In the 60s my dream Rickenbacker was a Fireglo 330/6 that was in the window of a music store in the city. I remember the store well - Clemens Music in Russell Street. I used to catch a tram into the city with a friend of mine and we'd spend hours in that store.... regularly walking out having bought nothing except maybe a plectrum - no money!! The proprietor was very nice and always welcomed us even though we were basically tyre kickers.
Move forward to the early 80s (when I was no longer interested in playing) and a relative of my then wife bought a Fireglo 330 and Vox amp (with the chrome stand). I wend to a New Years Eve gig that his band played at and loved the sound but it didn't 'light the fire' enough to get back into playing.
Move forward to 2003 and for some reason I decided (out of the blue) to buy a cheap guitar and amp.... I still don't know why! Fiddled around with the Squier for a while then basically left it alone. My son picked it up one day and tried to play it left-handed, so I showed him a couple of basic chords that he could play 'upside down'. That sparked my interest again and I began to play more.
Later that year I decided to invest in a 'serious' guitar and was looking at a Gretsch G6128T double cutaway Duo Jet but I wasn't totally happy with it. When looking at the other guitars hanging on the walls of the 'high end' room at the music store I saw a Jetglo 330/6. The price was comparable, so I went home to think about it. I called the store on Monday to reserve it but it had been sold on the Saturday and not surprisingly they didn't have another and couldn't get one.
So the Google search began and I eventually emailed a store in Queensland and they asked the distributor if they had anything available. Lo and behold they had a Fireglo 330 with the vintage pickup option in stock. Needless to say the bank transfer happened very quickly and by early the next week it was delivered to my office. I still tingle when I recall opening the case..... wow!!
12 Rickenbackers later I still have it - all of them in fact! I may sell a few but the first one is going nowhere.
So...... a dream of some 40 years ago eventually became a reality!!
