360F serial # help

Early years of Rickenbacker Guitars prior to and including 1972

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Jeff Stone
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Re: 360F serial # help

Post by Jeff Stone »

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OK, let's try posting some pics again:
Jeff Stone
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Re: 360F serial # help

Post by Jeff Stone »

P120035701.jpg
Jeff Stone
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Re: 360F serial # help

Post by Jeff Stone »

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Jeff Stone
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Re: 360F serial # help

Post by Jeff Stone »

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Slowly getting hang of posting pics. Sorry. Can someone now identify the year of mfg?
Jeff Stone
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Re: 360F serial # help

Post by Jeff Stone »

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and here are three final pictures:
crstory
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Re: 360F serial # help

Post by crstory »

I have serial# 2T140 which dates to 1958. Pot codes might reveal the true year of origin. Stunning guitar. What fantastic condition. 8)
Last edited by crstory on Sat Jan 21, 2012 2:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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libratune
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Re: 360F serial # help

Post by libratune »

Jeff Stone wrote: Can someone now identify the year of mfg?
All the instruments on the Register having a serial no. beginning with 2T0_ _ are designated as having a build date of 1960, except for one in 1959: http://www.rickresource.com/register/in ... celebrity=

Very early Capris and F bodies (1958) had serial numbers starting with 2T100, etc. Rickenbacker reset the 3rd digit of that configuration to "0" in late 1959/1960.

As stated before, my best guess is that yours is a 1960 build. Checking the pot codes would confirm this.
Jeff Stone
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Re: 360F serial # help

Post by Jeff Stone »

Thanks Ron for the info AND offer to help with posting of pics - much appreciated! Since this guitar has never been opened up, all the screw heads are unmolested and near perfect. I am hesitant to open it up to get to the pots.
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jch
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Re: 360F serial # help

Post by jch »

Beautiful guitar Jeff! 8)
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libratune
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Re: 360F serial # help

Post by libratune »

Jeff, you are most welcome. And by the way, you posted some great photos and that 360F is in fantastic shape! A real stunner!

As for taking off the 4 'guard screws, I can understand your hesitation. For what it's worth, they are not hard to get off with the correct-fitting screwdriver. From the photos, it appears to me that the "traditional" vintage mounting is still intact for the 'guards on your guitar, that is: there is a rubber grommet between the lower 'guard and the guitar body at each screw hole, thus lifting the guard up a bit off the body. There are also of course rubber grommets between the upper and lower guards.

Once the screws are off, it's a simple matter of gently turning the lower guard from horizontal to vertical to see the pot codes. No additional disassembly is required.

It can be a bit challenging lining all things back up once apart. You may find that the lower grommets are "stuck" onto either the guitar body or the guard, which actually makes re-assembly easier.

Good luck -- and if you do decide to take off the 'guards, please let us know what you find!
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leftybass
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Re: 360F serial # help

Post by leftybass »

Lovely guitar, and one comment:

Most 1960 deluxe Rickenbacker Capri's came with a dual jackplate, i.e. Rick-O-Sound.

So if it really is a 1960, it may come down to when it was actually made in '60. I dunno when ROS was implemented down to the month, so that would be interesting to know.
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libratune
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Re: 360F serial # help

Post by libratune »

Excellent point, John.

Here are some 1960 deluxe examples available to me:

Jackplate from 2T083, 360F FG 1960, pot codes 6020, no Rick-O-Sound jackplate:
360F FG Jackplate
360F FG Jackplate
360F FG 60
360F FG 60
Jackplate from 2T074, 360 Capri FG 1960, pot codes 6016, no ROS:
360 Capri Jackplate
360 Capri Jackplate
360 Capri 60
360 Capri 60
Jackplate from JL202 (late 1960), 360F MG, ROS jackplate:
360F MG ROS
360F MG ROS
360F MG 60
360F MG 60
It would appear from these three examples (and others I’ve seen) that ROS was introduced on deluxe Capri and F models sometime in 1960. But I don’t have access to enough examples to say exactly when. As with most things regarding vintage RIckenbackers, it was probably phased in over time.

Jeff, we need the pot dates from your 360F to add to the statistics!
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doctorwho
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Re: 360F serial # help

Post by doctorwho »

Wow! What a nice 360F! :shock: 8)

I agree with the others, the date codes on the pots are paramount to establishing the year of manufacture.

To anyone that has difficulty in resizing pictures, I recommend downloading the freeware FastStone Photo Resizer (downloadable from CNET's website). It allows one to reduce pictures in batch mode and specify a maximum dimension and/or size. :)
It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing. - Seneca
Jeff Stone
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Re: 360F serial # help

Post by Jeff Stone »

OK guys, the pick guard came off (the first time since it was assembled at the factory!) and the pot codes are:
137 6006. I will try to take a pic and post. Thanks for the direction.
Jeff

PS All the rubber grommets are in tact
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jps
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Re: 360F serial # help

Post by jps »

Did you take photos of it while opened up?
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