Rickenbacker 615

March, 1965 Rickenbacker model 615 M, Just turned 40 years, Fireglo, two S/S toasters pick-ups, 2 volume knobs, 2 tone knobs, 1 tone blender between the 2 pick-ups; raised white pickguard, 3 position switch for the pick-ups; Kluson tuners with plastic pearl knobs, rosewood fretboard; dots; 21 frets, solid maple body; Accent vibrato; 6 saddle chrome bridge; crest wave cutaway; guitar is very light and resonates. vintage silver case with blue lining. mono output. Thin neck.

Great.
Sound is sweet, rich, and powerful. Great for rythym; Nice for lead with very easy bending of strings and easy access to upper neck. Powerful pick-ups, but a bit quirky to get "just right". A compressor helps with any output imbalance. I love the 60's Toaster sound. You know, The Who, The Beatles, Rutles, Byrds, you know the sound if you were awake in the 60's or 70's.

Ultra low action. 9s (lights)GHS Boomers work great. Keeps intonation well; I dont use the vibrato and have removed the bar to keep it out of the way as it will loose intonation if divebombed. Neck straight but was broken at head (that's why it was free). As above, the pickups are a bit tricky to get well balanced due to the fact that the adjustments are via a screw and rubber doughnut. There is very little tilting towords the bridge or neck if desired. Since I am a professional at woodworking and finishes, the repair is impossible to detect. The original dots have one that is set just slightly below the surface and looks weird. Why did they put such thick finish on the string side of the neck? It chips as it ages. Well very little on mine so far. The tune-o-matic bridge is in a tight spot to adjust it for proper intonation. Although, once set you can forget about it.

Used guitar. No defects. Amazing condition for 40 years of age.
Buttons were loose but a little H2O added to swell the wood took care of that (remove buttons first). Nice thick finish, no checking but minor chips. I'm asked if it will withstand live playing, why else have a guitar like this? Look and see who in history plays this type of guitar. Tom Petty, John Lennon, Pete Townsend, (and on and on), even Frank Zappa had a Rickenbacker for a backup guitar second only to his very special SG. A "live" guitar? You bet. Nothing but...

When I called Rickenbacker about the neck fracture the head technician laughed and wished me luck with my dust collector. So I waited 20 years to develope my woodworking skills (I'm a cabinetmaker) and for glue technology to advance. I used a technique that was developed for repairing bird wings that I learned while working in a zoo. Because the head/neck connection is fragile due to the double truss rods, only stand it up in the most secure stand or keep it in the case.

I love it, my wife loves it and so do my kids. An excellent guitar, underrated and little known. people think it's a 400 series or a 625 stereo. I've been playing since mid 70's. I would own another anytime. I love the sound and the action. The pickguard is raised and plastic and 40 years old which makes it brittle. Be careful if this matters to you or change it out for a new white plexiglass one and store the original. Rickenbacker replacement parts are available for even these oldies, except for the pickguard. Keep all original parts you replace.

My guitar was made in March 1964. It is identical to the guitar played by "Ron Nasty" of the Rutles! It has the same "cresting wave" body style as the more common 400-series Ricks, but with a 2-tier pickguard like John Lennon's 325.

The guitar is rather light and small - perfect for a person with a bad back!

Like most early '60s Ricks, mine has the solid black knobs (post-1965 models have silver capped knobs). This guitar is exactly the same as the Rose-Morris export model 1995.

The 5th blend knob is very handy for dialing in a bit of warmth from the neck pickup, to balance the bright chime from the bridge pickup.

There is something magical about original Rickenbacker toaster pickups - nothing else sounds like them. Sweet and chimey is how I would describe the neck PU's tone. The neck PU is surprisingly rich and warm and deep - it gets a great jazz tone surprisingly.

Being a solid body guitar, it has a bit more sharpness than the more common 300-series Ricks, but still similar tonally.

It doesn't have much natural sustain, but works wonderfully with a compressor. I was able to get a nice country twang with the 615 into a Jacques Fat Burner compressor pedal.

I plan to A/B compare it with a friend's '66 Rick 365 - I suspect the 365 might have a slight edge on it, but it still has that distinctive '60s Rick sound that even the reissues don't quite capture.

It's tone is particularly well-suited for chunka chunka rhythm guitar work (a la Lennon), but it can really tear it up for lead guitar too (especially with a compressor).

I should point out that I use Thomastik Infeld Swing Series flatwounds (.011) on it for that authentic '60s tone.

My 615 is beat to hell. There is a large section of finish missing from the top of the body, and there is considerable buckle wear on the back. The back of neck is extremely scarred as well. Clearly, this guitar has seen a lot of use over the past 40 years! And no wonder - despite its abuse it plays as well as or better than any other guitar I've ever played. The neck is straight as an arrow and the action is ridiculously low, especially for such an old guitar. Before I bought this guitar it had a pro refret, and unfortunately the gloss finish was sanded off the fretboard. Nevertheless it plays incredibly well.

The necks on '60s Ricks are quite a bit different from modern Ricks. The old ones have extremely thin, narrow, downright delicate necks, which you will either love or hate (depending on the size of your hands!). I personally love the neck contour on a vintage Rick.

