The Rickenbacker 360 12-String Electric Guitar gives you that jangly, vintage electric 12-string tone that just can't be imitated. Solid maple semi-hollowbody construction with a through-body neck provides mesmerizing sustain and resonance. The fast-playing neck features double truss rods and a thick bound rosewood fretboard with triangular inlays. Dual single-coils and dual stereo outs for studio and stage versatility.
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SPECIFICATIONS360 12-String Electric Guitar
Body Type: Semi-AcousticNo. 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: 101.6 cm (40'')
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 Typ:e Set-in
No. of Pickups: 2
Type of Pickups: Hi-gain
Output Type: Mono and Stereo
Machine Heads: Schaller
Custom Guitar's Friend Gold Coverage
Gold Coverage goes above and beyond the manufacturer's warranty to protect your gear from unexpected breakdowns, accidental damage from handling and failures. This plan covers your product for one, two, three or up to five years from your date of purchase, costs just pennies per day and gives you a complete "no-worry" solution for protecting your investment.
Gold Coverage Includes:
Unexpected and unintentional spills, drops and cracks Normal wear and tear Power surges Dust, internal heat and humidityOther plan features include:
For products over $200, No Lemon Policy applies. If it fails for the same defect 3 times, it is replaced on the 4th breakdown. (Does not apply to failures due to drops, spills, and cracks) For products under $200 experiencing the above failures, a Custom Guitar's Friend gift card will be issued for the full price of the product + tax. Shipping fees covered if required for repair or replacement Plans are transferable in the event merchandise is sold Plans are renewable on new gear*Limitations and exclusions apply. See terms and conditions for program details
Term for New Gear begins on date of purchase but does not replace the store return policy or manufacturer coverage.
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Really, there isn't another guitar on the market that has this sound. That's a rare claim... there are plenty of instruments out there that can approximate a Strat or a Les Paul. But the Ric 12, that's an entirely different beast.That's no excuse, though, for sloppy quality control and a bad setup.
The finish on this guitar (Fireglo, in this case) is outstanding: A brilliant red, fading to a slightly pinkish maple in the center. Construction seems excellent, as well. The electronics make all the right noises, but if you're coming to Ric from the Gibson or Fender camp, you'll need to adjust your thinking a smidge. Not a big deal. It's a quirky design on purpose.
One quirk, though, that needs to be addressed is the break angle at the headstock vs. the headstock's slots. The strings rub as they enter the slot on their way to the offsest posts within. It makes the second set of strings on this landmark 12-string seem like an afterthought. Come on, Mr. Hall! This should be fixable.
Another thing that Ric can and should fix is sloppy attention to detail. On my 360-12 (made in 2013), some of the position markers along the fingerboard's binding are way off-center. It looks, frankly, amateurish. Did someone let the intern install the markers on this guitar? Also, there's a red smudge (an errant bit of Fireglo) on the edge of the fingerboard that should have been cleared before the clearcoat was applied. Sloppy.
My last complaint has to do with setup, and we could debate whether the responsibility for this belongs with Ric or with MF/Private Reserve. The string height at the nut was clearly too high. Like, way too high. I debated returning the guitar, but opted instead to pay a local luthier (the excellent Bob Groat in Santa Rosa, CA) to cut the slots and set up the guitar. It's like buying a new BMW and needing to take it in for an alignment straight from the dealership. MF/Private Reserve should have caught this issue (and the flaws in the fingerboard edge) before boxing up the guitar and shipping it out.
I'm giving this one a two-star rating as a result. A guitar in this price range shouldn't leave the shop looking like a factory second. Ric has the market cornered on this kind of jingle-jangle, though, so what are you gonna do?
Rickenbacker 360 12-String Electric Guitar Fireglo
.I really wanted this guitar. But the G strings if tuned open are out of tuned played. Need 12 string saddles. The bridge pickup, very little sound. All this out of the box. To get it repaired must go back to the factory.
