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Model 380?
Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2005 8:03 am
by loverickbass
Does such an animal exist? I think I read somewhere that it was like a 381 only without the pickups.Maybe I just dreamed it. I sure hope it had a thin top.
Cole
Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2005 9:01 am
by jingle_jangle
380L was the discontinued Laguna semi-hollow with the walnut body and the piezo option. Basically a 360 shape, not carved like the 381V69. Rick's website still shows it on the "models" page.
Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2005 9:03 am
by loverickbass
No, I know about the Laguna. I should have said it was back in the early 60s. Maybe I have the model number wrong.
Cole
Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2005 9:24 am
by Scastles
Cole..you may be thinking of the 380's made in the late '50s. They were full length neck scale with a deep body. Large body acoustics really. I don't know much more than that.
Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2005 9:26 am
by loverickbass
That may be it Stan. I was thinking it had a carved top like the 381. Maybe it was just an acoustic.
Cole
Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2005 7:28 pm
by doctorwho
Cole, on the RIC website I found the following page in the 1960 catalog:
Reference:
http://www.rickenbacker.com/images/cf68-6.jpg
"... Model 380 is a double cutaway with arched and carved top and back. The superb fingerboard, neck, sound hole, and handsomely crafted body feature custom binding.
"The guitarist demanding an acoustic with rich wide range tonal performance combining the appearance of a thin hollow body, will find all this and more in the 380.
Model 381 has all the features of the model 380 plus two exclusive Rickenbacker wide-range electric pickups ..."
So, it sounds like the original 380 was a pickup-less 381.
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 12:22 am
by red_rob
Interesting...Has anyone seen such a creature??
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 12:47 am
by the_55th_beatle
In the late 50's Model "380" was indeed a flattop acoustic with a round sound hole - here you can see a photo of Rick Nelson with his "380", as seen on Rickenbacker's website :
http://www.rickenbacker.com/us/nlacstc.htm
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 1:02 am
by tony_carey
Hi Stefan. Welcome to the forum.
A very good detective like third post.....
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 2:29 am
by loverickbass
I'm seeing it but it doesn't really look like what they described in the catalog.
Cole
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 8:18 am
by doctorwho
If one clicks on the link in my post above, one can see that the line-up includes a Model 385, which is a jumbo acoustic similar to the one Ricky Nelson is holding.
BTW, as described on that same page of the catalog, the Model 386 apparently was a jumbo acoustic with two toaster pickups - now that would be one really strange beast!
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 8:24 am
by loverickbass
Where are these guitars now? I've never seen one.
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 10:09 am
by Scastles
Cole, other than seeing a few pix in books, I haven't seen any of the 380 series acoustics made in the late '50s. There was also a 390-394 series of acoustics which weren't made after the early '70's. They were single cutaway with a carved top and back and 21 fret.
