Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I'll jump start this thread with two of my photo's but i'd love to see some other people contribute as well.

Show us your 480 / 481 / 483's

I need a new camera , but here you go:

That one on the right looks familiar!

jps wrote:That one on the right looks familiar!

RIO! I couldn't make MICRIO. But organize another one, and maybe you'll get to familiarize yourself with the one on the left!

BTW, here's what she looked like before my little (reversible) mods:

That finish is incredibly dark, it looks identical to the origional catalogue photo. I might have to re-think my AutumGlo / Walnut comparison...

Oh, and both of the truss rod covers on yours look really strange to me. The maple one seems to have alot of writing underneath it where the 'Made in USA' would be. Any closesups? Are they reproductions?

Also, I think I have the only 480 in the world with a strap pin thats not angled on the horn... it kinda bugs me.

Reposting addition

Spike- wrote:That finish is incredibly dark, it looks identical to the origional catalogue photo. I might have to re-think my AutumGlo / Walnut comparison...

Oh, and both of the truss rod covers on yours look really strange to me. The maple one seems to have alot of writing underneath it where the 'Made in USA' would be. Any closesups? Are they reproductions?

Also, I think I have the only 480 in the world with a strap pin thats not angled on the horn... it kinda bugs me.

The AG finish is also a kind of satin gloss. I've been toying with having it buffed out to a high gloss.

The early 480's had "MODEL 480" and "MADE IN USA" at the base of the TRC. On the MG I laser printed a clear label and applied it on the top of the TRC just below it. Printed on it is my name and "LIMITED EDITION" for fun and reference to my mods.

Beautiful, just beautiful.....one of these days...........................................

IHeartRics wrote:The AG finish is also a kind of satin gloss. I've been toying with having it buffed out to a high gloss.

The early 480's had "MODEL 480" and "MADE IN USA" at the base of the TRC. On the MG I laser printed a clear label and applied it on the top of the TRC just below it. Printed on it is my name and "LIMITED EDITION" for fun and reference to my mods.

See, the way i've always had it figured is that on the 480, Autum Glo had the same burst color as Walnut, except that Autum was a matte / satin flat finish, with no gloss, and Walnut had the traditional lacquer finish.

Yours makes me think that I could have been wrong, and Walnut actaully referred to the dark color present on yours.

In your position, I probably would have performed the same mods because i'm not fond of the inverted-color TRC and pickguard, but you have one incredibly rare guitar. That dark finish + black plastics which were very rare.... well, I just hope you saved them.

I knew the earlier 480's had 'Model 480' on them below the Made in USA, but I don't like those because they're plexi. I like the raised lettering much more IMO.

The 480 belongs in Walnut / Autum.

Spike- wrote:See, the way i've always had it figured is that on the 480, Autum Glo had the same burst color as Walnut, except that Autum was a matte / satin flat finish, with no gloss, and Walnut had the traditional lacquer finish.

Yours makes me think that I could have been wrong, and Walnut actaully referred to the dark color present on yours.

In your position, I probably would have performed the same mods because i'm not fond of the inverted-color TRC and pickguard, but you have one incredibly rare guitar. That dark finish + black plastics which were very rare.... well, I just hope you saved them.

I knew the earlier 480's had 'Model 480' on them below the Made in USA, but I don't like those because they're plexi. I like the raised lettering much more IMO.

The 480 belongs in Walnut / Autum.

There appears to be variations in Walnut and Autumnglo over the years. I believe there is a thread somewhere here that addresses it.

I save all the parts and everything is reversible. If I mod any Ric, it stays in the vein of Ric.

There's lack of Jetglo here

There's a shortage of 481s here.

Does anyone else have a MG/BT 481?

jingle_jangle wrote:There's a shortage of 481s here.

There is, actually!

jingle_jangle wrote:Does anyone else have a MG/BT 481?

Looks... uhm... "special". A customised 481? The neck has white binding...

Factory original, 100%.

481 necks, being bolt-ons, were built in batches and mated to the guitars after finishing and buffing. I'm not aware of any 481s with black-bound necks.

Black-bound Ricks usually have a very thin band of white glued to the inside of black binding; I suspect this was so that white binding cement could be used to glue the binding to the body, without it looking sloppy. All 3 of my MG/BT Ricks have this feature.

Note also the chrome "R" tailpiece, and chromed bridge, bridge cover, and Grover Rotomatics. All original, too.

Since the plastic humbucker covers were only made in chrome, it seems that RIC went with all-chrome hardware on this MG/BT model, too. The TRC, though, and the pickguard, are both black. The TRC bears the legend, "MODEL 481" hot-stamped along the bottom edge parallel to the nut, but it was molded in the same mold as other black TRCs (with a squared-off, non-slant-fret bottom edge), and the 7 degree slant was disc-sanded on the bottom edge to save tooling costs.

All of this indicates that a MG/BT 481 is a very, very rare bird, with possibly only a handful ever made.

Which is why I ask if anyone else has or has seen one.

jingle_jangle wrote:Which is why I ask if anyone else has or has seen one.

You have 3 of these? Well, obvious few will have seen such an item, if you hoard them

Are there any other special 480-Series with RRForumites?

I forget who this image belongs to, it's someone here, but he has the prototype un-slanted 481, and the 483 which was the 3 pickup version of the 480 only avilable by special order from Rickenbacker.

Also, that black pickguard on the 481 almost looks aftermarket, the 'horn' on the top left appears to be far too sharp, whereas all the factory ones i've seen are rounded, like the images here. I'm probably wrong though, just my observation.