Rickenbacker 620

1985 model that has the vintage "toaster top" pickups. Has shark-fin inlay markers on rosewood fingerboard, and fully bound body. Neck-through body design. Schaller tuners, R-piece. Has the Ric-O-Sound feature (I've never used), and the 5th "blend" knob. I've got all the features I need here!

Has that Ric sound that you won't get anywhere else. I like the vintage toaster sound. Ricks are known for the jangle, and the treble sound, but this has good bass as well. The blend knob can be a help or a hinderence at times - it gives a fuller range of adjustment, but sometimes it is a hassle to have to mess with it. It balances the front and back pickup, but you can still do this by matching pickup volume like on every other 2 pickup guitar. I did own a "Riff" Rick 330 copy at one point. It was a great guitar, and a great copy, but nothing is as good as the "real" thing.

This is a used, nearly 20 year old guitar with its share of dings and marks from use. Even with these, it is still beautiful!!! I have a "fireglo", which is the most stunning finish for Ricks. This one is more "orangy" than the newer models that are more red. I've heard it described as "autumnglo". It makes it much more distinct. Ricks, in my opinion, have simply the best finish and appointments of any production guitar.

Still solid after 20 years. No loose tuners, tarnish, loose pickups, strap buttons, or hardware at all. This guitar has obviously been played, but the finish is still fine. Glossy fingerboard is still shiny!

Never had to deal with them. I've heard good and bad about them, but I have no experience.

I always wanted a Rick, and I finally took the plunge. I would have preferred a 360 but I like the 620 because it is nice and light, and has a great range. They are certainly pricy, but craftsmanship is always more expensive. If you like Ricks, this is a great model to own.

She's form and function, a 2000 620 fireglo, neck through body, 21 frets with ric o sound and an extra volume knob that I see no use for so far. It seems to adjust the volume of the neck pickup. I think you use it to balance the volume of the bridge and neck pickup however you can do that with one of the other two volume knobs. Maybe there's something else to it or you need to do the stereo thing to truely utilize the fifth knob. The pick ups are a little weak but I'm a Les Paul man. The tone is greaat I just have to adjust the volume on the amp when I switch guitars for certain songs. It has great hardware just obvious quality in craftsmanship.

I play hard rock, I wanted one cuz Lennon had a Ric, however his was a 3/4. I play through a Silverface Twin. I use lots of Boss effects and a comptortion to push the twin. I'm really used to Les Pauls so it's difficult to adjust the the single coil attributes. It isn't as loud but it cuts through more than Les Pauls. So the stage volume adjustment will take some work for me. It has a pretty clean and drives well cuz it's a solid body. I'm still confused about the fifth knob

This is where the guitar is rediculous. It has the prettiest finish known to mankind. It could be in a museum. The crafmanship is unbelievable. You can't find a fault. My Pauls are vintage and don't even come close. Hand Made in the USA. I'm not too crazy about the gloss finish on the fretboard but that is too subjective for me to lower the score.

I play out on weekends. I always bring back up guitars. It would be crazy not to. I might break a string! This guitar is made well I'm not too worried about it.

Actually they emailed promptly and gave some suggestions. And I bought the guitar used.

Sometimes I wish it was a 12 string. I've had it 6 months and I'm still getting used to the neck cuz I've had les pauls for 15 years. It's fretboard's narrow width runs parralel from the nut to the body. The neck is also thick at the nut end and has the illusion of being narrow near the body. Even if I didn't play it I'd want to keep it to hang on the wall. or just to walk around as a piece of sculpture.

This is a 1998 in Maple Glo. I bought it through Ebay as new and only played once or twice. It still has the sales ticket from Height Ashbury Music, the hanging tags and even the duster! This really is a great guitar, Rickenbacker know how to do this!!
Very pretty ? size maple body but with a 24 ? scale neck. The board is laquered rosewood with those stunning shark fin crushed pearl inlays. It has two high output single coil pups and the usual four pattern controls. The fifth knob IS useful to preset tones or volumes ? Do look at the manual or try the Ric website.
The hardware is a lesson for other manufacturers to learn ? the ?R? tailpiece is not only a good looker, the chrome is really deep. The bridge is height adjustable with individual intonation. I?m not so sure about the bridge cover but that?s a personal thing anyway. The pick guard is very substantial as is the selector switch. The guitar is finished off with Schaller machines and Strap Locks.

