My RickenWarmoth project guitar

Telenator

Junior Member
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188
This guitar is one of two that I built last year. I wanted a 360 with a modern, playable neck so I whipped up this little beauty in the basement and used a Warmoth "paddle head" neck.

I cut the cheeks off the head stock and bonded the black walnut sides, then routed a shallow channel up the center and filled it with a black walnut strip. Looks like the real deal but plays worlds better than the 360 I replaced with this guitar!

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The guitar below features a Warmoth birdseye maple fretboard and is made from 100 year old black walnut. I hand split the maple to make the binding and did the fretboard inlay with the same black walnut as the body.

These two guitars took about 7 months to build.

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Those are impressive. I've lusted after a Rick sound for years, just couldn't come to grips (har-de-har) with the toothpick necks.
 
wow those are really nice!!! Got any pics of the backs or intermediate build picks? Beautiful guitar's :eek:ccasion14:

Brian
 
Hey, thanks for the kind words guys!

Here's a few more photos. I have to be careful what I show because the folks at Rickenbacker and all their little snitches get real antsy when I show my templates and routing set-ups. If only they could have accomodated me when I pleaded for a Ric 360 with an adult size neck, these guitars wouldn't even exist. But hey, I build guitars. I never sell the ones I build so I guess everyone is safe for now. LOL!

Here's some of the wood and the two 1/4" thick back pieces I had just cut from a different chunk.

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Here's a shot of the back.

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I made the neck 2 3/16" wide at the 22nd fret and 1 11/16" wide at the nut and capped it off with a Warmoth birdseye maple, 10" radius fretboard.

And yes, the horror! That is a volute at the back of the neck. Classy eh? I increased the peghead angle to 7 degrees because I feel that the tall Schaller tuners require a steeper angle than the 6 degrees you'll find on a Ric 360.

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Wow, thanks guys!

My latest project is, (of all things) a Gibson L6-S style guitar. If anyone remembers these from the 70's they were sort of Les Paul shaped, very thin, and made from maple.

Having been a long time fan of the sound of a Gibson SG, I figured I could make one of these thin body L6-S style guitars out of mahogany and end up with a killer SG tone in a guitar that actually balances properly when played with a strap, standing up.

Here's a few photos. I just roughed out the neck but don't have any photos yet.

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The big log of wood the body is sitting on has since become the neck.

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Those are pretty awesome Rick's you got there Telenator, although I'm not a Rick fan those are beautiful guitars... :icon_thumright:
 
Hey, no shame in a volute.  I like the extra strength it gives the neck a potential weak point.

DocNrock said:
Any 12 stringers in the works?
I had the exact same question come to mind!  It was also followed by the image of a rick bass.  :icon_biggrin:
 
Blue313 said:
Hey, no shame in a volute.  I like the extra strength it gives the neck a potential weak point.

DocNrock said:
Any 12 stringers in the works?
I had the exact same question come to mind!  It was also followed by the image of a rick bass.  :icon_biggrin:

GMTA, my friend.  :icon_thumright:
 
Sorry guys but I just can get with 12 string guitars. A 12 string electric is kinda cool but 12 acoustics sound like banjos to me!
 
Telenator said:
Sorry guys but I just can get with 12 string guitars. A 12 string electric is kinda cool but 12 acoustics sound like banjos to me!

Since these were based on the 360, I think they were getting at a 360/12.  Has Ric approached you with a cease and desist yet?
 
WOW!

I'm glad this thread was revived - amazing work!  I played a Ric 620 and a 360/12 professionally for 20 years before switching to my warmoth teles.  I gotta tell ya - after 8 months of playing my teles, I can't play a note on the ricks!  I wonder how I managed it for so long.
You're right - having a rick with a wider neck makes a lot of sense.  Too bad that warmoth ran into the Rick legal dept a while back or I'd have one.
 
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom said:
Telenator said:
Sorry guys but I just can get with 12 string guitars. A 12 string electric is kinda cool but 12 acoustics sound like banjos to me!

Since these were based on the 360, I think they were getting at a 360/12.  Has Ric approached you with a cease and desist yet?

Yes, Rickenbacker did contact me. There are several guitar forums, like this one, where you build your guitars and show your work. You share your building techniques and offer helpful tips on how you do things. Well, I thought the Rickenbacker forum was one of those places. I posted a few photos of my templates and routing set-ups and things got pretty weird.

The photos and posts were all removed from the Ric forum and flurry of comments ensued ranging from downright insulting, to praise for finally addressing some of the issues that make a 360 such an archaic guitar. At any rate, I was threatened with litigation and was told that, as long I don't sell the guitars, nothing would happen. Fortunately, I never sell the guitars I build so, no worries there.

Rickenbacker has zealously guarded their trademarks over the years and that is much to their credit. Can you imagine what the guitar world would be like if Gibson and Fender did the same?

My issue with these guitars is simple. I think the 360 is one of the coolest looking guitar designs out there so I bought one. In my opinion it was very well made but suffered from poor ergonomics, archaic features, and a niche focus which relegates it to collectors and the occasional player brave enough the to weild one on stage. Seriously guys, when's the last time you saw a 360 on stage?.................... Time's up. In it's current trim, it is not a player's guitar except for a few fringe people who are willing to deal with them for the unique sound.

But that's just the nature of living. Some people like the 360 exactly as it is. Some wish to the almighty himself that the model would be revised to modern standards. The fact is, as long as Rickenbacker continues to sell everyone they make, they're not about to change anything. That's a shame for all the people who play them as opposed to collect them.

If anyone here is in the Connecticut area, you're welcome to contact me and play mine.
 
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