Hello anybody! I'm siskus_siskus here!

I'm going to buy a 360 out there!
I'm not yet an owner of rick, but I have seen what I'm gonna buy. But I'm not sure if what I'm gonna catch is something real, because it has only 1 single jack (while the usual 360 is something should be 2 jack input;mono and rick-o-stereo). Beside that, the seller only sells the guitar (without documents). But the rest of it looks very same to the usual Rick..

Can anyone telling me if this is fake or not? Thanks!

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/1562/op49.jpg

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/1079/pqgh.jpg

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/9277/ooqq.jpg

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/1033/xo6c.jpg

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/3131/vj7o.jpg

http://img802.imageshack.us/img802/2928/s0vb.jpg

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/446/8xgn.jpg

If you're not sure, buy elsewhere. There are good deals in plenty of other places.

I'm not one of the experts around here so I can't say for sure but I gave it a shot comparing those pictures with other ricks. For one thing I don't know if your pictures are of a 360/12C63 or a 360/12V64 and I may not be aware of other similar models.

I noticed several things that MIGHT give it away as a fake..

- Lack of second input jack
- The string end of the tail piece doesn't have such a sharp angle to it
- The cats eye hole looks slightly narrow and the wider end looks ever so slightly too far away from the bridge pickup

I have no idea.. I know Ric has continually tweaked the style of their guitars here and there. It's nice looking. The input jack makes me wonder, though.

I know RIC along with the customers here hate fakes with a passion so somebody can probably tell you.

The jackplate's serial number suggests that guitar was made in may of 1986. I read on Rick resource that in 1988 360/12V64s were briefly produced with a single jack. Maybe Ric slapped a two year old jackplate onto a 1988 body??

That's all I've got. Good luck!

okay i see..how's your opinion to the wood tiles and the color finishing?

The wood grain is very pronounced, a bit unique. But I have a feeling this guitar is genuine. I've never seen such an accurate fake. All the screws look to be in the right places, pickguard, toaster pickups and knobs seem right and also fireglo is harder to fake than other colors. The shading looks right to me. Also a slight yellowing (unless its just the picture lighting) of the finish in the center wouldn't be out of the ordinary for a 27 year old rickenbacker especially if it was kept out of its case maybe near a sunny window. And after looking at close ups of the cats eye hole and tail piece I decided they look correct. The truss rod cover has a shape and length I've seen on other ricks from that period and the logo looks correct to my eye. I think it's genuine and is just one of those rare(?) mid/late 80s versions that went out with a single input jack.

I can't promise you, though. I'm an amateur here.

Looks fake to me,

Wood grain looks very suspect, nothing like American maple
RIC stamp letters/numbers on the jack plate these look printed/etched also why the small letter "e"
Pickguard is made of plastic, should be plexi-glass also the control knobs are the wrong type
Tuner buttons are the wrong shape
Pickups look to square on the corners

But I have to admit the neck/headstock, TRC and tailpiece look bang on.

Should burn well on a cold winters evening though!

It's a shame to think of any instrument as firewood...

I'm going to vote it as potentially fake. I'm not a Ric expert, there are others here who run rings around me on a daily basis, but I have run across a few fakers in the past, and this one sets off alarm bells.

I've personally never run across a TRC with the "made in USA" in that position, and unless someone replaced one at some point, two different sizes of screw.

And while I my be all wet, that tailpiece bothers me, too. Particularly as to the way the strings are "anchored"...

I'd steer clear of it.

_________________
Cheers,
RicVic
Canada's Wet Coast.

"We are all musician.."

The TRC and Tailpiece I believe to be genuine RIC parts easily picked up off ebay.
They are both of the vintage style and the "Made In USA" is in the correct position for that period.
What concerns me is the control knobs which appear to be the push on type which would suggest the pots have a split shaft, as far as I am aware Rickenbacker have always fitted solid shaft CTS pots and continue to this day.

So the question is "IF" this is a genuine RIC why has the electrics been changed?

I think a look "under the hood" (pickguard) will reveal more and also under the TRC to see if it has double trussrods.
For me based on what can be seen in the pics there's just too many little things that ain't quite right.

Proceed with caution!