My first reaction is how clean and clear this guitar is with good separation ? you can hear each string in a chord. It does that Ricky thing to a tee but there?s much more if you want it. I do tend to play clean and use a Twin Reverb. There is a warmth and some compression in the pickups which adds to a driven sound (which I don?t really use a lot). This guitar really has quality and does lend itself to many styles. Just look at who plays them!
OK so it hums a bit but so do my Teles and my Strat. I?m a live player so it doesn?t worry me at all. I love single coils and this is what you get unless you want to buy different pups.

This guitar was very well set up. It came with 10/42s and I play 10/46s. This meant some minor tweaks to the truss rod and thew bridge. I have lowered the action a little but that's just a personal thing!
I don't work for Rickenbacker but they could teach a lot of big name makers how to do it!

I can?t comment on reliability and durability. My 620-12 works hard and I rely on it. We?ve stayed good friends. Can I say yet again, Rickenbacker know how to make a good guitar!

I can?t comment on reliability and durability. My 620-12 works hard and I rely on it. We?ve stayed good friends. Can I say yet again, Rickenbacker know how to make a good guitar!

I've been playing 40+ years. I own Fenders, Guild and Gibson as well as a Rickenbacker 620-12.
This guitar is really well built and it looks very very good indeed.
Steal it? Don't even go there! But yes I would walk to Santa Ana and buy one.

-this guitar was made in california,USA in 2000.
-I think it has 21 frets.
-its got a solid top.
-the 5th knob is a bit of a mystery. its smaller and sounds best when all the way down. that makes it louder. (what??) 5 knobs/3 way toggle.
- 2 single coils. I replaced the neck pickup with a rickenbacker humbucker that fit.
-very passive
-maple
-I got the jet glow finish - aka black with white binding
-small body
-the bridge - well its not a floyd rose
-schaller tuners
-neck through body with medium frets
-came with a case

-I knew I liked this guitar at first, but was slightly hesitant. I realized it was because the pickups just didnt have as much output as I wanted it to. I play in an instrumental band that needed very clean clear guitar to cut through. I replaced the neck single coil pickup with a rickenbacker humbucker and that reduced the hum and increased in the output. also, after playing this guitar for about 6 months, I broke it in. It feels much more comfortable and sounds better than it originally did. Now I much prefer it over the guitar it replaced. It suits my style of clean uneffected playing perfectly - especially because of the neck through body aspect of it.
-I use a fender blues deville 4x10 combo. (I was surprised to see someone else on here also does that) It also sounds good and cleaner through my friends solid state ampeg guitar combo. No effects whatsoever.
-the original pickups produce hum.
-I felt the original pickups didnt produce a rich or bright enough sound. the rickenbacker humbucker filled out the sound, but its certainly not too bright.
-I'm not going for variety, so I'm pretty happy with the clean tone it provides.
-I like everything about it except the pickups and the lack of complete clairity in the low end (though that's nothing that fiddling with knobs on the amp for a while wont fix)

-this guitar was set up superbly at the factory. I raised the action as high as it could go because I'm crazy like that, but to most people it would have been perfect.
-no flaws whatsoever

-the guitar looks kind of fancy and seems like it might be delicate, but I'm not too easy on a guitar and it is holding up very well. It will certainly withstand live playing. I took it on a bus trip accross the country in one of those backpack gigbag things on the greyhound bus. it made it in one piece through security checkpoints.
-the hardware will last forever and if not, rickenbacker can replace any and all of it. I removed the chrome cover that goes over the string saddles on the bridge because it got in the way of my style of playing and it still works great.
-the finish is deluxe and will not wear
-solid strap buttons
-it seems more dependable than I thought it would be. its much more dependable than my last guitar (a heavy metal guitar with floyd rose set up). its very solid.
-I never have a backup at gigs. my last guitar wimped out on me. that's why I had to get this one. this one wont wimp out.

the company is kind of small and I talked to them on the phone when I damaged my rickenbacker bass. they told me if I couldnt get it fixed they would take it back in their factory. also rickenbacker makes all replacement parts available.
I ordered a replacement humbucker pickup and recieved prompt email response, a live person on the phone, and mail prompt delivery in the process. They were very good about giving their opinion on how the replacement pickup would "retrofit."

