Rickenbacker 381 V69

Two vintage toasters and the standard Rick fare. Nothing too fancy but a very versatile setup, with tricks like RickOsound for the eccentric.

Simply luscious. One of the hottest guitars ever. Surfy, bitey, ultra warm, jangly, rocky, bluesy. Sensational mids and incredibly versatile.
Sustain for days. It's the ultimate partner for a clean Vox, but it can crank with killer distortion like a mad MO-FO too.

A true piece of American Workmanship seen far too little these days. Rickenbacker is one of the most honest, dedicated, and reliable companies out there. One of the best things I've ever bought period. You get more than you pay for. FLAWLESS build quality, highly figured wood, old school binding, luscious finish. Holds its own against any guitar out there. And a bargain for the money to boot.
Fast, tight glossy fingerboard that is smooth and easy to play.
And how the hell does it stay in tune 24/7?????

Lighter than it looks! I've never had a hint of a problem, but I'd be terrified to see it smacked too hard against something. A work of art, so I'd be gentle on gigs with this baby. Not exactly a workingman's slab, but it's 100% reliable and built incredibly well.

Never had a problem so don't know. Got it from that Ed Roman guitar susperstore out in Vegas. Fantastic set up, and they even upgraded the bridge to a tasty solid brass unit that improves intonation.

If you can get one. Honestly though I've yet to pick up any Rick that sucks (great quality control), and this is one of the best Ricks ever.

My new 381V69 arrived last Tuesday, 2nd day air from Wildwood Guitars in Colorado. More good words about them later. It was made in April 2004, five months before my 660-12, reviewed elsewhere on this site. If you read my review of the 660-12, you'll learn that the 12-string came after a deal for a 325C58 fell through. At the end of my review, I mention that my next Rick would be the 325C58.

Another 325C58 fell through, and I found this guitar after a friend tipped me off about Wildwood, of whom I'd not heard. My 660-12 is Montezuma Brown, Color of the Year for 2003 (not 2004 as I erroneously state in my review). It's a classic 2-step sunburst finish, going from a lovely sienna color to natural maple, without a transitional 3rd color. It is the most "classic" looking Rick color, and to my eye looks quite appealing. Wildwood, who I first approached looking for the elusive Lennon 325 in Mapleglo, had this very guitar on their website (it's still up there as of 1/24/05). It's in Montezuma Brown like my 660-12.They are a sort of "matched set", but couldn't be different in proportions and character!

This is a large semi-hollow-bodied guitar, with a 24 3/4" scale and 21 frets. It is similar in size and thickness to a full-sized Gretsch, but the carving on front and back (called "German" carving by Rick) makes it appear and feel almost delicate and thinner that the Gretsch, IME. The neck is maple and the fingerboard is rosewood. The body is "charactered" maple (Rick's description), and shows a nice flame that is subtle and even.

There seems to be a status thing among Rick players/collectors that the wilder the flame, the more desirable the guitar, so the more sublte flame on this one might explain why it sat in stock at Wildwood for 9 months, very odd whern you consider that there are probably still people who placed orders for "their" own copy of this exact guitar, who still may be waiting!

The guitar has the usual Rick 6-saddle bridge, adjustable with an Allen wrench for string height and intonation. The neck has the Rick double truss rod feature. The tailpiece is the "R" classic that is so tough to restring unless it is done one or two strings at a time. The sunburst finish is flawless and the body is bound front and back with the charming checkered purfling outlined in white celluloid, that's a trademark of Rick's premium lines. My 660-12 also has this binding.

All the finishing is darned near perfect. The chrome plating is very high-quality. Pickguards are beautifully cut and installed. Typical Rick bakelite knobs with spun aluminum inserts. The guitar attracts attention whenever I get it out, standing proud in a sea of Strats, Les Pauls and Teles. Close inspection of details leaves a very strong impression as well: a perfect blend of museum-quality woodworking and finishing, and beautiful machine details. A handcrafted machine for making music.

I say darned near perfect because both this guitar and my 660-12 had a slight amount of directional hazing from the buffing wheels used in the final polishing process. Easy to take out with Novus #2 or my favorite, Zymol Cleaner-Wax, and a clean diaper. Gee, I'm almost glad it was there on both instruments, as it gave me time to get to know both guitars in a non-playing sense, too, early on. IMO, Rickenbacker might want to think about adding a glazing step to their hand-polishing process, using something like Liquid Ebony to remove the swirl marks. Or maybe clean their buffing wheels a bit more often.

