Does this 360 seem legit?

[monark]

Hi all,

Long-time drooler, first-time poster - finally looking to pick up a 360 of my own and found one listed for sale here in Paris :

https://www.leboncoin.fr/instruments_de ... 958742.htm

€1450 is fairly cheap for a 360 here - most get listed for 17-1800 in classifieds or (much) more on Reverb...

I went to check it out and seemed quite legit to me - Schaller tuners, dual truss rods under the TRC, lacquered board, small square "Made in America" sticker, dual outputs with STANDARD and RICK-O-SOUND, RIC-badged case with cloth, catalog and keys.

Actually plays quite nicely too, bit of a hum from the Bass Tone knob in certain positions but apart from that no apparent issues, good intonation, no dead frets etc.

The one issue that is nagging me before I pull the trigger is that the seller (a very nice older gent who says he's selling because he mostly plays his Fender Jazz Basses) swears that it's a 2010 model that he purchased in 2011 - but the jackplate has a "12" serial number.

I emailed Ric service and they said the S/N does indeed belong to a JG 360, which was indeed produced in Feb 2012.

I'm guessing the guy is just misremembering when he bought it? Seems like with all those factors listed above the chances would be super slim that it's a fake, esp considering that the s/n matches the model and color... thoughts?

I am apparently incapable of embedding an image but here is the jackplate if anyone is interested:
https://imgur.com/a/eWpnbMH

[jps]

Looks good from here.

Many older gents lose their memory.

[monark]

Thanks for the reply! I pressed the guy about it and he says he has the receipt from Music123 in the states, dated December 20th 2011...

Is it possible that Rickenbacker let guitars leave the factory with jackplate-s/n for the coming year?

[jdogric12]

In the USA we don't write 1's like Europeans do. Could he be mistaking a US 2 on the receipt for a European 1? RIC would not send out that jackplate 8+ weeks early. The only weird serials I know of are a "week 53" sent for an edition limited to a certain year sent after the end of that year when a replacement was needed.

[jdogric12]

OH, maybe the receipt shows when he ordered it... and he actually received the guitar in 2012. That's it.

[monark]

Actually what I just realized is that it's entirely possible that he ordered the guitar in December of 2011 from Music123, who then took their sweet time submitting the actual build order to Rickenbacker, who then built the guitar in Feb 2012, which was then delivered later... sigh

[monark]

Ah ha, crossed posts! yes that seems like the most likely theory here. Nobody makes fakes Ricks with dual trussrods right??? and dual outputs? and Schallers?

has to be a real one I think.

[scott_s]

Looks like someone snatched it up. Hope it was you, monark!

[bvstudios]

FWIW, my MG370/12 was ordered as a retirement present in late 2009, finally arrived from the factory in April of 2011, and came with 2010 serial number.

Sometimes, you just can't figure these things out.

[monark]

Aww yeah, y'all know what day it is...

[jdogric12]

NGD!

[monark]

NGD!

dingdingdingggg


Thanks everyone for the guidance!

Also I have to shout out to Rickenbacker's service department who replied super quickly to emails at 8AM (PST) with very helpful answers more than once, all to help some random expat buy a used guitar in a private sale... solid.

[RicUpNorth]

Congratulations and jangle on!

[drumbob]

Good for you. That's 100% Rickenbacker. You got a good deal.

[scott_s]

Too legit to quit, as we used to say!

Post-2006 Rickenbackers make me a little jealous -- the skinny headstocks and full-width fretboard markers look so right, and the adjustable Hi-Gains are great. Rickenbacker is doing everything right on these.