-I've played the guitar since summer 88. I also own a rickenbacker bass, a couple Ibanez metal guitars and a few various amps.
-if this guitar was stolen or lost I would replace it with the same model with the same pickup replacement. or else I'd try to find the 610 model which is very similar, just with no binding and dots instead of triangles on the fretboard.
- I love how it looks, plays, sounds and feels.
- I hate the lack of brightness and clarity in the low end but that could be all because of the amps I use it with. I also didnt like the original pickups which are very authentic to its vintage roots. I'm sure they would suit many players styles fine though.
-my favorite feature is the way the neck through body gives it a much better sound than my last guitar. I like how it has a small body and unique shape.
-I picked this guitar over anything else in its price range or any other price range for that matter. I chose it because its very unique, its a solid body/neck through, its small, its classy yet basic looks, and is of extremely high quality.
-I wish it didnt have that mystery 5th knob on it.
-after breaking it in and replacing the pickup, this guitar became my main guitar and will remain so for at least the next 10 years.

Mine is a 2001 model-- with That great small cresting wave body. It is mostly maple with a highly laquered rosewood neck-(beautiful)and crushed pearl inlay. It has two pickups with volume and tone for each- and that great Blend knob that I love. The Finish is a beautiful Desert Gold that is stunning! Ric's finishes is like no other guitar finish! they are just Beautiful. It has the ultra cool R tail piece that makes this guitar a Classic. And it has std. or Rickosound inputs (way cool)!Schaller tuners and strap locks and I got that classic vintage case with mine (silver & Dark Blue interior).

This guitar can do it all! Rock- blues- punk- jazz- and even Polka's. I play mine through a Fender amp. And I can dial in many different tones!

Mine was set up by Chris at "Pick of the Rick's" and it was dead on. I feel Rickenbacker goes out of their way to sell a wonderful American made guitar. I could not find a single problem!

I feel this guitar will be around for a long long time! Wonderful Quality always provides a well lasting product! I know I have been Quality inspector most of my life! And yes I would always use a backup no matter what guitar I play.

I have dealt with them a few times and they were always very helpful and friendly!

This is my all time favorite Rickenbacker! Ever since I saw John Lennon with his and John Fogerty with his -I've been hooked. I will always have a Rickenbacker guitar cause I just love them! Do yourself a favour and play one today!

1997, Fireglow. Neck-thru all maple construction, but thin and light. The body's so small, it looks like a 3/4 size box. Top quality hardware and finish, Schaller tuners and strap locks. Two "Hi-gain" single coils (comparable to early overwound Fenders).Chunky neck feels like a Fender "C". Extra tone control is really a plus (see below).

It can be smoother that a Strat or a Tele (both of which I use) plus it does the "Ric thing" to a "T". I use it through a variety of tube and tranny amps, and it takes very little adjustment on the amp side. The added blend control even fattens up the bass pick up for early Clapton, Leslie West type tones. I gave it a nine only because I'm never satisfied when it comes to tone.

No flaws what so ever. Even with the thick skin finish, it felt like an old friend from the start.

So far so good. And I don't take it easy on my guitars. A lot of players beef about the pick guard being flimsy, but I rest on the bridge, so it doesn't matter to me.

Bought used, never had to deal with Company.

In 35 yrs of playing, I should have tried one of these years ago. I use 20-30 guitars, mainly Fenders, but a few Gibsons, etc. I can rotate them all as back ups for the 620, it feels and sounds that good. Has anybody ever seen a 620 6/12 double neck? That's the only way I could replace this box.

1987 USA
You know what it has
The best Tailpiece out there
a beautiful Jetglo Body with funky Pickguards
sweet retro looks and 2 high gain pickups

I abosolutely love the sound of the 620
I play alot of funk and it's perfect for funk
i'm in jazz band at school and it does the job there
i'm also in 2 youth group bands and it sounds great blasted
i have a Marshall Valvestate and A DD-3 Boss Delay pedal and a George Dennis Wah
I like to ride on the Bridge Pick-up alot and turn off the other one for a good kill effect, but i also use the neck pickup for a good mellow mix

when i got the guitar the pickguard was cracked, which is no bother to me
once i looked into a new one but turned right around when i saw that it would be over $100 by the time i had in on the guitar
when i bought it the had some medium strings on it
now i use Dean Markley Jazz strings on it and i didn't even have to adjust anything
THe body had a few tiny chips but i found that the black marker does wonders

I use this guitar everyday of the week
and it leaves my house about every 3 days to be used somewhere
when i was younger(last year) i was stupid and i left my guitar in the car overnight(during the winter) a couple of times but the ricky held up to perfection
i never bring back up when i'm using the 620 because it never fails me

The Company is great
they sent me a free catelog
2 thumbs up
plus they make the best guitars in the world

Overall i love this guitar
if i get famous or rich i will never replace the Rickenbacker 620, but maybe just back it up with a Fender Telecaster '72 thinline. But don't let me mislead you the 620 is much better than the tele..

