Rickenbacker 365

My Ric 365 was built in June 1968. It is a 22 fret model, laminated top with volume and tone controls for bass and treble, a fifth smaller knob for tone balance and the 3-way toggle pickup switch. When I bought it from Rory Garth around 1986 here in NJ, it had Gibson pickups in it! I replaced those with original style, and got new knobs also. The finish, mapleglo, has faded somewhat, but the rosewood fingerboard is as smooth as ever. May need a fret job soon (ack!). Had Schaller tuners when I got it. Also has an apparently original Bigsby tremolo. The original case is still in one piece. Checkerboard binding is a gorgeous feature. Supposedly, this model was only built through 1970.

The feedback and sounds I can get through a good Fender tube amp are just incredible. I can get a great jazz sound or Beatles, Steppenwolf sound too.

These guitars were always set up great, they were expensive even back in the 60's, but quality was just great all around. Double truss rods can be difficult to adjust sometimes, but hold up way better than other guitars.

I have used this guitar many times to play out, has a few nicks and scratches, but is nearly indestructible unless you smash it...

I have ordered parts from RIC in California, they were really good to deal with, and have all the parts on hand.

I have been playing guitar 23 years, if I ever had to replace it, I would probably look for a 60's era Rick 6 string. just a word of advice, if you have a nice guitar, you need to add it on specially to your apt. or homeowner insurance policy to get coverage for it. If it's not itemised, and something happens to it, insurance companies will not give you anything for it.

Circa 1961, this has a maple double-cutaway body (1.25" thick), with "x-bracing", no solid centerblock like a ES335, has cream front+back binding, unbound "cat's eye" soundhole, 3-piece maple-walnut-maple neck, gold 2-tier pickguards, oven-style knobs on vol + tone pots, black knob with white pointer on mixer pot; 2 toaster-style single coil pickups, rosewood fingerboard (24.75" scale), bone nut, crushed pearl sharktooth inlays, 2 vol/2 tone pots, 3-way pickup selector, Accent by Paul tremolo, roller bridge, mapleglo finish. Ric tuners (Kluson imitations -- sealed units with have no backlash and stay in tun better than the Klusons ever did). In appearance, it is similar to Tom Petty's 365, but was manufactured several years earlier, and, features different pickguard/trussrod color and knobs.
This guitar was originally rescued from a trash dumpster in NYC and restored to near mint condition. It's a very beautiful model and a testimony to the creativity of Roger Rossmeisl (sp?) of Rickenbacker (he left after 1962).

Sounds like Lennon and Petty are playing in the room with you. The guitar is a low-output hollowbody that plays well through Class A, A+B, shit, anything with a preamp/amp section and a speaker. It won't overdrive a tube amp by any means, but the harmonics and tone of the maple, plus the design of the body, give outstanding sustain and bright ringing sound. Roll off the treble and it does a decent jazz imitation. With the low output, unshielded pickups, it has feedback, more so than an ES335, but it doesn't use you -- you can use it.
This guitar is a pop monster, and it will do country + jazz with the right amp/pedal combo.

As I said, this was a restoration -- it was refinished in nitrocellulose, and a few parts were replated or replaced with Ric reissue parts. It's 37 years old. But the original electronics, frets, wood, and vibe are intact. The neck is narrow at the nut like all Rics, so fingerings require practice -- but the action is really low and the neck is straight like an arrow. There's nothing to complain about regarding the workmanship or the quality -- it was built to last (and last it did -- it survived being tossed in its case into a construction trash dumpster and was headed for the junkyard!)

See above -- this guitar went through several owners and was, at one time, repainted in red housepaint! Let's send it around the world in a poorly packed box via UPS and see what happens...
In all fairness, after all that it has been through, this guitar deserves some peace + quiet, not the stage. I would keep this thing for studio + personal jamming only. Get a 360v64 if you want a stage guitar with basically the same chops that this guitar has.

Ric actually gave me some helpful hints when it came time to restore this poor thing, so considering that, I'd give Ric a high rating, indeed.

Here's the story on how I got this guitar. I was walking along in NYC near the site of a demolition, namely an old hotel building which was being torn down to make room for a new Baruch College building. The hotel was more or less a flophouse -- a place that doesn't garner 5-star awards, merely 5-star alcoholics and drug users. As I passed a construction trash dumpster, I spotted what looked to be a suitcase buried under plasterboard and ripped apart wood studs -- only it was too LONG to be a suitcase. I reached in and pulled it out -- sure enough, it was a grey+black guitar case. I opened it and my jaw dropped -- the guitar inside was the one I just described to you, only in shit condition! Literally no neck finish, no finish on the back, missing pickguard and parts, and what looked to be red housepaint on the front and sides! I hauled the poor thing away and...well, after 6 months of restoration (and several hundred dollars), a really fine guitar emerged. I know that vintage collectors wouldn't care for what I'd refer to here as a "players" guitar, but it looks and sounds stunning now. Plus, it has a life and a story to go with it. I only wish I knew who the past owners were and how it ended up where it did...
Oddly enough, several days later, at the same construction site, I found a 1955 Rickenbacker Combo 800! We'll save that story for a later time...man, who's throwing these fucking things out, anyway?
After these experiences, I ALWAYS check the garbage cans in NYC. God only knows, somebody might chuck a '54 Strat or '58 ES335 in the garbage because he/she can't get that "Van Halen" or "Pantera" tone out of it...people are goddamn crazy.