1950s Rickenbacker 400 combo series??

[anthonyf]

This is a repost from another part of the forum. This forum is great. The registry is awwwesome. I am just having trouble identifying this guitar. Any insight would be awesome.

Hello all!

I am new to the forum. This place is great. I recently aquired two Rickenbacker guitars. One 650d and another, somewhat mysterious, guitar. If I made this post in the wrong section, I am sorry. I thought this would be best.

Here are the guitars together. Please don't chastise me for replacing the original pickup on the right... I did not do it.


Here is a picture of the serial number on the bridge 4c337, which when plugged into the serial decoder on the Rickenbacker website produces this
"Your guitar is a 400 Series Combo model manufactured in 1953"


Here is a picture of the neck line with some strange paint on the side of the fret board


And a chip on the headstock that reveals the wood grain underneath


My questions are what do I have here? The color scheme is similar to others, but not quite at the same time. Was this guitar painted? If it was, besides the paint on the side of the neck, a good job was done. Besides the pickup, everything else seems to be original. I have the original hardshell case too.

Any help/insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance
Anthony

[libratune]

What does the back of the guitar look like? Is it solid wood back or is there a cover over back?

Because of the "cresting wave" body shape I am tending to think this is a 1959-60 model 400; the serial no. decoder indicates that some model numbers (like yours) aren't accurate. Also, this model wasn't made in 1953, and the early 400 models had tulip body shape. If my guess is correct, the back should be solid wood.

[anthonyf]

Hey thanks for helping Ron!

Back of the guitar is solid wood. Just from looking around the registry (which is awesome) I found the guitar I have. Also, I searched for 425s with a serial number that start with 4C. There seems to be some guitars that are very similar but with a white pick guitar and a wood grain headstock and neck. This would go with the fact that I think the neck and headstock were painted at some point.

[ken_j]

This is a model 420 as it has no vibrato. I agree that this is a much later guitar than '53. The cresting wave wasn't introduced until '58. The 420 and 450 models had a thicker body until '61 when they were slimmed down. Definitely a nice pair you have.

Anthony welcome to the RRF.

[anthonyf]

This is my guitar in the registry. There are more pictures in there of it.

http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... lebrity%3D

[glen_l]

I've always found the naming of these particular ones a bit confusing. It's not a 400 because that names appears to end with the change from the tulip shaped body. You'd think it would be a 420 because of the lack of Vibrola, but that name wasn't used until '65. So it seems this is a 425, which have manufacturing dates from '58 to '72. The colour is also commonly mistaken. Jetglo wasn't a factory colour until '65. The black finish used only on solidbody Rics prior to this was Jetblack.

[anthonyf]

You guys are being so helpful. Thanks.

When I look at other jetblack (thanks glen!) 425s, they all seem to have the wood grain headstock and neck. Given the way there is paint on the side of the fret board, the fret markers on the neck looking a little shoddy, and seeing the two different color wood grains on the headstock where the paint chipped off... I honestly think they were painted at some point.