Purchased New, 1997 Fireglo, I think it's called. Like a sunburst only reddish and whitish in color. R style tailpiece. Thru body neck. Rick O Sound and regular output jacks. 2 single coil pickups, 3 position selector switch, bass & treble tone & volume controls, and a Rick O Sound effects control that acts somewhat like a mixer/equalizer when using the standard jack output. Solid body, no 'body cutaway' like on strats for curving around your waist/stomach. Made in California. 24 frets. High sheen finish, almost like a polyurethane finish on furniture. Neck maybe slightly thinner than LP's, but really nice distance between all strings; high e not too close to edge of fretboard as on many other name brand guitars. New, came with a hardshell case, a polishing cloth, a little toolkit for the truss rod.

This guitar is awesome. Sound is absolutely sweet, especially in the middle position. Tones are all clarified enough that you can play lead without switching to 1st position on the selector switch. I play everything from Celtic to jazz to blues to regular and alternative rock, and it sounds good with all of them. The fretboard is unbelievably quick, like playing an SG but with sweeter, thicker tones than an LP. I find, unlike most other guitars I've had including SG's and Strats, that I never switch out of 2nd position on my selector. I'm playing thru an Ampeg Reverbrocket, and the 2 are perfect together. The guitar has great sustain. Nice full sized pickguard that protects the whole strumming/picking area, not just the lower end. Pickups can be slightly noisy if you're not playing, but unnoticeable once you're playing. My only dislike is the configuration of the volume and tone controls; bass and treble volume are located all the way down and bass and treble tone all the way up. I feel they're more easily located if one side is bass tone/volume and the other is treble...I find myself constantly grabbing bass volume when I'm looking for treble tone.

Perfect intonation directly from the factory. Using Ernie Ball 10's I found I had to slightly adjust string length on my high 3. Switch selector is not perfectly noiseless, especially if you pause even slightly between switching. Other hardware is of great quality - perfectly aligned frets, no buzz, nice tight tuners. Fretboard is highly polished, which seems to increase my speed because of less drag. Finish is so high sheen it's easy to leave fingerprints. I've used Martin guitar polish on it for 2 years with no obvious ill effects.

I've used this guitar many times live, and without a backup. It has come thru with flying colors. I've had no problem with any of the hardware or anything else. Only complaint maybe is the fact that because of the raised pickguard, it's fairly easy for dust/dirt to collect underneath it, and it's hard to remove unless you're restringing.

Only dealt with the company twice - once sending in the warranty card and another time with a question via email. They answered my question right away. Major complaint: Although the guitar has a 5 year warranty, if you need any warranty work done at all the guitar has to be shipped back to the factory. If the dealer you purchased from will not take care of this, it's your bill to foot. If you live in the east like I do, shipping a guitar to California will not only be expensive (probably at least 20$ once you've insured it)but will take many weeks to get it back. In my opinion, a national guitarmaker such as Rickenbacker should have at least 1 or 2 authorized repair centers around the country.

In 13 years of playing, it's easily the best guitar I've ever owned. I'd purchase another one in a heartbeat. I personally find the Rick O Sound feature an added option that I never use, kind of like taillight defrosters on a mercedes. The action is great, the neck is fast, the tones are just incredibly sweet, and the sustain is great. The only major drawback would be if you did need warranty work done on the guitar. Other than that, I highly recommend this guitar.

1997 620 Jetglow. Solid-body, double pick-up. Vintage single-coils. I purchased this guitar used from Wades Guitar Shop in Milwaukee. Purchase was done by mail. Wade told me the guitar was in showroom condition and he wasn't lying. Not a mark on it. A very visually striking guitar with the "cresting wave" body style. I've been out of playing for almost 15 years and had an urge to start again. When I thought about buying a new guitar I remembered that many years ago I had tried out a Rick and liked it, but couldn't afford it at that time. The one I tried was a 330 hollow bady, not a solid body but I've come to prefere solid-body guitars for their added sustain. This guitar has Schuller tuners, and a trapeze tailpiece. The neck is very quick, and feels quite unlike any other guitar I've ever played. I also received a Rickenbacker vintage hard-side case, the adjustments tools and a Rickenbacker polish cloth with my purchase. This guitar is very nicely finished although the pickguard seems a little flimsy, it's just thin plastic.

