SeriesRickenbacker 300

In summer 2001, I got the idea to buy a new guitar, because I was bored of my very cheap Yamaha Strat-wannabe, so I looked around to find out, which guitars the Beatles played (my favorite group). I noticed, they’d played lots of Rickenbackers and I was very pleased about the body-styling. I first looked for a 325 (the famous short-scale, John Lennon played), but when I heard about the price (ca. 2000$), the dream of a Rickenbacker went up in smoke. I went to serveral of my local dealers and asked if they had RICs. At Musik Renz (my favorite musical instruments dealer) I played a german RIC look-a-like and was very pleased with the fretboard. I serched the internet (in between, I was informed that there wasn’t a RIC distributor in germany anymore) and asked serveral US dealers about shipping charges, etc. but they told me, RIC would never allow to sell guitars from USA to Germany. I found one who would have sold one used, but after a while he didn’t answer to my mails anymore. I was told by my dealer, he had a RIC 330 in red with black hardware in the storage in his other shop for 2900 DM (about 1450$ then). I asked my grandma for some money and then on my 16th birthday on 1st of september this beauty was mine. As far as I’m thinking, the music of the 60’s is the best ever made, this guitar the best I could have buyed. I am using it in my band as a rhythm-player, but it has also a nice and warm distortion with a good tube amp. The fingerboard is slightly thinner than a Fender Strat’s, but it’s the best for playing rhyhtm-guitar, very low action and a fast neck with a very nice carve. The tone is very 60’s like, with nice trebles and a ringing sustain, all that makes that so called “Rickenbacker jangle”. The guitar has a tone and a volume control for each pickup and a three-way toggle-switch (neck PU only, both or bridge PU only), completed by a fifth knob which could be discribed as a master tone control. The styling is one of the best stylings I’ve ever seen. Lots of people on the concerts of my band ask about this guitar and which brand it is, because it’s absolutely different from Stratocaster- or Les Paul-styling. The only thing I don’t like on this guitar is the neck pickup, because it’s a bit muddy. I use it only in combination with the bridge pickup. This is a semi-hollow body with a 1½” thick body and two pickups. The finish is the best I’ve ever seen, the clear-laquer is very thick and nearly mirror-like and absolutely plain. To me, no more expensive Gibson has that quality and the 330 is only a standart model, but there aren’t any cheap, i.e. low quality guitars at Rickenbacker. Rickenbackers are the best, to me, as I am preferring 60’s music. The best guitars to buy for “old-fashioned” guitar players, because you can’t get that Rickenbacker sound without having a Rickenbacker. Today, RICs are hardly to be seen in up-to-date-bands, because you can’t get that trash-metal distortion with a RIC, but for 60’s like guitar players a must-have (for Beatles, Byrds, etc. likers anyway). This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Made in: U.S.A. Body Type: Semi Acoustic No. Frets: 24 Scale Length: 62.9 cm (24 3/4'') Neck Width at Nut: 41.4 mm (1.63'') Neck Width at 12th Fret: 49.05 mm (1 .931'') Crown Radius: 25.4 cm (10'') Body Wood: Maple Neck Wood: Maple Fingerboard Wood: Rosewood Weight: 3.6 kg (8.0 lbs.) Overall Length: 101 cm (39 3/4'') Overall Width: 38.1 cm (15'') Overall Depth: 38.1 mm (1 1/2'') Neck Binding: Yes Fret Marker Style: Triangle Tailpiece: ''R'' Bridge: 6 Saddle Neck Type: Set-in No. of Pickups: 2 Type of Pickups: Hi-gain Output Type: Mono and Stereo Machine Heads: Schaller UTILIZATION This guitar plays very well. It has more frets than I was used to but I quickly adjusted and actually enjoyed playing some higher leads. The neck is very smooth which makes it a blast to play. When I first got mine the action was off (the high e would buzz sometimes because it was so close to the fretboard). This could have been due to the previous owner but it was easy to fix. I haven't messed around with stereo inputs too much but one time I put one input into a distorted amp and the other into a clean amp. When I switched between the pickups I could instantly add distortion. This was pretty fun to play with but I don't know how practical it would be in a live situation. SOUNDS This guitar sounds great through every amp I've played it through. I've tried it through an Orange Tiny Terror, Fender Bassman, Vox AC4TV, Hughes & Kettner 20th anniversary, and a few others. It has beautiful cleans but it can also handle a lot of distortion. As a big Beatles fan, I wanted this guitar for it's legendary jangle sound. It was actually a bit disappointing in that aspect. The high gain pickups aren't nearly as jangly as the old 60's toaster pickups. You can buy a set of toaster pickups from the Rickenbacker website but I ended up liking the tone so much that I kept the stock pickups. This guitar has a wide variety of tones but I like to use it for blues, rock, jazz, soul, and funk. OVERALL OPINION This guitar, although expensive, was totally worth it. I don't think I'll ever let this leave my collection of gear. Everything I do with it just sounds fantastic. If I were made of money I would buy another so I could have the toaster pickups or even the 12 string version.