-fashioned Rickenbacker strap.
This one has "vintage" pickups, so they look like toaster tops rather than the individual pole-pieces of my 360-12.
Controls??They seem in the wrong place to me.....I'd prefer the Gibson set-up....being used to that, these confuse me. Despite having a manual to tell me what the 5th tone knob does I still can't figure it out!
Heaven knows what woods it's made of, I guess a look at the Rickenbacker site will tell you.

Well it sounds like a Rickenbacker...maybe not as limiting as you might think. I play pop/rock/ blues and I can get most sounds from it. If it were my only guitar I'd need to adapt my style, but as it is it's fun to have around & it will do most things.
I use a Gibson Goldtone GA15R & a Peavey Classic 30 which suit it well.
Bright sounds?? You bet! Also the ultimate rhythm guitar.
Versatile?? For me, yes. But then you won't be buying this for heavy rock or metal, so I guess it's not THAT versatile.
Mind you, a Ramirez Classical won't play heavy metal & you would be foolish to criticize it for that!!

Given that it was bought used it was set up fine with no visible flaws. Better than new Gibsons in my opinion!

It all seems very solid, well made & finished & reliable. I NEVER gig without a back-up.....strings can break, connections short...guitars fall off stands.....

Never dealt with Rickenbacker. Nice website though!

Lots of other guitars & amps. Gig mostly with MusicMan. Would not use this as my only guitar but it's fun to have around

March2005 Fireglo Ric 360/6 Kick ass guitar except for on the book match grain on the back you can clearly see worm trails. Not a huge deal but considering I ordered it online and couldn't see what I was getting before I bought it, I thought that kind of weak.
But overall a good 360. Bridge pickup was blown when I got it. Came with rectangular Ric case, tools, poster manuals. Good smell.

Tough to master any Ric, but the 360 is all across the boards. But once you get used to its nuances - you will love it.
I think I was fortunate that the bridge pickup was blown when I got it, cause I wouldn't have gotten to know the great full dark tones of the neck pickup. This is the body of the 360 tone. Mixing the 2 pickups is really useful and allows you to have a myriad of tones on the spot- from wooden bounding tones, to thick cutting slabs of attack, to 'ric'kly, Johnny Marr golden pinprickes. You can make it sound like its raining thin golden coins in full voiced chords, or you can make it growl, and make the floor pounce with heavy boom. Its very very versitile. But it is not a lead guitar. Its a lead if you play double/tripple stops with your solos, but its not a bender, or a space solo guitar. I'd say the 360 is half acoustic guitar/Les Paul. Great for ryhthm work, and singers.

The setup from Ric was shit, but easy to fix. All the tools are included, so made setup easy.
Pickups pissed me off more than anything, but easy to rip out, setup, rewire. etc.
Bookmatch was questionable. I have worked with wood a great deal so to me the grain was course, off-knotted, and unclean, especially on thr back with wormtrails. Bridge needed resetting, but nothing restringing it didn't fix.
I didn't see any flaws other than the bridge pickup not working, and the grain not being perfect or special.

I got this beast for playing live as a backup to my strat, and of course found myself playing it more than the strat. Its easy to get sick of a Fender tone, no matter which incarnation of Fender it is. They do all sound the same. A ric doesn't hit that 'Overly repeated' stop in your harmonic memory, so it grabs listeners attention- making even non musicians think- 'What is that sound? Thats really cool.' So I found myself setting the strat aside for backup.
Hardware is top dollar, ric doesn't play games with hardware. Even though its tough to string and the floating bridge is weird, all the hardware is really top grade.
Strap buttons work fine- even with the Schaller strap lock without having to replace the OEM ones.
Its s dependable guitar unless you break a string, and I had a 'G' go out of tune on me during a song randomly. Must have been user error.
I would probably use it at a gig without a backup. Depending on what the set was.

Well my ric situation was pretty messed up at first, I'd have to say - ordered it online, which sucked, cause you can't see it/play it first. All good except bridge pickup didn't work so I swapped its replacements pickup. After that works great. Ric sucked about it but the dealer was really cool.