Mind you, they were not obtrusive, just a bit hazy.

Everything else was and is absolutely perfect. this is an instrument with style and class from the get-go. I plan on keeping it forever. Now I can look for that 325C58 Mapleglo.

The price I paid included the Rick vintage silver case with crushed blue velour lining. Both guitar and case arrived in perfect condition.

I've described my "style" (Hendrix is as crazy as I get...) I play a bit of everything from old big band through simpler jazz, progressive rock, rockabilly, and even some surf, and I'm amazed at the variety of tones I can get. I do use a modelling amp, most of the time, just to keep the floor clear. I've heard all kinds of criticism levelled at Ricks (interestingly, some of the same ones I see written about Gretsches--limited tone, no good for lead playing, etc.) and all I can say is, although the 12s are of course somewhat limited in their utility, this 381, if you can get over the classic looks, rocks with the best of them, especially after a good setup!

The guitar received a decent inspection and preliminary setup at Wildwood by their tech. It arrived in perfect shape and after a close inspection ad a quick wipedown of just the fingerboard with conditioner, I played it a little. I understand that clearcoated necks need no conditioner, but I use it to keep the strings, especially the wound ones, sweet.

I found the intonation perfect, except for the "G", and that took a few minutes to dial in. The action was a bit high and took only about 10 minutes to get spot on. Plays like my best Gretsch now--slick and smooth.
every hardware detail was great; pots worked perfectly, knobs on straight, bridge, tailpiece, nut cut fine for the strings it came with. Frets perfect, tuning machines good. Pickups are good and balance between the two seems to be fine. I do have one nit to pick, though--this thing that Rick has about mounting the pickguards and the pickups on electronic-store chassis grommets, which look to me like, well, electronic store chassis grommets.

My 660-12 has the pups mounted with foam pads, which to my eye look tons better than slotted rubber grommets. I've already got a pair of these to fit to the 381 at first opportunity. My personal taste leans toward the gold vintage pickguards like my 660-12, so I'm making up a set, and I'll try the oven knob thing for fun. If these look too strange, I'm going to go with the vintage (black) knobs to replace the aluminum insert ones, which I think, along with the white plexi pickguards, look too sterile and medical instrument-like.

Live playing--if you are referring to heavy beating, I wouldn't do it to this beauty. Though for most uses, I'll have to say, yes, if you stay on top of it. Some of the hardware (tailpiece, and especially bridge) are hardware-intensive, and vibration could disturb these items.

I think that I will put a tiny drop of LocTite red on the four bridge height screws so they don't vibrate free and fall out.

To me, this is a museum-quality instrument, and it would feel like abuse to place it into any sort of crazy stage setting. But its construction, if you don't mind scratches and nicks, is very stout. Neck through body, heavy duty everything, should last a looooong time. Hell there are a lot of old Ricks still alive, though none the worse for wear.

The company I expect to be fair if I ever deal with them. The Dealer, Wildwood guitars, couldn't be better, offereing to send me a new case when I thought my original might be damaged (it wasn't--my mistake). They were very cooperative and considerate, friendly and knowledgeable. They packed the guitar beautifully and waited a day to ship it--their call--in order to avoid thermal shock.

Whenever I pick this one up, I feel on a higher, more receptive, more relaxed plane. It's a great guitar for noodling or serious, contemplative, playing. It will crank with the best of 'em, but it's not a thrasher. I am very pleased with the wide range of sounds it can produce; the neck-through consruction makes it less susceptible to feedback than my Gretsch hollowbodies.

Of all the guitars I own, this is the most special and is built with quality in mind. Amazing instrument at the price! Amazing at any price!

Neck is small for me. Semi-Hollow, double bound body. Made from what they called a "characterized maple" that looks great in their maple glo color. The "R" tail peice is nice looking, but as I found out it is tricky to restring if you take all the strings off. I usally do take off all the strings so that I can properly clean my guitar, but RIC suggests you take one string off at a time. This might help in restring but then you really cant clean the guitar properly. That is THE only reason I am giving it a 9. Otherwise this is THE most incredibly beautiful looking guitar I have ever seen.

Great for Tom Petty, REM, early Who etc. I am using it though an old Crate G 40c amp, and it really accentuates the britness of the guitar. Not exactly the most versatle guitar ever made, but it is a RIC. And if you want that RIC sound there is only one place to get it, and this is it.

