New member and first time Ric owner!

Transition years of Rickenbacker Guitars from 1973-1983 inclusive

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Bunk
New member
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Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2017 1:53 pm

New member and first time Ric owner!

Post by Bunk »

Firstly let me say hello from sunny Manchester, UK. I've lusted after Rickenbacker's, especially 330's, since my childhood days obsessing over Paul Weller in his The Jam days and Johnny Marr and his Jetglo 330. I'm a drummer first and foremost but I gave that up (at the ripe old age of 15 :D ) to play bass in a local band. I've always had a guitar but I'd deffo class myself as a novice player! No soloing here!! Scroll on a few years and I finally decided to do something about my Ric itch.. I've played about on a few 330's/360's I'd come across in shops over the years but none of them seemed to feel right to me? Having large hands and fingers maybe didn't help either? Anyway I saw a 1980 330 advertised in a local shop so I decided to check it out. Within minutes of picking it up it just felt and played so well.

The shop had it listed as 'Walnut' but after a bit of research, mainly on here, I believe its an Autumnglo finish as its satin rather than gloss. Some bits of the body have 'brassed' quite nicely; that is to say the satin finish has gone shiny with wear such as the upper part of the body where your right arm rests. Its got a few chips here and there but its only 5 years younger than me! I wish I was in such good shape!!

Once I got it home I did notice that the bridge pickup was out of alignment in relation to the strings and the bridge. I started to panic, thinking I'd been sold a dud but after more research it seems its not as uncommon as I thought. ( I unscrewed the pickup just to check it hadn't been 'offset' by a previous owner but the only holes present were the ones in use so it must have left the factory like that). I moved the pickup over last night and it looks tons better. It might be my ears fooling me but I could swear I can hear a difference too. Sadly the only cosmetic issue thats now arisen is the brown staining from the bottom of the foam pad is now visible. I can sort of live with it I think unless any of you guys know how it can be removed?

As a side note the guy in the shop, who I incidentally know but had lost touch with, told me they'd taken it in part exchange form Mark Radcliffe, a Radio/TV presenter/Journalist/Musician and all round nice guy from around these parts. No letters of authenticity etc. but I believe my pal and to be honest, if you're gonna invent a bogus ex-owner history to sell a guitar you'd probably choose someone else with a bit more guitar cache! No offence Mark if you're reading this!!

Here's some pics. They were taken today, post pickup surgery but I've also got some 'befores'. As I'm no Ric expert I'd be interested to hear from you guys regarding originality etc. I suspect its had a new nut at some point and its got a black pick guard too. I think I've only seen one other like mine with the others having a white pick guard? Tuners are Kluson Deluxe but I've seen different Kluson tuners on other 330's. I've got more pics if anyones interested?
Front copy.jpg
back copy.jpg
Internal 1 copy.jpg
Any ideas what the pencil writing relates to? Looks like mine was destined to be a 320 at one point?
Electronics 1 copy.jpg
Tuners 1 copy.jpg
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squirebass
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Joined: Fri Oct 13, 2000 11:05 pm

Re: New member and first time Ric owner!

Post by squirebass »

Mark, that is a beautiful and very collectible guitar on your hands! Very nice 330! Regardless of who used to own that guitar, the finish is no longer available, so whether it is Walnut, Autumnglo, or Montezuma Brown, it is a rather rare find. I cannot testify about the issues with pickup alignment, but I've seen this issue discussed here before and I don't believe it is serious.
Welcome!
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jdogric12
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Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2005 6:00 am

Re: New member and first time Ric owner!

Post by jdogric12 »

Welcome! Very nice. I owned a 1981 360 BG once. Its pickups and bridge were a little wonky too, not a problem.
Bunk
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Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2017 1:53 pm

Re: New member and first time Ric owner!

Post by Bunk »

I posted the same thing twice as I'm a bit of a numpty. The other post has more replies if you want to check it out..

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=414645&p=855010#p855010
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