This guitar is quite different from my previous guitar (Hagstrom Swede) due to the single-coil pickups. It doesn't have the "Drive" of a guitar with humbuckers, but then I guess it wouldn't be a Rick if it did, this isn't that kind of guitar. The single coils are a bit noisy but have a nice bright sound. I'm currently playing through a Peavey Studio Pro 112. Plugging into the "cooler" jack on the amp which is 10db lower than the other jack helps with the noise. Of course, so does getting farther away from the amp which you would be doing in a gig situation anyway. On the clean channel this guitar is classic Rickenbacker (Bryds, Hollies, early Beatles). On the drive channel it's gets a really nice distortion without any trouble. I don't play metal, I go more for the nice smooth sustain-type of distortion (call it retro if you must). My only gripe so far is that the finish Rickenbacker uses can tend to be a bit tacky to the touch. I've learned that a good hand-washing helps this and finger-eze doesn't hurt either.

I bought this used so it was set-up really nice as it was. I changed strings to 9's and therefore had to make some simple adjustments. Otherwise I have no complaints other than the Pickguard being a bit flimsy. It's really a nicely finished guitar and the previous owner obviously never wore a belt! The electronics are first-rate, no complaints.

I would have no problems at all gigging this guitar without a back-up. Everything seems first-rate. Ricks come with Schaller strap buttons as standard equipment so you can't do better than that. It does seem to need retuning a bit more than I'm used to, or perhaps it's just the tinitus.

I've contacted rickenbacker twice. Once to request a catalog and to inquire about the price of their humbucking pickups. They were really nice, polite and cordial. The other time was over the internet to decode the serial number and find out when it was made. I had an answer back the next day. I doubt I would have any trouble with them, they seem very responsible. There's no warranty on this guitar (used) so I'll have to pass on that one.

I'be been playing for 35 years, but not much in the last 15. I've owned alot of gear over the years, but for now it's just the Rick and the Studio Pro amp. If this guitar were stolen I think I would get another Rick. I love the styling as it's so different from all of the strats, tele's, and LP's out there. I can't think of anything I really hate about it. I think the only thing different I would get on a new one would be the humbucking pickups for a little more drive and noise reduction. Other than that, I'm having a ball. All of my old licks have come back and I'm slowly working on the new ones. Are there any retro drummers and bass players out there who are into "REAL" rock and roll? Byrds, Beatles, Hollies, Yardbirds?

My Ricky is a '93 620 Fireglo. Quite simply, there isn't a guitar on earth that compares (except a vintage 620..maybe). It has 24 frets, and plays so well that an a elephant would sound like hendrix on the thing. It is wired with the Rick-o-sound system which allows a splitting of the output into multiple channels. When not splitting the output, the rick-o-sound functions as an EQ. It has neck-through construction (so it gets tones strats just can't touch) and is made of hard rock maple. A beautifulguitar that I was able to find for just over $600.

I play lots of stuff- from punk to traditional Celtis, and this guitar can do it all. I'm usually running through a Fedner Hotrod Deville 4x10, which sounds really nice. It has a wide tonal pallate, from a deep bass, roaring (yes, that is the correct adjective) mid and a soothing high end. I love this guitar.

The action is set really low on the guitar (which I like), but can be easilt adjusted at the bridge. The pickups are great, no cheap stuff here. Aesthetically pleasing, I named her "Lust".

Not much to say here, but this may be the ONLY drawbeck- Rick has a weird -plasticy finish they put on their guitars for sheen that is pretty high maintenance. You have to use specialiszed cloths and chemicals on it too, or the finish could be permanently damaged.

Never had a problem

I've been playing for about7 years. My other electric is a Charvel model 3. If I ever lost the guitar, I'd go right back and get another. I'm sold. You should be too. Even if you're not interested in Ricks, I suggest you go play one, they are very different in playability and dynamic than other popular guitars on the market. They are also WORTH EVERY PENNY. Please try a Rick before you go down the ever-popular Gibson or Fender road. I can almost guarantee you'll be pleasantly surprised, and then kick yourself for not considering this brand of guitar sooner.