Rickenbacker 650D-VH

I purchased this guitar new in December. Actually I ordered it in mid-September and received it in early December. The 2 1/2-month wait wasn't so bad - considering I had been quoted a 9-month wait, initially. The model: "650D-VH" stands for 650 Dakota, with the optional Hi-Tek Vibrato. Since the guitar has RIC's new serial number system, I can tell that it was made during the 46th week of calendar year 1998. As with all RICs, it was made in Santa Ana, California, USA.
If you want to get a "visual" of this guitar (or any other RIC, for that matter), go to their web site: "www.rickenbacker.com". But since you are reading this, I'll tell you this solid-body guitar is a 24-fret maple neck-through design (scale: 24.75") with walnut-wood "wings" attached to the maple. Therefore, you have a light-colored "stripe" of maple bisecting the darker walnut. It's an appealing, yet subtle, contrast. The finish is only a light, oil finish. In other words: no paint, just wood grain. The body shape is known as the "cresting wave". However the body's edges have been contoured, making it very comfortable against one's body. The hardware, including the pickguard, is chrome. The tuners are Schallers.
To those NOT familiar with typical RIC pickups and controls, this guitar is similar to a Les Paul: 2 humbuckers, 3-way toggle switch, and volume and tone controls for each pickup. For those that ARE familiar with typical RICs, there is no Rick-O-Sound output jack, nor a 5th knob to control the blending of the pickups.
I should also note that this model features a wider-than-traditional neck. Since I have RICs with both sizes, I would say the wider neck is a bit better for lead work. The improved string spacing is more noticeable (to me) than the extra width in the fretboard.
The bridge/vibrato is quite nice - and rare on RICs. In fact, it is only offered on their 650-Series guitars. It "whammys" both down and up, so I believe the proper term is that it is a "floating" unit. According to RIC, it is made in Germany (so are the Schallers). I believe the company is Mueller(?). Anyway, the operation is very smooth. It rotates on precision bearings! On the guitar's back side, there is a cover with 2 springs - for tension. One can add additional springs (up to 5 springs, total) in order to stiffen or even "block" the vibrato.
RICs come with a hard-shell case. Mine is a standard black one, made by SKB. Besides an owners manual, I also got a RIC polishing cloth. With the finish on this particular model, I'm not exactly sure what I can polish with it. I suppose I can use it on my other RIC with the Fireglo finish.

I am playing through a CAGE 18/30TRC112. (CAGE? Yes, CAGE! It's a small, boutique-amp company. Go to "www.audiocage.com" to check it out. My review will be forthcoming.)
The sound on this guitar is great. Unique, compared to Fenders, Gibsons, and the rest, but great. I have another solid-body, humbucker-equipped RIC (see: RIC 260 El Dorado review), and the tone is quite similar. However, this 650 seems to have a bit more sustain. Maybe it's due to the neck-through construction. I thought I might lose some sustain by having a vibrato; but, fortunately, that was not the case.
I am especially fond of mid-to-late 60's Rock and Blues music (Yardbirds, Cream, etc.), but play newer stuff, too (Police). I can easily coax a variety of voices out of this guitar. It's a very "versatile" guitar: a term not often associated with RICs.
The humbuckers are just that. They REALLY buck the hum! Nice and quiet. However, they are not the hottest pickup (output-wise) on the market - which is fine for me. They maintain a bit of a single-coil sound; i.e., non-muddy tone.

RICs are hand-built. Sure, machines are used to carve the wood, but they ARE assembled by people! And these people seem to care about their product.
The frets were all seated properly with no rough edges to be found anywhere. The controls and toggle switch seem firmly mounted to the pickguard. No flaws at all in any of the woodwork.
The action is a slight bit higher than my other RIC. I don't know if that was intentional because of the "dive-bombing" potential with this vibrato-equipped model. But it is only a little bit higher, so I haven't messed with it. It still feels comfortable.
While wider than typical RIC necks, it is no "baseball bat" in depth. It does, however, have a very nicely-sculpted heel. Access to the 24th fret is no problem at all.

This guitar seems very solidly built. Even though I've had it for only a month and a half, I am confident it will withstand the wear-and-tear of gigging. Time will tell, of course.
The strap buttons, like the tuners, are Schallers. They provide plenty of security for holding onto your strap.
Gig without backup? I would always PREFER to have a backup, no matter what. But if I didn't, I wouldn't worry too much if this was my only guitar.

Warranty is 5-years on the guitar, and (I believe) 1-year on the finish - which is probably more applicable (and maybe more worrysome) to RICs with paint jobs than oil finishes. There are longer warranties out there, but I don't believe there is much to worry about with a RIC. They usually last.
I haven't had a need to get anything repaired on this guitar, yet. I've had my other RIC over 3 years. It, too, has never needed any repairs.
I have e-mailed them in the past with questions. The responses always came the next day or by the second day. With respect to this guitar, I wanted to know more about the vibrato, since their web site didn't offer much about it, and no dealer in the Los Angeles area had one I could demo. The Customer Service Rep responded it was an excellent unit, although he personally hadn't tried it. Hmmm...that was asking me for some faith in the product! Luckily for me, the guy was right.
Additionally, the CEO frequently participates in a newsgroup "alt.guitar.rickenbacker" - where information can often be obtained. The newsgroup is independent of Rickenbacker, but it's quite a treat to have an opportunity to discuss things with the man-in-charge.
Customer Support from the dealer was good, too. This definitely varies from Guitar Center to Guitar Center, though. It seems many of their sales staff are not very "RIC" knowledgeable. Case in point: About a year or so ago, I called the Guitar Center in Hollywood, CA. That's their "landmark" store, with the Rock-Walk Hall of Fame. At that time, I was looking for a RIC 620 in the color Midnight Blue. I asked to speak to someone in sales, got transfered, then asked the salesman, "Have you any RICs in stock painted in Midnight Blue?" After some uneasy pausing, the response was, "Ahh..Err..Midnight Blue??? Oh, yeah! Midnight Blue! Sorry. That was last year's color. This year, they only come in Black!"
The Guitar Center in Covina was refreshingly better. Granted, they didn't have what I wanted in stock, nor were they aware of the vibrato option for this model, but they didn't try to B.S. me, either. Furthermore, I even got a follow-up call from the salesman - making sure I was satisfied and everything was OK with the guitar.

I've been playing now for....18 years?? Time sure does fly! Besides this guitar, I have a RIC 260, a Martin D-1, a nylon-stringed Takamine, and an old National with a resonator in it (i.e., Dobro).
Anyway, I was pretty happy with my first RIC. The only shortcomings I experienced was a minor loss of tonal versatility because there was only one control for volume and one for tone. Also, there was no vibrato. This guitar fills in the void perfectly. And then some! Plus, the price is truly a bargain. And I'll bet better prices can be found on the Internet, if you don't mind UPS handling your merchandise.
Something else I've noticed, and I think it can be attributed to the finish (or lack of it). The guitar is louder, both acoustically and plugged-in. I've read that unfinished guitars can "breathe" better than those covered with paints and lacquers and varnishes and all the rest. I always thought, "Yeah, right!<--(sarcastically) The sound comes from the strings and the pickups. Who cares about the wood?!" Well, there is definitely a difference. An improvement, in my opinion. Sure, an unfinished guitar may not "look pretty" after years of use, but "who cares?!" Tone is more important.
Maybe that's why Stevie Ray kept the paint off of "Number 1"? (grin)