The Fireglo finish has faded quite a bit into a lovely orange-to-yellow sunburst. It's interesting that, despite all the wear and abuse my guitar has sustained, there is virtually no finish checking at all.

The Ac'cent vibrato (which incidentally has "Pat. Pending" stamped on it) works MUCH better than the reissued Ac'cents that Rickenbacker now makes. It has very smooth action and quite a bit of range, and the roller bridge helps it return to pitch accurately. As long as I don't divebomb with it, it stays in tune very well.

Even with the heavy flatwounds that I use, bending strings is easy.

As I've pointed out, despite 40 years of hard use, this guitar is structurally solid as a rock. The only dicey thing is the roller bridge, which has a tendency to rattle. I noticed that a previous owner had inserted little bits of cardboard between the saddles to stop them from vibrating. Otherwise, this guitar is surprisingly stable.

I've heard lots of bad things about Rickenbacker's customer support, but I've always had positive experiences when dealing with them. They seem to be staffed by people who are genuinely enthusiastic about Rickenbacker instruments. I have even exchanged emails with CEO John Hall, who was very helpful and informative when asked questions about instruments produced by his father's company during the '60s. You can feel good about purchasing a product from a small, family-owned business like Rickenbacker.

I've been playing guitar since 1977, and I''ve owned approximately 6 Rickenbackers over the years. Currently I own 3: besides the 615, I also own a wonder 1966 330/12 and a 1984 330 that I bought new. (That 330 was my only guitar for about 15 years.) Other guitars in my current collection include a Strat, a Tele, a '62 Gretsch Tennessean, and a Gibson J-160E.

I paid a lot for my 615 considering its condition, but they are pretty hard to find, especially one from 1964.

1967 Rick model 615, maple glow, two S/S toasters pick-ups, 2 volume knobs, 2 tone knobs, 1 tone blender between the 2 pick-ups; raised white pickguard, 3 position switch for the pick-ups; Kluson tuners, rosewood fretboard; dots; 21 frets, solid maple body; Accent vibrato; 6 saddle chrome bridge; crest wave cutaway; guitar is very light and resonates. vintage silver case with blue lining.; one mono output. Thin neck; flat radius.G

Great sounds for rock, blues and country.
Played through vintage all tube 130W Music Man, with Carl Martin compressor (a must) and Ibanez TS808. For studio work, a 63 Blackface Deluxe or Tweed Deluxe.
Sound is full, rich, deep and powerful. Good for rythm; but also, unique tones for soloing. Powerful pick-ups.

Los action. Set with 9s or 10s nickel flat wounds. Keeps intonation quite well; but I dont use the vibrato. Bought guitar used from pro musician; was well set-up and cared for (mint condition). Neck pure straight.

Used guitar. No flaws or defects.

I've never dealt with the company.

An excellent guitar, still quite underrated and unknown. The Rick 615 vintage (new models is the 620) are quite rare; the last one I saw was priced at $1800. I would not hesitate to buy another one. The 625 is the same model, but with the shark tooth inlays, and extra binding. The toaster pick-ups are incredible, and deliver powerful, deep or bright tones . Great for rythm; but also for crunch, and solos.

1963 solid body. Hard rock maple body, neck through body construction, original kluson deluxe tuners, 2 single coil pickups. Rosewood fretboard, dot markers. Orginal "fireglo" finish. A'ccent vibrato tailpiece. Double cutaway, wave cresting design. Oh - did I mention I paid only $200.00 CDN for it!

Nice variance of tones. I play mostly jazz/blues from the neck pickup - wonderfully rich. When playing early punk/ska/RnB I get a great typical bright jangly tone from the bridge. Crank it full into my Vox and I get that great whine!!! Volume blending knob a truly useful tool. I play this through my Marshall 4001 and Vox Cambridge. It's my main guitar. Neck is nice and slim, perfect for my hands.Had to re-solder the connections to the pickup selector switch. Lets face it - it's not for metal - but for rock and jazz it's got it!

Well. considering I picked this guitar up from a now defunct second hand shop, it wasn't in very bad shape. I was actually shopping for a fireplace mantel..It just happened to catch the corner of my eye - did the typical double take, found out the price - made the 50 yard dash to the nearest ATM! One of the pickups was not functioning - loose wire from selector toggle switch. Pickguard had a small corner missing - about 1cm in size. Original finish - had the typical belt buckle wear. Some of the finish on the harware had some surface rust, but was able to polish it out with good ol' autosol. The headstock had been broken at one time, but was brilliantly repaired and refinished. After I cleaned and repaired it, slapped on a fresh set of strings and the intonation was dead on. The finish was the old laquer finish, slight checking near the pickups, but the pickguard covers that. Still looks great.

What can I say, I was made in March of 1963 - It's a year older than me. It's nice and light, great sustain, loads of "ricky" tone. They are built to last.

Never had to deal with the company - they warranty has long since expired!

I've been playing for over 14 years. This guitar is my number 1. Never has seen a pawnshop - never will. I also own a first edition Fender Squire strat (made in USA no less!- paid 200.00 also for it - mind you it needed new pickups and a refinish - now it's got original '72 vintage strat single coils!), an Epiphone Limited edition - all maple construction- solid top acoustic. I always wanted a Rickenbacker ever since I saw The Jam when I was still a wee teen!