CSI: 90s Rickenbacker 330

[maloburro]

Hello,

First post but long time lurker. A few months back I bought this used 330 that has had a refinish. I was hoping some of you experts might be willing to help with some detective work. I checked the registry and did not see it listed so I figured a post was acceptable. I don't know this guitar's story, other than "I got it from a guy..." The serial plate dates to August of 1997.

The original idea was it used to be a Mapleglo. The neck doesn't show severe signs of refinish, although it does seem considerably duller than what a lot of pics look like from a mapleglo of this era. But why would someone sand off a Mapleglo finish to go with another paint color?

Then there's the mystery of the pink soundholes. The pink which has been scribbled over in black permanent marker. That led me to owners who say their fireglo is pink. So then I watched the Ric factory video. I noticed they stuff the fholes with cloth to prevent overspray. Then I went back and noticed, indeed even jetglow f holes are bright maple inside.

Now I wonder, could it have been Mapleglo whose body was painted red or pink, then stripped to convert to this sonic blue color. The strange thing is the pink/red is not in the least covered by the blue overspray, yet there is blue overspray on the inside of the top piece of the body.

It's like they purposefully left fholes the old pinkish color when they refinished to blue, which doesn't make a lot of sense. Then someone else got this and hated the pink holes with blue body and sharpied them?

One more thing, there are multiple holes drilled into the headstock for the peak of the Ric sail.

It's a real mystery.

I'd love to hear thoughts and theories from experts & amateurs.

[sloop_john_b]

Hello and welcome, Ryan! Interesting guitar you have here.

You can be certain that it did not leave the factory with pink inside the sound hole, so IMO, signs point to at least two refinishes in this guitar’s history. I think you’re right - whoever did the first refinish did not bother to mask off the soundhole and tried to fix it by covering the pink up with black marker or paint.

It looks like some of the extra blue paint on the inside could have come in through the pickup cavities while the guitar was undergoing refin # 2.

Rickenbacker truss rod covers / nameplates have come in varying sizes over the years, so it’s possible this has had two different types on it (say, a plexi “vintage style” and a newer plastic one).

[maloburro]

Hi John,

Thanks for the response. What is strange is that there is blue overspray mixed with pink. So either they added the pink last or the pink was done first and they covered the sound holes before spraying blue, meaning they intended for them to be pink. I'm going to try to clean off the sharpie for fun, I think pink and blue could be a cool new wave 80s vibe.

Here is a pic of the TRC. Does it look fake or legit?

Here are also some pics of the well worn case it came with. Originally we thought it was not original but now I'm seeing it looks awfully similar to the case design of the 70s and 80s that I've found. I'm hoping to structurally reinforce it as best I can to keep using it.

[jdogric12]

Yikes. I regret to inform you that is a fake TRC, and not even a good one!

[collin]

Hi Ryan, welcome.

Your 330 appears to have been originally Fireglo, based on the red finish residue in the nooks & crannies of the truss rod cavity. These are rarely ever fully stripped clean when doing a refinish, so it's a pretty easy way to see what color it used to be.

Appears that it's had a couple of different refins, and some changed parts. Definitely a player guitar, but enjoy!

[maloburro]

Thanks Jason. I suspected it could be fake. I appreciate the confirmation.

Good spot on the FG color Collin! I thought maybe that was discoloration from the truss rods. Never even considered finish residue.

It was listed as a player and I bought it as a player so I’m not too bummed about switched parts. The seller was open about it not being originally and having a tremolo of some sort at sometime. I’ve just always wanted a Ric, ironically fireglo too. It was less than half the cost of a new one so I’m ok with the Gypsy vibe it has.

Thank you guys for helping me ID this sucker.