Been playing for 13 years off and on, and more seriously for the last years, especially since I found some really good players to play with. I have an American Strat with David Gilmour EMG's on it, that really rocks. I am playing them both through a Line6 Flextone III (which may suck, but I spilt a beer on it last gig, and it STILL works.) I have a Vox AC30CC2x en route, and after playing the Rick through one, with use it as my clean, and the line6 for distortion (its far superiour for distortion than clean).
Stolen or lost? Small town and I know everyone so I would find it. But I would buy it again after much chagrin.
Love about it? The flavor. Its like really good cuisine- has lots of flavor and fills you up just right.
Hate about it? That adjective should not exist when discussing anything musical.

2005 Rick 360 Midnight blue, standard features, standard pickups

It sounds ok.

WARNING! I was sooo disappointed when i received this guitar today that i just have to let others know. the sound is ok, better than my les paul but not stellar (Played through a Peavey Classic 30). what really disappointed me was the quality of the guitar. For 1K, you'd expect that a guitar would be handcrafted at least in a way that would look well put together. i don't know if all ricks are handcrafted at any point but this guitar definitely looked like 'a second' even though I didn't buy a blem or second quality instruement. It looked so cheaply made from the plastic pick guard to the toggle switch which felt so cheap and light.

What was most disappointing is the finish. You can see the glue from the frets under the laquer and on mine, the glue on the first fret is oozing over and then they laquered over it so it looks so cheap and sloppy. There were also white marks all over the sides of the neck which i managed to scrape away with a pick. But the glue under the laquer cannot be 'scraped' away and frankly looks very shoddily made.

My dad saw the guitar and picked it up and asked if it was a toy. It is very light and cheap feeling.

Don't know how this is live beacuse i have to return it because i cannot justify spending 1K on a guitar whose craftmanship looks like it costs about $200.

never contacted them.

if you want a rickenbacker and have tons of money and like to throw it around, i guess you'd have one for your collection. but if you are looking for a quality made, highly crafted guitar worth it's money, i would look elsewhere.

maybe i'm too used to the quality of taylors and martins (which cost about the same 1-2K) and even my mid-grade epiphone les paul which cost half the rick reveals a better quality of craftmanship.

I don't know. May for 1K i'm expecting too much, but I don't think so. 1K for goodness sake! I just want a guitar that is nicely made and sounds great.

what a disappointment.

Mine is a Fireglo Red (more red than I see usually) 6-string model from the earliest of 90's. Semi hollowbody construction with the standard Rickenbacker pickups. Standard with standard jack and Ric-O-Sound jack which allows you to split the pickups and direct them to two different amps (stereo). Two volume knobs, two tone knobs, a mystery mix knob and a three-way toggle switch for the pickups. Adjustable bridge, floating tailpiece, Shaller tuners. All high quality stuff.

I play alot of alternativey and alty/country type stuff. I find the Rickenbacker very versatile in these areas. Not quite as smooth and creamy as a Les Paul...not quite as bright and piercing as a Strat. The Rickenbacker does plucky, chimey, growl chime very well. It's own sound as many have already stated. It's unique sound fills in all the empty spaces in between the hollowbody and solidbody.

The action fit and finish on this guitar is wonderful. Rickenbacker knows how to pay attention to detail and have made almost every part of this guitar, unique. It's a work of art with it's laminated fretboard, R-tailpiece and sensually curved body. My only concern would be the cost of a re-fret when that time comes. Who the heck is gonna do it?

I've had the guitar for over 10 years and has never had any problems. I would use this guitar without a backup...if it wasn't a secondary guitar to begin with. I probably play this guitar for 1/3 of my songs. A small bit of chipping on the laminated fretboard, so I'll have to drop a point.

A great guitar to hold and play. The neck is very comfortable (my hands are medium sized). I figure that some giant ape of a guy might find the neck a bit thin.
For that Rickenbacker sound, there's only one...Rickenbacker. Although it may not be the strongest classic lead instrument, it can be very versatile. Makes any amp sound more alive and blends very well with effects pedals and other instruments.