Rickenbacker 360 12-String Electric Guitar Fireglo
.The RICKENBACKER 360/12 is one great guitar. The fit and finish of my particular model was and still is perfect. It is one very meticulously made instrument. As one or two reviewers have mentioned, there is a paint odor that can be noticed on some of the instruments. It doesn't really bother me, but you find it offensive, you can always air the case for a few hours and the odor will evaporate. Of greater concern, however, is the difference between the 'vintage' pickups which are narrow band high gain pickups and NOT the pickups Jim McGuin of the Byrds got in the mid-60's with his sweet sounding, chiming Ricks. You can check with John Hall of Rickenbacker and he can verify that the Byrds Ricks had toaster low gain pickups, with a broader, sweeter frequency range, so you May not be able to get that perfect tone you think you might get. You will probably need to get and use a good compressor to get your jangly notes to sustain the way Harrison and the Byrds were able to. There are a couple of good Rick parts suppliers that can sell the original 60's toaster pickups and the .0047 MF capacitor recommended to get the bright tone of the Byrds. I will try to modify my analysis after I get my toaster p/up as I am still waiting at this point. Rickenbacker says the standard pickup (high gain) is more versatile, but I am looking more for the Byrds sweet 12 string chime, as opposed to a general one size fits all tone. We shall see. At any rate this is one very high quality well built, beautiful instrument and I am mighty proud to have it. Of course the Fender bandmaster amps with the wonderful Alnico JBL D-120 speakers are no longer widely available, so getting the exact Byrds tone may not be exactly possible. As far as the instrument itself, I cannot imagine any 12 string electric available to be a better investment than the Rick 360-12.
Rickenbacker 360 12-String Electric Guitar Fireglo
.I always wanted one of these. The Byrds were a favorite band when I was a kid. And the way George Harrison played it. And later, Tom Petty.
Beautiful sound, gorgeous looks (I got the mapleglo), but a few difficulties. I debated about sending it back.
You all know what this thing can sound like. There are numerous YouTube vids of demos. And this Ric (or similar models) have been used by famous performers (you know who they are). The jangle - the chime - you can't manufacture it with floor pedals (not even the Jangle Box). This is a sound that you can't mimic with any other guitar I know of. I only found two problems with it:
Buzz on the low E. And it gets much worse when I tune to drop D (which I love to do). I will ask my local luthier if he can alleviate it. But I would expect something like that to not happen out of the box for a guitar of this caliber.
The neck is very narrow (1.63"). I'm used to fingerpicking an acoustic 12-string with a neck width of 1 15/16". I was almost ready to send it back for either the 660/12 or maybe the Gretsch 12-string. But I slowly started developing ability to play this thing. (I've read it's a beast to restring - can't wait for that).
MF absolutely rocks when it comes to beating everyone else's prices. I'm basically stoked, but I haven't taken it to the luthier yet to see about the buzz (I was waiting till I decided if it was too narrow for my liking).
Rickenbacker 360 12-String Electric Guitar Fireglo
.The Rick 12 is quite simply the most beautiful guitar ever built...the FireGlow Red finish makes any stage look like Carnegie Hall, and the sound...well....hard to describe, but diamonds raining on cold silver bells does it for me. It is not insignificant that the first off prototype was given to George Harrison by the then CEO of the company, and George took it to his heart. Some of the Beatles greatest works have at their core, George's Rick 12. Jim McGuinn, now known as Roger, took the Rick 12 farther into history with every Byrds album he played, the versatility of the guitar reaching its zenith with "Eight MIles High", the Coltranesque jazzy psychedelic masterpiece written by McGuinn, Gene Clark and David Crosby. When you see a Rick 12 in real life, you'll know what I mean---it took my breath away back in 1966, and the one I bought in 1996 still blows me away. Buy the Janglebox or the DoD Milk Box compressor, and you will never hear a purer sustain or tone----the Rick 12 takes any song up several notches in the aural field....I'd buy another one if I could.
