Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

My grandfather recently picked this up for $600 because he liked it. He asked me if I could find any information on it online because he’s not the most technologically skilled. Frankly, neither am I, but I was able to find this forum through Reddit. If I can provide any extra info that would help, let me know. Any answers or help is greatly appreciated. Thank you

Found this on the official RIC site serial # decoder

Your grandfather made the purchase of the century, I’ll say that much. Exceedingly rare Rickenbacker right there.

So then, do you think that this is a customized version of that that someone had done a while back? Or something else?

Although the RIC site dates this guitar to 1953 what’s puzzling is its fitted with a “toaster top” pickup?
I’m guessing here but if it is indeed a “53” as the serial # suggests a “horseshoe” pickup would probably have been the more likely, it’s doesn’t appear to have been routed for a horseshoe or modified but as I said I’m guessing, I’m no expert on such matters?

Found this info here on this very site :-

“Later in 1956 a landmark in modern guitars was reached. The first production appearance of Rickenbacker's most famous pickup - the 'Toaster top', single coil, and it was on these tulip-shaped combos. The intermediate type still appeared on some instruments until the following year.”

Just some perspectives...

This is an incredibly cool guitar and a rare find. In all my years of Rickenbackering, I'd never even seen one of these until roughly last year, when another one ended up in the hands of a collector. In all, I have heard there are maybe three of these in the public eye, including this one. Overall production was likely in the single digits.

I would be inclined to call this guitar a Combo 650. I've attached a page from the '57 catalog below, and you can see that the copy for the 650 touts the "new extreme cutaway body". The better-documented Combo 850 had a toaster in the neck and horseshoe in the bridge, and later two toaster pickups.

That brings us to the year of manufacture. I agree that '53 is far too early. I would put my money on this guitar being a late '57 or '58 model guitar.

What's it worth? With so few built, it's anyone's guess. I'd have it appraised and inspected by a credentialed guitar expert to determine originality, but it looks factory to me. What a deal!

https://imgur.com/GdT3qy4

Wow! Awesome rare combo 650. I thought there were only two made......but yours looks to be a third one. Congrats. I'd say it dates from early 1959. Hopefully Ron O'Keefe could give a more definitive answer......

that’s hot

The fascinating thing to me about this guitar is the double pickguard.

IIRC, the other two Combo 650 models that are known have a single-layer pickguard with a little notched cutout where the pickup sits (I'll let the owners of those guitars share photos if they like). Perhaps this one was assembled later in '59 when the double pickguard started for other models? Hard to say.

But extremely cool find, I'm always jazzed to hear this sort of thing is still out in the wild (and that somebody went to the RRF with it first!).

These "extreme cutaway" Combo models represent something of a "missing link" in the evolution that culminated in the Capri series. It's easy to see how these models led into the 325 series of hollow-bodied guitars (starting with the Polynesian, which is a hybrid of the two styles), and later the 330 and 360 Capris.

For reference, here's a '58 Combo 850: https://imgur.com/8Ft2OYb

What a fantastic find your grandfather got!

I'm curious what the scale length and nut width are on it.

Did it come in a case? A photo of that would be cool

What an awesome find, and guitar!

Your grandfather's guitar resembles the model 650, of which there are a few on the Register. However, the serial numbers of those begin with C6 (or C8), which is the Combo style of serial number. Yours is 2T394, which is in the Capri style of serial number, and would indicate an early 1959 build. It could be that the jackplate with that serial number on the guitar is from another guitar, likely a Capri. Or it could be that this guitar was produced so late in the Combo 650 run that it was given that serial number in sequence with the Capris being built at that time.

Here is a link to the model 650 examples from 1958 in the Register: https://www.rickresource.com/register/i ... celebrity=

Also an example of this model was discussed in 2011 on this forum: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=400656

Not intending to douse any enthusiasm, but I recommend looking at the date codes on the potentiometers to confirm that they date to that era and are not modern ones. I have seen a number of "tribute" instruments, made by expert luthiers, that look like the real deal, and it would be good to rule that possibility out.