Ken: yep, it's mine. I've wanted one since I saw my first picture of one. I never saw one in the flesh till I visited the Rick factory in March '05, and now I can play it whenever I want!!! I feel like a kid.

But I gotta warn any newbies out there--this Rick thing is addictive, in the sense that a Rickenbacker fix feels like no other...

Cole, that's the topic for a lot of research and a book-length post. But I will be paying attention to other acoustics that I try from here on in. Ask me again in about a year.

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Rickenbackers: I love to play them. I enjoy the challenge of working on them. I love the way they sound.

Another stunning job! At first, I thought the fire extinguisher was for scale, then it occured to me...pretty hot guitar. ;-)

God, that's beautiful. You do amazing work Paul--you should be very proud.

As to the poster who asked how the RIC acoustic compares, I am just as curious as everyone to see what Paul posts (eventually). But from my perspective, I have a 12 string, so the first and perhaps most obvious thing is the postition of the strings.

My 730-12L follows the standard RIC tuning with having the octaves in reverse with the rest of the guitar-stringing world. So the acoustic starts off sounding like a RIC simply due to the stringing.

Second, is the extremely slim neck. It is the sleekest and slimmest acoustic neck I have ever played. In my hands, it just wants to be played and held.

Third is the finish, which is otherworldly. It has the nicest finish I have ever seen on any guitar. It even blows away my other three RICs. It's not crazy with inlays like some higher class Martin's can be. It is simple in it's elegance. But the sides are all flamed and the paint and finish are just amazing.

Fourth are the appointments. All the gold tuners and TRC just look great. I want to leave it out all the time and just admire it. But I have FIVE kids under the age of 8, so that's not an option. I am only able to take it out late at night when everyone's in bed.

I will say this, I have numerous guitars and basses and this baby is the only one my wife pines to play. She loves it.

As for sound, it has a very nice mellow tone. It's not as bright as my Taylor 410CE but then again, I have left the factory strings on for now. I was considering placing Elixers on it and I would really like to know what exactly Paul put on his. Paul, did you need to readust the truss rod with the new strings? (I'd like to try to avoid messing with truss rods whenever possible, as I am certainly no luthier). That being said, it's not as mellow as most Martins I've tried (the 18's and the 28's).

I have not used it for much recording yet because I do not care too much for the Dean Markley insert pickup I generally use for complete acoustics. That's probably the only thing I wish I had, an E3 pickup installed. But I'm really NOT complaining, it would just be nice.

The neck is also narrower as is typical with most RICs and it takes practice to be clean on it. Luckily, I had already been practicing on my 360-12.

JJ,

Good thing you have the fire extinguisher there, becuase that's the hottest acoustic I've ever seen!

Beauty!

Best,

MMM

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Manta
http://www.mantaraymusic.com

My 730/12 Shiloh has a baseball bat neck! I don't think RIC uses the CNC process in the production of the acoustics, that may be why one differs from the other. Paul, set me straight if that's not true.

Cole

All of the acoustic necks were made on the same fixture and should be very, very similar.

Fretless, I can't really help on the issue of truss rod readjustment when the medium Elixirs were fitted.

This is for two reasons: First, the guitar was in pieces when I got it, and had never been strung. The rods were relaxed.

Second: I am still "normalizing" the guitar. I've been messing with rod tension, and will remove the TRC for a week or so, so I don't have to constantly be detuning to pull out the TRC to access the rods, to achieve equilibrium. 12s are very sensitive to rod adjustments, as many of you know.

I don't plan to switch strings, though. I use the Nanowebs on my other acoustic 12 (Washburn Cumberland) and I'm very happy with 'em.

Last, judgements such as "baseball bat neck" are highly subjective, and to my mind the only way to settle this sort of debate is with measurements.

The strings on my Rick acoustic go all the way to the edges of the nut. The measurement from E to E is 1 5/8". I like it this way, and I made the nut, copying from nothing. I simply made it to my own comfort level. The neck at the nut is 1 3/4" wide on the Laramie.

My Cumberland has a 1 7/8" wide neck at the nut. BUT (I measured this for the first time just now) the E to E distance is 1 5/8", the same as the Rick. I can't do depth measurements because my calipers are at my shop.

So the Cumberland is a baseball bat. My other acoustics are either classical or not here at the moment, so that's the only comparison I can make.

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Rickenbackers: I love to play them. I enjoy the challenge of working on them. I love the way they sound.

Paul, if you're going the Confluence in Santa Ana in August, I can bring my 730 and we can compare them. That is, if you dare to travel with yours. ;-)

I live in SoCal so I can just drive over.

Also, to confirm what John said, my neck looks identically slim to the one depicted in Paul's picture.