Production Changes And Other Questions

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 6:11 am

The 320 in that catalog was acutally first made in 1959(!) as a 315 I believe, and kept around the factory for many years for things such as photos. The middle p/up is not even fastened to the body if you look closely. The guitar originally had a gold pickguard and nameplate along with oven knobs. Cool.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 6:31 am

Gold pickguard!!! Oven knobs!!!

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 7:32 am

Here it is today on Glen Lambert's site:

http://www.geocities.com/vintage325/2v285.html

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 12:19 am

Tandy wrote:

3) When did Rickenbacker cease using Kluson tuners on their guitars? All of my 60's guitars have 'em and so does my '80 320 and my '80 620/12.

4) When did the 330-series guitars go from 21-frets to 24-frets?

In response to (3), I have a 1984 325v59 that has original factory Kluson tuners.

In response to (4), my 1970 331LS has a 24-fret neck.

xcoyle · Post by **xcoyle** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 5:55 am

I think they went to the new headstock when they changed from Kluson to Schaller tuners in late 1982 or early 1983. I have two 620's from 1982 with small heads and Klusion tuners. As said above, there was a short stint of Grover tuners on 360/6 and the 481 (deluxe features, I guess) and the headstock was made slightly bigger for the Grovers.

I know Gary mentioned his 1984 325v59. Was that a B series? I have not seen a 360, 330 or 620 after 1982 with the small head and klusons.

With regard to the color, it does seem different and it seems it was by model. The more Trans Burgundy is seen on Basses and 481's. I have not seen this on 330s or 360s. Could this be a wood issue, or hollow bodies took the color deeper?

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:11 am

David, the 325 in question is a v series (a very early one, XJ - Oct 1984), not a B series.

My 1982 4080 JG has Schaller tuners on the 6-string neck:

xcoyle · Post by **xcoyle** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:32 am

When did Kluson close-up shop? Could the Klusons on your 325v59 have been old stock that Ric had in storage, that they decided to use on the new vintage line, but than ran out of later in 1984? There is a 1984 325v59 on Ebay right now with Schaller vintage style tuners.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=41439&item=7305047597&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

xcoyle · Post by **xcoyle** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:55 am

Here are a couple of 1983 320s with small head stock and Grover tuners.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=41439&item=7304072732&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=41439&item=7302615749&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:18 pm

David, the tuners on my 1984 325v63, XJ 13xx (the eBay 325v59 is XJ 1015), are the "real McCoy":

I don't know when Schaller started making their Kluson look-alikes. If it happened after 1984, the tuners on the eBay 325v59 are then (obviously) replacements.

tony_carey · Post by **tony_carey** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 7:56 am

Here's my 1980 330 with 24 fret neck & small headstock. Beat up & beautiful.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 8:21 am

Looks great. Any blemishes are hidden in the photo. Is it really "beat up" or just broken in? I've always wanted the same guitar in FG, MG or JG. How does the neck joint look? With 24-frets, I'd expect the neck joint to be pretty good. Newer Ricks always seem better than the 60's guitars with respect to the neck joint. That's why I favor newer Ricks. I currently have a '66 370/12 FG that needs a reset and a '66 335 FG that is OK for the time being (but I'm watching the neck joint). My solid bodies ('64 ES-16 JG and '66 450/12 FG) from the same time period have no structural issues.

tony_carey · Post by **tony_carey** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 8:31 am

Randy, it's in between beat up & broken in. I found it on ebay UK & was just drawn to it. It had a tuner & a strap lock missing & was filthy. The dings vary from wood showing, to finish checking, to dents & scrapes, but it is fabulous. The neck joint is OK. The fireglo is superb. I had it sent directly to Mike Smith & he polished, cleaned, replaced etc & did a great job. It looks really good condition untill you get close to it, but even then, it looks 'fashionably' knocked about. & that small headstock with the 24 fret neck...you just don't see these very often. I LOVE the small headstock & I LOVE this guitar!

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 8:57 am

Tony, lovely guitar! If those high-gains are like the ones on my 1981 460 BG, they sound great, too!

xcoyle · Post by **xcoyle** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 9:06 am

I think that this time frame 82-84 was just inconsistent. Kluson was out of business and Ric was using Grovers, Schallers and the last of the Klusons. I did find a site that said Kluson went out of business in 1975. That seems early, but maybe Ric just had a large supply that lasted a long time.

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 2:40 pm

It would be interesting to know whether there are other examples of the use of the Schaller Kluson look-alikes on 1980s RICs.