Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I may be purchasing a '68 360, but I have a feeling that some of it isn't original.

Would a guitar from this year have a pickguard with smooth, rounded-over edges? Or would it be just like today's pickguard?

Would it have wide/flat fretwire? I took a photo of this as best I could with my camera phone: Would the toasters have the "dimples" on the edges?

I'm already aware that many of the grommets are missing, both under the pickguard and the toasters (not a big deal), the 5th knob is not original, and the strap buttons aren't original. I'm trying to get them to take as much off as possible.

Those frets should measure about .082" wide--with a caliper, give or take a few thou. If they're wider than, say, .085", somebody's jumbo-fretted it.

Pickguards back then were commonly radiused on the top edges...if you get to pull the guards, look for mold ejector pins (little dimples similar to those on the plastic pickup pieces). For awhile back then, Ricks had injection-molded pickguards. Some have only the top, some have only the bottom, and a few have both parts. These (as well as the typical router-cut guards of that era) will have a top radius, although the molded guards have a consistent, tooled radius. The routed guards have radii done with a scraper and polished, and these tend to be a bit inconsistent.