I bought the guitar used and it was still set up to factory standards...so I had to change to it slighty to correctly accomadate .010 strins rather then the factory standard .009's. Other then that the guitar was , and still is, in perfect shape. No imperfections what so ever. The neck is small for my hands and does take some getting use to, but its worth have that RIC tone

Since this guitar is a pain to restring, I would always have a back up just in case. But I see no other flaw in this guitars ability to withstand just about any abuse.

Never dealt with the comapny so I have no information to go on. I have heard of problems about the company from more then one source, so that doesnt bode well for the company in general. Lucky for me I havent had any problems with the guitar.

I have been playing since the mid 80's. I use to work for Barrington Werks back was in High School. I purchased two of their guitars back when I was working for them, and subsequently sold the Foxxe model because I never used and was buying this RIC. If someone/anyone ever stole this guitar I would track them down like the dogs they are and treat them that way. This is THE most beautiful looking and sounding guitar I have ever played....PERIOD. I still own the Barrington model that I purchased from the company and have and will keep this guitar so that I can also have a guitar with a deep throaty growl to it.

Those who lament the craftmanship of most major guitar manuacturers of the last 20-odd years will be pleasantly suprised by Rick's attention to detail on this beauty. Gorgeous finish and all around feel.

Some reservations... mine has always been a tad noisy. Have used it in a variety of settings (live, studio and good 'ol garage) with different amps and found it quite tempermental. On a good day, it will amaze and astound, like a good Rick ought to... When the stars are aligned the 381 will provoke awe and jealousy from all who hear it--- has the uncanny ability to both roar (with my Ibanez Tube Scrmr) and jangle. But, on ocassions when the weather's swampy this things a bear and has made me curse the day I bought it. For this reason, I would not recomend it for heavy live use.

Action was decent- no visible flaws

This has been the downside for me... as mentioned above. My biggest gripe is the "vintage" saddle and bridge. Mine has been a tuning nightmare! Have made endless adjustments to both to try and keep it in tune but all to no avail. Would welcome any suggestions from Rick users who ave experienced the same problem... I am by no means a bending freak- frustrating! Have never had this problem with any of my former guitars ... for the price tag this is a HUGE negative... This fact alone has kept it in the closet for the last year and a half- what a shame!!!!!!!!!!

This is a semi-hollow reissue. Great looking guitar with an arch top and back, and very cool checkerboard binding. It has 2 vintage single-coil pickups, which IMHO are the nicer Rick pickups. Fuller sounding than the normal high gain pickups you find on 330's or 360's. Complete details about the guitar, including photo, can be found at http://rickenbacker.com/us/381v69.htm.
There are 5 knobs (2 tone, 2 volume & 1 blend), plus a pickup selector switch. The obvious omission, which I really miss, is a master volume. If you have both pickups on, you have to be a contortionist to fade out using both volumes.
The "R" hanging tailpiece is a pain to restring.

This guitar sounds great for full rhythm tones. Both clean and distorted, a full, rich tone.

I found no problems with the factory set-up, except I didn't care for the .09 strings. I put on .11's and had it re-set-up by a pro. Everything else looked great.

After six months and maybe 50 shows, 2 of the 4 screws holding the bridge had fallen out. The bridge fell over during a show. Otherwise, all of the hardware works great.

This was a catastrophe. After the screws fell out, and I couldn't find them at any music store or hardware store, I called Rickenbacker. Geoff in customer service immediately offered to send me 2 free screws, but he refused to send 2 additional screws in case the problem recurred. He said I'd have to send a money order for $5 or use a credit card for $10 to get 2 extra screws (which cost 7 cents retail each). I thought this was ridiculous, considering I had spent $1,800 on the guitar, and he was already sending me an envelope with 2 screws. Why not just throw in 2 more?
I wrote a letter to Rickenbacker complaining about the service, and I posted a copy to the newsgroup alt.guitar. The CEO of Rickenbacker, Mr. John Hall, responded by calling me an angry, abusive, lying customer. It was bizarre. He even threatened legal action. To this day I still receive e-mails from others who have had similar experiences with Rick customer service and particularly with Mr. Hall.
The whole account of my story, including threatening e-mails from Mr. Hall, can be found at http://thezookeepers.com/ricksumm.htm.

This is an awesome guitar. I never thought I'd spend so much money on a guitar, but I don't regret it a bit. It looks and sounds beautiful. The only thing that has marred my experience was the way the company responded when I had a problem. In the future, if I want another Rick, I'll definitely buy a used one.