Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Lewis1965 wrote:Yeah...I did check under the scratchplate and there is some lettering in there but no numbers.....just 5 letters and some indesipherable stuff....weird.....The other thing is that someone has written a girls name 'Magie'...with 1 'g'.......I didn't think anything of it until I saw this one with 'Gloria' and 'Maria' written inside:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=179

So whats that all about?...Girls names inside the controls cavity?......I'm assuming that it was a fashionable thing for the owners to do.....and isn't how they came from Rickenbacker

Those are the names of Rickenbacker employees who worked on the instruments.

Yes, and the other stuff written inside has changed from time to time, most of it being only meaningful to those working on the instruments at the time.

In recent years they seem to be writing a number inside, which may or may not eventually become the serial number. I have a bit of personal experience with it not being the actual serial number. One of my basses has a number that's just a few off from the serial number. As luck would have it, someone else on the forum had a similar bass with a serial number that was the same as the number written in mine. And yes, his bass had my basses serial number written inside.

I think it was Ben Hall who explained that sometimes an instrument has to get some extra finish work or something and then doesn't end up with the same serial number as what's written inside...

Oh..Ok...fascinating stuff.....I had no idea.....

But....

jps wrote: Those are the names of Rickenbacker employees who worked on the instruments.

You gotta be kidding me.....right?......Nah!!.....am I being taken for a ride here?......You telling me that the actual girl who worked on your specific instrument wrote her name (and spelt it wrong too..in my case) inside the control cavity.....Is this for real?....I mean if it were true surely we would want to hunt these girls down to ask them about that wouldn't we?....They would be approached by fanatics like us about Rickenbacker and how long they worked there...and what it was like.....and what was their job....and how many guitars they signed......and what years they worked there.....and all that kind of stuff wouldn't we....I would...I mean wouldn't it be great to have a pic and and a signature of that lady on your wall cos she made your actual Rik...I'd love that.....Everyone loves a story don't they...

What if you found that the ladies signature inside your Rik was the same as a signature inside a Rik owned by someone famous...that would easily make your guitar more collectable too..wouldn't it?

Tell me more about the Rickenbacker ladies who wrote stuff inside their cavities!!!!

Yes, it's true, sometimes the people who work on the instruments write their names in them. Probably to show that they performed a particular task or inspection on the instrument. This too varies by who worked on them and when. Seems to be up to the particular people working at the time.

Of course, this doesn't mean someone else didn't write something inside after it left the factory...

It,'s not just women who write their names in the instruments.

Here is a former 4001 of mine.

I made some comparison in the gallery.

A rounder horn silhouette , big headstock and the shape of the ramp tell me that it is something from 1987 to 1995.

After 1995 the horns are more pointy.

I would not trust exchangeable parts like the tuners. If it was a butchered instrument another butchered guitar could have brought all these features like the missing "W" in Made in Germany.

Isn't there a number in the cavity? - O.K. You would have told us that, wouldn't You?

Well thats intersting..I didn't know that 330s changed shape..albeit slightly...Mine is certainly more rounded than 'pointy' on the horns I would say....strange how thye would change something like that...very subtle

Headstock, ramp and horns are changing from time to time. Even the place of the neck PU and the number of frets changed in the 70's.

There is some thread here John Hall mentioned that the headstock "could" change in the future again and later then again.
Just an example.

Could You post a close up picture of the cavity, please?
The way RIC is masking the wood inside for painting is changing from time to time, too...
And maybe there are some signs some users can identify for a special year because the have such a guitar, also.

Nice puzzle! Love it!

yep....Here's the interior of the control cavity...with the lettering and 'Magie' written in biro.....

Thanks again for the help and info fellas....I do appreciate it

Bingo!


There is this "U-H-2":

Using the serial decoder I put H2XXXX in (I took 3333 for XXXX but that does not matter) - H2 would mean August 1989. That could fit!

Now we need John Hall to chime in...


PS: U2 does not fit. U2 would mean August 1999 - but that does not fit with the ramp and the horns.

Sacha...You're a star!.....I had no idea that I could do that....and 1989 does fit in with all the other evidence I'm getting...Brilliant detective work...Big Thanks

Thank You!

To give something back:
This is just from all the threads I read in this forum.

And it is still only my personal assumption. Maybe some people here can confirm this.

BTW: Enjoy Your great guitar and welcome to this forum!
It offers tons of interesting information and plenty nice people. - But beware of RAS. It is already around the corner waiting for You.


PS: Jason mentioned the "W" in the middle of "Made in Germany". I had a 360/6 from March of 1990. And that guitar (of course) hat the "W". So maybe it really was butchered for spares. Nice to have it back in life in this condition.

Hotzenplotz wrote:There is this "U-H-2":

Using the serial decoder I put H2XXXX in (I took 3333 for XXXX but that does not matter) - H2 would mean August 1989. That could fit!

Now we need John Hall to chime in...

I seriously doubt the U H 2 has any relevance to the serial number but is rather the factory manager's code for when the instrument would be dry. It's probably been only the last 10-12 years that there was an connection between an instrument in production and its final serial number.

What a pity!

So still something between 1987 and 1995.

I am trying to verify the serial number on a RIC 4001 bass. The first part of the serial number is MH, so it is definitely August 1973, but the part of the jack plate with the serial numbers is corroded and rusty from use. It looks like 3893, but I wanted to see if any Forum members had a good suggestion about how to get this validated and the jack plate (hopefully) replaced by Rickenbacker. Also, if they did that, would the serial number be the same? Any info is appreciated.