Rickenbacker 360 12-String Electric Guitar Fireglo
.I waited nearly a year for this guitar. I've always wanted a 12-string - and being into the Byrds, Beatles, Petty, 60s music, I decided to go with Rickenbacker. The guitar is well made. The craftspeople at Rickenbacker know what they are doing. When the guitar arrived, the fit and finish was very good. But it didn't take long to notice the intonation problems. The individual saddles are not adjustable per string - they adjust in pairs. So, you have a thick string and a thin string riding the same saddle and you have to make compromises. String height is also important because when you press the string to the fret, too much finger pressure pulls the strings sharpe. Lastly, the "new" style pickups that come with the guitar, are OK, but the guitar doesn't sound jangley. You need to get a set of toaster pickups from Rickenbacker. They are not too difficult to install yourself, but allow a couple of hours. (They are not cheap.) The good news is that the guitar tech I use knows how to set these guitars up for proper intonation and string height and I'm having more fun with it now. But if your hands are of any size, be prepared to learn how to play all over again using your finger tips - as opposed to the flats of your fingers.
Rickenbacker 360 12-String Electric Guitar Fireglo
.I did a review already but i had said that the case could be better. Now i'm revising my review. I did a garden party a couple weeks ago and a 5 year old kid comes and starts jumping up and down on my case! Man - i almost freaked! The parent came running and grabbed the kid and told them to stop but i was really worried that my case and 12-string Ric were damaged. NOT EVEN A SCRATCH! The case just needed a damp paper towel wipe off the dirt from the shoes. The Ric inside was not even touched. So - it seems these Ric cases are tougher than people are saying. I now revise my review to fives all across the board! This is a great guitar and the case is SOLID!
Rickenbacker 360 12-String Electric Guitar Fireglo
.In my consideration of a 12 string guitar I admittedly considered looking at a number of other brands that were less expensive. . I feel that this is the wrong way to go about purchasing something, I wanted a guitar that would both appreciate in value and provide me with the pleasure of a great playing experience now. The Rickenbacher 360-12 is that type of instrument. Even the staff at the shop were I had the guitar set up had a "wow" moment just looking at it. Ican't say that for very many other guitars. This is an instrument for those who are serious about music.
I was impressed with this instrument but felt it was out of my price range. However, my wife decided that this would be the perfect gift. She was right! Even just out of the package, I had to admore the beauty of craftsmanship. This action was a bit high and I took the advice of many others who reviewed this guitar and had it professionally set up by a lautest thst I have used before. Now it plays beautifully.
Rickenbacker 360 12-String Electric Guitar Fireglo
.It's a Rickenbacker 12 string! What else can I say?
Rickenbacker 360 12-String Electric Guitar Fireglo
.I got a mapleglo in 2009 after waiting for a year. Now you can get Rics all over due to the economic slowdown. This is a dream 12-string. Yeah - it has a few quirks but nothing that can't be overcome. Mine came with the truss rod not adjusted and the strings were pretty loose. I think they have to ship it that way to prevent damage. I had to tighten the dual truss rods before tuning to pitch and then after tuning to pitch i had to tighten them a bit more to get the neck almost dead straight (recommended in the manual). It didn't come with a truss rod wrench (??) so i used a small wrench with a quarter inch socket. It's a bit of a pain - you have to loosen the strings and move the middle sets of strings off the nut to the side to get the truss rod cover off. Then, after you finally get the truss rod adjusted you'll have to loosen the middle strings yet again and move them to the sides to get the cover back on and retune. You might have to do this procedure 3-4 times till you finally get it adjusted. If you aren't patient enough to do this then pay someone. The strings are close together so if you have really big hands this may not be the 12-string for you. I have medium hands and had to adjust my playing style a bit but it was worth it. The finish is "Stunning". Ric does a fantastic job on these. The sound is pure Heaven - with some compression and a loud clear amp like a Twin it sound fantastic! This is a great guitar for folk rock, 60s rock, and alt stuff. A nice feature is the blend knob. It's the small fifth knob. In the middle pup switch setting it allows you to blend in any combo of the neck/bridge pup. Plus there is "Ric-O-Sound" which is a stereo output the sends the sound of the neck to one side and the bridge to another. I haven't had a chance to use it since i need to get a stereo to left/right mono splitter cable but i bet sounds fantastic through 2 amps. All - in all this is a great 12 string - not for everyone - but if you've always wanted to get that Roger McGuinn ethereal sound i would snap one of these babies up before they start to be hard to find again.
Rickenbacker 360 12-String Electric Guitar Fireglo
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