Guitar Player Magazine "New Gear" issue, May 2001

[sloop_john_b]

Almost 10 years later, still waiting for my Jazz-Bo.

[RS812]

Absolutely gorgeous and a shame they never made it into production

[egosheep]

What was the story on these being reissued? This was before my time.

[sloop_john_b]

What was the story on these being reissued? This was before my time.

Not sure. What I do recall is that John Hall was hemming and hawing over what tailpiece to use on these, and I'm not sure that he ever decided on one.

Also, I do recall him mentioning (around the time that PW started doing the acoustics) that the Jazz-Bo would be manufactured right alongside the electrics, which I took to mean that the construction of these lent itself more to CNC then the acoustics did. Not 100% sure on that though, hopefully he can clarify.

The growing backlog no doubt put the kibosh on these. I believe the prototype still makes its way to NAMM every year.

[Trav]

This is very timely John, and thanks for the picture, I was just looking on the Rickenbacker website at the Jazz-bo and thinking what a beauty, one day..etc...

[deaconblues]

Wonder what happened with all the people who ordered one!

[jingle_jangle]

As far as I know, orders on these were cancelled and dealers refunded any outstanding deposits.

The Jazz-Bo has a number of unique sonic design features intended to improve sound, range, and projection. Some computer modeling was done on the internal volume, according to JH. The sum total is apparently more than meets the eye.

Does it lend itself to CNC better than one of the RIC flat-top designs? Partially, yes. The German-carved top and back plates are naturals for CNC, as is the neck/headstock, but the soundbox of the instrument itself still requires traditional luthiery skills and tooling to assemble, and the neck needs to be set by hand. Additionally, the plates should be top-tuned and there will be some voicing to keep duds out of consumers' hands. It's a labor-intensive product.

There's no question in my mind that it would be the top dog in the Rickenbacker line with a very limited market.

The prototype Jazz-Bo (actually, there are two) was last displayed at NAMM in 2006.

The Jazz-Bo that I constructed using the body hoop that John Hall gave me in late '06, is shown below. Though the hoop had been cut, dimensioned, and bent with neck and tail blocks already in place, this instrument still represents a couple of hundred hours' time to build and finish. No doubt that production of multiples at one time will see some savings in time and good tooling amortization, too.

[godber]

Spectacular guitar.

[RS812]

Thanks for sharing!

[shamustwin]

It doesn't matter what it would cost, I'd find a way!

[indianation65]

Funny, I just bought a copy of that old issue at a used bookstore for a few bucks. Two months now, but I can't find the actual guitar...

...wisdom

[iiipopes]

Now if RIC would only develop a "Toasterbucker" instead of the pickup now on it that is, well, let's just say not RIC.