Photographs of the 480 Series

[jingle_jangle]

Is the message you're trying to convey that RIC makes too many 330s?

Rickenbacker could sell 8X as many guitars as they do, and that would just about fill the market demand.

So, if they made nothing but 330s and 4003s, they would do OK...

...for just a few years until the lack of variety would see their sales drop.

Right now the model range is good; nice variety. customer satisfaction, and efficiency of production are each maximized.

There's no time right now to consider reissues or any other permanent addition to the model range, and virtually zero chance that the 480/1 will ever see the light of day again in Santa Ana. More important fish to fry!

[Grey]

.....and virtually zero chance that the 480/1 will ever see the light of day again in Santa Ana. More important fish to fry!

Which John Hall said as much about on the official Ric forums. If there was a list of guitars waiting to be re-issued, the 480 would not be up at the top. Not that it bothers me, though. Of course, I guess it's easy for me to say that considering I own one.

Although the 480/1 has seen a huge surge in popularity over the past few years, it's really more of a niche guitar that i'm not quite sure has reached 'collector' status. It's a quirky little instrument no doubt made as a quick way to cash in in the popular Ric bass at the time, although its still a Ric and has all the quality that goes along with the name and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

[jingle_jangle]

"Quick" being a relative term here, Eric...just look at the body engineering, and especially the pickups and circuitry in the 481, and you can see substantial thought and work.

[Grey]

"Quick" being a relative term here, Eric...just look at the body engineering, and especially the pickups and circuitry in the 481, and you can see substantial thought and work.

That's also true, but the guitar got very little advertising and theres little mention of it on the Ric website, save for the origional catalogue photo. Just dosen't seem like a guitar that Ricenbacker backed like they did their other guitars. As I said earlier though, it's still a Ric, and has all the quality you'd expect from bearing the name.

[jingle_jangle]

Absolutely true. Definitely underpromoted and underappreciated. IMO a classic shape with good weight and balance and excellent playability. The 481 especially is an incredible solid body with powerful pickups and terrific tonal variety. Some make a big deal about the slant frets being hard to get used to, but if you didn't know they were slanted, there would be no issues, and it is much more comfortable for chording. Which makes it a bit of a conundrum--it's more a lead than a rhythm guitar in many circles, but does both equally well.

[IHeartRics]

There's no time right now to consider reissues or any other permanent addition to the model range, and virtually zero chance that the 480/1 will ever see the light of day again in Santa Ana.

Unless of course, some skilled, knowledgeable, expert luthier was authorized and licensed by Ric as a custom shop for small run, special order reissues.

[electrofaro]

There's no time right now to consider reissues or any other permanent addition to the model range, and virtually zero chance that the 480/1 will ever see the light of day again in Santa Ana.

Unless of course, some skilled, knowledgeable, expert luthier was authorized and licensed by Ric as a custom shop for small run, special order reissues.

Wonderful idea - who did you have in mind?

[Grey]

I think my other guitars are getting lonely...

[cjj]

That's 'cause they know the 480 is the best looking! Keep 'em coming!

[Grey]

That's from a set I did for my Register entry.

http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... 6order%3D4

[Grey]

Oh well, for something different, a bad webcam picture of casual me with Ric in background.

[Grey]

Alright so some of you have probably heard me complain about this before, but I have a big pet peeve with the neck plate on the 480. Not because I think bolt on necks are worse than set necks or any of that nonsense, but because that ugly little plate and screws tarnish what is otherwise a work of art. The body design and hardware is elegant and warm, but the metal plate is cold and lifeless.

So i've been thinking up some possible solutions and here's one I had today. The idea is some kind of carved, slightly rounded wooden "cap" that has a recessed area on one side and fits ontop of the plate. The idea isn't perfect, but it would require no permanant modifications to the guitar and would look much better than that metal plate (IMO).

Crummy image illustrating what I mean.

[IHeartRics]

Many years ago I had a Washburn A-20 where the electronics covers on the back were cut from the same wood and used instead of plastic. The grain matched up prefectly. It was very nice looking.

[jps]

Many years ago I had a Washburn A-20 where the electronics covers on the back were cut from the same wood and used instead of plastic. The grain matched up prefectly. It was very nice looking.

Michael Pedulla does this with the control cavity covers on his instruments.

[Grey]

Finding a way to solve my neck plate problem is ever elusive. I guess the simple answer would be to 'get over it'

Oh well, more pics! We need some more contributers, bring on those 481's!
I was watching a YouTube cover the other day and spotted an AzureGlo 480 and a Greco 480-copy in the background. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DefmnHcxC8