Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I thought all the 2006 1996 were finished in Amber Fireglo but this one(below)looks like Fireglo.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rickenbacker-Model-1996-as-New-Beautiful-AFG_W0QQitemZ110107287051

The 1996 was available AFG only, although I have seen one in Jetglo. In those photos, you can see that the inlays are "ambered." It's AFG, just with less yellow in it than maybe some other AFGs.

There is considerable variation in AFG finishes, just as there is with all other RIC burst finishes.

Is this the same guy that was making such a big deal out of the pickguard placement a few months ago in this forum (or maybe it was RIC's)? It was, like, 1/16" off or something?

I don't want to pick on someone's desire to get a "reissue" guitar that has the same specs as the original. I've got a 325C58 and a couple of Gretsch reissues and Epi copies of classic Gibsons -- but I didn't measure the distance from the 13th fret to the output jack to make sure it was exactly like the one they made in 1964. Maybe I'm offbase and just don't understand the "collector" mentality, and if so I apologize. I've got 22 guitars myself (and still waiting on the 360/12C63), and the sound and the vibe -- and part of the vibe is the "look" -- are all the things I'm looking for.

Note to Mr. Hall -- Uh, sir, on the 360/12C63 I'm waiting on, if the pickguard is a little off center, please don't worry about it, I promise not to complain. I'm pretty sure my mediocre amatuer playing won't suffer too much. Heck, I won't even care if it comes with a broken 'E' string. I have another right here.

Jerry,
Any word on how long you think you'll have to wait?

Hi John. No. Watching the shippings, I see NCM's had 2 new invoices on Friday. That's 6 since mid-February. I think Gary got 4 guitars out of the first 3 invoices. It's hard to tell, because he's been slow to update his website with guitars received. (He's probably sick of the whole subject.)

In early March when Brian Tye got his, I was 4 behind him. At the time, RIC was showing 3 shipped (or three invoiced, anyway). So now there are three more invoices -- not like I'm counting or anything.

I'm just trying to keep my mouth shut, head down, powder dry and hope for the best. Thanks for asking. You'll probably be the first to know.

I'd bet that yours is in this batch Jerry

If it is Brian, you'll be the NEXT to know!

Mitch, here is a link to an earlier thread about the differences in the 1996 AFG finishes.

http://www.rickresource.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?tpc=7&post=263113#POST263113

Thanks for the post Kevin.There really is alot of variation in the AFG but maybe it has more to do with the way the photographs are lit as the NAMM model is alot darker in the 1st picture than it appears in the other photo.

In this single photo, the NAMM display guitar is in the middle. The one above it has a consecutive serial number that indicates October 2005 production and they both are marked NAMM inside their control cavities. The one on top was definitely sprayed darker around the edges.

The 1996 AFG on the bottom has a May 2006 serial number and is quite different in color and shading from the other two. The eBay guitar referenced at the begining of this thread is from earlier in 2006 and appears to be sprayed more like the NAMM display model.

Here is a link to a long thread from last year that contains more information about these early 1996 AFG models:

http://www.rickresource.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?tpc=675&post=215494#POST215494

Another pic of the same three together from a different angle:

The NAMM display guitar is in the center with the one from May 2006 on the right.

basic question: Where does the model name "1996" come from?

I want one!

According to what I have hear from this board and the Smith book, from the British music store and instrument sales company, Rose, Morris. In the mid-sixties, FC Hall signed up a British distributor to sell Rickenbacker, and the distributor negotiated a contract that included Electro building the guitars and basses for British export to a certain set of specifications. Rose, Morris and Company Ltd. named the models differently than their US counterparts, and the 1996 was one of them. They sold Rick instruments from 1964 to 1969.

The British invasion brought some of these instruments back to the US with them, and in the doing made the British model designation famous here in the US

So it is to the advantage of RIC today to use the long-gone Rose, Morris designations to sell more of them.

By the way, the 1996 was the export version of the US 3/4 size 325, with F-holes not solid-tops. They had three chrome bars PUs and the Ac'cent vibrato. Only cost 159 guineas back then

...And to confuse some more people, the domestic and export 325/1996 guitars were identical (both having an "f-hole" rather than the unique-to-John Lennon Solid Top) except for the knobs, which were usually plain black in the UK and chrome-topped in the US.