Speaking about slanted frets (481 on rickbid), here is an extremely rare guitar.
According to Mike Parks, who made some research, there is only one ever made.
This 360/12 guitar was made in 1970.
A short history about the slanted frets:
* The idea was to fit the neck to the arch between the thumb and the forefinger on the player's left hand. It worked well when the player grasped the neck with his thumb over the finger board. Its advantages stopped when playing barre chords with the thumb behind the neck. The factory first produced slanted frets in late 1969. They were a standard feature on some instruments and an option on others. On these instruments the nut, bridge and frets were all set on an angle to the edge of the finger board.
The original brochure said:
"This slight slant of the frets across the finger board eliminates the long chord reaches, reduces stretch length, and matches precisely the natural angle of the fretting fingers."
*Source: Richard R. Smith "The complete history of Rickenbacker guitars"
Welcome to Björn Eriksson's Rickenbacker Page for some more photos!
Take care
Björn
