Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I was just trying to buy this - when somebody else did!
It's a bad photo - but it was apparently a 1958. Missing the TRC and had a re-fret, but apart from that...............Sold to a store in the UK............I'm guessing Music Ground? Sold for approx. $11K. Let's see what it is re-sold for?

I'm not sure if it is a '58? It looks to be all maple? No walnut or mahogany neck?

Bad luck, Graham. The white pickguard suggests a later build date, perhaps? Maybe a '60 even?

Don't know about the white pickguard. Could be a replacement. Recent photos of a '62 still show a gold guard. Still not sure when they went to maple neck-through.

Yeah I'm thinking '60-'61? It might be just a crummy photo that makes the pickguard look white? It could be gold? Anyway.........no good crying over spilt milk..........having said that I'm off to cry in the corner

Wasn't it '60 for the maple neck?

Paul, you're right about the pickguard possibly being a replacement. If it's original though, it's almost certainly not a 1958 or 1959 build date. I've not seen any Rickenbacker model with white pickguard earlier than 1960.

Better pix would help.

Many different features on these early basses...

Weren't the basses released in 57, 58 and 59 all built in 57 and then slowly released? I don't know why I have that idea in my head.

The original prototypes were done in '54 and a few units produced. The basic description would have to be "chunky", i.e. very squared off. But it must have been VERY few units, as I have only seen two from that era in my life, and one of those with a broken off neck.

Yeah! That's what I meant.

Body shape is definitely one of the early short-horn models.