Just some help with a serial number on a Fireglo Rik I bought about 5 years ago....I have had conflicting stories since I got it about it having a replacement jack bracket and a serial number that does not go with the guitar (although to be honest I don't understand why a jack bracket would be ever replaced..its just a piece of metal isn't it?).....All in all I'm a tad confused so help from folks who really know will sure put my mind at rest...
The serial number is : XX 2214
The guitar is a beauty....and the first Rik I have ever owned...I always wanted one (Beatle/Weller Fan) but never had the money and then this one came up for £500 on ebay and I love it...The action and playability is pure class and I do have 1970 Gibson SG and 1976 Strat and Tele to compare to...It does have lots of small dings and chips but it still smacks of quality...
PS...If anybody can date it to a specific year then any info on guitars produced that year would also be helpfull...good or bad info..
Lewis1965 wrote:Just some help with a serial number on a Fireglo Rik I bought about 5 years ago....I have had conflicting stories since I got it about it having a replacement jack bracket and a serial number that does not go with the guitar (although to be honest I don't understand why a jack bracket would be ever replaced..its just a piece of metal isn't it?).....All in all I'm a tad confused so help from folks who really know will sure put my mind at rest...
The serial number is : XX 2214
The guitar is a beauty....and the first Rik I have ever owned...I always wanted one (Beatle/Weller Fan) but never had the money and then this one came up for £500 on ebay and I love it...The action and playability is pure class and I do have 1970 Gibson SG and 1976 Strat and Tele to compare to...It does have lots of small dings and chips but it still smacks of quality...
PS...If anybody can date it to a specific year then any info on guitars produced that year would also be helpfull...good or bad info..
Thanks Fellas.....
Welcome Lewis. The XX plates are factory replacement plates so at some point the one on your guitar was replaced. Usual reason is heavy corrosion, usually caused by being near an ocean coast. If you pull up the pickguard with the controls on it, the pots will have a pot code that will include the year of their making. If all 4 are the same and are original to the instrument, that would give you the year of manufacture. Pot codes are explained on a tab in this file. If you don't have Excel, the Microsoft site has a free reader for download.
Massive help you have been John.....I've had the guitar a few years and no one has been able to date it properly...I have just checked the pots and they are 88 and 89 so the guitar is no older than that...and is probably from around that time I guess......
I checked the pots and the serials on the pots are as follows:
R1378929 31056
R1378836 3279
From what I gather the 'R137' is a code number. The next 2 digits are the date of the pot which are '88' and '89'. The last 2 digits are the week of the pot which are.
So I now have a window which I can date the Rik and it is no earlier than 1988. Thats good enough for me now as I had nothing before.
Big Thanks Fellas.....for your help with this..I appreciate it
@kiramdear......Interesting point but the guitar certainly doesn't feel like an earlier model....I have 3 1970s guitar too and they do have an older feel to them....just a feeling, I could be wrong
Just as an after thought...does anyone have any info on Riks made around 88, 89?....I mean were they good or bad around that time...I know Fender went through some dodgey episodes in their history as did Gibson and I don't know much about Rik history.
Late 80's Rick guitars are great! Two questions: do the high gain pickups have a "breadboard" look to the black part (the background between and surrounding the pole pieces)? And do the tuners say "Made in Germany," "Made in W. Germany," or Made in __ Germany?" (The space indicates Germany had reunited but the lettering template was not yet changed.)
jdogric12 wrote:And do the tuners say "Made in Germany," "Made in W. Germany," or Made in __ Germany?" (The space indicates Germany had reunited but the lettering template was not yet changed.)
I had never noticed that! You learn something every day.
Wow...more info...I really admire your knowledge on this fellas...I am in awe!
Thanks Jason for that
The tuners say 'Made in Germany' with no standard gap between the 'in' and 'Germany'....and the pickups do have a 'breadboard' effect, its like minute pin pricks on the surface in a unifom way......What does this signify?
German reunification happened in 1990, so if it doesn't specify the 'W', it was after that, and the "space" would have to have been just after reunification...
I have NO idea what to do with those skinny stringed things... I'm just a bass player...
Lewis1965 wrote:Massive help you have been John.....I've had the guitar a few years and no one has been able to date it properly...I have just checked the pots and they are 88 and 89 so the guitar is no older than that...and is probably from around that time I guess......
Great help John...Big Thanks
Glad that info helped. You know it had to be made in 1989, because of the mixed 88 and 89, and RIC doesn't keep large inventories. When you had the guard off, did you look for writing inside the cavity on the wood? Clues may be in there or under the pickups in the routs there.
jdogric12 wrote:And do the tuners say "Made in Germany," "Made in W. Germany," or Made in __ Germany?" (The space indicates Germany had reunited but the lettering template was not yet changed.)
I had never noticed that! You learn something every day.
Lewis1965 wrote:Wow...more info...I really admire your knowledge on this fellas...I am in awe!
Thanks Jason for that
The tuners say 'Made in Germany' with no standard gap between the 'in' and 'Germany'....and the pickups do have a 'breadboard' effect, its like minute pin pricks on the surface in a unifom way......What does this signify?
RIC used fiberglass circuit board material before the newer molded plastic bobbins, ubt I don't remember when the molded ones started, but in the time frame we are talking.
Yeah...I did check under the scratchplate and there is some lettering in there but no numbers.....just 5 letters and some indesipherable stuff....weird.....The other thing is that someone has written a girls name 'Magie'...with 1 'g'.......I didn't think anything of it until I saw this one with 'Gloria' and 'Maria' written inside:
So whats that all about?...Girls names inside the controls cavity?......I'm assuming that it was a fashionable thing for the owners to do.....and isn't how they came from Rickenbacker
